I read a post recently (on a different site) where someone who had owned and shot a lot of different tradbows felt the Palmer wasn't very forgiving. I'm looking at buying a used Palmer and am curious as to others thoughts who have shot them-did you feel the Palmer was touchy in terms of forgiveness?

Thank you
BCD

Never seemed unforgiving to me.

"Forgiving" can be a very personal definition.  

For example, if you have a problem with torque and shoot a bow that is sensitive to torque, you will call that bow picky.  Someone that doesn't have a problem with torque will call it forgiving.

I don't know of any way to measure a bow's forgiveness accurately.  You can take certain things into consideration--brace height, grip style, length, etc.--but still, one person may call it picky and the next call it forgiving.

A few generalzations that make a bow less forgiving--to me at least:

lower brace height
reflexed riser
shorter length
shelf cut shy of center
a bow set up for max speed
uncomfortable grip (makes for an inconsistent grip)

That's some of the things that affect me--might be different for you.

Chad

Chad pretty much covered it. I shoot Silvertip recurves and have nothing but praise for them, yet I've heard others' complaints about shooting a ST that I certainly don't experience. On the other side of the coin, I've shot others' bows at 3D shoots that they love and shoot well, but my impresion was "how do you shoot this piece of #*%&" That's why it is important to road test a particular brand before you buy - what works for me may not work for you.

Yup, Chad nailed it.  The only thing I would add is that some people find fast bows less forgiving than slow ones, especially with lighter arrows.

I own a Palmer and believe me, with the heavy riser mass, and grip shape, I consider it plenty forgiving, and very accurate.

You can say what you want about Mike Palmer's customer service, but he knows how to build a recurve...and he can shoot too.

I agree with all of the above. I too own a Palmer Classic Double Carbon and it shoots very consistently "for me" and is smokin fast! The grip fits me very well and the arrows are perfectly matched and fly like darts. The combination of those two things contribute a great deal to any bows "forgiveness" for a particular shooter. If ya can't shoot one first and it's a good deal buy it, you'll like it! If ya don't you can turn it around and probably get your money back. Regards.

I shoot a Palmer single carbon a feel it is the most forgiving and best shooting of all my bows.As Ken N. says I think its very fast also.  Ben

If you've ever shot a Bob Lee recurve and liked it, you'll probably like the Palmer.  Very similar in design, grip, etc.

And Bob Lee 'curves are one of the best deals out there.  Very underrated performancewise...

I've got 2 Palmers and feel that it is one of the most forgiving bows I have shot.