I recently purchased a new, Ragim Snow Leopard, 62-inch recurve, 30# at 28 inch.

I wanted a low draw weight bow, that worked well for my various aches and pains, that I would be able to shoot all day at the club, for recreational shooting and 3D.

I wanted to try a 62 inch bow, even though I should probably use something longer, and was looking for a decent bow that did not carry an excessive price tag. IMHO, it looked like price and quality met nicely with this bow. My earlier positive experience with my Ragim Red Hawk longbow gave me confidence.

The Canadian importer was very accommodating and tested the draw weight of this bow prior to me ordering it through a local shop. This bow was on the low end of the draw tolerance, it does not stack and is 32# at 30 inch, right where I wanted it.

The Bow;

Nicely finished, it is sort of matt, but I expect it will “slick up” with use, no finish flaws.

Cut to center

Physical weight, my scale says 20 oz

String Nock grooves, very smooth (I have read some complaints on some Ragim models from years ago about rough nock grooves, but these are flawless).

Limb tips, strong looking multiwood, Ragim literature confirms that are suitable for low stretch strings.

It came with a Dacron String and it shot very well with it. I just put a nice custom low stretch string on it from a string maker I deal with and now it shoots even better for me.

It is smooth drawing and I do not feel any hand shock (and my left elbow is a good detector for shock, due to arthritis).

It shoots 30 inch 1816 XX75 Platinum Plus with 100 grain points and 4” shield cut feathers very well.

It likes the nock set at 9/16” and seems to shoot best using split fingers, which I am used to, anyway.

The weather has been poor here and I have only got to shoot it indoors, so far. Shot it on the shop’s indoor lanes up to 25 yards and was quite pleased.

I injured my right shoulder, in a fall, two days after getting the bow and have not been able to shoot for over a week.

Needless to say, I am impatient to get out on our clubs outdoor range and on the 3D trail as soon as I can; once that happens, I can provide some updates.

Limb tip, sorry the picture is not 100% clear

I briefly had one of the Ragim Brown Bear, 58" bows during some trading. It was a fine bow, matter of fact...well put together and nicely balanced. That bow looks similar in design so I expect it to be a nice handling bow.

I like it

I should have added, they come in draw weights from 20# to 60#

So there's something for everyone ;)

"I briefly had one of the Ragim Brown Bear, 58" bows during some trading. It was a fine bow, matter of fact...well put together and nicely balanced. That bow looks similar in design so I expect it to be a nice handling bow."

George

FYI, I got to shoot a few arrows off a Ragim Black Bear at the local dealer. The Black Bears are 58", a bit too short for my 30" draw and it was about 5# to 10# heavier than I would choose. However, I thought it shot and handled quite well.

I was at a Trad. 3D Shoot out of town on April 6/19 and met a guy that had a Ragim Black Bear. He bought it used, over a year ago and he said it had become his main "shooter", he seemed to like it a lot.

Reminds of a Red Wing Hunter.....nice looking bow.

"Reminds of a Red Wing Hunter"

Yeah, it does.

However, its 4" longer than the Redwing HunterI had in the mid 1970's, also half the draw weight; I was tougher then, or thought I was ;)

I think one thing that makes this a nice shooter is that the riser is comparatively short and the "live" or working part of the limbs is relatively long.

Good looking bow!

Does look like a longer version of a Red Wing Hunter....which is a good thing! Nice!

Nice!

I like it.

Good looking bow and nice review.

Thanks for all the kind comments.

I thought I'd put the review up because when I was considering this bow, I could not find any write ups on it.

Very nice bow, looking forward to an update.

Hope your shoulder heels quickly.

Looking forward "for" an update. :)

Nice looking bow, hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the review!

I can't find one for sale in the U.S. Where did you find yours? Thanks

BigB

I am in Canada and the Canadian importer is Monsens, http://www.monsens.ca/bows , but that won't help you much.

Here are two potential U.S. contacts that I am aware of;

First one;

RAGIM OUTDOORS

2380 Shasta way, Suite E Simi Valley, CA 93065 Tel. 800 560 0813 [email protected] www.ragimoutdoors.com

Second one;

http://www.nationalsportsales.com/services/ragim_archery

The company and manufacturing is in Italy, here is some info (the bows are made in Italy);

RAGIM S.R.L. Via Napoleonica 28 33030 Forgaria nel Friuli (UD) - Italy Tel. +39 0427 808189 Fax +39 0427 808750

http://www.ragim.org/

They make a wide range of bows, starting at what you might see at Walmart, then they go to various, ascending grades/price/quality of bows.

