[Horsebow] Definitive Ebay horsebow review

Hudzi93

New member
After drawing the bow some more, I've decided that it's not the draw length that's the problem, but it's the fact that its just too heavy for me. I think it probably does have a max draw length of about 32" as I have been able to draw it that far after getting more used to the weight, but I reckon I'm better off with a 40# bow so I'm going to put this one up for sale.
 

m1tch

New member
After drawing the bow some more, I've decided that it's not the draw length that's the problem, but it's the fact that its just too heavy for me. I think it probably does have a max draw length of about 32" as I have been able to draw it that far after getting more used to the weight, but I reckon I'm better off with a 40# bow so I'm going to put this one up for sale.
Do you shoot any other bows, I guess that yours is 50 pounds at 28", but you are drawing past that so I am guessing its much heavier.

My scythian bow arrived today at my parents (can't take large packages at my apartment) but will post up a comparison of both bows together, I am interested to see how a ?100 bow compares with the ?75 bow (or cheaper). It does show that it can be drawn to 32", will be interesting to see the differences.

Do you shoot any other bows?
 

Hudzi93

New member
Yes, I have a 34# modern recurve which I shoot barebow. At my draw length I reckon I've got about 40# on the fingers.

About the 50# hungarian bow, although it does stack a fair bit at my draw length, I guess it's not as much as I thought. It's probably just too heavy for me altogether. I will continue shooting my recurve for now and I will practice drawing the hungarian bow at home for a while to see if I can get used to it. It may become my motivation to get stronger!

Hopefully I should find my recurve nice and easy to draw after using this bow.
 

m1tch

New member
Yes, I have a 34# modern recurve which I shoot barebow. At my draw length I reckon I've got about 40# on the fingers.

About the 50# hungarian bow, although it does stack a fair bit at my draw length, I guess it's not as much as I thought. It's probably just too heavy for me altogether. I will continue shooting my recurve for now and I will practice drawing the hungarian bow at home for a while to see if I can get used to it. It may become my motivation to get stronger!

Hopefully I should find my recurve nice and easy to draw after using this bow.
Yeah, thats why I got my horsebow, I currently have a 26 pound recurve which is easy to draw now lol my plan is to move up in poundages of cheaper horsebows to a point where I can handle the higher poundages to then invest in a longbow. The longbow will cost probably around 4 times as much as a horsebow and you can't exactly change the limbs out on it. I am building up my muscles on the horsebow (planning to get a much heavier horsebow soon) so that when I do get a longbow I can get a 'proper' one that can shoot a fair distance and that I can keep for a while.

I would keep the horsebow and work up towards it, I found my 40 pound bow slightly heavy the first time I shot it, but now it feels quite smooth and easy.
 

Hudzi93

New member
My plan is to get used to using a horsebow. If I like it enough then I'll consider getting a more expensive one, also 50# or so (I don't want to go too heavy). I've been looking at the biocomposite laminated bows by grozer which cost about ?300, or around ?230 if you go for one they already have in stock. If I really enjoy the bow and can shoot well with it at long distances then I may even sell my recurve.

Do bear in mind that in general, longbows aren't as efficient so the longbow will need to be heavier to get the same power.
 

m1tch

New member
Thats why I am going up to a heavy horsebow to build up enough muscle to be able to shoot a heavy longbow, maybe even a warbow, I believe the heaviest horsebow they do is 80lbs on ebay, I have however seen a 110lb horsebow somewhere lol
 

Hudzi93

New member
The 110# horse bow is by kassai, also sold on eBay. Yeah I suppose you would be wanting to shoot a warbow. I think a longbow that weighs over 80# at 32" is considered a warbow.
 

m1tch

New member
The 110# horse bow is by kassai, also sold on eBay. Yeah I suppose you would be wanting to shoot a warbow. I think a longbow that weighs over 80# at 32" is considered a warbow.
Ah, thats where I saw it lol my final goal probably in a few years time would be to shoot a period correct longbow at the correct poundage eg heavy lol having shot a few different longbows I have found that the hand shock is quite a bit whereas the horsebow doesn't have any hand shock.
 

Hudzi93

New member
I don't think I want to shoot such heavy bows. I want a bow that's powerful enough. My goal is to be able to shoot accurately with consistency, and once I can do that I'd like to practice shooting quickly.
 

m1tch

New member
I don't think I want to shoot such heavy bows. I want a bow that's powerful enough. My goal is to be able to shoot accurately with consistency, and once I can do that I'd like to practice shooting quickly.
That does sound like a plan, I am looking to shoot all sorts of bows and will be getting a Yumi at some point from Japan, I have just strung up the Grozner bow which apparently is 45lbs, but used. It seems to feel slightly more solid and I think slightly lighter (as in weight rather than draw weight), although the Grozner bow is simply covered in leather rather than wrapped in snakeskin.

The Grozner bow just feels more 'together' if that makes sense, I will put up a photo of it tomorrow when I have time, I will probably shoot it this weekend and see what its like to shoot versus the Ebay bow.
 

Hudzi93

New member
Yeah, the grozer bow will be of a better build quality. Let me know how it is. I was considering buying it off the guy too, but I had already ordered up the one on eBay. I also read reviews about the grozer and they weren't all that good, so that's partly what put me off. Let me know how it is though.
 

