Hi Guys, I was directed by a fellow leatherwall fan to check out 7 lakes longbows. The price is within my budget but I was wondering if any of you folks either own one or have shot one. Pros / cons ?

had several over the years...excellent bow and bowyer...call him and you'll see.

My favorite 7 Lakes is a u-finish longbow. Shaping the handle to fit my hand was my favorite part.

I have both the Carolina Night (Hill Style) and Long Night (Mild deflex/reflex) and love them both. I've also finished up several blanks and pass them out to the nephews every Christmas. They need to change their name to Lays, you can't buy just one. :)

I am currently shooting one of Mike's Long Nights that I finished from a blank. I hung up my JD Berry once this one was built and haven't look back. Mike is also very good to work with. If I weren't in the midst of a few other projects I would consider working on another one of his blanks!

I did one of his blanks and loved the way it shot. Very quiet. Too heavy for me now. :(

Don't want to hijack the thread, but is anyone shooting his new 60" recurve, either a finished one or one finished from a blank?

I believe I'm gonna call 7 lakes today and place an order,or maybe 2. Nobody can buy just one...

The fact is that nobody can answer that for you. In spite of all the raves here, you may hate it. It happens all the time.

If there is anyone who hates their 7 lakes bow,ive never heard em say it and ive talked with a lot of folks that owned em.

I have done both styles of Mike Ballenger's longbow blanks and in my estimation they make excellent bows. Additionally, Mike's customer service is absolutely second to none. The instructions on his website are good, and in my experience you can email him with any question and you'll get a very quick and very thorough reply. I'm sure his finished bows are fine as well, but the blanks are not that hard to do and I think you'll get a great sense of satisfaction from a bow that you have contributed to making. Dan Jones

I finished one of the long nights. I bought it off a gentlemen that decided it was going to be too heavy for $150. I love mine!! Mike Ballenger the owner/bowyer is a great guy!!

I've shot Mike's longbows and recurves. With his longbow blanks I've built a 64", a 60" double-carbon, and a 64" single carbon. My favourite is the 64" single carbon.

I've also built a 54" and a 60" from his recurve blanks. I think my favourite are his recurves. The 54" shoots amazing well for such a short bow. The 60" is super smooth and a "tack driver".

I highly recommend 7Lakes blanks. Mike is amazing to work with and his workmanship is top notch. He's also a very nice guy.

Some pics of the 60" recurve

One more showing the walnut core. Just an example of Mike's attention to detail.

And here is the last group I shot with the 60" on the first day out, with frozen fingers at about 18 yards.

Sweet, I think 7 lakes is the way to go, I'll call him tommorow and place my order. I'll also ask him to check out the wall and see how well he respected. Thanks guys....

I had one that was an excellent shooter!

It's already been said but Mike is an awesome guy. He has helped me tremendously with some bow building 101. Not sure any other bowyer would offer up so much advice and help.

I just received my new "Carolina Night" blank. I have a neice in mind for this light weight one. Excellent bows and bowyer. Let us know what you ordered.

Come on now, don't keep us hanging. What did you order?

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