10 Best Recurve Bows Reviews And Beginners Guide for 2021

Love to ride on a time machine to travel the ages when people discover bows and arrows to protect them, hunt to collect the foods and compete with each other to survive and show off strength. We’re not joking! You can test if you purchase the best recurve bow and turn your backyard into an archery practice ground.

Of the history of using recurve bow started since 1000 BC. From the time then, it improves its design and the materials by which its build, but the style and core principle remain as it was. It conceived that the Central Asian’s invented recurve bow in 1000 BC and around in the 500 AD it took entrance into America with the hand of Inuit, and widely used for hunting, battlefields before inventing the gun in the 1800s.

With the hand of modern civilization, people invented new designs and stylish bows like a compound bow, crossbow, and modern hunting rifles for hunting or archery competition. However, a large number of people still admire the recurve bow for its traditional look, simple use, and easy to carry during traveling.

What Is the Best Recurve Bow?

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Wow !! It’s a buzz question frequently asked by most of the people before making a buying decision. However, it is not easy to answer by one line as there are tons of models of recurve bows available in the market.

If you have a little know-how, you may know that recurve bow is an advanced version of bow and arrow. The bow and arrow is a ranged firearm arrangement consist of an arc – elastic launching device and arrow – long shafted projectiles.

To get more speed and strength during hunting or war, people invented (as per history, Egyptians archers are invented the modern recurve bow) a bow with a little curve in each end, which is known as a recurve bow. In earlier days, recurve bow made of a single piece of limb, but most of the bows available in the market today are mainly takedown recurve bow.

It consists of three parts to ease transportation when unstrung. Where you hold the bow is known as ‘riser’, which is mostly made of good quality wood, aluminum, carbon or other metals, and the two ends part top & bottom is known as a ‘limb’ which usually made of wood, fiberglass, carbon, and other materials.

It is a little nerve-racking to choose the best recurve bow just seeing it. What we mean is before the plan to purchase, you have to consider some points like either you use the recurve bow for hunting or target shooting, and which draw height will match with your body height.

Whatever is, we tried to cover all your requirements in our next ten recurve bow reviews. Hopefully, once reading the reviews well, it will help you narrow down your options and decide which one is perfect for you. Welcome to the world of recurve bow.

Top 5 Best Recurve Bows Comparisons Table in 2021

Are you still suffer in indecision? After seeing our comparison table, couldn’t you decide which one is appropriate for you? Don’t worry, we got you covered. Read our reviews on the ten popular recurve bow brands below to learn more about nitty-gritty details and check out your favorite model before making your buying decision.

 The 10 Best Recurve Bows Reviews for Youth & Adult

1. Samick Sage Bow – Best Recurve Bow in the World

Bows Features:

• Samick sage 62 takedown recurve bow suitable for entry and midlevel archer
• Samick takedown bow includes a B-50 Bow String and Arrow Rest
• Pre-installed Brass Bushing for Brass Plunger, Stabilizer, Sight, and Quiver are required for future up-gradation
• Limbs designed by Hard Maple with Black Fiberglass; Single Tapered Knob and Metal Limb Pocket
• Recommended max draw length: 29″ (suggest Samick Journey for a longer draw)
• Recommended brace height: 7 1/4 inch to 8 1/4 inch

Are you want to be the best archer? Then you have to do your homework correctly. To do so, you have to buy a quality bow which is faster and accurate. There are many types of bow available in the market, but as per our view, the recurve bow is the best option for the beginner to start learning archery. If you think about the best recurve bow, then the Samick Sage Recurve bow name comes in first.

Samick originated from the land of archery Korea, and the manufacturer Samick Sports Company Ltd. has a long experience in developing archery tools since 1975. You can trust them to start your archery practice. However, it is equally suitable for hunting or target shooting by professional archers.

Pros

• It is effortless to use and best for beginner
• It comes with riser which is pre-drilled, you can set stabilizer quickly
• The fiberglass limb is flexible to bending and durable
• The riser made of high-quality laminated maple wood and diamond wood
• It is well made and perfect device to use
• It is the best choice for the novice archer

Cons with a solution

• Bow creates a sound that may distract aim during hunting.

Solution: To avoid or minimize unnecessary noise, you can muffle the bow by pouring cotton and clothes into the hollow part between the joint of the limb and riser. You can also paste some beaver puffs on the sinew will work excellent.

• The screw hole between the limbs and riser is sometimes not aligned.

Solution: It may not happen for all the sage bow; however, unfortunately, if you find this problem immediately, contract with the manufacturer to replace it.

Bottom Line: If you want a fast, accurate, and easy to shot with very little strain recurve bow, than you can choose the Samick Sage Takedown Recurve bow as your hunting or archery companion. The best part of this is it will not cut much money from your pocket. For confidence, the manufacturer of Sage Recurve Bow offers one year warranty too. So go and grab couples for you and your family.

