# Good entry level longbow for beginner



## adeebm (Oct 30, 2012)

Hello, I just joined this forum 

I've always been fascinated by all things medieval, especially longbows. As a kid, I made my own bow out of a tree in the backyard, though it was pretty bad. Anyway, I want to get into archery, perhaps shooting practice targets at home or something. I have shot cheapo compound bows before, at ranges and stuff. However, what I really want to use is longbows. I'm not sure whether traditional English style longbows or modern recurves are more beginner friendly, so I need your help in picking a good starter bow. I want something that won't break the bank and is easy to use, but will also make a decent shooter.

Looking online, I see that the Samick Red Stag seems to be a decent beginner recurve if I go that route, or a Samick Trailblazer for a more traditional longbow.

Can someone comment on those two, and/or suggest a more appropriate bow in the $200 or less range?

--Adeeb


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## TheLongbowShoot (Mar 23, 2012)

Talk to Sanford on here, he makes really nice bows!


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

elk ridge archery makes a nice english longbow that isnt to bad priced.


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## CFGuy (Sep 14, 2012)

Omega longbow! I have yet to find a poor review, on here or anywhere else. Tailored to you specifically.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

adeebm said:


> Hello, I just joined this forum
> 
> I've always been fascinated by all things medieval, especially longbows. As a kid, I made my own bow out of a tree in the backyard, though it was pretty bad. Anyway, I want to get into archery, perhaps shooting practice targets at home or something. I have shot cheapo compound bows before, at ranges and stuff. However, what I really want to use is longbows. I'm not sure whether traditional English style longbows or modern recurves are more beginner friendly, so I need your help in picking a good starter bow. I want something that won't break the bank and is easy to use, but will also make a decent shooter.
> 
> ...


I'd save another month and talk to Kegan McCabe about his Omega Longbow. A friend of mine got one used and was so thrilled with it that I had to have one too... and everyone else who has one comments on the bow in such terms that the you can only come away with the feeling that these are one of archery's valued treasures.


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## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

You will enjoy a longbow, especially since that is your desire from youth. 

Looking in the Lancaster catalog I notice several longbows in the $200 range. You mention the Trailblazer ... I also see the SLB and Red Stag Longbows. All 68" with a variety of draw weights. Samick makes very decent stuff. You probably can't go wrong with any of them. 

Indulge your passion. The folks on this forum will be glad to help out!


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## sawtoothscream (Apr 19, 2008)

go for a omega longbow. this bows performance is awsome and its price is great. love mine


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## Jeb-D. (Sep 21, 2011)

IMO, you would be better off starting with a bow that has a locator grip and a shelf opposed to an English Longbow. 

If the Omega is out of your budget, you may want to check out the PSE Legacy or Greatree Solo Black as a starter budget longbow. I got one (the Solo) as a backyard banger and am happy with it for the price paid ($189 shipped).


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## jusoldave (Apr 28, 2012)

As to the 'longbow or recurve for a beginner' question, the generally accepted "wisdom" is that longbows are generally easier and smoother to draw; recurves are generally easier to learn to succeed with (gain some degree of accuracy early-on). 

That said, longbow design has been leaning for quite awhile toward the "hybrid": useable arrow shelf; grip; sight window; reflex/deflex limbs, etc. Personally, I find hybrids the most natural-pointing bows out nowadays... but that's just me. 

When my daughter started making noise about wanting to shoot, she insisted she needed a classic English "D" longbow... until she shot one a few times. She quickly found that shooting off her knuckle (no shelf), etc, made my old semi-recurve look and shoot pretty nice for her, in comparison. So now, I'm out my old stand-by, and have a longbow hangin' on the rack that's waaaay too short for me, and much lighter than I want. Fortunately, I have a coming-three year old granddaughter who can't wait to get her hands on PopPop's bows...

I'd strongly suggest that if at all possible, you get with a local traditional archery club/group and shoot several different types of bows. If you're not really sure what works well for YOU, you don't really know what you're shopping for.

