Samick Sage Recurve Bow -- Initial Impressions

My 11 year old daughter was ready to move up to a "real" bow from her kid's bows. After doing a good bit of research, I bought her a Samick Sage 62" long takedown recurve with a set of 25# draw limbs.

Ever since getting back into archery about four years ago, the Samick Sage has the been the bow that I've seen recommended the most for beginners. It's reasonably priced at $139 and available in a wide range of draw weights. Additionally, since it uses ILF limbs, one can easily buy additional sets of limbs for a heavier or lighter pull. The limbs are laminated, with a maple core and fiberglass on the back and belly. The limbs are Fast-Flight string capable.

Each limb attaches to the riser with a single bolt, with a large knurled head. The bolts and the inserts they screw into are finished with a matte blue, and came bone dry. A couple of these parts had signs of surface rust. I wiped down the bolts and placed a drop of Tri-Flow on each before assembling the bow.

The riser is made from laminated wood with a radiused shelf. It has inserts for a stabilizer, bow quiver, and plunger rest.

I bought the Sage from Archery Pros on Amazon. They included a Hoyt/Easton stick-on arrow rest. This afternoon I strung the bow, marked a temporary nocking point on the string using some dental floss, and took it out back for its first shots.

At first I used several fiberglass youth arrows my daughter had. Half are rated at up to a 30# bow, while the others are for up to 40# bows. They flew quite well from the Sage, although shooting conditions weren't good due to wind gusts.

I then tried the Easton 600 spine carbon arrows I've been shooting in my Chinese takedown recurve. They also shot well from the Sage. The arrows had no problems sticking in my bag target from about 40 feet. The carbons fitted with Saunders bludgeon heads flew well, too.

The Sage draws very smoothly with no stacking at my draw length of about 26 - 27". There's a bit of twang on release, but string silencers will take care of that.

Even though it was very windy during my first range session, I shot the bow well. It's very smooth on draw and release. It's very tempting for me to buy a second one with 40# limbs and a Fast Flight string for myself.

As we get more chances to shoot the Samick Sage, I'll post follow ups.