Centaur ILF longbow limb review
XL 48# @ 30" with Morrison 13" phenolic riser
Centaur Archery has been making ILF longbow limbs for a number of years now. I looked at trying to order a set from Jim Neaves, but never got around to doing so, being already quite happy with the bows I have. About two and a half years ago, I came across a listing on an archery forum I frequent for a set of XL limbs marked 48#@30". The price was right and they were gently used and in great condition. We ended up moving to our current house soon after I took delivery of those limbs and I had forgotten about them until recently when I was reorganizing archery gear in the mancave. I figured they would make a great post about comparing them to the flagship Triple Carbon Elite longbow in terms of build and performance.
Also in this post, I take a closer look at the Morrison 13" phenolic riser. This is my first piece of Morrison archery gear and I was very pleased to have come across it on the classifieds listing on the forums I frequent. Bob Morrison is pretty well-known in the traditional archery community and builds some really nice bolt-down and ILF bows.
- Riser -
For this bow build, I will be using a 13" riser to try and keep the overall bow length as close to the 58" AMO length my Triple Carbon Elite longbow is. Even with a short riser, the XL limbs paired with a 13" riser results in a 60" AMO longbow. The riser used for this bow is from Morrison Archery. This is the first all-phenolic riser that has passed into my hands and I must say, I can see why it is a prized material for making risers with. The material is dense with a very solid heft to it. Just holding the riser in one hand, I can tell the phenolic is a very strong (perhaps stronger than wood) material. My particular riser features a low-medium grip and a sight window that is cut just past center. The back and belly sides of the riser have aesthetic wood overlays, of which wood I am uncertain. The overlays are blended into the phenolic with a seamless margin, although the back side has a small chip. It was 2nd-handed and I got it at a great price, so I can't complain. The entire riser has what appears to be a matte epoxy finish with a few wear spots from being used.
Unknown wood cap on the back of the riser
Radiused shelf window for minimal arrow contact
Also in this post, I take a closer look at the Morrison 13" phenolic riser. This is my first piece of Morrison archery gear and I was very pleased to have come across it on the classifieds listing on the forums I frequent. Bob Morrison is pretty well-known in the traditional archery community and builds some really nice bolt-down and ILF bows.
For this bow build, I will be using a 13" riser to try and keep the overall bow length as close to the 58" AMO length my Triple Carbon Elite longbow is. Even with a short riser, the XL limbs paired with a 13" riser results in a 60" AMO longbow. The riser used for this bow is from Morrison Archery. This is the first all-phenolic riser that has passed into my hands and I must say, I can see why it is a prized material for making risers with. The material is dense with a very solid heft to it. Just holding the riser in one hand, I can tell the phenolic is a very strong (perhaps stronger than wood) material. My particular riser features a low-medium grip and a sight window that is cut just past center. The back and belly sides of the riser have aesthetic wood overlays, of which wood I am uncertain. The overlays are blended into the phenolic with a seamless margin, although the back side has a small chip. It was 2nd-handed and I got it at a great price, so I can't complain. The entire riser has what appears to be a matte epoxy finish with a few wear spots from being used.
Unknown wood cap on the back of the riser
Radiused shelf window for minimal arrow contact
The limb bolts have a brass sleeve to protect the limb butts from the threads and the screw heads have plastic washers on them to provide a flat, self-adjusting surface for mating to the limb butts. One very nice feature of this riser is the lateral limb alignment (LLA) block that captures the ILF dovetail stud. Adjustment of the LLA block is via two set screws on either side of the closed limb pockets. To adjust, one loosens the LLA block screw and then screws in and out the set screws on the sides to move the block left or right as needed. The whole system is very easy to use and durable and is found on a number of other risers. Should the block be damaged, it can also be replaced by the user. I personally like having LLA on my risers, but it should stand to reason that the feature can also have its drawbacks. While it allows you to align a set of limbs to the riser, it can also mean you can have a perfectly straight riser and limb set that is out of alignment if you do not set everything up correctly. I am a tuning fanatic so I always make sure my limbs and riser are perfectly lined up. In general, for those who know what they are doing with bow tuning, having more adjustability can be a welcome feature.