Traditional stickbows are much like classic shotguns: lots of new shotgun shooters fixate on one classic design or another, simply based on what they "like" (the looks of), only to find after purchasing one that the fit of the gun - individual shooter's body-build, length of pull, neck, etc - all dictate whether a double barrell side-by-side, or an over/under design actually work for them. The bow needs to fit YOU.

Oh, and the first $20 needs to purchase a copy of "Shooting the Stickbow", by Anthony Camera; available at 3Rivers Archery, Lancaster Archery, etc. The book and a little thought will explain a lot about archer's paradox, grip, form, etc.


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## northern boy (Aug 25, 2010)

I would go with the greatree solo or use bear montana . 35# or 40# is fun shooting an pretty good learning weight. omega is nice also more like shooting a recurve speed an feel wise. But the samicks will be fine also. Most import thing is a good custom string for your bow. really helps alot. big fan of the 450 plus 8 strand with loops padded to 12. good speed an shot feel an usally makes the bow quieter also.


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## ArcherFletch (Jul 8, 2012)

check ebay, there is a guy (wolf archery) selling some nice looking big longbows for cheap!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/72-traditio...877?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ccee87d5


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## adeebm (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks for the replies guys. I will take a look at the Omega longbows, though I'm not sure I can afford the $300 pricetag. Might just go with the Red Stag and see how I like it. I'm looking to hunt or anything at the moment, just shoot for fun.

--Adeeb


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

adeebm said:


> Thanks for the replies guys. I will take a look at the Omega longbows, though I'm not sure I can afford the $300 pricetag. Might just go with the Red Stag and see how I like it. I'm looking to hunt or anything at the moment, just shoot for fun.
> 
> --Adeeb


Sometimes a short wait can make a for a lifetime of memories. You'd also be surprised how little it takes to "make a difference" when you leave your pocket change at home each night.


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## CFGuy (Sep 14, 2012)

I thought the same thing initially, but honestly, if you're gonna get into it, might as well go with something that's going to last and you'll be happy with. I don't want to comment on your financial status, but unless it's taken you years to save, $300 might not be that far off, and may be well worth the wait. How about this: try to find a legitimate negative review about an Omega longbow, here or elsewhere. I still haven't been able to.


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## MI_Darton (Aug 8, 2005)

Just my 2 cents....My first purchased longbow was a Bear Montana. Not too expensive and shoots very nice.


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## BarneySlayer (Feb 28, 2009)

MI_Darton said:


> Just my 2 cents....My first purchased longbow was a Bear Montana. Not too expensive and shoots very nice.


I really like that bow. Elegant skinny thing, it is!


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

kustom king archery has those bows paw bos made in germany and they are nice


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

MI_Darton said:


> Just my 2 cents....My first purchased longbow was a Bear Montana. Not too expensive and shoots very nice.


I've shot the Montana. My bows are the same price and frankly, I was a bit dissapointed in it. Uncomfortable and pretty low on performance. I think there are a lot of better options, especially if you look into used bows- you can find some great bargains on really nice bows that way.


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

harvester bows.com hmakes a forward handle bow bamboo black glass dymondwood handle 325.!! wow


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## Jeb-D. (Sep 21, 2011)

kegan said:


> I've shot the Montana. My bows are the same price and frankly, I was a bit dissapointed in it. Uncomfortable and pretty low on performance. I think there are a lot of better options, especially if you look into used bows- you can find some great bargains on really nice bows that way.


 I agree there are better bargains out there, but the Montana is a solid bow with decent aestetics, nice finish and hold their value well. I don't own one, but have tried them many times. The grip did feel a little block-ish at first, but it lended itself to a very repeatable grip (hand web in the locator, corner of the blockish grip in the palm crease). If you look at a lot of the newer ILF recurve grips (such as hoyt ergo and ortho), they are also going towards a more blockish shaped grip for this reason. Speed isn't as good as a semi-recurve or recurve, but some of us like the "D" braced bow for other reasons.


