Whitetail Chaser and I received our new bows based on the Black Onyx riser last week. Whitetail Chaser ordered his with longbow limbs and I ordered recurve limbs. We thought it would be fun to do a side by side report on our bows as we set them up and begin using them. Whitetail Chaser is in Washington and I am in Okinawa. Our first entry will include photos and bow stats, and our objectives that led to our purchase.

My bow came with 50# Black Max Carbon limbs. I am currently using a Bear Weather rest, 12 strand TS1 Flemish string, and wool yarn silencers. I have the bow braced at 8 1/2" and it pulls 53# at my 29 1/2" draw. The bow measures 56 1/2" from tip to tip.

I was looking for a shorter bow than my 64" longbow. A 60" bow would be easier to carry and shoot in brush, or use in a stand or blind. I wanted a bow that would pull a minimum of 50# without finger pinch or stack. It needed to be quiet and shoot 9 to 10 grains per pound in the mid 170's. I wanted a bow that uses ILF limbs. Because this is my first experience with the ILF system I didn't want to spend more than $500. I decided to go with recurve limbs because I believed they would be more forgiving of finger pinch and stack at my draw length.

Wow! Nice bow!

Here is mine. Put the TT wood/glass longbow limbs on it.

I wanted a quiet bow, so I went with LB limbs instead of recurve. These are the cheapest LB limbs I could find.

I shoot it off a velcro shelf that I stuck a match stick under for a little better clearance. String is an 8 strand D97. The silencers are just blue wool yarn that I bought at the grocery store. I currently have a Kanati quiver on it, and that may help with noise/vibration as well.

Brett

Those are really good lookin bows fellas. How are they in the quiet dept ?? How does the 60 or 58 inch set up compare to longer bows? I f they shoot as good as they look, MAN .....what a good hunting set-up. I hear the recurve calling me back. LOL.

My setup is very quiet like a longbow. I am getting away from recurves simply due to the noise factor.

I have mine set at positive 1/8" tiller and nock point 3/8" above center. Draws smooth and shoots good.

I'll be taking mine out for some deer scouting today. Deer season for me is currently closed, but RABBIT season is open.

Brett

Great looking bows - That riser is the bomb!

Mine is pictured here with a Thunderhorn Boa quiver. It is also positive 1/8" tiller. I have the nock set 1/2" above the rest. Comparing bow noise is subjective as I do not have a decibel meter for an exact measure. The lane I use at my house is about 4 12' wide with a glass window on one side and a concrete wall on the other. When I shoot there any noise is amplified. My quietest bow is a Bear Grizzly with a B 50 string. I would say it is an uncommonly quiet bow, and other shooters have mentioned as much. My Black Onyx is not that quiet, but it makes less noise than my Quinn Stallion with TS1 string and is similar to my Brack Non-Typical which has longbow limbs. The sound is a pleasant solid thump followed very quickly with the thud of the arrow in the target.

Brett, It is interesting that we both chose to use wool yarn for silencers. My bow was very loud before I added the silencers. I'm sure I lost some speed but the manners gained is worth the loss. What does your setup measure tip to tip?

Okiak, sounds like you got a good setup, well both of you for that matter. When you get a "thud" sound , that's what you want for hunting. Someone else not long ago on another thread said those bows shoot like a longer bow. The blackmax limbs sound like a good limb at a good price too. God bless.

Well, no rabbits today. Wind was 25-30 and gusty.

My setup is 57 3/4" long tip to tip when strung.

I had numerous reasons for going with Tradtech on this bow.

1- I wanted a 3 piece longbow due to the noise factor. I like a recurve style grip and the mass of a TD bow.

2- Cost was an issue. I recently sold a bow for $387, so I needed something similar to that for my next one. Morrison would be my next choice (and the only other option for LB ILF limbs), but I could easily hit $1200 for one of those.

3- I really liked the looks of the deflexed riser in some earlier threads about the recon or the black onyx. I think putting the bow hand forward really helps in shooting a bow easily.

Lee Vivian from Tradtech was very helpful in getting me set up with this bow. I would certainly give the customer service high marks.

Brett

I agree with Brett. The Tradtech staff was great. I called them Tuesday morning. They gave me plenty of help to make sure I matched the correct weight limbs to this 15" riser. Lee let me know that he bow shipped the next day and a week later it arrived at the PO.

I also appreciate the information shared by members of this forum. There experience and knowledge was most helpful.

Brett,

I'm going to talk about the fit and finish. Please share your thoughts.

I think the deflexed riser with contrasting black phenolic resin and wood accents is striking. The wood has a bold grain and reminds me of zebra wood.

