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<

RE: Black Widow??
 

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......

RE: Black Widow??
 

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?

RE: Black Widow??
 

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.

RE: Black Widow??
 

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

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

RE: Black Widow??
 

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.]

RE: Black Widow??
 

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.

RE: Black Widow??
 

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.

RE: Black Widow??
 

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.

RE: Black Widow??
 

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.

RE: Black Widow??
 

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 ;):D).

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

RE: Black Widow??
 

Yeah I' ll be keeping my eye out for a used BW. I need to find one made for at least a 32" draw length. I' ve been looking through classifieds but no luck yet. It would be great if I could try out different BW' s and others for a side-by-side comparison! I can stand to wait a while, bird season' s right around the corner and then firearms season on deer, so I will be too busy to be thinking about practicing with a bow.......I will definitely be keeping my eye out for one at all times though.
Thanks for all the help guys!