[Horsebow] Which horsebow?

minti35

New member
I am still a novice archer & since starting 3 years ago I have used a 30lb one piece traditional recurve.

I was kind of leaning towards a longbow, but unfortunately my budget is a bit too tight for that with a maximum spend of ?200 on a new bow. I have seen a couple of horsebows shot & was very impressed with their speed & look, so I'm now looking at possibly buying one...BUT...so many different styles & makes etc, plus the whole thumb draw thing which I really don't get. I currently use a three finger draw, shoot wooden arrows & use a bow stringer because I really don't get the whole leg through bow way of stringing.

Can anyone recommend anywhere to buy an horsebow from? I've looked online & a lot of websites seem to be in Canada, US or Europe...found some lovely bows on Spitfire Horsebow website, but they're also based in Canada.

Any help would be much appreciated.
 

Riceburner

Active member
Even within 'horsebows' there's a huge choice (just look at the Grozer website for an example).


I shall go with standard internet commentard tradition and recommend my bow (or similar): Try a Samick SKB! Lovely little bow, VERY easy to shoot, come in a range of draw weights and can be used left or right handed, and either with fingers or thumb (I shoot fingers mainly, but I'm messing around with thumb draw on occasion).

if you currently shoot 30lb, go for a 35 / 40 lb SKB. They're measured at FULL draw (ie back to the ear) so regular draw to the chin, or face is about 4-5lb less than that stated. Eg my bow (Mind50 - the carbonized version) is rated at 60lb, but I'm probably pulling about 54lb when I actually shoot (I anchor roughly at the corner of my mouth).

Will you be shooting target or field? The SKB is superb for field because it's physically small, yet powerful and fast.
 

minti35

New member
The bow I have my eye on is the Samick Mind 50! I spotted it on Longbow Shop website & so far can't find anywhere more local supplying them. I live in Nottingham & do field archery, & I would like to try a bow before I buy it.

There's some lovely horsebows out there, some lovely ones on Spitfire bows website but dread to think what the charge would be to ship it from Canada.
 

Erkat

Member
The Kaya horsebows are very nice and great value for the price tag. They do the KTB, Windfighter and the Khan. They are super smooth to draw and as Riceburner said you can easily go for more draw weight than you would expect with these powerful little bows. I have the KTB and have a draw length around 30". It is rated as 40lb at 31" and it feels more like 30lb until you release and then you see where that poundage is going. They are very efficient bows. I have shot mine with wooden, aluminium and ACC shafts. The ACCs go like a rocket and the bow produces no handshock despite the lack of weight in the arrows. If you have a long draw then definitely consider one of these or the Samick SKB. A lot of the horsebows out there have a hard stack in the draw that you can't draw past and that's usually around 28" and can be quite frustrating. Both the Samick and Kaya ones are stocked by the main UK archery retailers.
 

TJT

Member
I had a Kaya windfighter and highly recommend it. Very simple, no messing around warming it up / looking after it, etc. Just string it and shoot. You will get used to step through stringing very quickly - though try not to amputate groinal area while practising - but could just use a bow stringer instead if you like. You can happily use a glove rather than a thumbring. It is also absurdly fast due to use of high performance carbon fibre rather than the guts and eyeballs in a traditional horsebow. Not going to mention any vendor names due to restrictions but you could get a new one for a little over ?100. As Erkat mentioned the poundage is rather a lot less than that marked.

If you really want a longbow then get a longbow. I have an Aidy Hayes bow which is superb. His 'beginners' bows start at ?210. There are bowyer who will make a longbow for ?100 which would also be a possible option.
 

BillM

Member
I got my horsebow from Flagell Die and it cost less than ?100 including postage. I use it mostly twice a week at the field course outwith the midge season so it's been well used in the two years + that I've had it and it shoots really nicely. He advertises on eBay so worth a look. My longbow was made for me by an experienced longbow archer and cost ?150 so the option is there as well.

BillM
 

Erkat

Member
Another good option could be to look at the mid ground between a horsebow and a longbow and go for an American Flatbow like the Falco bows. These bows are more forgiving on accuracy than the horsebows mentioned and faster than an English Longbow. They are made from wood, glass lamintaes and carbon. They have an arrow shelf and are very comfortable in the grip area. I have a 68" Falco Spirit marked as 49lb at 28" and it outshoots my ELB (48lb at 31") in terms of speed and accuracy. They are great for field and target archery alike but in field they are brilliant for keep trajectories low to avoid branches etc and not quite as awkward to wield in the woods as an ELB. They are also very tolerant on arrow spine compared to non-shelved bows like the horsebows and ELBs.
 

