# What's the truth about Samick?



## IAIS604 (Apr 11, 2010)

Don't know about the Samick bows, as I don't own any, but my TradTech Black Max limbs are working out just great - no problems !


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## sharpbroadhead (Feb 19, 2004)

I have never heard anyone say anything bad about the tradtech limbs made by Samick. I have a Pinnacle Riser and the Extreme BF limbs made by Samick and they are awesome. Samick makes the some of the best bows in the world and the Korean Archers who use Samick bows have more gold than any other country.


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## voodoofire1 (Jan 24, 2006)

I've got two sets of their limbs from tradtech, carbonwoods and black max carbons , both are longs and as of yet have not had a single problem, they seem to be built very well.


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## centershot (Sep 13, 2002)

Samick is much like most other manufacturers. They have serveral grades of quality and cost. I've heard (no first hand knowlege) that early samicks ~ 8-10 years ago had quality issues. When Lancasters partnered up with them the quality (at least of the bows Lancasters carries) went up dramaticly. I have personally owned a couple of the lower end ($200) recurves and seen several examples of the Sage recurve and have been impressed. While they are not custom quality they sell for 1/4 the price and are very servicable bows. Building traditional bows is pretty labor intensive and labor costs on the Pacific rim are much lower than in the US - hence the lower price. Samick also makes very high end Olympic limbs and risers, some limbs running in the $600 range with Olympic medals to prove thier quality.


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## JNG (Sep 15, 2007)

Sounds good. On other sites Samick has a very poor reputation for quality. I'm not saying that it's well deserved but I'm trying to do some serious research BEFORE the sale as opposed to asking questions after the sale like so many others seem to do.


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## northern boy (Aug 25, 2010)

Samick sells so many bows that you are going to have some that have problems. I have one an it,s a very good shooter an great value. An there gettin better. I wouldn,t be afraid to buy any of there bows.


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## CEM (Jun 14, 2010)

I have a Samick Candiate I'm delighted with. Been shooting it for almost a year now. When I was looking, it was one of the few <200$ ILF setups out there.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

JNG said:


> Please don't turn this into an arguement but what's the real scoop with Samick. Some folks say that the Samicks and LAS TradTech limbs are great, excellent buys. Others say that they are poorly constructed, de-laminating import junk. Looking at some options for a recurve and Samick is certainly one of the choices I'm looking at.


 Keep digging....


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## jcs-bowhunter (Jul 7, 2007)

I shoot several hundred shots per week from a set of low end Black Max limbs from my Excel.

Excellent quality and reliability over the last 8 months.

Would not hesitate to purchase from them in the future.


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## MAC 11700 (Feb 22, 2011)

I've got the Black Max carbons on my Excel riser..and no...they are anything but low end...actually...very high end..and from what I've been told...are the most favored of limb company out there for their quality..and variety..On mine...it shows..LAS is a top notch company to deal with too...and if you ever did have any issue with the limbs you bought from them...they will take care of you..I've not seen any bad things about them..care to say where your hearing this at..?


Mac


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## WindWalker (Jan 23, 2005)

Samick has been manufacturing bows for over 35 years. As for their early wood riser takedowns, the "Deerslayer" was one model, and the few that I know about are still alive and doing well.

How did Lancaster Archery affect the improvement of the quality of the imported Samick bow?


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## JNG (Sep 15, 2007)

Well the overwellmingly strong support for Samick has certainly surprised me! This is good news as Samick and/or TradTech has some models I'm interested in.


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## Leafwalker (Oct 7, 2008)

WindWalker said:


> How did Lancaster Archery affect the improvement of the quality of the imported Samick bow?


They designed the models for Samick to make, so while it might increase performance, it probably didn't affect quality.

I've had a Samick Privilege limbs for 3 years and have put thousands of shots through them - they're great!

I also have the TradTech Camo recurve limbs (2 years), TradTech glass/wood longbow limbs and their Pinnacle II riser (<1 year), all of which are excellent quality.