A view of the replaceable LLA block. Note the amount of space on either side at the top to allow for adjustment.
The screw hole towards the top of the limb pocket contains a set screw that can be used to push the LLA block in. The other side has another screw that does the same and by backing one out and turning in the other, the LLA block can be moved side to side.
The limb bolts have a brass sleeve to protect the limb butts from the threads and the screw heads have plastic washers on them to provide a flat, self-adjusting surface for mating to the limb butts. One very nice feature of this riser is the lateral limb alignment (LLA) block that captures the ILF dovetail stud. Adjustment of the LLA block is via two set screws on either side of the closed limb pockets. To adjust, one loosens the LLA block screw and then screws in and out the set screws on the sides to move the block left or right as needed. The whole system is very easy to use and durable and is found on a number of other risers. Should the block be damaged, it can also be replaced by the user. I personally like having LLA on my risers, but it should stand to reason that the feature can also have its drawbacks. While it allows you to align a set of limbs to the riser, it can also mean you can have a perfectly straight riser and limb set that is out of alignment if you do not set everything up correctly. I am a tuning fanatic so I always make sure my limbs and riser are perfectly lined up. In general, for those who know what they are doing with bow tuning, having more adjustability can be a welcome feature.
A view of the replaceable LLA block. Note the amount of space on either side at the top to allow for adjustment.
The screw hole towards the top of the limb pocket contains a set screw that can be used to push the LLA block in. The other side has another screw that does the same and by backing one out and turning in the other, the LLA block can be moved side to side.
- Limbs -
Obviously, the limbs used in this review are Centaur's ILF longbow limbs. They are XL length and rated 48#@30" on a 17" riser. Being that I have a 27" draw length, I estimated the 3" reduction would net me about 6# less. However, putting the limbs on a riser 4" shorter would give approximately a 4# increase, so in the end, I anticipated a draw weight of about 46#@27" for me. With ILF, one does have about a 10% +/- adjustability with the draw weight. I figured I would be able to dial things into the 45#@27" pretty closely.
Nice, matte woven carbon fiber finish on the back side of the limbs. No logos or other markings exist on this side. Simple elegance.
The limbs are constructed very similarly as the limbs for the complete longbows. They feature a bamboo core with the same woven carbon fiber lamination on the back and matte black lamination on the belly. I do not believe they have the XTL lamination in the core like the Triple Carbon longbows have, but perhaps they are not necessary in just a limb. Limb tips appear to be the same block of milled carbon fiber as on the longbows with the top limb having a pointed tip and the lower being rounded. Honestly, if one were only looking from the fade out to tip, it would look like any other Centaur Carbon Elite longbow. Where things differ is proximal to the fade where the ILF models obviously end in a limb butt.
A view of the limb butts. Two strips of bamboo comprise the core with a wood rocker wedge in between at the butt.
The finish is a matte epoxy leaving the wonderfully simple and clean woven carbon aesthetic on the backs and a flat black look on the bellies. Minimal lettering is present with only Centaur logo and requisite limb information present - nothing more, nothing less. I very much prefer this type of finish without the flashy livery target limbs feature with manufacturer logos and snappy phrases plastered in more colors the eye can see. Even if I was not ever planning to hunt, I dislike my limbs looking like I smacked a clown in the face with them.
A shot of the limb set. Note the belly side lacks the woven carbon and has a different type instead that is better suited for compression. The only markings are the Centaur logo, serial number, draw weight information, and length.
One difference between these ILF limbs and my latest Centaur longbow is the core material. Jim normally uses bamboo for the cores, but my latest custom longbow has foam. Foam may be a little lighter than bamboo, and that can result in a very slight speed gain, but the main benefit of a synthetic material is its resistance to environmental conditions and providing the archer consistency no matter where you shoot.... or that's what I tell myself. Perhaps in the hands of a world-class archer it would make a difference, but this amateur hack doesn't expect to see any difference whatsoever.
