Black Frog

It is very sharp, gets a lot of looks and questions at our club. I was the first one in the area to have a Merlin back when I bought my Max years ago, and now two other people in our club are shooting Merlins and I see others around at the target shoots. My Supernova still gets lots of attention at the spot shoots.....

The camo pattern is very different, but it has really grown on me.

The fullview pic is before I had mounted my rest, sight, and other goodies on the bow. But the string is one I built with 452 green and brown mix. The stock string and cables were ok, but I like to put my own on right away. Once again, probably overkill, but that' s just me.......

Rangeball

I can honestly say that is the best looking bow I have ever seen. I LOVE that camo, and the autum bronzed hardware. Those profusion limbs are damn sweet looking as well...

I just can' t seem to get my mind past the fact that the HQ35 with Omega cams is rated a full 20 fps slower than my Hornet. If it had at least comparable energy to my hornet, I' d be doing some serious plotting and planning on how to get my hands on one...

Quick, someone convince me

Rangeball

I played with some numbers to get a guestimate to see what I would end up with. Assuming I could get 270 with my 375 grain arrow with the HQ35 (my hornet does 90.5% of stated IBO with the same arrow, so that is the percentage I used), that would give me 61' #s of KE and .4489 of momentum. Probably still enough to get pass throughs on good shots with my 1.5" cut Rocket Meteorites...

I' d be losing 8' #s f KE and .0301 of momentum only to gain a smoother drawing drop dead gorgeous bow.

I can' t imagine it being much more quiet than my hornet, as it' s pretty well silent. Pinwheel' s shot both, hopefully he can point out anything I may be overlooking...

I wonder if you can get the HQ in 80# draw? Brochure only says 70, but you never know...

Straightarrow

Rangeball,

I' ve had a new Diamond Hornet and the Merlin Quest 35, side by side. and I like them both, but Diamond cheats on the draw length, where as Merlin is dead on. The difference isn' t that great. The diamond' s draw is more harsh, but it also has a larger brace height. The Merlin is whisper quiet and it shoots a fixed blade broadhead as well as any bow I' ve ever seen. The level nock travel must have some positive effects on broadhead travel.

Both bows are a step ahead of most others out there, but I' m leaning towards the Merlin for my next bow, because of how straight an arrow comes off these omega cams.

Black Frog

SA- Where does the Hornet have a larger brace height? I just measured mine at 7.75" with my current configuration.

Range- just for you I went downstairs and weighed a few arrows and threw them through my chrono. Current draw is just a hair over 27" . Current poundage is just under 65# on my scale which I consider to be accurate within 1 pound either way through the 30-70 range. I have string leeches installed on the string, along with a d-loop and two tied-in nock points.

402gr arrow = 248fps (ave of three shots, all within .5fps of each other)
328gr arrow (just over IBO) = 270fps (ave of three shots, all within .5fps of each other)

Keep in mind that chrono' s can differ as much as 3%, so your mileage may vary. I' ve never verified my chrono with a calibrated unit.

So if you go by the general rule of " 7fps-ish" or so per inch of draw, at 30" draw and without the string leeches you' d be over Merlin' s stated 298fps IBO at 70#' s. Plus I have 1/4" more brace than they advertise as well!

Straightarrow

Black Frog, you' re right, brace is about the same.

Rangeball

BF, thanks for doing that. It' s a big help. I draw 70#s over a 28" draw, so I' m guessing I could add about 7 fps for the 1" of draw and 8 or so for the 5 more #s of draw weight, which would put the 402 grain arrow at 263. Add 1.5 fps for every 5 grains to get the arrow down to 375 (the difference in your 402 and 327 grain arrow) would add 7.5 fps, guestimating a 375 grain arrow at 270.5, pretty darn close to the 270 I estimated above , and a full 18 fps slower than my hornet.

I was gonna ask you to take those pics down, as they' re mesmerizing, but I think I' d go through withdrawal if you did . My hornet is cute and I love it, but I' ve always had a thing for redheads

Straight arrow, thanks for that info. Can you expand a bit on the draw cycle differences between the Hornet and Merlin? Drawing both at 70#s, next to the Hornet, does the Merlin feel like a 60# bow? Does it make you feel like you could draw more than 70#s to get the same degree of effort it takes to draw the hornet? Also, how would you compare their noise and vibration?

Black Frog

Oh, I did put on a virgin teflon cable guide before doing those speed numbers. I actually think I picked up a few fps with that.....

Let me know if you want any other closeup pics or views of the bow and I' ll snap them for you.

Rangeball

How bout one of it all sprawled out on a bearskin rug in front of a cozy fire?




You wouldn' t believe how much thought I' ve been putting into this bow... totally rethinking everything I' ve convinced myself I need in my next bow...

Thanks...



How' s the shock and noise when you fling that 327 grain arrow compared to the 402?

Black Frog

Surprisingly, very little. I have a set of the camo NV System I put on the bow when I got it. Probably not necessary, but I had them laying around, so might as well use them- they can' t hurt. The bow does come with Limb Savers installed on the limbs, and with the string leeches on there as well- there' s wasn' t a whole lot of difference that I could tell.

There' s more noise and hand recoil in my Supernova (which isn' t much) at 54#' s shooting heavy indoor arrows than there is in the Quest35 at 65#' s shooting much lighter arrows.

I' m not saying it' s the MOST quiet and shock-free bow I' ve EVER sampled, but it is very respectable in all aspects.