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2. Southwest Archery Spyder Takedown Bow – best takedown recurve bow

Bows Features:

• Design and developed by original Samick Sage
• Made of four naturally sourced  best quality wood
• Available in both Left hand and Right-hand model
• Full of preinstalled features like Mechanical rest, Plunger sights quivers & stabilizer, and Bow fishing reels.
• Limbs made of reinforced allows faster flights and compatible for Flemish string

Are you looking for a multipurpose bow? Southwest Archery Spyder Takedown Bow is the perfect device for hunting deer or bow fishing or target shooting. Southwest Archery bows design and developed by the same Samick Sage company means ensured the highest quality and called one of the best takedown recurve bows on the market.

This takedown recurve bow is compact in size, beautiful in design, light in weight, and very accurate.

Pros

• Easy to learn by anyone due to its beautiful compact design, accuracy and light in wight
• Perfect for hunting deer, bow fishing, and target practice
• Easy to carry during traveling as it is a takedown bow
• All Southwest Archery Takedown limbs are 100% interchangeable
• Best traditional archery bow for beginners to intermediate
• USA company and USA based warranty support center

Cons with a solution

• No arrows were found during unpacking.

Solution: It might happen mistakenly. You can immediately notice the customer service center hope will solve your problem very fast.

• Fiberglass limb is broken or split after several uses.

Solution: If you found the split during unpacking, then claim it immediately, you will get a new replacement. If it cracked after several uses, then it might be not fit with your body height, or maybe you are a beginner in archery. So take corrective action on the improvement of your skill or choose the right draw weight during purchase. Always use a stringer to string the bow limb to avoid a crackdown.

Bottom Line: The manufacturer of Southwest Archery Spyder Bow has been leading the archery industry for more than 20 years. They are specialists on archery and know the demand of an Olympian as well as a professional hunter. Thus they developed their takedown bow.

Whether you want to collect a traditional recurve bow for recreation or hunting or to be ready for the zombie apocalypse, you come to the right place.

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3. KESHES 62″ Takedown Bow – best recurve bow for hunting

Bows Features:

• Keshes Bow riser ergonomically designed with rounded edges and a finely finished wood handle Wooden Limbs outside layered with black fiberglass
• Knob screws to attach the limbs on the riser, so NO tools are needed
• Dacron bowstring (14 strands)
• Brace height: 7.75 up to 8 inch
• Stringer tool for easy and safety assemble – Stick on arrow rest
• Pre-installed Brass Bushings for any types of upgraded accessories

Are you looking for a top quality recurve bow by spending the best price? You can keep trust on KESHES 62″ Takedown Bow for Hunting. It is one best hunting recurve bows with the most elegant, comfortable, and practical design.

Keshes are featuring a new smart wood finish riser, impressive rounded edges, and uniquely designed to the relaxed installation of the limbs that made it the best hunting bow. The fiberglass limbs came with reinforced tips and improved easy to install knob it reminds you of precisely to the Samick Sage high-end bow, but with the advantage of an affordable price.

Pros

• Top-quality with the best price ever
• Impressive round edge Riser
• Extremely Comfortable Grip
• Eyesight for a perfect aim
• Bows for everyone in your family
• Convenient to assemble with the help of the instruction manual

Cons with a solution

The Keshes is a fantastic recurve bow we have ever seen. It is designed so nicely that hard to found any back lock. One thing we noticed that they supply all necessary accessories except the arrows. However, we found a reason behind it as the arrow size depends on individual bow length. So, no doubt Keshes recurve bow is an excellent bow for archery.

Bottom Line: After considering all the above positive signs still have you any doubt in mind about the well-designed KESHES Traditional Recurve Hunting bow, then one more good news for you. The Keshes offer 100% satisfaction guaranteed; if you are not 100% satisfied with KESHEs recurve bow, then they will refund you 100% of your order. In spite of they are confident enough that anyone will love it.

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4. SAS Spirit 62″ Bow– Best Recurve Bow for Beginners

Bows Features:

• Sturdy fiberglass limbs Made of maple lamination
• The riser made of different three types of woods – Chuglam, Gmelina Arborea, and Beech
• Recommended shooter heights up to 5′-7.”
• Left or Right Hand Only

SAS Spirit 62’’ Recurve bow is a perfect device for family fun. You can change your backyard as a shooting ground to enjoy the leisure time with your family or practice bow for the archery competition. The SAS Spirit bow is one of the easiest bows in the market of recurve bow. This takedown bow is not only user-friendly, but also beautifully designed, accurate, and robust.

The standard draw weight 26 – 36 (lbs.) makes SAS Spirit easy to shooting for all aged archers. Top of that, Southland Archery Supply is a renowned name in the arena of recurve bow.

Pros

• Spirit Archery will provide accurate shooting from a distance. The bow shoots with ¾” groupings at 25 yards.
• SAS spirit comes with the necessary drill and bushing for attaching accessories like stabilizer, sights, a plunger, or anything else as you like
• Limbs are flexible to bend and durable
• Low noise and accurate shooting
• Perfect for veteran and beginners

Cons with a solution

• The riser made of wood that may not finish the correct way.