I like that they make their upper level bows in a wide weight range, from 20# to 60#, in the same model. This means that someone interested in a heavy hunting weight bow can get the weight they want, at the other end of the scale, a person such as a small statured woman archer can get the same bow in 20# for recreational shooting.

The only catch is here in Canada, it is dependent on what the importer has in stock, but they get 3 or 4 shipments from Italy/year, so at least here, you can order what you want, if you don’t mind a wait.

I'm gonna have to look into these ! Very sharp !

I had a PSE Impala (made by Ragim). Smooth fast and quiet, very good bow and looked good as well. If I hadn't had to switch to lefty I'd still have it. Your bow is a real looker.

One of their other 62" recurves, the Mountain Lion, is fancier; but they did not have it in stock in the weight I wanted, plus I do like the simple, functional look of my Snow Leopard :)

Thanks

Nice looking bow!

Quick Update; My shoulder is healing from the falling injury.

So far, weather and other commitments have limited me to basement shooting.

So far, I am very pleased with the way this bow is working out for me.

I will post more once I can get to our club's outdoor range, impatiently waiting for that opportunity.

My shoulder still hurts, but its a bit better, so I had the first outdoor shoot with the Snow Leopard at our club's range this evening.

It was seasonably cold which did not help the shoulder.

The Ragim Snow Leopard shot well for me on the outdoor range (I did shoot three arrows, each, at the two dots on the bag in the picture ;) ), I find it to be pretty quiet, too.

Gotta get healed up so I can shoot better and for longer sessions.

Great shooting and take care of that shoulder!

"Great shooting and take care of that shoulder!"

Thanks

Cold temperatures don't help the shoulder.

Normally, it is a lot warmer in this part of Canada by late April, tonight, there was a stiff wind blowing which did not help.

All too soon, I will be complaining it is too hot, here, when the summer weather gets geared up ;)

Update, I have transitioned from shooting split fingers to 3 under, after decades of shooting split fingers.

At first, I was not sure about the feel of shooting the Ragim Snow Leopard, using the Dacron string that came with it. This bow is set up to handle low stretch strings.

After evaluating it for a while, IMHO, id does very well using 3 under, especially with the low stretch string.

EDIT

At first, I was not sure about the feel of shooting the Ragim Snow Leopard, 3 under.....etc.

Nice bow. You did well.

A long term update, I still have and shoot this bow.

I have been shooting customs quite a bit but I take this one out when I want to shoot a shorter, lighter mass weight bow.

This bow has held up well and is quite enjoyable to shoot.

I have made some changes from 2 years ago; it is now fitted with a BCY Mercury string and a Hoyt Super Rest.

The arrows have been switched to 700 spine Gold Tip Warriors, with 125 grain points and 4" shield cut feathers, although it shoots the same thing with 3" parabolic very well, too. These weigh 325 grains making them just over 10 grains/# of draw weight.

I think the Hoyt Super Rest, which sits above the shelf puts my fingers, when shooting 3 under, in about the same elevation as they would be shooting split off the shelf. This has worked out well.

It can be shot with good accuracy out to 30 metres, which is great for the type of shooting that I do.

Unfortunately, this bow is not in the current line up, however; I'm glad that I have this one.

Good to hear, Glen.

Forgot to add a recent picture taken earlier in Oct. 2021.

From May, 2021

Good looking bow!

Nice Bow and Target, Congratulations, enjoy

I am still getting out to the club with this bow :)

Glen, glad you're still enjoying the bow and getting out with it. Good stuff!

Supernaut

Thanks.

I put updates on this thread from time to time because I don't see a lot of long term reports on bows. There's the understandable "flurry" when a a new bow is acquired, but follow up often dies off.

Ragim's don't get a lot of attention. Some of the stories are negative, with justification due to past reported QC issues.

I have found these issues have been corrected for some time now.

Ragim's mid and upper price range models fill a mid range price point niche where price and quality meet, IMHO.

They are not like a Black Widow etc.; but I paid just under $400.00 CDN, out the door, for this one in 2019. The Snow Leopard was at the lower end of their mid price line, there are fancier, prettier and more expensive models in the line up.

I wanted to try a lighter mass, shorter bow and didn't want to drop $1,000.00 on one in case I did not like it.

I was pleasantly surprised by it. At 1.5 pounds mass there is a little feedback on release but not severe, I would not call it hand shock.

One thing about Ragim is they offer all their mid and higher priced models in weights as low as 20#, up to heavier hunting weights. This is a bonus for me, because I want a decent, lighter draw weigh bow that I can shoot all day at the club with light arrows; not every company offers their bows in the lower draw weights.

