Range Day with Samo: Episode 9 - Martin Cypress Takedown Recurve Bow mini-review

Here's my humble opinion on the Martin Cypress Takedown Recurve Bow. Basically, its a bow meant for recreational shooting. 
It has a an AMO length of 64". A short 22" riser and long limbs. My Cypress has a 40lb draw weight.

Range Time with Samo. Episode 2: Martin Panther Takedown Recurve Bow

I've had a great time taping episode two of my show. Click on the video link above to watch. Thank you very much!

First impressions: Martin Cypress Takedown Recurve Bow

My second Martin Bow...

I began to appreciate wooden-handled bows after dabbling into archery for more than a year.
Basically, it's the tool that started it all.
And when it comes to affordability, Martin Archery tops it in terms of price-point. But when you know what you are getting into, well, the Martin bows are there to last for a while. 
That if you don't abuse it, leave it in your car until the limbs warp.

New for 2015

The Cypress with its old price...

Martin's line-up of traditional wooden handled takedowns

Martin introduced the Cypress takedown recurve bow for their 2015 line-up. It has a retail price of USD$199.99. Through some on-line retailers, it goes as low as USD$149.90.
Recently, Martin has increased the price of the Cypress to USD$249.99. Maybe it's because of higher cost for materials.
The riser is made of Zebra wood and the bow has an AMO length of 64", which should be rather easy to draw. 

With a little help from a friend...

I contacted a friend in New Mexico in the US for some help on the bow. Sent him some money in March and waited for a bit for the bow to be ordered by his local archery store. The moment finally arrived when my buddy, Michael Elman received the bow. He has good things to say about the riser which is ergonomically sensible.
He worked out the shipping cost and have the bow sent via airmail to Malaysia.
It takes about a week for the package to arrive. 
And when it got here, I had to claim it from the Mail and Courier complex in KLIA.
Went over and declared the package to the Customs officer.
There weren't any issues when they released the package, so, I went home and got it set up.
The Cypress is held together by fitting two screws into its limbs on the riser. An allen key is supplied with the bow kit.
I didn't see any instruction sheet with the bow package, so, I assumed that the "A" marking was for top end while the "B" goes on the bottom.
After fitting the limbs, I stringed the bow. Then, I put a nocking point and tried it at my little shooting range outside my home.
The arrow traveled in a straight line on an 18-meter distance. Grouping was rather decent.

Sending some arrows downrange with the Cypress

The Samick Sage and Martin Cypress

Summary

With a draw weight of #40lbs, the Cypress is definitely not a beginners bow. Martin did offer it at #35lb in the beginning. But dropped it to fit its current line-up of #40, #45 and #50.
I thought the 64" AMO length would be forgiving to draw, but I was wrong. It was rather stiff compared to my Martin Panther takedown recurve rated at #45lb.
Since its a bare bow and has no vibration dampening features, I did find the limbs wobbly compared to the high-tech panther.
Straight out of the box, its rather accurate.
I see the Cypress getting plenty of range time and I am sure it's a fun bow to shoot!

Nock on!

So close, yet so far... 

There is a piece of land outside my gated community. It has a tall slope and is enough to accommodate three shooting lanes for archery.
Every day, I walked past this vacant spot and wondered if it would make an excellent place to hone my archery skills.
Michelle, my wife made mention of this many times. 

Archery and politics...

Traditional bows are not welcomed at places such as the Keramat Archery centre that are endorsed by the National sports council.
The last time I was there, some old ass ex-army dude gave us a lecture about the "dangers" of bows without archery sights. 
He went on to belittle traditional archers and later, revealed himself as a coach.
Word went around, we got kicked out of the Keramat centre.
Later, Michelle and I shot at the Kg Pandan sports centre. It's RM10 an hour for a target butt and we had to book the lanes for a minimum of two hours and pay in advance.
Last year wasn't a great year for me.
And even in Kg Pandan, it was Compound bow vs Recurve bow. Factoring-in the travel distance and how often we could go there to have a go at archery, I totally gave it up.

This time, it's home ground!

I must say that having overlooked the empty plot of land and it's advantage in terms of setting up a shooting range, the sloped area was in every word: "perfect".
I transported my target stand and butt to the site, set up my bow and started shooting away.
It's been a while since I shot my Martin Panther #45 takedown recurve bow. 
It sat in the hard case and when I checked it, everything was in pristine order.
I set the target at 25-meters and let go 10 arrows onto the bud.
Since the Monster Chill tournament in Malacca last year, I still haven't lost it.

Having a go at the 25-meter range

Putting arrows down range

My grouping on the target butt

Shooting with friends

The Chinese New Year break was long enough for me to plan my leisure activities.
I made arrangements with my former schoolmate KP Lau who is a teacher to join me at the site.
He came with Joshua, his youngest child to give it a go at the new range.
It was perfect as the site was empty in the morning.
Lau came with his Korean Horse bow while Josh, the 11-year-old shot with his target recurve bow.
We were also joined by Jeffery Chang, our old friend at the shooting session.

With my buddies

Jeffery having a go with a Mongol bow

Lau and son

Young Joshua is training for a district meet next month

Michelle at the range

Shooting at 10-meters

Nothing goes to waste...