Solution: The riser made of three different types of wood collected from Asian trees which made it durable and give a beautiful pale color finish naturally. However, for more finish, you may visit the nearer archery shop.

• This bow is not suitable for hunting deer.

Solution: Yes! You are right; the spirit 62 takedown recurve bow is come with max 36 pounds. However, in most of the states of America, it’s not allowed below 40# bow for shooting deer. This bow made for target practice and family fun.

Bottom Line: Thanks for endurance to read the above SAS Recurve Bow Review thoroughly with sincerity. The Southland Spirit is a synonym of fun bow shooting and stands up pretty well to the rigors of young, start archers. Unluckily, the riser comes a bit unfinished out of the box, so you need some extra precaution to take care to keep it out of the rain until you get a weather-resistant finish coat applied to the bow.

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5. Southwest Archery Tiger Shark Bow – best recurve bow under 200

Bows Features:

• The riser is made of Dymond wood & Tigerwood, and two-layer limbs make the bow long-lasting and flexible.
• It is a technologically advanced bow, and the design of the riser ensures a secure grip.
• The limbs are a combination of two layers, and laminated hard maple, rounded with matte black fiberglass limbs provide the necessary strength of the bow.
• It is a takedown recurve bow so that you can transport the bow without any stress.
• The limbs are compatible with other advanced strings like Fast Flight or Flemish string.

Southwest Archery have hundreds of models in the market, and among them, Tigershark Recurve Bow is very popular to the archers. It is made of durable materials that ensure long-time usage of the bow. Besides, the bow is also effortless to transport.

The bow comes with an attractive design, and both left and right-hand arches can use this bow. Besides, its draw weight, length, and other feathers make it one of the best quality recurve bow in the market. So, without wasting any time, let’s see some of the features of the bow.

Pros

• Durable construction, reliable, and flexible
• Suitable for both beginners and experts.
• Easy assembling process.
• Exchangeable limbs.
• Different draw weights are available. Affordable and comes with a one-year warranty.

Cons with a solution

• Low-quality string.

Solution: Yes, it’s true. After a couple of week, you may find it necessary to replace the string. But the good thing is that the bow supports fast string or other advanced string. So, you can easily change the string by spending a couple of bucks.

• A little bit noisy.

Solution: Most of the bows in the market generates noise and vibration while releasing an arrow. But if it irritates you, then you can add a bow silencer on the string.

Bottom Line: It is a budget worthy bow and considered as one of the best recurve bows under 200 bucks. The best thing is that you can upgrade the bow if you want by exchanging the string and limbs. So, one bow can serve you for a long time. But it is a bit noisy, and the company offers a low-quality string. In that case, We must say, every coin has two sides. Lastly, if you find this bow attractive, then you can purchase it; otherwise, feel free to look for some other bows.

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6. Bear Archery Grizzly Bow – best recurve bow under 300

Bows Features:

• It is made of red Hard-Rock Maple riser and reinforced black fiberglass limbs. This combination makes the bow lightweight and flexible.
• Where most of the bows come with a cheap string, the Bear Grizzly features a Dacron Flemish string. It makes the bow sturdy and ensures premium archery experiences.
• Its Rock maple riser ensures perfect grip.
• The bow is only available for the right-hand archers.

Looking for a top-quality Recurve bow? We think you are checking the right place because bear archery is well known for their quality recurve bows. Bear produces bows for different ages and different price ranges. Some are cheap, and some are quite expensive.

There is no doubt that it is an attractive looking recurve bow. The bow contains some unique features which never miss attracting the archers. It is simple but accurate.

Pros

• Durable, lightweight, and long-lasting
• Attractive outlook.
• It comes with a Dacron Flemish string.
• Suitable for beginner and intermediate archers.
• It is resistant to all weather, and You can use it for both hunting and target practice.

Cons with a solution

• It is a bit expensive, and the maintenance cost is also high.

Solution: It is a one-piece bow, that’s why its maintenance cost is slightly higher than other bows. But because of its durable construction, it can serve you for years. So in that sense, it will save you a lot of money.

• It doesn’t accept the arrow sight.

Solution: Archery is all about skill, and it’s better not to use arrow sight for target practice. If you practice archery without the arrow sight, then initially, you may face some difficulties, but in the long run, it will make you a better archer.

Bottom Line: It is undoubtedly an excellent bow, and it is durable, reliable, and lightweight. Its only downside is its cost. It seems a little bit expensive than other bows, but we must tell you that, if you want the best bow, then you need to pay some extra. So, if you don’t have any budget problem, then you should check the bow.

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7. PSE Razorback Takedown Recurve Bow

Bows Features:

• Crafted from hand-selected woods
• Recommended for up to 5′-7″
• Brace height: 7”
• The riser is a blend of Walnut, Burma Whitewood, and Beechwood
• Limbs are a blend of maple wood and fiberglass

The PSE Razorback Takedown Recurve Bow brought to you by PSE. The Precision Shooting Equipment (PSE) founded by Pete Shepley in 1970, is now the largest privately owned archery equipment manufacturer in the United States.