Glen, it's always good to hear someone's honest opinion on a product after the honey moon phase is over and thank you for yours.

One of the reasons I enjoy this site as well as a few others is the ability to get honest reviews and opinions on bows and hunting gear. I've always been a research before I buy kind of person and it is not always feasible to try something or even hold it in my hands before buy it so honest opinions are valuable to me.

I'm thankful there are so many options available to us when it comes to buying bows. The Ragim lineup looks like a nice option and I'm glad to hear that they addressed some of their previous QC issues.

The one deficiency in the line up for me is that they don't currently have any one piece 62" recurves in their line up.

My Snow Leopard and the nice looking Mountain Lion, both 62" are not available these days, they might bring them back, is hard to say.

They have some nice looking 58" recurves and a 60" but with my 30" draw, I am not sure how short I want to go in a recurve.

Very good write up, good idea on the value of longer term evaluations. Nice target too, wish it were mine.

"Nice target too, wish it were mine."

Thanks

Don't be too envious, I only post the good ones! ;)

Often, reality is sad ;)

A quick update, I am still shooting the Ragim Snow Leopard and it is doing well.

I have owned this one for 3 years, now. I bought it, new, on April 4, 2019.

Though serious 3D competitors usually use something heavier and longer, I use this 62" recurve on the club's 3D trail frequently, these days.

It can give a pretty good account of itself and is nice to carry over long distances.

I am still happy with it.

Glad to hear you're still liking the bow. Enjoy it in good health!

I was negligent in adding a picture.

Here's a recent one from late April, 2022.

It was taken on our club's 3D Trail, some of the target bags are starting to look "tired", looks like I'll be part of a spring work party, soon ;)

Good looking bow. I had a Black Bear years back and it shot well.

TGbow

"I had a Black Bear years back and it shot well."

Interesting, what's your draw length? I am interested to find out impressions of the 58" Ragim's from archers with longer draw lengths.

My 62" Snow Leopard draws very smoothly out to my 30" draw; no hint of stacking that I can feel.

I don't know if that trait is shared by all Ragim recurves, just the Snow Leopard, or just unique to my individual bow.

I doubt I'll be able to check that out, 2019 was the last year for the Snow Leopard and my chances of getting to try another one to compare is pretty minimal.

Ragim makes a wide range of bows, all made in Italy, and they are a well-established company.

http://www.ragim.org/

http://www.ragim.org/

So what’s the difference between the old snow leopard and the new mountain lion?

Corax_latrans

"So what’s the difference between the old snow leopard and the new mountain lion?"

First off, my understanding is the Mountain Lion is not offered any more :( At least according to the U.S. importer and Disport, a large archery shop in Italy. I would love to be proven wrong on that.

The Ragim Mountain Lion was higher in the "food chain" than my Snow Leopard.

Its a "pretty thing". Another 62" recurve, reported to have some carbon in the laminations. It looks like the picture.

The few posts I have seen on forums were positive about them.

I wanted one quite badly in the spring of 2019 but the Canadian importer did not have one close to the draw weigh that I wanted.

They had the Snow Leopard so I took a chance on it, I'm glad I did.

If they still offered the Mountain Lion, I'd of had one by now.

These two are both proving highly satisfactory…. Though Thing One prefers my Bighorn, naturally….

Great longterm review on this bow. Bummer it's not available any longer but I spent some time looking up the new offerings and it seems like the Mountain Lion is similar. Hoping to be able to find one used if possible.

It seems like their efforts have been focused on takedowns bows lately?

Caveman

"It seems like their efforts have been focused on takedowns bows lately?"

Certainly on the 62" recurves.

They still offer 58" and 60" one piece recurves, like this Red Deer 60".

I have a 30" draw, the 62's work for me, I'm not sure how a 60" would work for me.

In case anyone thinks I am just a Ragim "fan boy" ;), I do have a couple critiques;

1.) Finish fine transverse lines on the backs of the limbs. At least the black glass bows develop these.

Usually not very large but they do appear.

This isn't just a Ragim thing, some other, well thought of makes can develop these, but its too bad it happens.

2.) Model/length/draw weight labeling is done with something like a Sharpie but it is on, not under the clear finish. I have seen some that have lost these markings.

IMHO, this shouldn't happen and the markings should be under clear coat.

Still shooting the Ragim Snow Leopard.

Here's a picture from a couple days ago.

Added for no particular reason except its finally getting nice here and the Snow Leopard looked good on a background of wild geraniums. :)

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