The bottom limb tip. I particularly like how the layers of carbon are revealed in the beveled edge. The top tip is the same size, only pointed.
- Tuning -
Mated to the Morrison 13" riser, the XL Centaur limbs created a 60" AMO longbow. Since both limbs and riser were obtained 2nd handed, I made it a point to check alignment before getting into any tuning. A quick sight down the end of the braced bow indicated the limbs and riser were certainly true and no adjustment was needed. Glad to know I always have the ability to correct out-of-true limbs, but with such a short riser, I highly doubt there would be any twist in that.
A view of the complete bow braced up. The limbs take on a fairly straight braced shape resulting in a delta-shaped bow
The string used in this review is one purchased from Centaur Archery. As I understand, master string maker Rick Barbee is the man putting the twists in the excellent Centaur strings. I love how Rick pads out the loops and how he tapers the splices into the string so seamlessly. I also understand he pre-stretches them so they will not creep and hold a steady brace height. As I've stated in my other posts, I always keep a small stock of Centaur strings on hand for my other bows. String silencers used are Dyneema puffs made from a 1.5" long section of 3/8" Dyneema rope that is tied to the string and then fluffed out into a neat puff ball. Cheap, completely waterproof, can be repositioned, and has superior silencing properties. I bought a long section of rope from a marine supply company and have a lifetime supply of string silencers.
Unbraced shape. The limbs are fairly reflexed
With the bow braced up and after the string was left to settle overnight, I got down to tuning things in down in the mancave basement range. First up was to ascertain draw weight. Limbs bolts were turned out 2 turns from snug and tiller was set to even. On the digital scale, draw weight came in right at 45.15#@27". Huh. For once my estimation with different make ILF limbs and riser came in relatively close. Within a pound, to be honest. That is often the bane of the ILF archer's existence - trying to figure out what the resulting draw weight will be when buying on the used market. I lost track of how many times I've flipped limbs and risers because my estimation was way off. Anyways, with the weight right where I want it to be, I knew my usual arrows would spine in perfectly and proceeded to determine ideal brace height and nock height.
Brace height ended up right at 6-7/8" for what I thought to be quietest without the string silencers. As expected, the 500 spine arrows spined in pretty close, but bareshafts indicated a tad weaker than I would like. Since I shoot these arrows out of my other bows, I did not want to have to swap point weights when going between bows, so I decided to build out the strike plate a little to coax the arrows to the stiffer side of things. The Morrison riser initially came with a hair strike plate and rug type rest. Both are fine, but did show some wear from use, so I pulled them off and replaced them with soft-sided Velcro pads. Under the strike plate pad, I placed a 3mm thick felt shim I made by shaving down a self-adhesive furniture pad. This created a nice rounded hump to push out the strike plate a little. As it often happens, I padded out the plate a little too much and had to cut it back by just over 1mm in order to not push my arrows out too far left and change my point of aim. This is where having a Berger hole is a blessing and makes for super easy centershot tuning. With stick-on pads, you have to do a little trial and error and that may mean going through a few pads depending on how experienced you are in tuning.
Arrows used are the Gold Tip Warriors 500 spine. Total weight of 460gr. starts with a 175gr. point screwed into a 50gr. long insert. Said insert is epoxied into a 29.25" long carbon shaft and is finished at the end with two 5" long feathers and the usual green GT nock. Given the 460gr. arrow weight and 45.15# at the fingers, the Centaur limbs would be throwing a 10.2GPP (Grains Per Pound) load. Heavy by modern compound bow standards, but towards the lighter end of things in the traditional world. A 5-shot average through the chronograph netted me 165.3FPS, which is respectable and comparable to the complete Centaur longbow.