The PSE designed Razorback recurve bow as sturdy, dependable, and accurate, which makes it perfect for the beginner archer as well as a mature hunter. They made the riser by Walnut, Burma White, and Beechwood with hard maple and fiberglass laminated limbs.

The PSE Heritage Razorback Recurve Bow a complete device to prepare yourself as an archer for the Olympic Games or any other archery competitions.

Pros

• Affordable starter bow for kids, youth, and women
• Preinstalled bushing to accept stabilizers and other accessories
• Tools free takedown – limbs can be screwed and unscrewed without an Allen wrench
• Flexible and durable enough for the price paid
• PSE offers a limited lifetime warranty

Cons with a solution

• PSE heritage razorback is not suitable for hunting.

Solution: The PSE heritage recurve bow designed for young archers and women for practice shooting. The max draw weight 35# is not ideal for hunting as it required 50# or up.

• PPSE Razorback Recurve Bow has not included a stringer in its package.

Solution: Stringer is an essential instrument for stringing any recurve bow or longbow. It is right for PSE Razorback too. Top of that, PSE offered a limited lifetime warranty with a condition to using stringer every time of stringing and de-stringing the bow. As it is not included in the package, you may buy it from Amazon.

Bottom Line: Thanks for reading the PSE Razorback Review with patience and hope it will be helpful to take your buying decision. Overall, the PSE Razorback 62″ Takedown Recurve Bow is an affordable and good quality bow for all youth and adult women who love to play archery without breaking the bank. It is also an excellent device for target practice and lasts longer though it is not powerful enough for hunting.

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8. SAS Courage Hunting Takedown Recurve Bow

Bows Features:

• The riser made of Bintangor, Makore and Chuglam hardwoods
• Limbs consisted of Maple and Makore wood laminations and faced with high strength fiberglass
• Preinstalled bushing allows setting stabilizer, sight or quiver, and other necessary accessories
• Both right and left hand available

Although the SAS Courage Hunting Takedown Recurve Bow is a perfect resemblance for the beginners, it is equally the great recurve bow brands for advanced archer those who love hunting.

The Courage 60 bow is attractively designed to offer stress-free handling, comfort, stability, and accurate shooting with high speed. It is such a beautiful wooden bow that supported all the essential features required by new players in the world of archery.

Pros

• Affordable price
• Easy to assemble
• Robust and sturdy materials efficient for the serious archers
• Elegantly designed and comfortable grip
• Lightweight and takedown – easy to carry during trips
• Nice and smooth draw

Cons with a solution

• The package not included any arrow set

Solution: Even so, the SAS Courage recurve bow nicely designed for beginners, but they did not add any arrow with it. To start shooting, you have to buy a set of shafts separately from Amaazon or other stores. During purchasing arrows, keep in mind that the draw length is 28’’, so you should buy at least 2-inch bigger size than this.

• There is no bow stringer with the SAS Courage

Solution: Bow Stringer is essential for stringing or de-stringing any recurve bow. As it does not come with the package, you should buy this separately at the time of order bow. It is recommended to use a bow stringer every time during stringing; otherwise, the warranty will void and create chances to break down the limb.

Bottom Line: Thanks for your patience in reading the SAS Courage Recurve Bow Review thoroughly. The Southland Archery Supply is a new company, and they are committed to providing the best customer support; they also offer three years of extended warranty support, which is nice to hear. Hope you will enjoy your time with SAS Courage 60″ Hunting Takedown Recurve Bow.

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9. Hungarian Handmade Flagella Recurve Longbow

Bows Features:

• A wide range of draw weight from 20 to 110 pounds, challenging to find in any other bow
• Body length 145 cm, perfect for both beginner and seasoned archer
• Material: Wood, Cow Leather, Glass steel, Beech
• Accurate shooting with 28-inch draw length, safety length up to 33 inch
• 131 cm or 52-inch long string convenient for all size or shape bowman

Longbow is a kind of old bow that started its use from when people learn to ride on a horse. Started your archery learning with a longbow will bless you to become an expert and skillful archer. The best part of a longbow is it is made entirely by hand. The Longbowmaker manufactured one of the best Hungarian Handmade Flagella Recurve Longbow in its class.

You will find a fast, reliable, and conveniently designed longbow in Hungarian bow. It also gives you smooth and accurate draw during archery or target shooting or hunting as it is made of the durable riser, string, and limbs by hand.

Pros

• Comfortable and utterly enjoyable during long time shooting
• Easy to disassemble during storage
• Flashy speed and less vibrant
• Doesn’t produce any hand shock
• Powerful and sufficiently strong
• Accuracy is the main attraction point of this bow

Cons with a solution

• There is a fair chance to break down the bow

Solution: Before purchase, Hungarian recurve bow to be sure that it is solely made by Longbowmaker or not. As in the market, there are several same design longbow available. If you purchase the wrong bow, the chance of breakdown will be increased.