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

im with you all the way as far as d shape. i make my own bows and one of my models is really close to a montana . i have one glued up right now in the form with a hickory handle actionwood lams with brown glass .ill post pics after weekend when its finished .last one i made was 52 lbs shooting a 500 grain woody at 191fps.64 long. so the montana has to be right there .i say if ya get one itll be awsome!


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## Jeb-D. (Sep 21, 2011)

Sounds cool. The bow you posted in the past (maple/brown glasss) was nice. Do you ever sell your creations?


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

thanks alot.yea i do sell my bows. i just pt together that same bow your talking about but with white glass and grey action wood limbs and grey handle. wow didthat bow turn out nice. but got to finish 4 or 5 more so i can thunderbird spray them at once any ay here is a pic of my montana style bow






this is just a riser sitting on form but itgives ya the shape.i like montanasbut the blcky handle is easilyfixed wth 50git belting sandpaper


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## Jeb-D. (Sep 21, 2011)

I like the blocky handle


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## northern boy (Aug 25, 2010)

You can shape the handle of the montana to your liking an cover it up with a rubber shur grip or leather. The montan performs very well with a custom string on it. I have a 450 plus with 8 strands an loops padded to 12. An the montana is super quiet. I personnally like the handle of the montana very repeatable. Just my 2 cents.


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

woodpecker1 said:


> im with you all the way as far as d shape. i make my own bows and one of my models is really close to a montana . i have one glued up right now in the form with a hickory handle actionwood lams with brown glass .ill post pics after weekend when its finished .last one i made was 52 lbs shooting a 500 grain woody at 191fps.64 long. so the montana has to be right there .i say if ya get one itll be awsome!


At what draw? The Montana will NOT perform to that degree of performance, heck my hybrids wouldn't even shoot that fast with a 28" draw- actually it sounds like your bows are in the top tier of peformance! The Montana will be shooting around 160-170 with a FF string at those specs.

However I would think if someone wanted an inexpensive D bow then Bama bows would be the way to go.


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

kirk who owns big foot bows has ad shaped longbow called the flt liner its also pushing hgh 190s t200s .


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

woodpecker1 said:


> im with you all the way as far as d shape. i make my own bows and one of my models is really close to a montana . i have one glued up right now in the form with a hickory handle actionwood lams with brown glass .ill post pics after weekend when its finished .last one i made was 52 lbs shooting a 500 grain woody at 191fps.64 long. so the montana has to be right there .i say if ya get one itll be awsome!


Dang.... were you shooting downhill or what... :grin:


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

woodpecker1 said:


> kirk who owns big foot bows has ad shaped longbow called the flt liner its also pushing hgh 190s t200s .


very nice bows, but are you certain the flatliner is a D shaped bow?


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

i could be wrong but i think he made it for tournaments so the string cant be on the limb.if im reading the rules right? yea i must have set m chrno down hill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thats funny . some thingscome into play like riser lenghth limb width trappng the limbs string material core woods. deep core limbs versus thin widelimbs .it might look like a montana but i aint! kind of like i thought i was eating pork but is was so sweet tasting and found out it was mountain lion.a different animal.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

woodpecker1 said:


> i could be wrong but i think he made it for tournaments so the string cant be on the limb.if im reading the rules right? yea i must have set m chrno down hill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thats funny . some thingscome into play like riser lenghth limb width trappng the limbs string material core woods. deep core limbs versus thin widelimbs .it might look like a montana but i aint! kind of like i thought i was eating pork but is was so sweet tasting and found out it was mountain lion.a different animal.


Speaking of which, I have a good friend who is an avid bowhunter who told me after he returned from a bowhunt in Idaho for mountain lion that the meat of the mountain lion was some of the best he's ever had. Bias of species, predator or prey... :grin:


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Kirk is a genius, and looking at your bow I see you have some substantial reflex. The Montana doesn't. It also doesn't have a very good mass placement in the limbs. I could see a mild D/R bow with good back set and balance producing speeds like that, however you will NOT see that kind of power come from a Montana!