With nock and brace height determined, I tied on my nock locators and thought I'd see if I couldn't make the bow super quiet with limb dampers. I have several sets of the smaller Limbsaver recurve dampers that fit very well on the narrower longbow limbs, so I stuck on a pair a couple inches past the fadeouts. As usual, the dampers made a noticeable reduction in noise on the loose and all my ears heard was a thump. My personal experience with carbon limbs is they often emit a higher pitched sound than glass limbs, and even if the decibel levels are identical, the higher pitched sound is louder to my ears. ILF may have an influence on that since the Triple Carbon longbow lacks the higher pitched sound and seems closer to the noise a glass-limbed bow wold make.
- Shooting -
No point trying to review a bow without shooting it, so off I went to the local range. Being the lazy slob that I am, I did not take down the bow and just tucked it in the back seat of my car along with the quiver. It is ILF and you all know how ILF takes down and how easily it carries, so no need to go much further on that. I do really wish Subaru had offered the 2017 WRX in a hatchback style since the sedan is so much more cramped in the cabin. But that's a gripe for another kind of blog...
Family and work life was a bit busier lately, so I didn't have time to spend the day at the local club's bigger ranges. I ended up taking the bow with me to work a few times and shooting at the outdoor public range near my office. With laziness also comes poor planning, so I pulled into the range parking lot to find it unusually busy due to the archery opener being just days away. The range was full of compound archers out to shoot a few to make sure their bows still worked after being in storage for the past year. Some looked like they were shooting for the first time, and others looked like accomplished veterans. It's amazing how compound bow technology has allowed people of all skill levels to shoot well and put an arrow where they want with minimal effort. As much as I am a single-string purist, I must commend compounds for putting archery and bowhunting within reach of so many people.
Anyways, I walked around to the far end of the range and parked myself at the 25 yard bale that was vacant. One thing I like about this range is how the bales are separated by a "wall" of woods so you technically have your own private range. Would the woods stop an arrow if someone really screwed up their shot? Perhaps, since it is relatively dense brush, but I'd rather not test it out and I kept tabs on my neighbor by listening to when he shot and when he pulled arrows.
First shots landed near where I was expecting - a bit low. The target butt was a bale of hay and lacked any sort of spot to shoot at, so I aimed right in the middle. Muscle memory and being used to my basement range of 12 yards resulted in the expected low impacts. Fortunately, there is an old tire that serves as a protector that covers the poured concrete base the bale sits on and it mercifully saved my most errant shot from a flattened point and likely ruined shaft. I was a bit amused to see the arrow bounce off the tread and leave no sign of damage. I would be curious to see if a razor-sharp broadhead would stick into the rubber and penetrate deep enough to cause air loss. One thing is for sure, If I ever needed to shoot out a tire, I would not recommend using a 45# ILF longbow with field points.
To my disappointment, I found the center of the bale had a large soft spot from being struck in the same area so many times. Several of my arrows nearly passed-through the bale and I had to pull them out on the other side. Now I know why that bale was vacant despite such a busy day at the range... To keep from subconsciously aiming at the center, I grabbed some leaves and twigs and stuck some green spots on the bale at the four corners. I usually tend to shoot worse towards the edges of a target due to my fear of missing and losing or breaking an arrow. However, I wasn't going to get another bale today so this would have to suffice.
As expected of a Centaur product, the draw is linear and smooth to my 27 inches. The limbs gave only a thump on the loose and the riser tamed any recoil they offered and stayed well-behaved and stable in my bow hand. No doubt this was due to the heavier mass weight of the total bow compared to the Triple Carbon longbow. The grip of the riser was not as much to my liking, but I do not feel it was enough to be detrimental to my shooting. Switching between the two bows was simple enough and I was able to maintain my point-of-impact with both at 25 yards with pretty much no adjustment in gap. I suppose that would make sense given the similar arrow speeds between them.
I found myself shooting better towards the upper left corner than the others, so I decided to pick on that leaf a bit more. It was a white oak leaf that was about the size of my hand (I wear small/medium gloves) and was made to dance by arrows impacting all around it. I hit it a number of times, but put arrows around it far more often. Overall, I would estimate my groups at 25 yards averaged about a 8" diameter circle. Not very good at such a short range, but overall not bad considering the limited time I had with the bow and I had only spent about 30 minutes at the range thus far.