Bottom Line: LONGBOWMAKER is one of the largest professional Longbow manufacturers in China. They are excellent in customer service, and it is hard to found any negative feedback. The Hungarian Handmade Flagella Recurve Longbow is purely hand-made and will be tested before delivery so that you will get the best bow. Hungarian Longbow is the perfect source for reliable, fast, convenient, and cool Longbow in the market.

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10. SAS Explorer Metal Recurve Bow – best recurve bow for target shooting

Bows Features:

• The limbs made of durable fiberglass of Maple lamination
• High Strength Carefully Polished casting aluminum riser
• Available in two different color option: Blue and Red
• Right-hand orientation
• Recommended shooter heights up 6-feet
• Interchangeable limbs between different draw weight 22#, 26#, 30# and 34#

The fundamental principle of a recurve bow is developing enormous energy to release the arrow to the target accurately. The accuracy not only depends on the quality of the bow and arrow, but it also depends on choosing proper bow length matching with the person who uses it.

Either the oversize or undersize of the bow might create hazardous for the archer. Are you a tall-figure man or woman height is up 6’, face difficulties to choose a suitable recurve bow, SAS Explorer Metal Recurve Bow will be your perfect match.

The metal finishes blue or elegant red color riser SAS Explorer comes with 66’’ bow length is a perfect device for family fun and hunting during trips. The limbs made of fiberglass with maple lamination makes them durable and flexible.

Pros

• High-quality bow in affordable price
• High strength and performance
• Lightweight, comfortable and accurate shooting
• Multiple draw weights available
• Takedown – easy to assemble, carry around, and store

Cons with a solution

• Not suitable for left-handed people

Solution: As per the design, it will be difficult to control by left-handed people, so aluminum riser takedown recurve bow manufactured by Southland Archery is only recommended for right-handed people. Those who prefer either hand operation or left-handed person can choose Samick Sage Takedown Recurve Bow.

• SAS explorer only suitable for taller persons

Solution: Through the SAS explorer bow especially designed for taller persons, a 66″ recurve with a 22# draw weight at 28″ should work well for anyone from 5 – 6.5 feet taller man too. To get the exact match of your draw length, you can calculate it with the help of an expert archer.

Bottom Line: Thanks for sufferance reading the SAS Explorer Bow Review. You will never find such an inexpensive metal finished recurve bow with exceptional accuracy and durability like the SAS Explorer Metal Riser Takedown Recurve Bow. Moreover, the product is fully covered by Southland Archery Supply three years warranty. So you keep trust on these fantastic tools for your hunting or target shooting practice.

Best Recurve Bow Buying Guide & Tips for Beginners

We are inspired to write this buying guide for those who desire to start bow shooting for regular fun or hunting or archery competitions. Hope it will be helpful for you –

Choosing the appropriate recurve bow depends on some aspects like in which purpose you want to buy it, the perfect draw weight for you, budget, materials used for construct the riser, string, arrows, etc. So, let’s see what things you need to consider while buying the best recurve bow.

1. PURPOSE (Target shooting, Hunting, Fishing etc.)

The first and foremost concern before making any buying decision is the intention behind it. You have to decide whether you use it for target shooting or hunting? In the open eye, it is difficult to make a difference between hunting and competition recurve bow, but seasoned archer can easily revel by seeing. Generally, the riser is a bit shorter in hunting recurve bow as it is beneficial for short distance shooting.

Oppositely, for target shooting in an archery competition, it is required to shoot from a long distance for which large size riser is perfect to aim accurately. The longer riser is also forgiving in nature. If you want a recurve bow for family fun or a beginner archer tools for your children, then less poundage bow is ok, whereas minimum 40 pounds or more required for hunting game.

Nonetheless, some company offers multipurpose recurve bows too, fit for target shooting, hunting game, bow fishing and learning archery. So, it is essential to fix your purpose of buying a bow before making your decision to get the recurve bow for target shooting.

2. PRICE & AFFORDABILITY

The purpose of buying a recurve bow is interconnected with the amount you want to spend. Suppose you’re going to purchase a recurve bow for practice or enjoy arrow shooting at your house’s backyard, and you are first time shooter. In that case, it might not be wise to buy a costly bow initially; consequently, if you are determined to learn the archery seriously and want to compete with others, then it is wise to buy a bit high-end bow spending a little extra.

On the other hand, one suit is not fit for all to have a budget constraint. In that case, you have to decide according to your ability to spending for a recurve bow instead think about the high quality.

3. DRAW WEIGHT

If you are a beginner archer, it is always recommended to start with a lower weight range. Starting with the lower range will help you habituate with this technique and gradually increase your muscle strength and memory and gain rapid progress to become a perfect shooter.

Alternatively, start with a large recurve bow in the initial stage may cause cramp or pain on your muscles which distract you from bow shooting. For your understanding here, we stated the suggested draw weight accordingly with your body weight below. Despite this, we recommend consulting with a professional trainer too.

