[Horsebow] Bow makers

MaxZeta

New member
Hello fellow archers!

Well my question is simple, are toth zoltan bows as good as grozer bows?.

I ask because I plan to buy a mongolian or hungarian bow (unfortunately, hunnish bows are difficult and even though I like the shape and how it looks, I want something that I can actually shoot and hit a target without too much frustration).

Anyway, I know Grozer is a good bow maker but their bows don't catch my eye much. I like something more rounded on the grip, more like "M" shaped rather than "D" if you know what I mean. But the problem is that I can't find much feedback on Toth Zoltan bows, and before buying something something "preety" that whill shoot awful and break within a year, I prefer buying good quality with a semi-decent good looks....I know I am being shallow, but come on, your bow first catches you by how it looks and then by how it shoots, right?.

Thanks!


PS: Kassai is out of the question, I simply don't like them that's why I didn't put it.
 

ChakaZulu

New member
The Toth bows that I've seen were wrapped in a heavy suede material. You've already got huge great static tips to reduce your limb speed, I personally see little point in adding yet more mass. That said, they shoot as well as could be expected for a bow that has far more mass than necessary on the limbs. Grozer and Kassai also have the heavy tips. Personally I wouldn't use a Mongol/Hungarian style bow unless it was at least 50lbs and preferably heavier. Below that the extra energy storage is severely outweighed by the mass, in my opinion.

I personally would rate Grozer over Toth in any event.
 

MaxZeta

New member
Thanks for your info, but one question, I shoot with 36 pounds with olympic bow, wouldn't a 50 be kinda too much for me?. I was planning on getting a 36-40 one.
 

ChakaZulu

New member
Best to try one if you can. It partly depends on what use you will be putting it to. Generally speaking you will hold a horsebow for much shorter time than an olympic, so can shoot heavier. But yes, 50lbs may be too much. I would maybe consider a working recurve like the SKB or the Kaya. The big static recurve with those massive tips is simply not a great design for lightweight bows.
 

MaxZeta

New member
Kassai bows don't appeal to me, I don't know, it's like recurves, some people like Hoyt other W&W.

Right now I made a decesion. I will buy a turkish bow.

Someone gave me the mail address for a guy named Golhan in Turkey that make decent bows at decent price. I was lucky to see one of them and they seem fairly well made. But right now i'm getting impacient for him to reply me since it's been almost a week. If he doesn't reply by tuesday i will go for Grozer.
 

Hudzi93

New member
I like the look of the turkish bows too. I was looking at the grozer website and they have a section showing the bows they already have in stock, which are discounted a little. I particularly like the idea of the short turkish bows. They're only 42" long when string but the problem is that their max draw length is 30" which may be a little short for me.
 

MaxZeta

New member
I'm sorry but you saw wrong, short turkish bows are 29" maximum, the "normal" one is 30". But don't get seduced by that, i was checking the numbers and trying to "reproduce it" with simple threads that i have at home and there is not much difference. The brace is a couple of inches less (which i'm not a big fan....actually my arm is not if you know what i mean) and it seems the siyahs are shorter, the rest is practically the same. But these are my estimates, until i have one in my hands i can't be 100% sure
 

Hudzi93

New member
I'm pretty sure it said they have a max draw of 30", but that's only if you're using a thumb draw. Using a 3-finger draw it has a max draw of 28-29" so I'm guessing that's what you meant. The problem is that my 3-finger draw length is about 30" though. Anyway, I suppose a really short bow wouldn't be the most practical for target archery.
 

ChakaZulu

New member
I'd be interested to know how the Golhan turns out. If it's the guy I think it might be then he once tried advertising his bows on Facebook by demonstrating that you could dry fire them without them breaking, thereby quite possibly demonstrating that they either don't store enough energy or aren't fast enough...
 

MaxZeta

New member
I'd be interested to know how the Golhan turns out. If it's the guy I think it might be then he once tried advertising his bows on Facebook by demonstrating that you could dry fire them without them breaking, thereby quite possibly demonstrating that they either don't store enough energy or aren't fast enough...
I saw that video, it's quite shocking to see since as an archer doing such thing is like the ultimate sin against a bow.

At the end I ended up buying a Turkish base Grozer, Golhan contacted me a week later and his bow was around 300 euros + shipping and it was going to be due in 4 months, which usually means near 6 months. I couldn't accepted since I'm leaving Turkey in that time and getting it in my own country means 70% taxes over final price (bow + shippment). Luckly I found a local Grozer reseller and he had a bow in stock so I will get it some time next week.
 

Jhoneil

New member
I agree on the Toth bows. They are not very pretty and very inefficient. Check out Cinnabar bows. They are amazing.
 

Secutor74

New member
I have a laminate Grozer Nomad Sarmatian and fiberglass Arcus Scythian Bear Hunter.

The Grozer is a monster in terms of speed but it is so light you require great skill in order to be accurate. The entry level Arcus bows are simply fantastic with more details than any competitors and great performance. Their higher end laminate bows are superb, you can check them on the Melin website.

Your question is not easy to answer and I recommend you find a Grozer dealer to see how you get on with the grip. On my nomad Sarmatian it is a thin D but I plan to wrap it in leather to bulk it up a bit and protect the wood from marking. I heard good things about Toth but buying a bow is a very personal choice, I believe you should try first.

Your budget will be important too, ?120 will get you a very nice Glass bow, double this figure for a wood laminate or multiply by 10 for horn and sinew.
 
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