I thought I would try to figure out the exact point-on distance with this bow. With only 25 yards from the stake to the bale, I had a small gap and I knew it would likely be about 30 yards. Since I was at the far end of the range away from people passing through, I stepped back to the end of the dirt path behind me and pushed distance out to what I paced off as 32 yards. With a bit of the unknown facing me, I aimed back at the dead center of the bale and loosed the shot. I watched as the arrow arched towards the bale and buried itself in the upper end of the soft spot. Several more arrows ended up in a similar location, so I figured point-on was likely in the 33 yard range. To test that out, I backed up further into the tall grass and tried again. As expected, arrows impacted lower and pretty much right where I put the arrow point on the bale. As paced off from the 25 yard marker, my point-on came in at 32 yards.
I came back out to the range a second time, but to the local archery club's walk-through range instead. I much prefer this range for its variety of distances from 10 feet to 80 yards so that I can truly get an idea of how a bow performs from all possible distances I would shoot. Unsurprisingly, the bow performed as well as it did back at the other range, so I spent a little more time at longer distances - 30+ yards. I re-established my point-on distance again and made my way further out in 10 yard increments. By staying at the same bale (there was nobody else at the range) and just walking back my yardage, I was able to keep a lot more arrows on target than I otherwise would have just walking up to one and taking a shot. With a firmly established point of aim, I kept all arrows on the bale at 80 yards. Notice I wrote "bale" and not "target". I'd routinely get 2 out of 6 shots on the paper (NFAA 5-spot someone left there from before) with the rest planting themselves in the foam around it. The only other bow I would shoot this well with at 80 yards is my Olympic recurve, but that has sights and stabilizers.
- Final thoughts -
Has there ever been a bow in my reviews that I did not have some good words to write? No, not really. I've encountered bows I did not like at all and those never stuck around long enough for me to review. Looking back, I probably should have reviewed those to give some contrast to the more positive reviews I have here. Contrary to what it may seem, I do not like everything out there, nor do I have positive words for all. I am actually fairly narrow in my scope of likes and dislikes when it comes to bows and I am rather harsh with equipment that does not meet my standards. There are some pieces of equipment out there that are truly horrible (cheap, low quality junk), and there are some that are designed well and crafted with precision and care, but just don't suit my tastes. I don't feel it fair for me to say negative things about a well-made bow that simply didn't suit my grip preference, aesthetic sense, length, etc. Those bows get swiftly moved along to other owners who might enjoy them more than I would.
At any rate, the Centaur limbs get my mark of approval, as does the Morrison riser. ILF bows typically linger on with me longer than one-piece or bolt-downs due to their versatility. While one configuration may produce a horrible result, a swap of the limbs or riser can create a truly wonderful recurve or longbow. In this case, the two components came together into a fairly nice 60" longbow. It looks nice, shoots well, and has the versatility of ILF - what's not to like?
Obviously, the limbs used in this review are Centaur's ILF longbow limbs. They are XL length and rated 48#@30" on a 17" riser. Being that I have a 27" draw length, I estimated the 3" reduction would net me about 6# less. However, putting the limbs on a riser 4" shorter would give approximately a 4# increase, so in the end, I anticipated a draw weight of about 46#@27" for me. With ILF, one does have about a 10% +/- adjustability with the draw weight. I figured I would be able to dial things into the 45#@27" pretty closely.
Nice, matte woven carbon fiber finish on the back side of the limbs. No logos or other markings exist on this side. Simple elegance.
The limbs are constructed very similarly as the limbs for the complete longbows. They feature a bamboo core with the same woven carbon fiber lamination on the back and matte black lamination on the belly. I do not believe they have the XTL lamination in the core like the Triple Carbon longbows have, but perhaps they are not necessary in just a limb. Limb tips appear to be the same block of milled carbon fiber as on the longbows with the top limb having a pointed tip and the lower being rounded. Honestly, if one were only looking from the fade out to tip, it would look like any other Centaur Carbon Elite longbow. Where things differ is proximal to the fade where the ILF models obviously end in a limb butt.
