When David Quinn at Quinn archery asked me if I would like to try one of there bows I jumped at the chance.Quinn Archery makes very good recurve bows at prices most can afford.While there bows are basic and most use a metal riser instead of exotic woods they are known for there great shooting qualities.A lot of newcomers to traditional bows are sometimes reluctant to try them because they are not fancy and they are priced far less than custom bows.They do themselves a big dis-service because of that line of thinking.Archers that have been at it a while and know what makes good qualities in a bow look past the colored glass and lack of fancy woods.Plan and simple, they shoot good and often better than many bows at several times the price.This page is just some thoughts and my ideas of the Comet XL 3D while I play with it a few days.
What's in the box?
The Comet came shipped in a foam padded box.It was well packed and included owners manual along with
a cd containing info on there other bow models.A 14 strand D-97 endless string,limb bolts and hex key for the bolts were included along with stick-on rest.Everything was packaged well for shipping.
After stringing the bow and checking the brace I found it to be right in the middle of the suggested brace height.Tiller was 1/8 positive on top limb and would work with split finger or 3 under shooters as well.The nock was on the string in about the right position.
I grabbed a handfull of assorted arrows and went to the yard to see what works.The bow is 42@28" and 66" amo.Most of my bows are heavier and I don't have a lot of lighter weight arrows to try from it.After fiddling a little I added a centerrest to the plunger hole.This allowed me to change centershot easy and quickly but also allowed me to get good flight with arrows that were a little on the stiff side for the bow.I settled on some Easton Axis 500s that were cut 29"s.Using a 145 point and adjusting the rest for good flight I had an arrow that was 420gns which is 10gns per pound of bow weight and would shoot well from the bow.Not as light as I would have liked since this is a target bow but would do for someone that is normally not a paper puncher anyway. :)
I also added small yarn puffs to the string.I hate the way a bow sounds with a naked string.While it is not required for target work taking the twang out makes me enjoy shooting more.I could tell from the addition of the puffs that it would not take much to get the bow quiet enough to hunt with had that been my goal.
Recently I have tried useing the indoor 300 round targets for practice to work on my consitancy.It seems shooting 60 arrows in a row at 20yds and having every one of them count is very good practice for hunting.Most of our hunting shots are that distance and closer.Making all those 20 yard shots count in the woods has always been my main goal.While I am not a target archer and just a bowhunter I have seen how I can use this as a tool to judge my own ability to pick up a bow and shoot it with some consistancy.To put it simple some bows are just easier to shoot well.If I can shoot one well 60 times in a row then it has to be a pretty good bow. :)
For those of you new to paper punching as I am you have a spot in the middle with rings around the outside for different scores.The white center is 5 pts with the next blue ring being 4 and then 3 and so on.To shoot a perfect score of 300 hundred you would have to shoot all 60 arrows in the white.The white is a bit over 3" inches in diameter or about the size of a large apple.You normally shoot 5 arrows at a time and then score and pull those.You do it 12 times for a total score.
While you might not be a target shooter I would suggest this as good practice for anyone who wants to improve there shooting.Shooting better when we go to the woods can't hurt anything and it can be fun as well. jmo
Well my personal goal since I started playing with the paper targets has been to shoot a 260.This is a score I felt was with-in reach with my normal hunting set ups.I have in fact tried it about 10 times so far with everything from my DAS bow to a bamboo backed osage bow and wood arrows.Most of my scores have been from 230 to my high of 248 with my DAS.As soon as I shot the first few arrows from this long lighter weight recurve I felt this would be the one I could do it with if I ever was. :)
I shot the first 300 round this morning after tuneing the bow to the axis arrows.Shooting outside the weather plays a big part in things.That is ok because it does so when I am hunting
as well and my goal is shooting in normal conditions.The wind was up pretty good but I still beat my best score and shot a 253 the first time I shot the bow.After lunch the weather cleared and I went back to the targets.This time I barely got my goal and shot a 261.Since this is the first day with the bow I now realise I must raise the bar some more. : ) It was also the first time I shot a 25 on an end.If you do your part this bow will not let you down and is capable of putting the arrows where you want them.
For practice it is not neccesary to shoot as in competition.I often shoot my own version of the 300 round from different distances than 20 yards.I score it the same way from 30 yards or what ever range I feel I need the practice at.You could still benifit from the consistancy it develops even if you like your hunting shots to be close.Try it and I think you might like it being part of your practice. Keeping score gives you a referance to look back at as you improve. jmo
is very good.Considering this bow has no carbon and a price tag less than most any set of target limbs it is a great deal.
Shooting through the crony doing my best to draw 28" the results were as follows'...
420gn axis 176fps 10 gns
385gn beman 187fps 9.1 gns
330gn easton 193fps 7.9gns
The 2 lighter weight arrows were chosen for weight and not tuned to the bow.The bow was shot with an 8 1/2" brace height and the small yarn puffs.
Shooting the bow is a joy.It has no handshock and very little felt vibration at all during the shot.The tiller is very good so you don't have that flutter in the limbs that long recurves with light weight limbs sometimes have.The grip is small and easy to shoot without torqueing the bow.The bow sits in the hand well and can be shot without a stabilizer like I did.The fit and finish while not hand polished custom work is very well done.The metalflake paint job on the riser is nicely done and looks better than you can see in the pictures.To me the bow has good lines and is pleasing to the eye.
The only thing I don't care for is the wider limb tips.While it in no way effects the shooting qualities of the bow some of my regular cup type longbow stringers do not work well with it.No biggie since I just used a different stringer for the Comet.A pretty small negative for what I consider a great bow for both the beginner and acomplished alike.......James
