# Average cost of an Olympic recurve?



## OldSchoolNEO

twosheds said:


> I have a quick question for all you recurve shooters. What is the average price you guys have tied up in an Olympic style recurve? Sights,rest,stabilizer, everything.


This is too dependant on the level of shooting, hundreds on the low end and thousands on the high end.



twosheds said:


> And also, can you find decent equip off of Archery Talk Classifieds?


Yes, if you know what your looking for and what your looking at.

Good luck.


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## engtee

You can find some excellent components on the classifieds here. In a lot of cases, you can find premium risers for the same, or a little more than a new low-end riser. Limbs are also available, as are sights and stabilizers. Best bet is to consult a coach to determine the best equipment, for you, and then look on here, and even eBay, before you take the plunge and invest large sums on new equipment. Do not just buy what you think is right, based upon what someone else is using or likes.


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## Warbow

twosheds said:


> I have a quick question for all you recurve shooters. What is the average price you guys have tied up in an Olympic style recurve? Sights,rest,stabilizer, everything. And also, can you find decent equip off of Archery Talk Classifieds?


About a grand, many key items used--all those little things like extra strings, stands, alignment guides, storage cases, allen keys, rests, plungers, nocking pliers, extra nocks, points, etc. add up.

I've had good luck with the AT FITA classifieds and eBay (knock on wood) with a few key items.


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## limbwalker

When I got started, all my gear was second-hand

This was an average of what I spent:

Risers - $300 ea. 
Limbs - $200 ea.
Sights - $100 ea.
Stab's - $100 ea.
Rest/plunger - $45 ea.
Tab/armgrd. - $ 40
Quiver - $40
Arrows - $200
Tripod/Scope $100
Misc. $100

So, I had approx. $1,200 tied up in one good setup plus accessories. You can be very competitive for this amount. And most folks don't really need a second bow. I've never once had to use my backup bow. I recommend a backup set of limbs pre-tuned with it's own string, arrows and plunger. Most folks will never need more than that though.

Nowdays, my gear is worth a little more, but not all that much. Anyone that thinks you gotta go out and buy the latest and greatest to be competitive doesn't really know what they are doing IMO. You can shoot well enough to make the USAT on gear that is more than 10 years old now. 

And if you have less than that to spend, don't worry. If you do your homework and are patient, you can get a pretty competitive setup for half that amount. I wouldn't be afraid to compete with a setup that cost me less than $400. Many second hand bows go for less than that on Ebay or the classifieds and they are still fully capable of shooting world class scores. Back in January, I got a set of perfectly good PSE carbons made by SKY for $80 shipped to my door. They are every bit as good as anything else out there. Pair those with a 10 year old $200 riser and you're on your way...

John.


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## Warbow

I'd add that buying used gear takes time and the warrantee doesn't necesarily follow the gear even if it is still fairly new. With used gear you have to wait for gear that meets your need to come up for sale, and you need to have a good idea of what you want. If you want to put together a rig quickly, you'll probably have to buy new unless you get lucky. Also, you can buy a full rig used, which is what I did initially, with rest, plunger, limbs etc., which is more convenient, but I wound up swaping everything but the riser as I learned more about equipment, so I'm no longer a big fan of buying full kits as opposed to components unless I specifically want all the items or know I'm getting a good deal on just the ones that I want.

Also, warranties can be an issue. The used Hoyt GM I bought was in great shape but turned out to be warped. I had to send it back to Hoyt to have it twisted back into shape. They could have refused to honor the warranty since it only applies, IIRC, to the original purchaser. Fortunately, they did fix it, though I still had to pay for gas, and bridge tolls to drive to a dealer to send it back to Hoyt at my expense and to pick it up but that could have happened with a new riser as well.


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## gig'em 99

*Good deals on AT*

I just purchased, on behalf of a student, an 08 PSE X-Factor and PSE Expression limbs, including arrow rest and plunger button, for $625. This is certainly an elite level set up, for half of retail. My student couldn't use the limbs, so I bought them back for $300, which was still a good deal.

There are really good bargains out there, but if you're not sure, ask someone to confirm that the deal is a good/safe.