Hudzi93

New member
I just ordered up some bamboo arrows at ?45 per dozen. I hope they turn out to be good. By the way, how does the scythian bow feel when you draw it? Does it feel as easy as your hungarian bow and is it fairly smooth?
 

m1tch

New member
I have just strung the Grozner bow, it feels slightly different as the limbs are shorter versus the ebay bow, I have also drawn it to 32" and it seems ok, wouldn't really want to pull it any further though. I will be shooting the bow this weekend so will see what its like. Its a 45lb bow, however its used, the newer ebay bow feels slightly heavier but it might just be me. Both bows are smooth to draw but the Grozner bow is shorter. I did read reviews about the bow being 'ok' and also saw a bow that was damaged but I believe this might have been caused by incorrect stringing etc.

Here are the bows side by side:



 

m1tch

New member
I havn't yet shot the new bow, however I have just drawn it a few times and gone between the 2, you can see that the handle area on the Grozner bow is more curvy compared to the slightly flatter ebay bow. With the ebay bow the arrow sits above the handle, whereas the arrow sits at on the handle for the Grozner (as shown by the additional wooden strips over the handle). This seems to make the Grozner bow's handle not as comfortable or stable to hold in the hand compared to the ebay bow. I still need to shoot it but at the moment due to the curve on the Grozner handle it curves in where I need some support so its only resting probably about 2/3s on the palm of my hand vs a good solid contact patch on the ebay bow.

This might just be how the bow is and the smaller handle makes it a bit more dynamic, drawing the 2 bows the grozner feels easier to pull vs the ebay bow, this could be due to being used though.

The Grozner bow also has 2 strings, one seems to be around an inch shorter than the other and you can definatly feel a difference between the 2, will shoot the slightly longer string tomorrow.
 

Hudzi93

New member
I don't think it feels lighter to draw because its used. Bows don't lose their strength as easily as you might think. I reckon it's probably just a smoother bow to draw. There's a guy at my club who has a samick skb which is apparently 45#. It is very easy to draw, similar to my 34# recurve.

I can't shoot the eBay bow until I get my arrows. The seller says they've been dispatched so I should have them within the next couple of weeks. I hope he's got the spine of the arrows correct as I emailed the details to him and also left a message with the payment. I've ordered full length arrows, 60# spine.
 

m1tch

New member
I don't think it feels lighter to draw because its used. Bows don't lose their strength as easily as you might think. I reckon it's probably just a smoother bow to draw. There's a guy at my club who has a samick skb which is apparently 45#. It is very easy to draw, similar to my 34# recurve.

I can't shoot the eBay bow until I get my arrows. The seller says they've been dispatched so I should have them within the next couple of weeks. I hope he's got the spine of the arrows correct as I emailed the details to him and also left a message with the payment. I've ordered full length arrows, 60# spine.
It will be interesting to see what your arrows are like, I went for the cheap cheap option not the better bamboo sort, post up some photos when they arrive of those. Some of my cheap wooden arrows have bent slightly, might be due to transit or perhaps how I removed them from the ground when they shot over the target lol I got a dozen and I would say around 9 are good to use.
 

Berny

Active member
If you guys are thinking boos you should try making your own:
- there are now at least 3 suppliers of tonkin boo shafts in the UK/Europe;
- their customer service should mitigate against the 9/12 useable arrows one of you reported
- shafts price max ?25/12, should be able to pile, nock & fletch for <?20
& you get all the fun, quality, pride of making your own.

Aren't SKBs rated at 30/32" draw anyway - hence would feel different to std. recurve at same nominal draw weight.

You guys seem to have similar OCD to me, although I think mine is already slightly worse than yours:
- i just acquired the Yumi
- already got: Grozer Scythian, SKB, SLB, SHB, Border Khan, ....
- wanting: something Manchu'ish maybe
- as & when: Alan Fleming bamboo ELB, Rex Oakes Sagittarius Flat Bow
 

Hudzi93

New member
Berny, I'm not sure what draw length the weight of the skb is measured at. The reason I don't want to build my arrows at the moment is that I don't have the right equipment to be drilling holes and such into the bamboo. Then there's also cutting in a self nock (plastic wouldn't look right) and tapering for the points etc.

I get stressed out really easily so I'd rather just get them ready built, for my first set at least just to get me started shooting. Maybe my next set I could try building by myself.

At ?45 for a dozen, I wouldn't really have saved any money building them myself. For all I know, these arrows might turn out to be pretty good, but on the other hand they might just be ok. I'll have to wait and see.

If you ever do plan on selling any bows from your collection, let me know what you've got :)
 

m1tch

New member
I have just shot 8 dozen arrows with the Grozer bow, 4 dozen at 100 yards and 4 dozen at 80 yards, didn't score very highly due to the lack of sight marks lol but still got an inner gold at 100 yards.

The Grozer bow is quite nice to shoot although the grip feels a tad too small for me, I think if the arrow area was above the grip it would make more sense.

I will shoot the ebay horsebow next time, its the first time I have ever shot at 100 yards, its actually quite fun and nice to know that the bow can easily reach that range.
 

Hudzi93

New member
Can you not still hold the bow from higher up and have the arrow nearer the top of the strike plate? Although that would mean that your hand is wrapping around part of the strike plate which may be uncomfortable.
 
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