A view of the limb butts. Two strips of bamboo comprise the core with a wood rocker wedge in between at the butt.
The finish is a matte epoxy leaving the wonderfully simple and clean woven carbon aesthetic on the backs and a flat black look on the bellies. Minimal lettering is present with only Centaur logo and requisite limb information present - nothing more, nothing less. I very much prefer this type of finish without the flashy livery target limbs feature with manufacturer logos and snappy phrases plastered in more colors the eye can see. Even if I was not ever planning to hunt, I dislike my limbs looking like I smacked a clown in the face with them.
A shot of the limb set. Note the belly side lacks the woven carbon and has a different type instead that is better suited for compression. The only markings are the Centaur logo, serial number, draw weight information, and length.
One difference between these ILF limbs and my latest Centaur longbow is the core material. Jim normally uses bamboo for the cores, but my latest custom longbow has foam. Foam may be a little lighter than bamboo, and that can result in a very slight speed gain, but the main benefit of a synthetic material is its resistance to environmental conditions and providing the archer consistency no matter where you shoot.... or that's what I tell myself. Perhaps in the hands of a world-class archer it would make a difference, but this amateur hack doesn't expect to see any difference whatsoever.
The bottom limb tip. I particularly like how the layers of carbon are revealed in the beveled edge. The top tip is the same size, only pointed.
Mated to the Morrison 13" riser, the XL Centaur limbs created a 60" AMO longbow. Since both limbs and riser were obtained 2nd handed, I made it a point to check alignment before getting into any tuning. A quick sight down the end of the braced bow indicated the limbs and riser were certainly true and no adjustment was needed. Glad to know I always have the ability to correct out-of-true limbs, but with such a short riser, I highly doubt there would be any twist in that.
A view of the complete bow braced up. The limbs take on a fairly straight braced shape resulting in a delta-shaped bow
The string used in this review is one purchased from Centaur Archery. As I understand, master string maker Rick Barbee is the man putting the twists in the excellent Centaur strings. I love how Rick pads out the loops and how he tapers the splices into the string so seamlessly. I also understand he pre-stretches them so they will not creep and hold a steady brace height. As I've stated in my other posts, I always keep a small stock of Centaur strings on hand for my other bows. String silencers used are Dyneema puffs made from a 1.5" long section of 3/8" Dyneema rope that is tied to the string and then fluffed out into a neat puff ball. Cheap, completely waterproof, can be repositioned, and has superior silencing properties. I bought a long section of rope from a marine supply company and have a lifetime supply of string silencers.
Unbraced shape. The limbs are fairly reflexed
With the bow braced up and after the string was left to settle overnight, I got down to tuning things in down in the mancave basement range. First up was to ascertain draw weight. Limbs bolts were turned out 2 turns from snug and tiller was set to even. On the digital scale, draw weight came in right at 45.15#@27". Huh. For once my estimation with different make ILF limbs and riser came in relatively close. Within a pound, to be honest. That is often the bane of the ILF archer's existence - trying to figure out what the resulting draw weight will be when buying on the used market. I lost track of how many times I've flipped limbs and risers because my estimation was way off. Anyways, with the weight right where I want it to be, I knew my usual arrows would spine in perfectly and proceeded to determine ideal brace height and nock height.
Brace height ended up right at 6-7/8" for what I thought to be quietest without the string silencers. As expected, the 500 spine arrows spined in pretty close, but bareshafts indicated a tad weaker than I would like. Since I shoot these arrows out of my other bows, I did not want to have to swap point weights when going between bows, so I decided to build out the strike plate a little to coax the arrows to the stiffer side of things. The Morrison riser initially came with a hair strike plate and rug type rest. Both are fine, but did show some wear from use, so I pulled them off and replaced them with soft-sided Velcro pads. Under the strike plate pad, I placed a 3mm thick felt shim I made by shaving down a self-adhesive furniture pad. This created a nice rounded hump to push out the strike plate a little. As it often happens, I padded out the plate a little too much and had to cut it back by just over 1mm in order to not push my arrows out too far left and change my point of aim. This is where having a Berger hole is a blessing and makes for super easy centershot tuning. With stick-on pads, you have to do a little trial and error and that may mean going through a few pads depending on how experienced you are in tuning.
