[Horsebow] Definitive Ebay horsebow review

m1tch

New member
Hi all,

After not seeing that many reviews on some of the chinese horsebows on Ebay and having a bit of cash spare I have decided to get myself one and share everything on the forum about the build quality, how it shoots and will keep updating as I go.

I will be getting the bow from this seller who apparently is a very large supplier of such basic bows with the cheapest bow coming in at around ?55 plus ?10 delivery for the bow and string.

Snakeskin Bow, Pigskin Bow items in SuperMakert2012 store on eBay!

I might go for a kit with the arrows together as a set for around ?110, but might just get the bow for around ?80 and get the arrows seperate - looks like you can get 12 wooden arrows for around ?45 (only need 6 so the rest will be spares etc). The kits do however come with a bracer and finger tab. I am not too concered about that as I have a bracer and will be looking to use a thumb ring, I already have a platform tab for my recurve bow.

I will look at something like a 40 pound bow - its much heavier than I currently use but its something that I would work towards to be able to shoot eg a goal. I just need to work out what spine arrow I would need for the 40 pound bow - the spine numbers on the arrows for sale there are slightly different lol which is why I am tempted to go with a kit option.

Once I do decide on the bow I want I will keep this thread updated, I am fairly new to archery but plan to have a range of bows and shoot different styles. I am sure there are other people out there who are in the same position as me who are thinking about getting one but aren't sure. Hopefully when I choose a bow and give the initial feedback it will help everyone else.
 
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efbe

New member
look forward to hearing about this.

have been very tempted by one myself, though unsure of the quality
 

m1tch

New member
look forward to hearing about this.

have been very tempted by one myself, though unsure of the quality
Same here, but for around ?70-80 its worth a go considering you would pay that sort of price for a pair of recurve limbs lol. I think I have figured out what the 350 spine number means - I beleive it is actually the grain of the arrow as I have found some 350 grain arrows which are around the 40 pound mark. I will probably get a set of 20 of them or maybe just a dozen, even if I break a 1/4 of them I will still have plenty to shoot. Having a look at some basic, but quality wooden arrows they seem to work out at around ?60-70 for a dozen, whereas these are around ?45 a dozen. Not expecting anything special from this bow or indeed the arrows, but I am sure I will have fun.

I am thinking of getting the snakeskin style bow as actually shown in that review video, looks a bit different and the finish looks quite good. Another member of the club as a horse bow which is in the hungarian style with the flatter nock ends. I don't want to copy what he has although it does look quite simular to some of the others I have seen on ebay lol

Basically I am going to get this to bridge the gap so to speak between recurve and an English longbow - I will probably be getting a Bickerstaffe longbow, I am happy to pay the ?320ish it costs for one as I know the craftsmanship it takes to make one which I greatly respect.
 

Badbadger

New member
Do keep us posted on this. I'm curious as to quality, delivery time, etc. above all, did you have fun shooting it?
 

m1tch

New member
Do keep us posted on this. I'm curious as to quality, delivery time, etc. above all, did you have fun shooting it?
I have just purchased it about an hour ago, getting a 40 pound draw snakeskin bow and a dozen arrows - bought them both seperatly instead of a kit as I had things like quivers, bracer and tab etc.

It states that it should be here at around the end of the month and I will update this thread with the packaging and everything.

Total cost delivered - ?123

I am aware that this bow doesn't have the horn nocks which some of the more expensive bows have (by more expensive read 2 or 3 times the price) so we will see what happens after a day of shooting etc.
 

m1tch

New member
a week to go :hissyfit:
Lol calm :D I am looking forward to it arriving now, I will also probably take it to my club meet where a lot of other members have traditional bows and compare against another horsebow shooter.
 

m1tch

New member
I have just had an email to say that they have been dispatched, so they are on the way, I think that due to the large range of poundages you can get these bows in, perhaps the lighter bows have slightly thinner limbs vs the heavier bows. This might mean that the lighter poundage bows could be more liable to break perhaps, anyway it has stated it has been dispatched so I will let everyone know when it arrives :D
 

m1tch

New member
Its arrived :D

The box is ok, its well wrapped in many layers of tape lol



The nock ends are protected in bubblewrap (I also bought a dozen arrows with it) it comes with a bow bag and string



Here it is:



This is actually real snakeskin



The string wrapping is nice and tight, one thing I would mention is the wooden parts don't feel 100% finished as in they are shaped but could do with maybe a varnish but still well made



The string is quite short - I believe in the video I posted above from someone else said that as well, this might be to increase the poundage up, I have been unable to string this bow as of yet. I think I am going to look at getting a different string, it might fit fine after its been shot a few times etc

The bow is 40 pounds @ 28", its overbowed for me so actually getting a slightly longer string should help - it feels a well made bow, its slightly heavier than a longbow but the handle is comfortable and feels well put together.

The arrows I also bought with the bow as an extra were something like ?30 for a dozen and they are actually really well made - sure they aren't perfect and I migh need to just double check the fletching but its a dozen arrows lol

I will try and shoot it this weekend if I can and report back :)
 

efbe

New member
Ooo, very jealous. that does look quite quite nice!

have you got a stringer to put it together? would love to see it strung up and shooting :)
 

m1tch

New member
This is now strung, there are no stringer grooves like with longbows, there is a nack to it though:

Here it is strung, my recurve is 24 lbs (but feels light) and I can pull this ok to my anchor point - although you don't hold it there for long.

