The last time I bought a bow was 15 years ago and I spent $175 on a used 64" Saxon American. I thought it might be time to buy a new longbow and I nearly wet myself when I saw the prices. Talk about sticker shock!!! LOL :biglaugh:
Any suggestions for a quality mass produced bow?
Just find a good deal on a mint used custom plenty out there
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Nothing costs the same as it did 15 yrs ago. Set aside $550 and you can get something really nice off the classifieds. I saw a mint $900 Robertson sell for $525 last week. Be patient and you'll find something. If you are 50ish pound guy you won't have to wait long.
There are deals to be had on used bows. However - you see a bunch listed for 70% or more of new price which is crazy to me.
Maddog Archey makes a very shootable custom longbow for under $300.
You can always build your own. Skip the research and development and get plans , and the first one will be a bit more but then for $ 175 you can build super nice ones!
Quote from: kennym on November 21, 2018, 05:27:42 PM
You can always build your own. Skip the research and development and get plans , and the first one will be a bit more but then for $ 175 you can build super nice ones!
I don't have the patience to build one. I rush fletching arrows because I'm in a rush to shoot them. LOL
To bad you are not near to Colorado. Rocky Mountain Speciality Gear has hundreds of used bows. You can spend several days shooting them before you decide.
Quote from: J. Cook on November 21, 2018, 04:18:49 PM
There are deals to be had on used bows. However - you see a bunch listed for 70% or more of new price which is crazy to me.
Maddog Archey makes a very shootable custom longbow for under $300.
Interesting, I wonder how he does it for that price??? Thanks!
Those can be expensive, but they also could be very economical. You don't have to spend $3,000 on a new custom. There are many great deals to be had at under 500. It's all a matter of taste and what you want, but if you're only looking for a tool you can make out just fine.
Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear (rmsgear.com) has some great prices on used bows of all different price ranges.
I agree w the used bow. It's prob depreciated to the point you could move it for the same or similar price.
If I would have listened to John Schulz many many years ago, I would have spent $120 on a yew glass 66" 55 pound longbow and said good enough forever. It took me 40 years to learn that he was correct. When you cannot wear a bow out and it fits you perfect, how many bows do you need? That will save you a lot of money. It is very possible to own dozens of bows and not know how to shoot one of them properly. It is also possible to own one Hill style bow shoot it the way Hill would and have lots of money to make lots of wood arrows so you can have lots of fun shooting at lots various game and still have money leftover. The difference comes by what you have versus what you do with what you have.
Just like anything else, guns ,vehicles etc. quality brings better prices. I have expensive bows and budget ones also. You just have to learn to shoot them.
Quote from: Porkchop1 on November 21, 2018, 03:50:48 PM
The last time I bought a bow was 15 years ago and I spent $175 on a used 64" Saxon American. I thought it might be time to buy a new longbow and I nearly wet myself when I saw the prices. Talk about sticker shock!!! LOL :biglaugh:
Any suggestions for a quality mass produced bow?
Hello Arleigh...welcome to Trad Gang!
TG is a family oriented website. We do not routinely "wet ourselves" here but have a great time nevertheless.
Good quality custom bows are not cheap but, in my experience they can be a great investment. Trad Gang has several uniquely qualified Sponsors (bowyers) that are easy to work with that have been around for many years, providing the "gang" with exceptional products.
Good guys with awesome offerings. :wavey:
I have been having some good luck with my cheap longbows , look up Galaxy Ember or the BlackRidge. They are well made and shoot great , for $200 tyd they are hard to beat in my book...
,,,Sam,,,
I have a Maddog Prarie Predator and like it- around $300 and it is made to your specs. Also, I like the looks of this bow I was just made aware of- about $500 -
http://www.bigstickarchery.com/bow-models/
You don't need to spend a lot for a good bow. Best wishes on your selection.
Yes they seem exspensive but when you consider the time and craftsmanship involved, their really not. also when you order you get what you want as far as weight and wood combos. If you want a reasonable very good shooting longbow tho a bear Montana hard to beat.