Arrows used are the Gold Tip Warriors 500 spine. Total weight of 460gr. starts with a 175gr. point screwed into a 50gr. long insert. Said insert is epoxied into a 29.25" long carbon shaft and is finished at the end with two 5" long feathers and the usual green GT nock. Given the 460gr. arrow weight and 45.15# at the fingers, the Centaur limbs would be throwing a 10.2GPP (Grains Per Pound) load. Heavy by modern compound bow standards, but towards the lighter end of things in the traditional world. A 5-shot average through the chronograph netted me 165.3FPS, which is respectable and comparable to the complete Centaur longbow.
With nock and brace height determined, I tied on my nock locators and thought I'd see if I couldn't make the bow super quiet with limb dampers. I have several sets of the smaller Limbsaver recurve dampers that fit very well on the narrower longbow limbs, so I stuck on a pair a couple inches past the fadeouts. As usual, the dampers made a noticeable reduction in noise on the loose and all my ears heard was a thump. My personal experience with carbon limbs is they often emit a higher pitched sound than glass limbs, and even if the decibel levels are identical, the higher pitched sound is louder to my ears. ILF may have an influence on that since the Triple Carbon longbow lacks the higher pitched sound and seems closer to the noise a glass-limbed bow wold make.
No point trying to review a bow without shooting it, so off I went to the local range. Being the lazy slob that I am, I did not take down the bow and just tucked it in the back seat of my car along with the quiver. It is ILF and you all know how ILF takes down and how easily it carries, so no need to go much further on that. I do really wish Subaru had offered the 2017 WRX in a hatchback style since the sedan is so much more cramped in the cabin. But that's a gripe for another kind of blog...
Family and work life was a bit busier lately, so I didn't have time to spend the day at the local club's bigger ranges. I ended up taking the bow with me to work a few times and shooting at the outdoor public range near my office. With laziness also comes poor planning, so I pulled into the range parking lot to find it unusually busy due to the archery opener being just days away. The range was full of compound archers out to shoot a few to make sure their bows still worked after being in storage for the past year. Some looked like they were shooting for the first time, and others looked like accomplished veterans. It's amazing how compound bow technology has allowed people of all skill levels to shoot well and put an arrow where they want with minimal effort. As much as I am a single-string purist, I must commend compounds for putting archery and bowhunting within reach of so many people.
Anyways, I walked around to the far end of the range and parked myself at the 25 yard bale that was vacant. One thing I like about this range is how the bales are separated by a "wall" of woods so you technically have your own private range. Would the woods stop an arrow if someone really screwed up their shot? Perhaps, since it is relatively dense brush, but I'd rather not test it out and I kept tabs on my neighbor by listening to when he shot and when he pulled arrows.
First shots landed near where I was expecting - a bit low. The target butt was a bale of hay and lacked any sort of spot to shoot at, so I aimed right in the middle. Muscle memory and being used to my basement range of 12 yards resulted in the expected low impacts. Fortunately, there is an old tire that serves as a protector that covers the poured concrete base the bale sits on and it mercifully saved my most errant shot from a flattened point and likely ruined shaft. I was a bit amused to see the arrow bounce off the tread and leave no sign of damage. I would be curious to see if a razor-sharp broadhead would stick into the rubber and penetrate deep enough to cause air loss. One thing is for sure, If I ever needed to shoot out a tire, I would not recommend using a 45# ILF longbow with field points.
To my disappointment, I found the center of the bale had a large soft spot from being struck in the same area so many times. Several of my arrows nearly passed-through the bale and I had to pull them out on the other side. Now I know why that bale was vacant despite such a busy day at the range... To keep from subconsciously aiming at the center, I grabbed some leaves and twigs and stuck some green spots on the bale at the four corners. I usually tend to shoot worse towards the edges of a target due to my fear of missing and losing or breaking an arrow. However, I wasn't going to get another bale today so this would have to suffice.