Gig'em


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## Stash

A quick trip to the Lancaster website will show a rough price of $1200 for a top-end Hoyt bow, 500 for a dozen X10 arrows and points, 300 for a set of stabilizers, 300 for a sight, 150 for a rest, add another 300 or so for a case and assorted tabs, armguards, quiver, tools and stuff. Add sales tax, and a retail price for a top-end set hits $3000.

Of course you will need a complete backup set. 

Toss in a spotting scope, and the guys who go to the World Champs will be carrying around $7000 worth of equipment.

Not that any of them bought it all for full retail price :wink:


Sounds like a lot, but it's pretty cheap compared to other equipment-oriented sports. An Olympic-quality custom-fitted trap shotgun can easily cost upwards of $5000. I can't even imagine the cost of year's worth of practice ammunition, but I'll bet it's a lot more than a couple dozen X10s.


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## twosheds

*Thanks*

Thanks for all your info guys. I'm going to keep my eye open for good equip as I would like to get into this style of shooting.You guys have helped a tremendous amount.


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## cc46

$1000 is enough to get a full kit to start out. Count on changing limbs in a year or two and count on a dozen arrows each year, due to loss or breakage. 

Recently, a group at work was discussing golf, hockey, figure skating, soccer and softball etc and how much they spend on their kids' sports. They said, hands down Rep hockey at $4k per year, then competative figure skating a $3k+ per year, then golf and cheapest was softball at just a few hundred, with soccer somewhere in the middle. I asked how much is it per hour of activity? they couldn't answer. I offered I have spent $5000 in 5 years for about 4hrs a week or 200 hrs a year of activity in archery. So $5000/5 years = $1000 a year for 200 hours of activity, thats just $5 per hour, sounds cheap to me. BTW how much is a movie and popcorn worth these days? what's that per hour?

Well you get my point, invest in archery, it's not that expensive.


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## Viper1

two -

Due yourself a favor and listen to limbwalker. You can spend as much as you like on this stuff, but the fact is, you really don't have to. 

Viper1 out.


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## Jim C

Stash said:


> A quick trip to the Lancaster website will show a rough price of $1200 for a top-end Hoyt bow, 500 for a dozen X10 arrows and points, 300 for a set of stabilizers, 300 for a sight, 150 for a rest, add another 300 or so for a case and assorted tabs, armguards, quiver, tools and stuff. Add sales tax, and a retail price for a top-end set hits $3000.
> 
> Of course you will need a complete backup set.
> 
> Toss in a spotting scope, and the guys who go to the World Champs will be carrying around $7000 worth of equipment.
> 
> Not that any of them bought it all for full retail price :wink:
> 
> 
> Sounds like a lot, but it's pretty cheap compared to other equipment-oriented sports. An Olympic-quality custom-fitted trap shotgun can easily cost upwards of $5000. I can't even imagine the cost of year's worth of practice ammunition, but I'll bet it's a lot more than a couple dozen X10s.


The last Major International Shoot i participated in (I believe it was a test event for Atlanta)

I had the following

My 2-K-80 International Skeet guns. Now I bought one second hand and got the other through Krieghoff for a substantial discount but that was (at the time) 14K right there retail. My glasses about 500 since I had 5 sets of prescription lens. Vest-about 100 but the one I was wearing I was given. The ammo was 20 boxes at 4 bucks a box. The training ammo that year was around 3000 dollars (and again I got a good discount) and targets another 1000 or so.

I remember SW's Tommy Campbell being interviewed after he won the Euro-IPSC championship. Tommy tested the first smith and wesson 45 (then called the 645). He was asked how much he practiced the two months he trained in Europe before winning. 70 thousand he said. The reporter said-70 thousand rounds? NO Seventy thousand dollars worth of ammo!!


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## jmvargas

jim...that's why i stopped shooting IPSC..i felt i was burning my money!! he he he!!


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## Warbow

jmvargas said:


> jim...that's why i stopped shooting IPSC..i felt i was burning my money!! he he he!!


Hmmm...I wonder if you could do a version of the course with a bow with foam targets and such. Silly idea, I know, but well, that's me...


