Black Widow??
 

My first bow was a custom black widow, which I loved! Then again, I am a complete newbie when it comes to traditional archery so my opinion is obviously a bit one-sided. Well, the bow burned in a tragic house fire and now I don' t have a bow to shoot.

I am planning to buy a new one within the next year hopefully, and I was thinking of getting another BW but figured it would be a good idea to consider some others as well.

I haven' t seen any mention of Black Widow bows on here, so I thought I' d ask what everyone thinks of them. What are some other makers I may want to check out before buying one?

Any responses welcome!

P.S.> I forgot to mention that I am looking for a one-piece recurve.

RE: Black Widow??
 

Sorry to hear about the passing of your bow. I know how hard that is. A tornado took my bows about 25 years ago.

Black Widows are fine bows, but their price sends a lot of people into apoplexy. I suppose that' s why you don' t hear much about them. I' ve only shot one in my whole life and I' ve wanted one ever since. Problem is I' d have to shoot a whale of a lot of game with it to justify the purchase price to the household CFO, also known as Yesdear, and she' s not that fond of wild game meat. ;)

There are literally hundreds of custom bowyers out there. Some that I' m familiar with are Bob Lee, Palmer, Massey and Wes Wallace. I' ve heard nothing but excellent about Acadian Bows. Not custom but also good bows are Checkmate.

RE: Black Widow??
 

I think that Black Widow is an excellent bow. Owned an older Wilson Bros. widow and loved it. Shot lots of the newer bows and liked every one of them. Gotta agree with the price thing, but then price limits are set by our abilities to spend. So, if you can afford one, it' s a great bow, have at it and enjoy. We have a couple of Chek-Mates, one is a made to order (custom in my opinion ;) ) recurve and a longbow. Both bows are excellent in construction and both are very good shooters for me. Needless to say, I like them a lot. There are a lot of very good bowyers out there, so if you feel like browsing, take in an all trad shoot and fling some arrows. You' ll probably find some very good shooters that grab your attention.

RE: Black Widow??
 

Go to as many shoots as you can and try out as many different bows as you can--woods, weights, styles, etc. In my opinion, you can get lots of different bows that are as good or better than BW (quality, performance, etc.) for less--sometimes a lot less. However, if your heart is set on one particular bow, you may not be satisfied with anything else.

Arthur, I' m not sure what you consider " custom" (I know different folks have different definitions), but you can have your grip made to order, several wood options, draw length/weight to order, etc., or you can buy " off the shelf" Marc (the bowyer at Chek-Mate) doesn' t consider them custom--but to him " custom" would mean a bow designed and built for a particular individual, which nobody does (very few people could afford that anyway). He calls them " production bows with options" --lol.

Anyhow, figure out what you want in a bow, and look for the one that gives that to you.

Chad

RE: Black Widow??
 

Thanks for the replies, they are much appreciated.

I know there is an annual traditional archery shoot downstate that I would like to go to if I can make it there. Those shoots generally have bows available for anyone to try out? That would be a great way to help me decide. It may be a bit embarrassing for me to shoot in the presence of so many people who know what they' re doing though[:' (].

Price is one thing for me to consider - when I ordered my first bow I had plenty of cash and no bills except for groceries, now I have hardly any cash and lots of bills but I am hoping I can save some $$ within the next year.

RE: Black Widow??
 

At every traditional shoot I have been to that had vendors and/or bowyers, everyone has always been welcome to try them out.

If you are in a money crunch, but want to get back shooting asap, try going with a used bow or a cheaper model. You can get a good recurve, brand new, for around $200. Used are even cheaper.

Chad

RE: Black Widow??
 

Chad, we could start a real war over what is and what' s not a custom bow, couldn' t we. LOL :) I' ve got several true custom bows, because I designed and made them myself for myself. All but one are selfbows though. Now that I' ve got a r/d longbow under my belt, I' ve got the itch to make a 50' s style recurve. After huntin' season is over, that' s on the planning board.

RE: Black Widow??
 

Thanks again!

I think I may look around for a used one, since after reading around this forum for a bit I am itching to shoot a recurve again! The only thing is I might have a hard time to find a used one that will fit......if I remember right my draw length is 33" . Perhaps I' ll browse around online and see what i find.....any good sites for used trad. bows?

RE: Black Widow??
 

After some offline discussion and a little exploration on my own, it is obvious that I didn' t know what the heck I was talking about as far as Checkmate. C/M is every bit as much ' custom' as any other bowyer out there. It' s been ages since I' d been on the site and had no idea their options had expanded as much as they have!

I' ve got the hots for a Hunter II, 62" long, 50# @ 33" . (I' m a knuckledragger myself Split-Hoof. ;)) Something about those deflex risers just does something to me.[:-][8D]

www.recurves.com

RE: Black Widow??
 

Hmmmmm...did someone mention BW? >grin<