If you want a good deal on a handcrafted bow, I'd look to the classifieds. However I think there are a lot of bowyers out there UNDER charging for their craft.
$1000 on a custom, handmade bow is a lot of money but that doesn't go very far in a shop. Most of these bowyers have upwards of $20,000 in equipment, stock thousands of dollars in high end woods (a lot of which has to be thrown away), and their time and experience have to be worth something. I make handmade knives and when I sell locally I give 9.5% to taxes. When tax season comes around I get self employment taxes. Added together that hits me for ~40% of the sale in taxes. So a $1000 knife breaks down into:
$1000
-$400 - taxes
-$200-400 in materials/makers cost depending on the handle materials and steel
--------------------------
$200-400 profit to be used to pay for labor, insurance, a shop (hopefully with new equipment on occasions), and experience/waste which does happen and does cost money Divide that out by the number of hours to build a bow and you'll see our bowyers aren't getting rich.
Likewise, if you stroll through any major sporting goods store your likely to find tons of factory rifles for $500-1500 which coincidentally is what most handmade bows are running. The guns likely have higher tooling costs to manufacture and similar materials costs to a bow but have MUCH less labor. I'm not so sure that a custom bow is all that expensive when you look at more than just the sticker price.
I've bought, shot, and sold hundreds while trying to find a favorite. I didn't loose money on almost any of my used bow purchases/sales. When I found exactly what I liked, I promptly placed an order for a brand new bow from that bowyer and didn't blink twice when he quoted me what he needs to make it happen. My cash for his labor is going to be far cheaper than for me to tool up to make my own and go through the decades of learning that Bob has already done for me.
Custom bowyers definitely earn their money. We may well be living in the golden age of custom bowmaking. I don't believe there has ever been so many excellent bows to choose from, and soon there may not be as many, as the quality of bows made in factories overseas continues to increase and the prices continue to decrease. I don't believe the quality of bows made in factories overseas will ever match the quality of custom made bows, but if it comes close, and the prices are way below the price of a custom bow, it can't help but cut into sales of custom bows. And as has been pointed out above, there really isn't that much room to cut prices. I believe it's similar to custom cabinets in kitchens: people would prefer to have custom cabinets, but how much more are they willing to pay compared to semi-custom cabinets made in factories that look almost the same on the outside?
Thanks for all of the advice and input. I'm familiar with small business costs and don't begrudge the custom bowyers their money, I just can't afford a new one. So my best option is probably a used bow. Thanks again for all of the help.
Anyone have a review of Maddog bows?
check out Sam Stephens posts this year . Remarkable season to say the least. i think he is hunting with budget bows this year
Check out omega , great bow and price .
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You could become a classifieds contributor for $35.00 a year.
There are a ton of used bows for sale in the classifieds.
The link below has info on joining up.
http://tradgang.com/sponsors/cm.html
Quote from: SAM E. STEPHENS on November 22, 2018, 12:38:17 AM
I have been having some good luck with my cheap longbows , look up Galaxy Ember or the BlackRidge. They are well made and shoot great , for $200 tyd they are hard to beat in my book...
,,,Sam,,,
I completely agree with Sam. I have been very impressed with my Galaxy Ember and I have a bunch of customs on the rack. Hard to beat.
I'm new to traditional archery so really don't have any point of comparison, but I too have been very happy with my Galaxy Ember. Started out with some light limbs to work on form, etc. with the plan to upgrade to something else pretty soon. But after shooting it for a while and hearing all the positive comments from people who do know what they are talking about, I decided to upgrade my limbs and stick with the Ember for the foreseeable future. For the $200 price tag and $89 limb swaps, it seems hard to beat.
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15 years with the same bow.. that is not a stretch for longevity unless you just want something different like lower draw weight..or whatever. Divide a $1000 dollar bow by 15+ years, and it ends up being pretty cheap.
I have lots of used bows available from $100-$1000 to pick from and a bunch of new Bear Black beauties at half price. There's a deal to be had if you look.
BigJim