The new range and it's ideal location will be a regular fixture for me.
I will shoot on weekends especially on Saturday mornings to hone my instinctive shooting skills.
So far, I have managed to put all my arrows into the circle with little mistakes made on my aim and release.
And as a follow-up, I built a new target stand out of discarded timber from a home renovation nearby. The recycled timber was put to good use and with this new shooting range, I hope to make the best of it.

Make mine a recurve: Martin Panther Takedown Recurve Bow

A birthday treat...

I turned 46 in mid-January.
And rather than wasting more money on a stupid Garmin GPS watch and some faggy Garmin fitness tracker that sucks, I decided to spend my hard-earned cash on a beginner's archery kit.

All inclusive: The Martin Panther Recurve Bow Kit

Finding Mr Tan...

Tan Peng Loon is a successful coach and archer

The first thing that came in mind, was to locate an old friend of Mine.
He's Mr Tan Peng Loon, a US NAA Level 3 Archery coach and former SUKMA coach for the Federal Territory Archery team for 18 years.
I've known Peng Loon since I was 10 years old and fate has it in such a way, I met him again when I became an adult.
He used to work for an outdoor equipment supplier that caters to archery around Malaysia's sporting scene.
Tan decided to leave his old company to set up shop and the last time I met him was at the GoPro Hero 3 launch, which was a stupid affair. Meeting him at the event was actually the highlight of the day.
So, fast-forward to the second-week of January, I traced Tan to his new business set-up, Elite Sports Archery in Bandar Menjalara near Kepong.
We re-connected again and I was on my way to the world of traditional archery..

The Martin Panther takedown recurve bow

Smooth and silent: the bridged riser

Martin Panther: Not my first choice..

I did some reading on Best Recurve Bow Guide and learned that the Martin Sabre is one of the Top 10 Recurve bows available for the beginner and intermediate archer.
I've never owned a bow in my life and getting outfitted meant starting from scratch.
So, having done my research and by the way, the Best Recurve Bow Guide has some honest reviews on Recurve Bows that are made in the US, I've pretty much narrowed down my choice to the Martin Sabre.

But, but, but, but.. 

With some cash in my pocket, I made my way to Elite Sports Archery in Bandar Menjalara. Thanks to Facebook, I managed to locate the store. When I popped open the door, Mr Tan greeted me.
"Eh Sam! I saw you walking down the road.. How are you?," he greeted.
We exchanged greetings and I told him what I wanted.
There were little choices when it comes to Martin bows and displayed on the wall, were two Recurve bows: the Martin Jaguar and Panther.
These came as kits and the Jaguar is a lot cheaper than the Panther.
Personally, I am never fond of stuff that are named after predatory cats.
But, the Panther was an exception. And it was available in black!

Mr Tan setting up the string's nocking point for my bow

Hell yeah!

I took an immediate liking for the Panther because of its blacked-out riser and limbs.
My choice was a 45lb bow because it's the minimal draw strength for hunting.
Recurve bow reviewers recommended at least 5lbs heavier because the bridged riser actually helps drawing the bow as smooth as silk.
What I found rather unconventional are metal and rubber inserts on the riser that aids in dampening vibration.
In short, the Panther is smooth and quiet.
It's also a pretty powerful bow.

What's in the box? 

As for the bow kit, the Panther comes with an arrow rest and a really handsome plastic box.
Well, it's a plano arrow case, but when you disassemble the bow, it fits nicely with all the bells and whistles.
For RM1.5K after a good discount, an arm guard, finger tab, bow stringer and three Victory Carbon arrows with field tips were thrown in. 
In short, straight out of the box, you are ready to shoot.

Firing the Martin Panther

My 13-yard target

The grouping

Practise at an archery range

On the learning curve

I must admit that I had struggled a lot with the new bow.
Stringing it was a challenge.
But, after a follow-up visit to the Archery store to pick-up my Easton XX75 Tribute Arrows that are custom-built for me, I asked for a demonstration on how the bow is strung and got it right after a couple of tries.
The next step was to learn to fire the arrows. This was not an issue as I found it rather easy to draw the bow string.
Next, I embarked on a small project. 
That is to set up a target stand and I achieved this by picking up some scrap wood and began building the contraption based on a set of blueprints I downloaded from the internet.

Picking up the scrap lumber

Assembling the limbs for the target stand

Almost complete

The target bud on its stand

I found that the stand was too high and there is a chance for the arrow to stray even from a 13-yard shooting course.
So, I cut off another 8 inches from the limbs to shorten it.
I was pretty satisfied with the results as the entire project cost me only RM5.

Of course when I shared this information on Facebook, I drew some flak and some stupid advise from nosy people. 
So, I let it be.
From the day I bought the Martin Panther, I've been going to the Kompleks Sukan MSN Taman Keramat to practise my shooting skills.
Coach Tan was there to advice and correct me, which is something that I am very grateful for.
In my humble opinion, the Martin Panther Takedown Recurve Bow is really fun to shoot.
And the US Company has a solid reputation of making good bows that are affordable. For a beginner like me, the Martin Recurve bow as an excellent choice!