My mate has the hungarian style sort which has the ends of the limbs basically flat inline with the string and I believe it even has somewhere for the string to rest. I decided to go for a slightly different style where the string rests away from the limbs (so they don't contact when shooting).



Its the same as Tim's and I managed to string it like this, basically the walk through it and put the bottom nocking point behind your leg and bend one limb basically over your thigh. You get better leverage if you bend the bow holding it as far over as you can on the other limb:

How to string the Magyar bow (for Helen Kirren) - YouTube

I obviously havn't shot this yet but it feels like it doesn't start stacking until the last 2 inches (eg the first 26" or so feels smooth), I will see how it shoots but it feels like a solid little bow.

Note - I paid ?123 delivered for the bow (with free string and bag) plus a dozen arrows - you usually only find 'normal' horse bows at around ?200+

I am quite excited to shoot this now :D
 

m1tch

New member
Great update M1tch, looks fantastic. Have fun with it!
Thanks, I will see how it shoots and how solid it feels etc, I am glad I managed to string it lol I might try and use a stringer however it is much shorter than my recurve so might not work - eg the stringer is too long.

It does feel like a good bow though, its 40 pound and short but it does seem fairly easy to pull back, as in easy to pull part way to aim and then starts to stack when you do pull to full draw just before you release.

I just need to sort out a nocking point on the string but might just get some thread and mark a point and perhaps fit brass nocks at a later date.
 

Badbadger

New member
The stringing bit did concern me a little, but then I was scared of stringing my recurve to start with. Just takes a few times and then will be second nature I imagine. Did you pick up a thumb ring to use?
Did you string with the supplied one or go for longer in the end? Great deal on the arrows too by the looks. They may not stay the course but look ok whilst you're familiarising yourself with it.
 

m1tch

New member
The stringing bit did concern me a little, but then I was scared of stringing my recurve to start with. Just takes a few times and then will be second nature I imagine. Did you pick up a thumb ring to use?
Did you string with the supplied one or go for longer in the end? Great deal on the arrows too by the looks. They may not stay the course but look ok whilst you're familiarising yourself with it.
I will get a thumb ring soon, will just be shooting it with a tab to start with to get used to it, I kept the same string, it seems fine and I did ask the seller about it and they confirmed it was ok. As there is a marking on the bow showing the weight it would have probably been tested with the string.

I don't really expect the arrows to last ages and ages, which is why I bought 12, if say 8 of them survive I still have 6 to shoot each end and some spares, also if they do get damaged I could still salvage fletchings, points and nocks.
 

m1tch

New member
I have just got back from the morning shoot, I have shot 6 dozen arrows with it and I am impressed with it, it doesn't stack at all and I have a 29" draw. There is also no hand shock at all, I got hand shock from shooting a longbow last weekend, the horsebow is slightly heavier to hold than the longbow however still very light compared to a recurve bow. I am also aware that I am shooting with the incorrect style for the bow as I am not currently using a thumb ring, but will get one soon though - would probably add about an inch more draw I recon.

I did buy a set of a dozen cheap arrows to go with it, I believe that the quality control isn't the best on them as I have found that 2 of them have bent and 1 or 2 of them are starting to bend, however some of them are perfectly fine. Its why I bought a dozen arrows as I guess I will probably get around 8 or 9 good arrows from them so have a half dozen plus plenty of spares. I kinda of knew this when i bought them, I will invest in some slightly better arrows soon though. I will report back on how the arrows fair - I believe that it might be due to the heavier poundage of bow or might be how I picked up a few from the ground - eg bent them slightly when picking them up.

Anyway, the bow is actually very very good, its solid and is confortable to use and shoot, I can't see any wear on the limbs from the string etc and all of the coverings and lacework etc is still tight. I am still very impressed with the fact that this bow has no hand shock at all which is one of the things I wasn't expecting from the longbow last week.

I will look to get a small rubber ring/O ring to add to the bow to use as an elevation mark, at 40 pounds the bow is happiest shooting at around 60 yards no problem - most of my shots today went well over the target but were all inline behind it lol. It shows that the bow is shooting consistantly each shot which is good, just need to aim it down a bit.

Anyway, my verdict on this bow is to defiantly get it if you want to try it out, I have only shot it for 1 morning but its really nice to shoot. My suggestion might be to simply get the bow and buy arrows elsewhere - although not tried the more expensive arrows they offer. My suggestion would probably still be to get the bow and looking at getting arrows elsewhere eg somewhere like 'the longbow shop' or somewhere in the UK. I feel that if I get a good set of arrows I could use them for this bow and a longbow when I do get one.

I will post up a photo of the bow at full draw taken by someone else later for everyone to see what it looks like, even if this bow only lasts for a year or so I can still buy 3 of these bows for the same price as some of the other horsebows I have seen for sale.
 

m1tch

New member
Don't buy the arrows from there, I have just had one snap whilst trying to gently remove the bends from the arrows, I am quite dissapointed with the arrows, the bow is really good though.
 

chris munc

New member
Dont worry to much about thumb draw, unless you want to. I can't use a thumb draw on my horse bow as the cartiladge popped when i tried it resulting in a very swollen joint. Shooting med style gives me as much fun as i need.
 
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