My new 'firearm' with silencers - lot's of pics...

[Tangle]

Surprise! It's a confound bow, errr compound - I think there's a difference actually I'm not sure at this point.

And notice those little curly cues on the string - those are just some of the silencers.





This is a Matthews Monster Chill dual cam bow. I do like it! I shot about 7 bows repeatedly at the shop, Benton's Shooting Supply in little ol Benton, TN. I shot them so much, I couldn't shoot the bow I bought for a week, just waiting on the muscle and ligament strain to heal. I'm serious - I was sore - I didn't know we had 'bow' muscles - I can tell you mine got rudely awakened

Anyway, the dual cam Chill felt smoothest and lightest, not that 'lightest' is a term I'd use for a bow pull, more like less, "Wow, that's a hard pull"; So, for a given arrow velocity and something like 85% let off this was my pick. It was close though, I also liked the Matthews Creed - a single cam bow.

I don't know who comes up with the names, but I believe I would have picked a better name, like High Velocity, Magnum Velocity, Lightning, Devastator, Eliminator, Dual Death (dual cam, get it??? Hmmm, well maybe the 'death' goes a bit too far). Fast Shot, etc. Anyway, they didn't ask me...

Here's the sighting contraption. It turns out, range is significantly more critical with a bow than a firearm because of the low velocities involved, so you have to determine your range - can you say expensive range finder? Then you dial that range into the wheel that's parallel to the bow and it adjusts the elevation of the sight automatically compensating for arrow drop



Ok, I'm gonna show you some shooting pics (don't have any vids, YET), but take it easy on me, I've only had this thing 2 weeks and this is only the third time I've shot it.

Here's six shots from 11 yards (I only have six arrows). This was part of the sighting in; I was aiming at the "dot" to the right of the group:



A little closer looks like this:



Well, in the above pic, the sight needed some windage, I dialed some in and shot this:



Hmmm, I guess that'll do....and just for brag, here's a closer look:



Ok, back the target up to 18 yards:



Well, I guess that isn't too bad, two arrows are touching, a third almost touching, a fourth in the 'dot', but hmmm, I'm gonna have to check those two arrows to the left - I'm sure there's something wrong with them - could they be left-handed arrows???

So, I'm learning about 'bow torque' and how to avoid it, etc. That's why I said I have a confound bow. I'm still working hard on bow torque - I have to eliminate that!!!

I'm liking this archery stuff a lot - hmmm, now if I could just find someone willing to let me shoot an apple off their head; ahhh, but I bet that's been done before.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[pgrass101]

Nice bow, I haven't shot one in years and when I did it was a traditional recurve

When my boys get older I think that we will all take up archery

[Sap03]

Ive been looking at the bows everytime I go into Dicks sports, they look like a alot of fun, and they dont run out of ammo if you can retrieve the arrows. good deal

[Tangle]

I should have mentioned this in the opening post and it didn't come to mind until I read the replies.

Archery is fun! You can likely do it at home.

However the bow setup can be critical. It's more than a youth bow for a youth and a full size for an adult. As I've learned, bows need to be personalized, i.e. length of pull, that's the hard one to get right, poundage, etc. After seeing all there is to it, I would be reluctant to buy from a store that could not get you and the bow set up for each other. That's why I drove 30 miles to Benton's - the archery guy shoots competitively and hunts and I got a ton of tips from him.

Just something to consider.

[DontTreadOnI]

Nice! I've shot a dual-cam Matthews for the last couple years and love it!

[glockman10mm]

Good stuff!

Yes, archery is absolutely fun. I shoot a lot in my basement.

If you think you have found some " bow muscles", try a traditional bow with no let-off. Even a 45 pound pull will have you thumbing the yellow pages for a chiropractor if your not use to it.

One thing I have discovered over the years is bows are very similar to handguns. Lighter faster is not always better, and I prefer heavier arrows at moderate speed with traditional cut to the tip blades over the newer mechanical lightweight heads.

It's also easier to tune cut to the tip heads if the speed is reduced.

Matthews makes great bows. There have been great advances in them over the last 15 years, it's hard to go wrong.

Congrats and have fun!

[rocky]

Lots of fun alright. I use an old Darton compound bow for deer hunting. I also found some old 70's Bear re curves so the kids could try it out in the backyard. Looks like you are shooting good groups already.

