Used Compound Bows

Compound Bows are a modern bow for the modern archer. It was developed and patented in Missouri in 1967 and has grown in popularity ever since. In the U.S the Compound Bow is the most dominant and widely used bow. A lot of the reason for the Compound Bows popularity is due the outstanding arrow acceleration and the minimal effort required to draw the bow, it is also far more compact than the recurve bow making it easier to move them around especially when in forests etc. Because of the modern materials and technology used to make the Compound Bow there is a huge increase of power that is given to the bow thus far out matching all rival bows. In fact in competitions the scoring systems are adjusted to take into consideration the high consistency rate of the Compound Bow.

The Compound bow is a high velocity bow which gives it the advantage of having long distance range and also a remarkably high accuracy rate. The Compound Bow works using a levering system which is made up of cables and pulleys to bend the limbs of the bow as they are always much stiffer than that of other bows such as the recurve or the long bow. Due to the limbs being so stiff they cannot be drawn easily with a string attached directly, this is where the pulley system comes into play. Compound Bows have the string attached to the pulleys which have cables fixed to the opposing limb. Once the string has been drawn back the pulleys start to turn and stretch the cables this then causes the limbs to bend this is what makes the Compound Bow so energy efficient. A characteristic of the Compound Bow is known as the ‘draw-force curve’ this means that due to the levering system the weight hits a peak and then ‘let's off’ giving you a lower holding weight. The peak weight of a Compound is normally up to 60lbs but you generally only need between 15-230lbs to hold the arrow before you fire.

Compound bows are pretty much made to measure bows in the sense that each bow has to have the draw length adjusted and fitted for the person using the bow; this can be a rather involved process as it may require the replacement or adjustment of parts such as the modules in the wheel or cams.

One of the features of the Compound Bow is that instead of using standard sights they are fitted with magnifying scopes which are used together with a ‘peep’ sight which is incorporated into the string. Instead of your fingers being used to shoot the arrow the Compound Bow has a release aid which is like that of a trigger.

Due to the way in which the Compound Bow works it is advised that new comers to Archery are introduced to the recurve bow first, moving onto the Compound afterwards. If you are on a budget then the best option is to buy a used bow from used compound bows as you will save a lot of money over a brand new equivalent.