History:

For those not familiar with Border Archery, these fine bows come from Scotland, with a long history in Bow making. Border Archery has been making quality bows in Scotland since 1940. During that time the Company has had various names.

These are:
Border Archery Ltd 1975 to date
a direct descendant of:
Border Bows 1973-75
Kings of Kelso 1969-73
Royal Scots Bows 1963-69
Galloway Bows started 1940

As you can see Border Archery is not a new kid on the block. They have been in business for many years and are well known in the archery world both in Europe and North America. Today Border Archery is a modern company with 14 full time employees, and uses the latest in today’s technology to produce state of the art bows. Border Archery makes every effort to ensure that the exotic woods that they use are sourced from sustainable forestry practice.

Sid and Ann Ball are the owners of Border archery, and will gladly work with you to make sure your bow is exactly what you want.

"Review"

The review of the Black Douglas 17"Super Ultra CX is going to also include some additional information on the 19"BD Super Swift CX , Riser ,as well I will be showing information on the HEX V W CXC limbs, and HEX IV W limbs on each riser with draw force curves and a partial chronograph insert.

 For those that have been waiting so long for this review I will explain quickly what the delay was. The original limbs sent to test were the now discontinued HEX IV GLX  , that had a thin Veneer over the carbon Like the Griffon GLX Longbow has. The day I received the limbs and shot them the veneer lifted and cracked.The Crack was limited to the Veneer only. I contacted Sid and he informed me he had not had any other limbs do this and he would make a new set. Almost imediately Border had a series of similar veneer failures being reported. It became a reality very quickly that the Veneers  would not take the stress of the recurve limbs without lifting and Sid openly discussed the problem on the British Forum. http://www.archery-interchange.com/forum/border-archery/ This was the end of the GLX program, and a new design was needed for the HEXIV. Soon after this I received a new set of Hex IV  limbs , and a problem arose.The botttom limb broke within a week of receiving it. Again this was the first report of problems and again the Warranty calls came in . This was a devastating time for Border, and the approach taken was to go public and promise to rectify the problem .From all reports I have heard the customers with problem limbs have been satisfied.

 The failures resulted in a stricter quality control of the whole Border process of building a bow . The carbon lay-up ,Cores and veneers were scrutinized and re evaluated and a push to introduce the new HEX V limb was underway.

During this time according to Sid , Border has developed a limb that is greater in torsional stability, lighter, faster and over all better.

 I admire Sid and Border for not trying to hide the problem, and for not taking a patch up approach. They engineered a better limb instead, and stood behind their warranty . Well done.

With that part out of the way I will now get down to the business of writing a successfull review on what turned out to be a very good bow that I love to shoot.

 The Limbs on the BD Ultra in this review are the HEX V W CXC, 50# at 28".

The Super CX riser is Indonesian Rosewood and Shedua.

The Black Douglas Super CX riser is a finely crafted heavily reinforced riser that is flawless.The glue lines are impecable.There is not a hint of a tool mark or sanding mark to be found. The limb attachment used by Border is very diferent to the what we are used to. Cutting in the limbs to the riser is used by several other bowyers,to get that clean look, but I am refering to the bolt and pin set up Border uses. On the outboard end of the riser we find a normal pin, but inserted into the limb there is a sloted metal insert to accept the  riser pin. The bezel that accepts the limb bolt is also diferent.Instead of it setting on top of the limb it projects thru the limb and acts as a pin into the riser as well as a guide for the limb bolt. This combination produces a very solid and true mounting of the limbs with no slop or movement possible.

The limb bolts on this bow are stainless, and for hunting I will black them out. Border can supply black or bright bolts, just ask.

 The limb bed has a red neopreen liner that I think takes away from the fine crafted looks of the Black Douglas. I have been after Sid to re-think this material and see if he can come up with an alternate material that is more appealing to the nit picking eye. I have not heard anyone else complain about this,so perhaps I am just being a bit too picky.

For those not familiar with the Black Douglas risers, they are available in several models.

Black Douglas Risers and Riser Options {From the Border Site}
The Black Douglas Series has three riser lengths, The Black Douglas 21" in length making bows 60" to 66". The Black Douglas Swift 19" in length making bows from 58" to 64" and the Black Douglas Ultra 17" in length making bow lengths from 56" to 62" in length

The Black Douglas is a custom bow , in that we can specify the materials we like, cut to center+- ,and grip options. The test bow has a medium grip, that I find more like a high grip. At this time Border is making the Black Douglas risers available with a lower version of the low, medium and high grips for the North American market. It is a good idea to discuss the grip you prefer when you order. It seems that the European market likes higher grips than the North American's.

The bow came without any shelf or side plate padding,or string nock and was not ready to shoot. I hope that all bows now come ready to be shot straight from the box. Some sticky back Velcro and a nock point is all it would take. Ask Sid about this when placing an order so you will not be caught off guard when the bow arrives.

Sid claims he is more that willing to make your riser just the way you "wish" and by all accounts I have heard he does a good job at this. {Tell him you "wish" for Velcro and a Nock point on the string !}

The HEX V W CXC limb is one that catches your eye the first time you see it .The recurve is extreme in profile both when strung and unstrung . According to Border these limbs have the greatest Torsional stiffness available anywhere. They certainly seem to be rock solid.

Stringing the bow is a bit intimidating the first time, due to the severe recurve and early pre load.{Border recomends a stringer that has a limb pad, not the tip/tip type stringers.}After you do it a couple times it is just like any other bow when you are used to it.

Drawing the bow produces a very nice feel.It loads up early in draw weight and then settles into a smooth 2#/ inch. It has been my experience that early draw weight produces faster speeds, and the Hex V W CXC certainly is a very good performer as the charts will show.

Shooting the test bow is an eye opener to most people.It is fast !

I am getting a bit of vibration, and a very slight buzz shooting it 3 fingers under with very light arrows, however shooting it split finger these go away. This tells me I have some more tuning to do with the light arrows.Heavier hunting weight arrows  also settle down the vibrations and buzz even shooting it 3 under..

Arrow selection for the bow took a bit of experimenting, and I finaly settled with a 600 spine 85 gr point for 3D and a 300 spine with a 100 gr brass insert and 300 grain broadhead / point for hunting. 

According to Sid he also found that the Hex V W CXC limb took a lighter spine than anticipated. He attributes this to the stiffness of the limbs, making them tract straighter on release.

The higher grip for me does take some getting used to , and a bit of an adjustment to my shooting .When I do my part right I get some very good groups. I  shot a few 3D rounds with the BD and was pleased enough to compete with it.The Bow shoots just fine,  I don't always do my part.

The string suplied was a 16 strand FF for the 56" GLX limbs that had the veneer problems, so I am now shooting it with a Flemish 10 strand DF97/ and padded loops with small Beaver ball silencers I made myself for the 58" limbs.

{Border could supply better strings for these fine bows.}

 I am looking forward to fall and taking the BD to the woods. I am definately hunting with it. The dull black limbs will make this 58" bow a good choice in the blinds, as well as a good all round hunting bow.The performance I am getting from the 50# limbs leaves me no doubt it do just fine should a Moose or Elk decide to cooperate and offer a shot.

BD Ultra HEX V W CXC 58" 50#

10strand DF97 string with padded loops, Beaver Furr silencers and brass noc set.

Shot with a tab, static draw.

{Draw length was coached/confirmed by Pat for each shot.}

BD Ultra 58" HEX V W CXC 50#at 28"