Chinese Takedown Recurve Bow

Continuing with my archery theme, I present for you consideration this 45 lb. draw takedown recurve bow that I bought from China Archery Supplies. It is their "Yellow Diamond" takedown recurve.  I ordered it on November 20th and it was delivered last night. (Actually, DHL dropped it off 4 houses down the block. Thankfully an honest neighbor brought it to me this afternoon.)

I decided to get this bow instead of something like the more easily available Samick Sage, because I was intrigued with the idea of a takedown bow that has limbs styled after a traditional Asian bow. In my experience with my Toth Magyar bow and my Manchu bow, the siyahs almost give you a let-off when you draw.

The bow came nicely packed in bubble wrap in a small box, along with the string and an Allen wrench to attach/detach the limbs.

As you can see in the closeups above, each limb is held on with two bolts with brass washers. There are threaded brass inserts that the bolts screw into, along with one on the back of the riser for a stabilizer or fishing reel, and two on the left for a quiver.

The riser and siyahs are some kind of lightweight wood, while the limbs are fiberglass covered with faux yellow snakeskin. It's kinda pimptastic but should be a decent natural camo.

I've been fighting off a cold the past couple of days but got out back today to get some fresh air. I'd shot my Samick SLB-II longbow and my Manchu bow earlier in the day so my arms were a bit tired, but after my neighbor brought me the new bow I had to give it a try. After assembling and stringing it I used my bow square to find a nocking point 3/8" above level to start with.

The arrows I used were some Beman 600 spine carbons that I'd bought awhile ago from 3Rivers, and they turned out to be a good match. I put about two dozen shots through it and was able to keep most of them on my small foam block target at about 12 yards. I'll probably set the nocking point on the string at 1/2" above level, since at 3/8" I got some porpoising.

The bow slings the carbon arrows at a pretty good clip and should make for a nice informal target shooting and field bow. As a takedown, it can fit into a nice small package, so it'll make a good choice to take car camping. At 45# it's powerful enough to take a deer with a sharp broadhead placed in the right spot.

I'll post more about it after I shoot it some more.