I wouldn't be hesitant to purchase Samick gear, especially from Lancaster, they've got awesome service.


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## Greysides (Jun 10, 2009)

I own older Samick Universal Carbon limbs and current Samick Vision limbs. No problems with them.


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## dbake (Mar 5, 2007)

I have some Samick Extreme ILF limbs-fast, well constructed-no problems yet.

Don


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## WindWalker (Jan 23, 2005)

> They designed the models for Samick to make, so while it might increase performance, it probably didn't affect quality.


Not surprising. Lancaster has been around for quite sometime. When I placed orders it was usually with Lancaster or FS Discount. However, when someone asks for an archery supply recommendation, it seems like 3Rivers is often the first mentioned.


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## Arrowwood (Nov 16, 2010)

Supposedly Rob from TradTech went to the factory in China and showed the workers what he wanted done sanding-wise.


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## martha j (May 11, 2009)

don't get Ragim confused with samick as some people do. never had a problem with samicks, can't say that for the Ragim bows i've been around.


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## Old Sarge (Sep 9, 2008)

I have a Pinnacle II riser with Black Max limbs and it is in the top 5 bows of all I've ever shot. I've been doing this for 52 years and have shot just about every brand of recurve made. Also have Samick Universal wood limbs on an Excel riser and they are top notch also. It's my opinion that the guys who bash Samick either haven't shot any of the new models, or have to justify the fact that they spent $900 for a bow that doesn't shoot any better. The other reason for the bashing is from the only buy made in the USA crowd who are typing their messages on made in somewhere else computers. Also if you buy a Samick bow from Lancasters and it breaks during the warrenty period they will sent you a new one right away, excellent customer service.


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## j.conner (Nov 12, 2009)

I've had some fit issues with both Black Max and TT glass/wood limbs on my Hoyt risers. They also pull significantly heavier than marked. I generally like W&W limbs better, but then you have to deal with paint or camo dip/tape for hunt. I'd say that the low/mid-end Samick limbs are a good deal for the money.


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## IAIS604 (Apr 11, 2010)

The BlackMax limbs come with a plastic tab spacers on the limb butts.
They were put on for certain other risers that have a looser fit.
For Hoyt risers (and similar ones built to better specifications), you remove them and then the limbs fit in just fine!


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## Lil Okie (Mar 25, 2008)

I have a Pinnacle II riser and a set of black max carbons... also a set of Masters longbow limbs

I really like mine. Especially with the Masters on it! You can't go wrong with LAS standing behind it.


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## Arrowwood (Nov 16, 2010)

My Universal limbs fit too tight around the limb bolt on my Excel riser. The ilf fittings sprung into place, but the U in the limb hit the bolt at the same time, so the limb couldn't move freely. I just sanded a 32nd of an inch or so off the U and they work great.


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## BowmanJay (Jan 1, 2007)

I have seen issues with Samick bows and limbs over the last few years. Still think they are great bows and limbs for the money. There was definately issues with the red stag bows over the last 2 years. I saw 4 or 5 of them delaminate and most of them were new bows. Lancaster stood behind them but unfortunately, a few folks were hurt during these events....


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## Chupacabras (Feb 10, 2006)

I have a set of TT black max carbons on an Excel riser. They fit without removing the spacer pad. These and the upper end Samick limbs are manufactured in Korea, the lower end limbs are manufactured in China.


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## GEREP (May 6, 2003)

I've owned a half dozen different sets of Samick/TradTech limbs from the base Black Max to the top of the line Extreme BF, longbow and recurve. Never had a problem with any of them. My BFs are 5 years old now, tens of thousands of shots through them and they are still like new.

One thing to keep in mind is the scale of production. A certain percentage of anything made by man, no matter how good they are, are going to fail. Samick makes more limbs in a week than most custom bowyers make in a year...you can do the math. Samick can have 50 times the number of failures than the average custom bowyer and still be a much smaller percentage of total units.

KPC


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