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

i never did chrono a montana thats for sure. i had my hands on the bear patriot and the handle was about the same feel to me


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

kegan said:


> Kirk is a genius, *and looking at your bow I see you have some substantial reflex*. The Montana doesn't. It also doesn't have a very good mass placement in the limbs. I could see a mild D/R bow with good back set and balance producing speeds like that, however you will NOT see that kind of power come from a Montana!


Ok... tell me now... I consider my Viper to be a flatbow.... wide skinny limbs... my nova to be more complex.... not like my earlier martins which are clearly D limb... but not like my Viper quite either though both are RD desings... so the question is... how well does a D limb take to R/D... (im thinking not all that well) and what other types of limbs really are there... ? And the montana... looks to me to be a lot like my Martins... and that would be a thin thick limb.

Thank you... and Much Aloha... :beer:


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

toelke bows of montana has the whip limbs just at around an inch wide and deep core . and i believe the howard hill bager is the same. and a 21st century edge is like 1.5 wide with a long riser of around 24 to 26 inches long but the limb core is pretty thin. dont know if any of this helped !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im not sure but those are different limbstyles that all work nice.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

woodpecker1 said:


> toelke bows of montana has the whip limbs just at around an inch wide and deep core . and i believe the howard hill bager is the same. and a 21st century edge is like 1.5 wide with a long riser of around 24 to 26 inches long but the limb core is pretty thin. dont know if any of this helped !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im not sure but those are different limbstyles that all work nice.


I have an original built 21st by ploemb with a mesquite riser.... this is a truly sweet bow, narrow but flexible and fast... It's almost as fast as my Quillan recurve of more weight even ... :grin: I have an 88# Deathwish by Wendt and though a powerful bow, can't do the job the viper or nova does... and handshock.... even with a 1000 grain arrow... it reduces grown men to tears.... This is what I prefer best of reflex/deflex designed bows... none of those I have or have shot have noticeable handshock... nada... One of my Martins has some, but heavy arrows cure that nicely... 

Nice design of your bow... I'll be trying that someday too.. :grin:

Aloha...


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

thanks. i make a clone retty close toa 21st century lonestar or fox triple crown and then i changed the limbs into a recurve so i could have both .here is a pic during building stage of both but both these are complete now and waiting to be sprayed with couple others im goin to do a grop photo next week but here is a quick pic of the slight forward set handle shape






topone is marblewood riser maple thin strips with curly maple lams bottom is a riser of bocote and marblewood.top one makes a d shape


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

just on lancasterarchery sight and see they have good prices on samick bows.its really hard to build a bow for what they are sellng them for. would like to shoot one just to feel the difference between them and the bear stuff. i remember the samick verna was priced good for a entry level bow.i also rember great northern makes the foeld bow up to around 45 lbs or so but good priced even a 21st century saturn is like 3500 bucks and they are fast


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

woodpecker1 said:


> thanks. i make a clone retty close toa 21st century lonestar or fox triple crown and then i changed the limbs into a recurve so i could have both .here is a pic during building stage of both but both these are complete now and waiting to be sprayed with couple others im goin to do a grop photo next week but here is a quick pic of the slight forward set handle shape
> View attachment 1512425
> topone is marblewood riser maple thin strips with curly maple lams bottom is a riser of bocote and marblewood.top one makes a d shape


Nice setup.... I can't really tell what's going on with your riser and forward set.... maybe when you have time you can elucidate for us from ohia.... pronounced oheah... as opposed to o deah... :grin:


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

sorry my keybord is wireless and battery is dying! when i push buttons sometimes im lucky they work. :mg:


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## Live In a Park (Apr 1, 2012)

I got a Samick Red Stag one piece recurve, 35#. I'm very happy with it. Looks great, shoots great for this beginner. I started with a 25# $40 fiberglass longbow and cheap wood arrows from a big box store. Ol' Blackie seems pretty clunky now, but I wouldn't trade the experience. I learned a lot and now really appreciate the Samick.


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