Ossage

Weight is possibly the sneakiest factor. Even good archers who have been shooting for a long time are sometimes overbowed. At the PSE shooting school, in my class, almost everyone was a competent shooter up to sponsored "pros" (local), Only one shooter out of 30 wasn't overbowed, and there were two that were borderline. All three were the pros. That tells me something. I am very wary about just going the macho route.

Also turning down a bow ten pounds is not going to feel the same as buying one that was 10# lighter. As Rangeball points out, one can get a velocity increase if one raises the weight of the bow 10#s, and don't increase the weight of the arrow. But with a 60# you would be talking a 350 grain arrow, to go to 70# and still be within the five grain limit. So you would be nearly shooting a 6 grain arrow in the 60# bow, so why not just drop the arrow weight, and pick up about half the amo/IBO difference, depending on draw length.

Brace height is a factor in shootability, but I think it has been over-emphasized recently. It is very real, but the press has been emphasizing it to give us happy feelings about the new micro bows that need a high brace height. That is worth knowing about, but I shoot my C2 better than I shot my Rival pro. The C2 has a one inch lower brace height. Forgiveness is a very small part of shootability, so I don't spend too much time worrying about it. And it has to forgive the problems I have. I have spent a lot of time working on my grip. I see it as being one of the fundamentals I really need to work on every day, I work on it even when I don't have a bow in my hand. So brace height doesn't bother me as much as it may bother some. One has to find one's own issues to work on.

Straightarrow

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Weight is possibly the sneakiest factor. Even good archers who have been shooting for a long time are sometimes overbowed. At the PSE shooting school, in my class, almost everyone was a competent shooter up to sponsored &quot;pros&quot; (local), Only one shooter out of 30 wasn't overbowed, and there were two that were borderline. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>

Ossage, just currious, how was it determined that they were overbowed? I'd like to know if I'm shooting a good draw weight.

keith meador

squidkid, your post states you are looking for a forgiving bow. you may start with a martin phantom magnum. i know the bow is short a to a, but can be shot very easily. the latest craze is short bows, but good form will overcome a lot of obstacles with shorter bows. for the money, around 285.00, you cannot buy more bow for the money.

Straightarrow

I'd have to agree with Keith. I have a Martin Panther Magnum and I doubt there is a better value on the market than a Martin. They have some very well built bows for some extremely reasonable prices. If you want a longer ATA for a bit more forgiveness, then go with a non-magnum model. They are usually a few inches longer.