As expected of a Centaur product, the draw is linear and smooth to my 27 inches. The limbs gave only a thump on the loose and the riser tamed any recoil they offered and stayed well-behaved and stable in my bow hand. No doubt this was due to the heavier mass weight of the total bow compared to the Triple Carbon longbow. The grip of the riser was not as much to my liking, but I do not feel it was enough to be detrimental to my shooting. Switching between the two bows was simple enough and I was able to maintain my point-of-impact with both at 25 yards with pretty much no adjustment in gap. I suppose that would make sense given the similar arrow speeds between them.
I found myself shooting better towards the upper left corner than the others, so I decided to pick on that leaf a bit more. It was a white oak leaf that was about the size of my hand (I wear small/medium gloves) and was made to dance by arrows impacting all around it. I hit it a number of times, but put arrows around it far more often. Overall, I would estimate my groups at 25 yards averaged about a 8" diameter circle. Not very good at such a short range, but overall not bad considering the limited time I had with the bow and I had only spent about 30 minutes at the range thus far.
I thought I would try to figure out the exact point-on distance with this bow. With only 25 yards from the stake to the bale, I had a small gap and I knew it would likely be about 30 yards. Since I was at the far end of the range away from people passing through, I stepped back to the end of the dirt path behind me and pushed distance out to what I paced off as 32 yards. With a bit of the unknown facing me, I aimed back at the dead center of the bale and loosed the shot. I watched as the arrow arched towards the bale and buried itself in the upper end of the soft spot. Several more arrows ended up in a similar location, so I figured point-on was likely in the 33 yard range. To test that out, I backed up further into the tall grass and tried again. As expected, arrows impacted lower and pretty much right where I put the arrow point on the bale. As paced off from the 25 yard marker, my point-on came in at 32 yards.
I came back out to the range a second time, but to the local archery club's walk-through range instead. I much prefer this range for its variety of distances from 10 feet to 80 yards so that I can truly get an idea of how a bow performs from all possible distances I would shoot. Unsurprisingly, the bow performed as well as it did back at the other range, so I spent a little more time at longer distances - 30+ yards. I re-established my point-on distance again and made my way further out in 10 yard increments. By staying at the same bale (there was nobody else at the range) and just walking back my yardage, I was able to keep a lot more arrows on target than I otherwise would have just walking up to one and taking a shot. With a firmly established point of aim, I kept all arrows on the bale at 80 yards. Notice I wrote "bale" and not "target". I'd routinely get 2 out of 6 shots on the paper (NFAA 5-spot someone left there from before) with the rest planting themselves in the foam around it. The only other bow I would shoot this well with at 80 yards is my Olympic recurve, but that has sights and stabilizers.
Has there ever been a bow in my reviews that I did not have some good words to write? No, not really. I've encountered bows I did not like at all and those never stuck around long enough for me to review. Looking back, I probably should have reviewed those to give some contrast to the more positive reviews I have here. Contrary to what it may seem, I do not like everything out there, nor do I have positive words for all. I am actually fairly narrow in my scope of likes and dislikes when it comes to bows and I am rather harsh with equipment that does not meet my standards. There are some pieces of equipment out there that are truly horrible (cheap, low quality junk), and there are some that are designed well and crafted with precision and care, but just don't suit my tastes. I don't feel it fair for me to say negative things about a well-made bow that simply didn't suit my grip preference, aesthetic sense, length, etc. Those bows get swiftly moved along to other owners who might enjoy them more than I would.
At any rate, the Centaur limbs get my mark of approval, as does the Morrison riser. ILF bows typically linger on with me longer than one-piece or bolt-downs due to their versatility. While one configuration may produce a horrible result, a swap of the limbs or riser can create a truly wonderful recurve or longbow. In this case, the two components came together into a fairly nice 60" longbow. It looks nice, shoots well, and has the versatility of ILF - what's not to like?
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