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## jhinaz

I don't know if twosheds is still interested but there is a barely used, complete Hoyt GMX setup (with 2 sets of limbs) in the AT classifieds for $1100 TYD. That price is a lot lower than retail. - John http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1016450


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## s26286603

see there is one little problem, if you are in a country with no real recurve base,its hard going like South Africa, we have had only two guys break the 1300 mark and thats it. Bows in this country are pretty scarce, i was very lucky, i picked up a case 11 acc, set of easton ace stabisers, gold medalist limbs, carbofast sight, and a hoyt avalon for R4500 roughly $ 640. but the thing here is experience in this country and it can be a bit disconcerning when there is only 3 recurvers on a line of 50!!! I think the second hand system works if there is a big enough pool to get the stuff from.


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## PredatorOne

You can make it as expensive or as cheap as you want


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## jmvargas

jhinaz said:


> I don't know if twosheds is still interested but there is a barely used, complete Hoyt GMX setup (with 2 sets of limbs) in the AT classifieds for $1100 TYD. That price is a lot lower than retail. - John http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1016450


.......that is an excellent deal!! the seller put a lot of thought in that set-up when he was assembling it...the only thing i would question is the compound sight..the vertical bar looks a bit short for recurve but still a great deal over-all....PS...just checked and the complete set-up just sold ten minutes ago!!!....lucky buyer for getting such a great deal!!


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## Flint Hills Tex

Look for a good quality, top of the line ILF riser model, used. Invest in that, because you can use it for years to come.

Limbs will come and go, and if you're just starting off in olympic recurve, you will do just fine with normal, inexpensive wood/glass ILF limbs. The speed advantage gained with the carbon laminate limbs really isn't worth the extra money at this stage. Once you've developed your form and reached your final draw weight (for men in FITA usually between 38 and 42#), then you can invest in the high end carbons.

A lot of the intermediate level accessories can be had for moderate prices, and will serve your purposes fine. I agree with Limbwalker, that by buying smart, you can get a good, competetive setup for around $600.


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## Greg Bouras

limbwalker said:


> When I got started, all my gear was second-hand
> 
> This was an average of what I spent:
> 
> Risers - $300 ea.
> Limbs - $200 ea.
> Sights - $100 ea.
> Stab's - $100 ea.
> Rest/plunger - $45 ea.
> Tab/armgrd. - $ 40
> Quiver - $40
> Arrows - $200
> Tripod/Scope $100
> Misc. $100
> 
> So, I had approx. $1,200 tied up in one good setup plus accessories. You can be very competitive for this amount. And most folks don't really need a second bow. I've never once had to use my backup bow. I recommend a backup set of limbs pre-tuned with it's own string, arrows and plunger. Most folks will never need more than that though.
> 
> Nowdays, my gear is worth a little more, but not all that much. Anyone that thinks you gotta go out and buy the latest and greatest to be competitive doesn't really know what they are doing IMO. You can shoot well enough to make the USAT on gear that is more than 10 years old now.
> 
> And if you have less than that to spend, don't worry. If you do your homework and are patient, you can get a pretty competitive setup for half that amount. I wouldn't be afraid to compete with a setup that cost me less than $400. Many second hand bows go for less than that on Ebay or the classifieds and they are still fully capable of shooting world class scores. Back in January, I got a set of perfectly good PSE carbons made by SKY for $80 shipped to my door. They are every bit as good as anything else out there. Pair those with a 10 year old $200 riser and you're on your way...
> 
> John.



John I have heard this story on more than one occasion from a mutual friend of ours that goes something like this.
" I remember when John got started shooting a FITA bow. He would come out to the house and he would shoot the 60 meters with a homemade sight, hell it was a match stick taped to the riser and he would just be nailing them one after another."

How much did you give for that matchstick?


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## cc46

white first aid tape and hat pins.....lots of good joad scores


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## Welshman

Jim C said:


> 70 thousand he said. The reporter said-70 thousand rounds? NO Seventy thousand dollars worth of ammo!!


That would mean he would have lost $500,000 worth of X-10's. Good thing he shoots guns. :icon_joker:


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## Welshman

One more post here (the first was in fun) yet, serious here. If you want to be a great archer......., you had better be PHYSICALLY STRONG!! And I mean it. 

You had better be able to draw that 40+ lb bow back and hold it like it's 20lbs. I'm sure Butch Johnson or LimbWalker could knock out a horse with a left cross. 
 Vic W. too.

Forget about the BOW.... be strong!


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