TYPE OF ARCHER’S/ BUILD	BODY WEIGHT	SUGGESTED DRAW WEIGHT
SMALL CHILDREN	70 – 100 lbs. / 31 – 45 kg	10 – 15 lbs.
LARGER CHILDREN	100 – 130 LBS. / 45 – 59 KG	15 – 25 lbs.
SMALL-FRAME FEMALE	100 – 130 lbs. / 45 – 59 kg	25 – 35 lbs.
MEDIUM-FRAME FEMALE	130 – 160 lbs. / 59 – 73 kg	25 – 35 lbs.
SMALL-FRAME MALE	120 – 150 lbs. / 54 – 68 kg	30 – 45 lbs.
MEDIUM-FRAME MALE	150 – 180 lbs. / 68 – 82 kg	40 – 55 lbs.
LARGE-FRAME FEMALE	160+ lbs. / 73+ kg	30 – 45 lbs.
LARGE-FRAME MALE	180+ lbs. / 82+ kg	45 – 60 lbs.

Draw weight has importance in other senses; people think that the more massive bow able to shoot the arrow faster and flatter, but that is a wrong concept. If you want to shoot 70m distance (Olympic Range), then you can start from 25 lbs. to the maximum available, but if you’re going to use it for hunting game, then the general recommended draw weight is 40 lbs., anything less than this may not be a lethal shot.

The modern takedown bows come with interchangeable limbs, which allows you to change draw weight from lower to a higher range. This feature is advantageous, especially for a beginner archer as it enables one to upgrade into a higher weight range in the future without buying a new one.

4. BOW SIZE vs. DRAW LENGTH

More extended bow size is more accurate and forgivable than a shorter bow. So, based on your purpose, you may determine your ideal bow size. You can calculate your bow size by measuring the draw length. You can measure the draw length in two ways.

1st Method: Stand straight and spread your arms, then with another person’s help to measure the distance from your middle finger’s endpoint to another middle finger. Then divide that number by 2.5. It is not so precise but will give an almost accurate result.

Draw Length = Arm Span ÷ 2.5

2nd Method: This method was approved by the ATA (Archery Trade Association), and most people understand it quickly. In this method to measure draw length, you need a bow, stand in a proper archery position, pull the string towards you as per your strength, and calculate the distance between the knock point of the arrow and the pivot point.

Now you know your draw length, so you can find out your bow size or length by using the following chart

Draw Length (Inches)	Bow/Amo Size (Inches)
14-17	48
17-19	54
19-21	58
21-23	60-62
24-27	64-66
27-29	66-68
29-31	68-70
31+	70-72

The recurve bow that is 60″ long or up considered as a longbow. If the bow is 58-59″ long, then it regarded as an averagely sized bow. Usually, a bow that is twice the draw length is preferable for archery. If your draw length is 28″, then the approx bow size for you is 56″ long or more. This principle is useful especially if you want precise shots.

5. BOW WEIGHT

By the bow weight, it means the weight of recurve bow itself, not the draw weight. The standard bow weight is less or equals 3 pounds. If you plan to carry the bow extensively, then choose lower weigh bow, 3 pounds or less is convenient to transport extended time during hunting or trips.

If you are a beginner archer, then depends on your build, you may choose 2.4 – 3 poundage bow. However, for archery competition, bow weight does not matter much.

6. QUALITY OF THE RISER

The quality of the riser depends on the materials used for making it. It may make of hardwood or aluminum. The wooden riser is a bit cheaper than metal, but it looks beautiful. If there is a chance to expose direct sun, then the metal riser will heat up quicker than the wooden one. So the wooden riser is more comfortable to grip too.

Besides comfort, it needs to be durable and lightweight too. A good quality raiser can protect vibration during shooting.

Another important aspect is the brass bushing. The brass bushing in the riser allows you to set different accessories like arrow rest, sight, a stabilizer essential for target shooting, and quiver or bow fishing reel required who want to use it for hunting games. However, most of the modern recurve bows come with this technology.

7. HAND ORIENTATION

Hand orientation is another essential topic that needs to take into consideration during buying. There are Left handed or Right handed, or ambidextrous type recurve bow available in the market. Which one is perfect for you? You have to decide that.

By observing the following daily activities, you may get an idea of which hand is more dominant.

• In which hand you write with
• By which hand you hold your computer mouse
• You are sticking your toothbrush with the left or right hand
• In which hand you feel comfortable to hold the tennis racket or baseball bat
• By which hand you hold the cup during drinking tea or coffee

However, if you find that your right hand is more powerful than your left hand, then choose a right-handed bow, which might be the wrong selection. You also have to check which eye is more dominant, left or right. If you are right-handed, but your left eye is more prevailing than it is better to choose a left-handed recurve bow.

If you are a beginner archer, it is suggested to take expert advice before proceeding to buy to avoid a mistake.

8. STRING QUALITY

Most of the manufacturer does not include a string with the box of recurve bow. Though some come with string may not up to the mark. Also during regular use, it is apparent that string wear or breaks more often. You can purchase quality string from online shops Amazon or other stores.

