I saw someone mention Maddog Machete about 2 month ago here on LW, and got intrigued. contacted mike about the bow, and he build it for me. Not the same machete from 2012 though, redesigned totally new, 50" bow that takes 46" string (so I guess it would be AMO49"). Mine happens to be 2nd off the new form after prototype. so kinda special for me :).
everything bowyer's choice, except for weight. which I asked to have it between 45 to 50 pounds. The riser wood is zebrawood/osage accent line/Shedua. Mike did incredible job of matching wood grain across the accent line, so that it looks as though it's same wood.
my actual DL is 26", AMO DL would be 27.75 (I think). The bow could probably go another inch or two. at least, I'm not feeling "stop right there" type of wall I get from herters perfection 46/rodney wright stalker at my DL. the brace is set to 6.75". pretty low for this type of short recurve. Mike told me it can go up another 1/8 inch if needed.
The video above compares Maddog Prairie Predator 60" to Maddog Machete 50". sorry about the sun light, but you can see how the bow opens up. (no comment on my shooting ability please, I know I'm not good! :)).
subjective opinion about the bow: very very stable. for low mass riser. almost dead in hand. I found Prairie Predator to have more motion than Machete. not the fastest out of my stable of short recurves, but plenty fast for the draw weight, might be from low brace that it likes at 6.75". There's plenty of power stroke... compared to most of my other shorties, that range from 8.5 to 10" brace.
what drew me to this shorty is over-all design, in that riser not deflexing as much as at fades like my other short recurves. it definitely gave me a very different, yet satisfying shooting experience. I'm happy with this bow! definitely worth selling some stuff I had.