Riceburner

Active member
The bow I have my eye on is the Samick Mind 50! I spotted it on Longbow Shop website & so far can't find anywhere more local supplying them. I live in Nottingham & do field archery, & I would like to try a bow before I buy it.

There's some lovely horsebows out there, some lovely ones on Spitfire bows website but dread to think what the charge would be to ship it from Canada.
One caveat with the Mind50 is that for NFAS it comes under the HT category (IIRC), - due to the carbon in it's construction. So you'll be shooting against people with rests/shelves and a couple of other 'benefits'. Doesn't bother me at all as I'm just out there for the fun of it. :)


Although - having said that.... I'm now looking at the rules for shooting (both NFAS and GNAS and GNAS Field) and can't find the carbon exclusion so I'm now confused as to what category the Mind50 falls within! I've been shooting under GNAS BareBow - but the rules now seem to suggest it would qualify for Recurve Traditional?

NFAS: http://www.nfas.net/downloads/rules/Rules-ShootingStylesRules2011.pdf

GNAS: http://www.archerygb.org/tools/documents/RulesofShootingMarch2012-[12354].pdf

GNAS Field: http://www.gnasfield.co.uk/fieldrules2002.htm (might be out of date?)
 

Berny

Active member
Without specifically plugging this retailer, they do have a broad selection in your budget, but e.g. you'll see the Mind 50 only avail. in #60 whilst the SKB avail. in broad range.
As Samick has demised, I imagine any stock held by any retailer will be dwindling & 2nd hand prices are v. competitive.
I have (& shoot from time-to-time):
- Border Khan - most probably out of your price bracket unless you're lucky & get 2nd hander cheap (i did for ?60) - good handle, skinny shelf, good cast, but nothing like the newer Ghillie Dhu;
- Samick SKB - don't like the skinnny handle - yes it's fast & fun, but wouldn't want to shoot it all day without having done some major work
on building out the handle (the rubber thingy is rubbish in my mind);
- Grozer Old Scythian - better handle, more comfortable to shoot but poorer cast & not as much fun as SKB;
- Akosbow Hungarian - well made, well-finished, comfortable, good cast, fun, looks good (won it on FB the other week for 1000 likes&shares);

I've shot the Kaya KTB & Khan (with shelf) - both light & fast, prefer the KTB (seen 1 case & heard of others of limb delaminating at full draw).

In the short bow category, a club member had a Bearpaw Mingo, 48", v. light, fast, ideal for those with shorter draw-lengths.

The quality of Flagella Dei bows can be dubious - both in terms of finish (rough, unsanded, sharp string nocks) & construction (bow broke through bowyers poor wood choice) but this may be the exception than the rule - but he has good price points (& you get what you pay for).
 

darpa-hunter

New member
Hello. I'm new into archery and researching which beginner horse bow to buy as well (from US). I have searched the web to try to figure out the difference between style of horse bows but can't seem to find a good and clear explanation. What's the difference between say Mongol bow vs Hungarian vs other (fill in the blank region) bows? Does anybody have a link to point me to? Or a short but clear description? Thanks in advance.
 

Naedre

Member
I have half a dozen Grozer horsebows of around 50# that I would consider selling. If you're interested let me know and I'll give you the details.
 

OrientalHero

New member
Horsebow - the clue is in the name ;)

Hello. I'm new into archery and researching which beginner horse bow to buy as well (from US). I have searched the web to try to figure out the difference between style of horse bows but can't seem to find a good and clear explanation. What's the difference between say Mongol bow vs Hungarian vs other (fill in the blank region) bows? Does anybody have a link to point me to? Or a short but clear description? Thanks in advance.
No-one has really mentioned the usage to which they are putting the bow. I guess the horse archers are in the minority then as opposed to the hunters and field archers!

Of course, if one is intending to do actual horse back archery, then there are a few extra considerations...

Here's a link about what is a horse bow from a maker of relatively high end horse bows...

And here's one to the British Horseback Archery Association newsletter no 2 about horse bows too.

Note that the recommended poundage is quite light (32-36) as Horseback archery targets are normally 10m away. The reason being you ride up to your target!

Anyway, hope that more people remember that Horse Back archery is still about and there are places to do it.

Oriental Hero
 
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