[031131]

Bows are a lot of fun. I bought a cheap $100 pse razor back recurve ($200 after all the stuff lol)just to have a bow (and I like the primitive aspect of it). a lot of fun, if you can retrieve the arrows lol. I didn't fully take that into account my first trip into the woods with a shot block. those arrows sure like to bury themselves into the ground if you miss lol. I had to replace my original set. In the beginning I was hitting at 2/10 lol, so I lost a decent amount of arrows. I'm at 8/10 now, recurve is harder then it looks. Well if you have no experience with bows like myself. still fun and the arrows are cheaper then ammo even if I do lose them.

[rutcrazed]

Congrats Tangle, That bow should bring you many years of fun. I have been shooting Mathew's for twenty years. That is probably the only bow I would buy. I have had really good luck with them. Enjoy!!!

[WHEC724]

That's awesome, Tangle. We're on the same page.

I've started researching compound bows for my wife to give me for my birthday this summer. I shot my first compound bow about a month ago, with a friend who's a hard-core bow hunter. I had no idea how easy it is to pick up, for those of us already familiar with firearms (although I did find a muscle in my back that apparently has never been used before). Many of the disciplines remain the same. Mathews seems to be a respected brand among the bow crowd.

[latentcarry]

Don't think front pocket carry would be an option but that is a sweet machine. Too bad my old shoulders called a quit to my archery career a few years ago. I really like the connection with something primal that a well placed arrow brings. Crossbow is an option but it is just not the same.

[Taurahe]

Thats a sweet looking bow. A few things to consider though..... Not knowing your hooting experience, allow me to interject.
If you are sore from shooting, drop down your draw weight to a very comfortable point to start. Yes, your POI will change, but you wont risk serious damage to muscles and joints. As you progress increase the draw weight. As far as the two flier arrows go, it is possible that they are slightly crooked. If they are consistently off POA / PPOI. then check the fletching, and if they still dont fly true.. scrap em of use em for practice only if you hunt. They would also be good candidates for small game hunting with a bow...... Shooting from 11 yds is fine to start but make sure you move back to a reasonable distance ( 30 yds ?) Ability quickly degrades as you increase distance. My max hunting range for deer is 30-35 yds. If you can / want to shoot farther than that consistent practice is paramount. Have fun and keep em in the black !

[Tangle]

Thats a sweet looking bow. A few things to consider though..... Not knowing your hooting experience, allow me to interject.
If you are sore from shooting, drop down your draw weight to a very comfortable point to start. Yes, your POI will change, but you wont risk serious damage to muscles and joints. As you progress increase the draw weight.

It's a 60 pounder; right now it's set for 50 lbs for the very reason you stated.

...As far as the two flier arrows go, it is possible that they are slightly crooked. If they are consistently off POA / PPOI. then check the fletching, and if they still dont fly true.. scrap em of use em for practice only if you hunt. They would also be good candidates for small game hunting with a bow...... Shooting from 11 yds is fine to start but make sure you move back to a reasonable distance ( 30 yds ?) Ability quickly degrades as you increase distance. My max hunting range for deer is 30-35 yds. If you can / want to shoot farther than that consistent practice is paramount. Have fun and keep em in the black !

I have to reply: There's nothing wrong with the arrows, I was just kidding about that - I just missed twice

I shot some at 33 yards, but I had already done a bunch of torque testing shots, then a bunch of shorter range shots and by the time I got to the 33 yard mark, I was pretty much shot out. I did pretty good, I think any of them would have taken a deer.

What's funny though, in order to select the right 'tape' for the sighting wheel, I have to shoot at 20 yards and 60 yards , subtract the calibration wheel numbers at each distance and that identifies the correct tape.

It all sounds so simple when you say it fast, because you just zip right past that 60 yard shooting part

Hey and thanks for the tips!!!

[MrBuckwheat]

I need to shoot mine more often since ammo is hard to find these days! I also need to learn how to fletch arrows.

[OldVet]

I always enjoyed bow hunting far more than gun hunting (Fewer idiots and those were less dangerous). Alas, shoulder ailments prevent pulling a bow now. If you have a bow, You must learn to make your own arrows, the reloading side of archery! Just like ammo, you can really fine-tune the number of fletchings and manner to get the most from your bow.