Martin Archery

[Tracker0721]

Hey ya'll, who has any experience with Martin recurves? I was looking at Bear's but then Martin popped up and they're still "handmade" in the great Washington State whereas Bear uses more mass producing techniques(dublicators and such). Nothing wrong with that, I just prefer something that was rasped and sanded down by hand. And the newest recurve from Martin looked pretty sweet. Can't remember the name though.. Or are there any archery/sporting shops around that anyone knows of that is carrying Martin and Bear bows to give em a comparison in person? Thanks for any replies!

[bassmatt72]

I don't know much about either one. Have you ever thought about building your own?

[Tracker0721]

I built my recurve that I shoot now but it didn't come out too great. I wanna try again but I don't have any of the tools/ or my press/oven down here.

[El Paisano]

I've had two or three Martin's. No problems.

[trad"Doc"53]

I have always liked the Martin Dream Catcher and Hunter. Great bows that were comfortable to shoot as well as good speed and quiet. Can't go wrong with either of them.

[M.E.B.]

The Martin Hunter is one of if not the best production bow ever made.

[garfish]

I have a hunter recurve. they're good bows. I had an ML14 longbow, but I lost it due to brain flatulence.

[Tracker0721]

The hunter or new freedom(think that's its name) are the 2 I was looking at

[M.E.B.]

I have not ever seen the new freedom. I have owned 3 Hunters and was happy with all of them.

[60 Deluxe]

I have a Hunter that I have yet to shoot. I will get around to it one of these days. It has only been here about five or six years.

My daily practice bow is a Martin X200. About the only time that I unstring it is when I put a new string on it. It has been a very reliable bow. You are aware that Martin bought out Howatt several years ago and what used to be the Howatt Hunter is now the Martin Hunter. It is one of those bows that been produced for decades.

[silverarrow]

first recurve was a Hunter. wish I still had it.

[Bowyer]

A hunting buddy has a Hunter that he purchased in '92. It's still a great bow.

[Restless]

Both Bow are made with nearly the same production techniques, to say that the Martin is "Handmade" is like saying Ford use's fewer robots than Chevy.

[Tracker0721]

Well Bear uses a duplicator to make their risers all uniform and Martin still uses people cutting away on bandsaws. There's youtube videos of their production. Pretty much the same besides that.

[RickBarbee]

I have zero experience with any of their newer model recurves, but their older models (many of which are still in production) are some of the best shooting recurves you'll ever hold in you hand.

The (Martin) Damon Howatt Hunter was/is in my opinion the best production one piece recurve ever built.

Rick