# ILF for a beginner?



## kaitlin (Nov 10, 2014)

I've been doing archery lessons for 2 months now and am interested in getting my own bow. As I've been informed, "Christmas is coming." I come from a family of hunters and eventually want to do a bowhunting trip up north with my dad and uncle. I am a small lady so building up the strength to get there is going to take a while. I'm shooting 20# in class and it doesn't feel like much, but I don't want to go past that until I'm more experienced with my form. 

I'm a sucker for a nice looking riser, but I don't want to cheap out on quality. Unfortunately the risers I've found and liked cost more than an entry level archery kit would; the TradTech Black Magic riser, for example. I don't want to spend more money than I need to .

Another problem I run into is that few ILF limbs I've been able to find are 20#. Most start around the 30-35# mark. Ragim has ILF limbs that start as low as 14# but as far as I understand their quality is arguable. I don't think limbs, at this point, are as important as a nice, solid riser so I don't mind cheaping out on them. I'll be swapping the limbs out anyways as I gain strength and experience.

I see lots of people recommending an ILF set up, and I like ILF because of the flexibility it gives me to upgrade and to choose what I think looks nice. But, for a beginner, is it worth the extra money? Even some limbs cost as much as an entire entry-level bow does. When it comes time to upgrade I could almost buy 2 new bows instead of one set of ILF limbs. Are there benefits to ILF rigs that I'm missing? Am I better off buying a beginner bow for ~$200 from my local shop? 

Thanks,
Kait


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## gnome (Oct 22, 2006)

w&w Axiom ilf limbs from Lancaster, on sale for $69 . They are available from 16# to 30#, these are the best value in ilf limbs. I would spend the money and get the riser that you would like to hunt with. That way, all the time you spend with the light weight limbs, will ingrain the feel and sight picture so every thing will be familiar when you buy hunting limbs.


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## Doofy_13 (Jan 2, 2012)

gnome said:


> w&w Axiom ilf limbs from Lancaster, on sale for $69 . They are available from 16# to 30#, these are the best value in ilf limbs. I would spend the money and get the riser that you would like to hunt with. That way, all the time you spend with the light weight limbs, will ingrain the feel and sight picture so every thing will be familiar when you buy hunting limbs.


This^^^


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## GEREP (May 6, 2003)

kaitlin said:


> I've been doing archery lessons for 2 months now and am interested in getting my own bow. As I've been informed, "Christmas is coming." I come from a family of hunters and eventually want to do a bowhunting trip up north with my dad and uncle. I am a small lady so building up the strength to get there is going to take a while. I'm shooting 20# in class and it doesn't feel like much, but I don't want to go past that until I'm more experienced with my form.
> 
> I'm a sucker for a nice looking riser, but I don't want to cheap out on quality. Unfortunately the risers I've found and liked cost more than an entry level archery kit would; the TradTech Black Magic riser, for example. I don't want to spend more money than I need to .
> 
> ...


Kait: 

First of all, WELCOME to the sport and to the site!!

As to your question, in my opinion, the simple answer would be "yes," an ILF rig is the better option.

First of all, dollar for dollar, you can get every bit as much performance (if not more) out of an entry level ILF rig as you can with any other bow, in each of the price points.

Second, the ILF rig, over time , becomes a much better value in terms of being able to upgrade as you progress along your archery journey.

My daughter's first bow was a Hoyt Excel Riser, with some light weight 80.00 KAP limbs. It is a VERY capable combo that will serve her well for years. It's a little above your price range but there are a couple equally capable packages, available in a variety of colors, :wink: that are every bit as good.

For example, for right round your 200.00 mark, you can have any of these risers...

Samick Privelege









Samick Avante









Sebastian Flute Axiom









Sebastian Flute Axiom Plus Lite









Combined with these limbs (in the weight you desire):

Sebastian Flute Axom









Any of these riser limb combos will serve you well for years to come, and give you all the tuning and shooting options and characteristics that you need. As your progress, define want options you really prefer, want heavier draw weights for hunting, etc., you will easily be able to plug those things into your existing platform.

In addition to this, there is a massive used market for ILF risers and limbs, both for when you are looking for something new, or selling or trading something you don't need any more.

For an example, just the other day, I had a set of limbs I wasn't using and thought I might like to trade them for something lighter. I wanted the exact same brand, exact same model, just a lighter weight. I posted an ad in the classifieds here to see if anyone else was looking for something heavier. Within one day, I had traded my limbs to a fellow archer that was looking for something heavier. It was that easy. That's what "ILF" brings to the table.

Whatever you decide, good luck and good shooting.

KPC


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## Easykeeper (Jan 2, 2003)

I would buy a riser you would want to keep and work your way up in limbs. 

Personally, I hate metal risers for hunting, even with a wood grip I find them hard to hold for very long in cold weather. I find wood risers are much more comfortable. That said, I have nothing against metal risers in general and for a dedicated target bow it's probably the way to go. The Black Magic riser you mentioned is a really nice looking option if it's in your budget. There are other nice looking wood ILF risers, take a look at Morrison Archery.