Some best quality strings are the Dacron B50 most commonly used, Fast Flight String, Endless loop strings, and Flemish. So, you can upgrade or change your sting any time; it doesn’t matter much while taking your buying decision.

9. QUALITY OF LIMBS

The modern recurve bow comes with durable fiberglass limbs. Fiberglass limbs give your resistance against bending or breaking due to regular constant abuses.

Limbs of a takedown bow come separately; you can change them any time either for breakdown or increase or decreases draw weight. Interchange a limbs without replacing the whole bow is always economical. It is especially suitable for beginner archers. Suppose you start with a low weight bow, you can interchange the limbs of your existing with higher-end limbs without buying a new recurve.

10. TAKEDOWN OR NOT

Most of the modern bows are with takedown features. The whole bow is pretty substantial to store during unused or carry with during hunting or transportation. Takedown bows are consist of three parts – upper limbs, riser, and lower limbs.

You can separate them easily with or without using tools as per your need.

It is recommended to unstring the bow during not use for a long time; the bow without unstringing occupied a bit larger space, which challenging to store. Takedown featured bow can solve your problem with almost no time.

If you plan to carry your bow in long distance for hunting or target shooting, then it is problematic to transport such a giant thing with you, in this case, takedown comes in and solves your problem quickly.

So, now it is your turn to select whether you buy traditional or takedown recurve bows as your companion.

11. STYLING

Style and looks vary from brand to brand; someone decorates his or her bow with an ancient form where some others give a most modern look. Which chic you want is entirely depends on your personal preference. Conversely, if you plan to use it for hunting, white limbs with bright blue riser might not be impeccable. It’s entirely a personal choice thing; visit the marketplace, check all available style, and choose what you like best.

12. WARRANTY & CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Though the manufacturers are trying their best to build a product to function without any trouble, it may still happen to malfunction at any time. For which to hold customer confidence, they offer a warranty. Warranty will cover safe your investment for any inconvenience after purchase anything.

The Recurve bow manufacturers mainly offer warranty for riser and limbs; if those break within the warranty period due to a manufacturing defect, you will get a replacement. The time of the warranty depends on brands; some are offering six months, whereas some are offering up to 3 years.

Almost all manufacturers recommended to use a stringer during stringing or de-stringing your bow. Otherwise, the warranty will void, so keep it in mind always.

Always try to buy from the big retail or reputed online marketplace which has an excellent track record of customer service so that you will get covered every time more conveniently without any hassle.

People Also Asked Before Buying Recurve Bow

1. How to buy a recurve bow?

2. Why is a recurve bow better?

A recurve bow is made by bent its ends away in the direction of the bowman, that’s why we called it re-curve. This type of bow can store more energy in its end tips of the limbs efficiently than other the traditional or D-type bows. This curve shape allows it to generate more power during shooting than the same poundage D-type bow.

A recurve bow can contain similar or more amount of power into a compact frame when appropriately constructed. In a comparison of a longbow to accomplish a 70-80# pull weight, a recurve bow can achieve the same pull weight in a shorter arm length – and it can do it in a variety of different ways.

One of the significant advantages of a recurve bow is that it could be possible to make by a wide range of materials like hardwood, lamination wood, and fiberglass which makes it more durable in nature. It also has an important feature that is a takedown. Takedown features of a recurve bow allows you to store in a small place without occupying more space and also facilitate you to transport easily during your trip for hunting or target shooting competition.

However, a recurve bow is less forgiving nature than a D-type bow as it is a bit shorter and make a bit more noise as string touches multiple areas on the limbs.

Overall, recurve bow superior regarding style, adjustability, efficiency, ease of repair & maintenance, flexibility to adapt accessories, and accuracy.

3. What is a good draw weight for a recurve bow?

One of the most critical footsteps towards selecting a bow is determining the draw weight. We know that the draw weight is the amount of force need to apply to pull the bow fully and correctly. This draw weight varies from person to person, so it wise to calculate your draw weight before buying any bow.

In the earlier part of this buying guide, we share a chart describing the recommended draw weight compare to your body weight. See Chart Archer’s Weight vs. Draw Weight (P-3).

4. What length recurve bow do I need?

We describe the details process of calculating draw length as well as bow size in the earlier part of our buying guide. Also, share a chart for Draw length vs. Bow size (P-4). 

5. How to make a recurve bow?

It’s a little tricky question, as we’ve no idea about carpentry so to answer this we’ve taken help of other reviews and videos. Here we’re describing recurve bow making process based on reviews and videos that we have found across the web. Let’s see the process.

Tools and materials:

• 2. Find out a suitable Stem from a 15 to 20 cm dia. Oak or Ash tree or other. Cut off it with a section of 1.6 to 2 m and dry it.
• 3. Clear the back from your stave and take clean and healthy (bug-free) part for next step.
• 4. To make a 67″ bow select a straight and right quality 80″ stave and outline it.
• 5. Roughing out the stem first using a width profile than with the thickness profile.
• 6. It’s finally reached the time to bend the bow! To start the process first remove an equal amount of wood from the belly of both limbs gradually up to it bends equally the same as another one. If one part of the limb curves more than cut off the rest woods from everyplace evenly. Continuing this process until the bow bends about 15-20 cm with some effort.
• 7. Tillering and Carving the Handle and Nocks.
• 8. Stringing the bow and finish the process.

