Arthur

Any advice for someone wanting to make a bow ? I think I want to make a Hybrid type longbow / reflex..... I have seen a LOT of bows on the web and think Im making one for next season and do the switch to traditional......

Thanks for the site link Arthur, I think I' ll go do some " windows" shopping hehe.

arrowsmit - How do you like your BW, and how do you feel it compares to others you have shot?

Splithoof, two of the finest bowyers live just down the road from you in Jacksonville, TX.; Bob Lee and Milt Calloway of 21st Century. You ought to take a day off and visit them and try shooting one of their bows. They' d probably be delighted to entertain you. Then too, Widows and Chek-Mates are fine bows also.

Texas[]?? That would be a bit of a drive for me since I live in northern Maine.

I' ll look them up online though, thanks for the suggestion.

Well Jon, I' ve owned a BW of one sort or another for several years & have shot/owned lots of other bows in the meantime. I' m shooting BW these days, so that says much about my comparisons. DISCLAIMER: The following are my (honest) opinions of the BW recurved bows, some of which doesn' t relate (again, my opinion) to their longbows. Much of it is fairly subjective, & certainly may not be shared by everyone. Of course your mileage may vary >>grin<<.

First of all, I' ve noticed that the BW recurves I' ve shot have been very consistent (bow to bow). I believe this consistency is due to the materials & processes used in building the bows.* All have had a fair amount of limb preload coupled with a very smooth draw force curve, quality fit/finish, & very good downrange performance. Norb Mullaneys testing (in 1994, I believe) of a 62" MA II showed an AMO rating of 196fps. BW redesigned their recurve limbs in early 2002, & they show a marked improvement in performance.

The bows are easily tuned, but show a great tolerance for arrow spine in untuned set-ups. The [T.D. models especially] provide an ultra stable shooting platform, & in general seem (thank goodness) very forgiving of shooting form errors.

Each BW recurve I' ve shot has possesed an inherent, yet undefineable ' shootability' which I have yet to find surpassed, except in the metal risered ' target style' bows. While certainly not a beautiful bow, it' s ' work-horse' appearance suits my eye to a tee.


In summary, the BW recurve is a top-notch example of modern bowcraft. While not suited to everyones taste, it is most definitely the hunting bow of choice for me.



**[I have had very little experience w/the ' X' series, which are made w/different woods, & would expect a little more variance in these.]

Split-hoof, sorry about that. Don' t know where I got the idea you were from Texas. As I get older, I find these brain-farts occurring more frequently.

owned 4 bw and have owned 2 others. they are known for there quality and the company goes to every step to give customer service, they have gone way beyond what is expected on 2 occasions for me. i' m sure there are as good of bows out there. the problem is you can' t shoot them all, easily, before you buy. shoot what you can. and decided. i have a friend that had an adiorandack (sp) brand bow tried to reach the bulider to get another bow.....he had moved and could not be reached. on some of the web sites others were looking for him...he may have been found now but as i recall it was well over a year that my friend looked for him. bw has been around a long time and i would doubt they will disappear soon.

arrowsmit - Thanks for the excellent feedback! I didn' t realize they had redesigned the RC limbs. Mine was bought before 2002, so was the older style. Now I really want one of the newer ones! You don' t find them beautiful? I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Function would be my primary reason for owning one, but I do consider them to be quite attractive bows.

Floxter - Hehe no problem I understand completey!

AK - That was one thing that impressed me about the company as well. The owner actually called me to talk with me personally before starting to make my bow, which kind of surprised me but it shows their dedication to their customers.
I also enjoyed watching the free videos on their bowmaking process and how to tune your bow, etc. as well as a couple other ones on shooting technique and hunting with trad. archery. That was a nice bonus!

I have been doing some " windows" shopping and am overwhelmed by the amount of bowmakers out there, but it seems I keep coming back to the BW website and drooling over that one piece RC. I noticed they now have bows available for " test drives" as well......they will let you try them out for a week and all you end up paying is shipping and insurance charges provided the bow is returned undamaged.

Buy a used Widow. I found one that sold for over a grand for $700. Made of Osage and was a MA VI (only a few made with the VI designation- they now have an ' X' for exotic wood)
If you buy used you can always sell and get your money out of a Widow! I bet I can get more for mine than I paid. ' Cause now they don' t even make the ' MA' , it' s a ' PMA' ; so my bow is already a collectors item and just made in 2002.

If you can stand to wait a bit, you could most likely find some BW owners at a shoot and try out their bows for free, and shoot others side-by-side in comparison. My experience with BW bows was not the same as Arrowsmit' s, but I did not own or tune the bows I shot, whereas he did--that could explain some of the inconsistency I saw in one to the next. I have to admit, his BW is one of the better recurves I have shot, and the best BW bow I have shot (but I shoot longbows, so what do I know ).

One other note--if you buy used, I' d advise trying to find one in which the owner has a similar draw length. I don' t know if BW tillers their bows for particular draws, but if they do and you buy one that was made for someone with a 27" draw, it will most likely stack up on you.

Chad