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## Daniel L (Nov 23, 2013)

Just echoing what everyone here is saying - ILF is the way to go. You sound reasonably serious so get a good riser... wood or metal in your preference and start with some cheap limbs.
I just bought a set of 16# SF Axiom+ limbs for my wife to start on. And trade up from there as you mentioned.

You can get a Hoyt Excel metal riser in 21" for $200 and a few colors. Tape it up camo or get a black out if preferred. Spend $250 and you can get a 23" SF Forged Plus riser but it could be getting a bit long.

If you really want a "short" hunting bow then the Black Magic / Onyx are great but price is a big jump up.


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## kaitlin (Nov 10, 2014)

Thanks for the quick responses and warm welcomes. It looks like ILF is the way to go :wink:

$200 isn't really my price point, I'm willing to go higher (on a riser) since I plan on keeping the riser all the way throughout. $200 would be my budget for a "junk" bow that I'd be re-selling/giving away in the relatively near future. Sorry for not clarifying this properly. All of your suggests are great regardless. 

I'm going to look into the Axiom limbs. They will look a little ridiculous on a wood riser but it's only temporary, right? I know a classmate of mine just soaked some $$ in an ILF target bow with those limbs, which means they are available locally to me. If he got them from where I think he got them then I'll be able to trade the limbs back to them when I'm ready to upgrade and save some money. I'll have to go over and talk to them and see how much they want, as I'd prefer to support a local store! 

With that being said, I do want a wood riser not a metal one. For now, anyways. :wink:

Happy shooting, I'll see you around!


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## Daniel L (Nov 23, 2013)

If you're set on a wooden riser then you will definitely need a higher budget. Short ILF wooden risers are typically from custom bowyers like Morrison ($500+) or the Trad Tech risers you've already seen and are good choices. 

Generally you can resell a good riser for 60-75% of what you paid so buy a good quality and be happy! 

If you don't like the look of the limbs there'd always spray paint and camo tape  

Most wood risers tend to


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## kaitlin (Nov 10, 2014)

Thanks Daniel. Now how about the TradTech Pinnacle II or Galaxy? Lancaster has both at $280 so they are a fair bit cheaper than the Black Magic. I'm not sure I'd notice the performance difference between either at this level so the Black Magic might be worth to keep as something to work towards instead of buying ASAP, especially if it's fairly easy to sell off used, quality equipment.


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## gnome (Oct 22, 2006)

kaitlin said:


> Thanks Daniel. Now how about the TradTech Pinnacle II or Galaxy? Lancaster has both at $280 so they are a fair bit cheaper than the Black Magic. I'm not sure I'd notice the performance difference between either at this level so the Black Magic might be worth to keep as something to work towards instead of buying ASAP, especially if it's fairly easy to sell off used, quality equipment.


When choosing between the 19" Pinnacal II and the 17"Galaxy , I would like to suggest the Pinnacal II might be better for you , because of the larger sight window. Just one more thing to think about. And don't forget about the Traditional and F.I.T.A. classified ads, some times you can find some real bargains.


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## kaitlin (Nov 10, 2014)

gnome said:


> When choosing between the 19" Pinnacal II and the 17"Galaxy , I would like to suggest the Pinnacal II might be better for you , because of the larger sight window. Just one more thing to think about. And don't forget about the Traditional and F.I.T.A. classified ads, some times you can find some real bargains.


Sounds good. I'll be back with some more questions to work out the finer details before I make the final purchase. I need to have my draw length measured still and read and understand more about how your draw length affects your decision in limb and riser length, etc.. I am embarrassingly uninformed about things that are likely very important, but I guess that is part of the process!


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## Daniel L (Nov 23, 2013)

There has been some mention of the Pinnacle II grip being suited to medium sized hands (i.e. hand filling) ... I am guessing you have smaller hands.
I think the Black Magic has the slimmer grip... chat with Lancaster... and Black Friday is coming 

http://peteward.com/2014 reviews/Test.BlackMagic.html


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## kaitlin (Nov 10, 2014)

Yes, I read that too. The Black Magic and Galaxy both would fit my hands better, it seems. I saw someone mention that the Galaxy draws a bit heavier than what the limbs are marked, and someone else verified this. Is this typical among ILF set-ups and that I should keep in mind (I guess Lancaster can answer this one for me more accurately, though)? 

And yes, Black Friday is coming. I'll get in contact with Lancaster, thanks!


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## ranchoarcher (Sep 26, 2013)

I've got the Pinnacle along with titan iii. Both very good risers. One thing to keep in mind when it comes to ILF. The limbs weights stated are usually for a 25 inch riser. Probably want to ask the shop before actually getting them because there could be issues of stacking since the limbs are being drawn further back on a shorter riser. If you go with anything shorter than 25 you'll be adding weight to the draw over what the limbs say. On average it's about 1 pound per inch. A pinnacle is 19 inches so the draw weight will be about 6 pounds greater than what the limbs state. I put a set of Samick Extreme 2 and Kstorms on each and it bumped the actual weigh up about 6 pounds in both cases. Another benefit with ILF is you can adjust the draw weight to some degree using the limb bolts. On average it's about +- 2 or 3 pounds from the draw weight giving you some room to grow into or back down from.


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## kaitlin (Nov 10, 2014)

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks ranchoarcher.


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