Hope the above description will help you a bit to gather some knowledge about how to prepare a bow.

6. What is a Flat-bow?

In Americans bow history, once upon a time, longbows commonly classified as “American flat-bows” and “English longbows.” Since the late 19th and early 20th, the Native American’s were considered sporting bows as ‘Flat-Bows.’

If you think about a flat bow, the most common picture in your mind is a bow-style in which limbs are more or less rectangular for almost all around the limb’s length. The front and back faces look like a parallel to each other except toward the riser where it tapers out into the grip area, and on the tips where the string nocks built the edges may also be flat or rounded and a bit tapered. In most cases, the central portion of the limb’s length is more extensive than they are thick through.

7. What is a short bow?

The short bow is a two-handed weapon that was manipulated by Rangers, Thieves, and Renegades. Compared to a longbow or recurve bow, it has much less power and range but can fire at a higher rate. They mostly crafted by a huntsman. Short bows are useful for shooting from close-range to mid-range. The skills of a short-bow weapon primarily focused on applying conditions on opponents.

8. What is a self-bow?

A self-bow is carved from a single piece of wood, no fiberglass, no laminations, no backing, and a little to no reflex or deflexed. Sometimes add extra material such as horn knocks on each of the ends, or built-up handles, would usually be accepted as part of a self-bow.

Self-bow is easy to craft; to prepare a crossbow requires lots of machining and a week, but you can craft a self-bow within a day and not need many tools or techniques for it.

9. What happens if your arrows are too lightly or heavily spines for your bow?

The strength of the spine must match with the bow draw weight. If the arrows are too lightly or heavily spine, the archer’s paradox movements will be extreme, resulting in poor arrow flights and missing the target with accuracy.

For convenience, the manufacturers of arrow published selection charts match bow weights to the proper arrow spine. Before buying an arrow set, you may contact your local archery shops to match your gear.

Almost all the arrows have a degree of rigidity called the spine, which is its resistance power against bending—bending also known as the Archer’s Paradox occurs when arrows are released from bows. The string’s accelerative thrust causes the shaft to bend in one way and then react in the reverse dire1ction as it speeds downrange.

9. What kind of wood do you use to make a recurve bow?

Even though the first wooden archery bow was made from Yew, various kinds of wood were seen to use for the same in our times. As find out the best ‘Yew’ wood is a tough task, other types of wood Hickory, Mulberry, Walnut, Ash, Cherry, Ipe, Cider and Hickory along with beautiful woods such as Basswood, Yucca, Osage orange, Lemonwood, Blackwood, and Ironwood included in the list of bow making.

Despite this long list, the potential wood for an archery bow or a recurve bow is maple, the most common core wood, especially for glass-faced and backed bows.

9. What is the best tree to make a bow out of?

During selecting a tree to make a bow two things need to consider1.Flexibility: how quickly you can bend the wood2.Strength: how much force the wood stem can bear before it breaks

So the tree which is flexible and robust is the best for making a bow. How we define that the tree is potential to response energy –

It would be a hardwood like a maple, beech, and etcetera.

It is better to have a specific gravity between 0.50 and 0.65 (specific gravity is a measure of solid wood vs. water). Excessively high or less specific gravity probably would break under the strain of a drawn bow, no need to mention that it will be next to impossible to bend the steam in the right shape.

In general, it observed that the recurve bows made of maple, oak, beech, and rosewood.

10. What Accessories Must I Need Before Starting With Recurve Bow?

You must need the following accessories starting with a recurve bow:

• Bow Stringer
• Arrows
• Target

Also Read: https://recurvebowguide.com/best-arrows-for-recurve-bow/

But Some Other Accessories An Archer Needs to Start Archery that ain’t must but recommended. Check the following what these are:

VIDEO: Compound Bow VS Recurve Bow! Which is better??

We always say: Compound is the art of aiming. Recurve is a better survival bow than a compound. Recurve is the art of execution. Compound is mechanical like being in the army. Drilled and rehearsed. Recurve is a dance or ballet. It’s graceful.

Final Verdict on Recurve Bow

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Best is always best; there is nothing comparable with it. Recurve bow for hunting will value your investment. If you go for a cheap and poor quality bow, it may not last long and required frequent repair and maintenance, which ultimately cost you more than the best quality recurve bow.

You are a beginner or have little know-how about archer, want to buy a new recurve for you, but worried which is the best recurve bow that is perfect for you. Don’t worry; we discussed so elaborately about – How you can choose the Best Takedown Recurve Bow for you or your family, for hunting or target shooting in our recurve bow buying guide.

Moreover, we are trying to research out the popular recurve bow brands in our review section, where we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of 10 different bows briefly. We believe that it might be supportive for you to find out the best recurve bow for hunting and target practice.