Taking a closer look one is reminded that this is a sub $500 bow. Sanding marks can be seen in the wood and the finish could use another layer. You've got to look hard though and this being a hunting bow, pretty isn't my expectation.

The black phenolic resin is what this riser is made of. You can see the grain of the laminated material in the bow. I read where this stuff is used for engine parts. It is very comfortable to hold, slow to conduct heat, has good weight, and feels very rigid.

The Black Max Limbs are nicer than I expected. They are very nicely made with a low glare satin finish and small graphics.

Reinforced limb tips.

Here you can see the openings where the screws for the lateral limb reside.

Finally the grip. I really can't think of a bow that I've shot that has a more comfortable and naturally pointing grip than this bow has. To be honest I was worried about this part. I really considered going with a Titan or Dalaa style bow so that I could swap grips if needed. The grip on the Black Onyx is just right for my hand.

That sure makes a nice looking bow.I love the way the black recurve limbs look on it.

The grip fits my hand well, but there is a sharp ridge on the left side (right handed riser). The area under the palm could be rounded more. I can shoot it just fine, but it just seems like the edge is a little sharp to me.

As far as fit and finish goes, my LB limbs have some finish flaws and the tips still have tool/sanding marks on them. They seem to shoot just fine, but at $179, I suppose a buyer cannot expect the best limbs out there. All in all, I think they are a good limb at a good price.

Brett

I gotta tell you guys, I am lovin' this bow. It shoots quiet, and the riser fits my hand better each time I shoot it. It seems to put my wrist in a position where the bow points itself.

Maybe someday I will upgrade limbs, but for now I am liking this set up. Might have to chase a deer with it????

Brett

told ya'll you would like that onyx riser im liking mine more and more also. good luck this year hunting with them ...

Scott, That you did. Thanks for the tip.

Whitetail Chaser, Look what I have. One of the guys in our archery club loaned me his 50# TT wood glass longbow limbs. I just popped out my recurve limbs, put in the longbow limbs, untwisted my string a bit and I was in business. Shoots where I point it and wow is it quiet. I haven't measured the pull with a scale yet, but it seems to pull harder than the Black Max limbs. Might be that the limbs are heavier. Braced at 8 1/2" the tip to tip length is 58 1/2". Two inches longer than my bow with the recurve limbs.

Just looked at the sticker on the limbs. They are the Carbon/Wood longbow limbs.

I ordered a set of the 50lb "Short" Recurve Black Max carbon limbs to play around some.

Steel, What riser are you going to use?

I have a 14" Morrison ILF riser with Morrison carbon/foam core longbow limbs but am think of buying Recon or a Belcher T.T.S.S 15" riser.

Let us know how they work for you. What is your draw length?

I draw around 26 to 27 inches and will be shooting the limbs close to or at their min weight range. I don't think I will have any stacking issues heck I have a half dozen 54" bows right now never stacked on any of them. My Morrison ILF is 54" and has longbow limbs very nice limbs quiet and smooth drawing. I have shot the trad tech extreme limbs before including Scotts limbs a couple weekends back they are smooth drawing limbs if the black max carbon limbs are even close the will be good shooting limbs no doubt.

Those longbow limbs on the short riser make for a quiet but quick setup. I'll be out shooting mine again tomorrow.

Not sure if I will upgrade to the carbon masters lb limbs yet; maybe as a Christmas gift to myself???

Brett

Well the "Short" 50lb Black Max Carbon limbs I ordered came in I put them on my Morrison mini 14" riser and did alittle shooting this evening. First my limbs are finished well and fit to riser was perfect so thats a good thing. Now to shooting Wow these are very nice limbs can't believe I only gave 219.00 for them they shoot like a $500 plus set of limbs very good value in my book. They are pretty quiet, smooth draw, and FPS through my Chrony puts them in the top end of bows I own right now just behind my ACS longbow and Morrison Cheyenne carbon/foam core I own.The overall bow length on my Morrison 14" riser is 52" strung using a 7.5" brace so that makes a very compact bow overall no stacking that I can feel at my 27" draw. I have a T.T.S.S metal 15" ILF riser on order for these limbs but it will be hard to pull them off the Mini 14 riser it makes a nice setup and anyone looking for a good short wood ILF riser should give Bobs mini 14" or 16" a look mine works great with these limbs and like all Bobs Risers/Bows good luck finding any better fit and finish. Overall I like the limbs I think you would have to spend $500+ dollars to get anymore limb then these offer at less than half that cost.

ttt

what wt were the limbs did ou get. Was that the actual wt that was pulled on the morriosn riser? Sounds like they perform like a top of the line limb?

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