PETE WARD

"WELCOME TO MY OUTDOOR World

 Joe's Traditional Archery

     311, 4th street,

 P.O. Box 105,

 Blue Ridge,

 Alberta, Canada

 T0E 0B0,

  Ph.# 780-648-3736

E - mail t2420@telus.net

 

Review

Joe's traditional Archery is a small 1 man custom bow shop from the  Blue Ridge/White Court area of Alberta that is making an excelent 3 piece longbow . The workmanship on these bows is flawless, in fit and finish. During this review I will be talking about 2 versions of the same bow.The first bow is a 50# 56" with a large grip, and the second version is a 45# 56", with a slender grip. When I received the first bow from Joe I was impressed with the quality of Joe's work, and with how nice the bow shot. It is dead in the hand, silent and beautiful. These are short bows made for short draws to 28", which is perfect for me.  I talked to Joe about the draw length and he informed me he is also making a longer limb version to acomodate longer draw shooters. A week after discussing the first bow  he made a slim version of the riser with 45# limbs and sent it to me .This new slim version is for me a huge improvement.It fits my hand like a silk glove, and gives the bow a much better profile . I do realize some shooters do prefer a large riser, and Joe will make your riser the way you wish.

 

Both of these bows have Wenge and Canary wood risers and veneers with a gloss finish that brings out the best in them. I have had an oportunity to shoot bow bows and vastly prefer the slim riser. Taking the bows to shoots I have done a small poll and the feedback has shown that everyone prefered the look and feel of the slim version over the large riser.  The thumb rest on the risers suits me very well and adds a nice look too. The limb tips are Phenolic reinforced and very slender.I like them.

 

Matching arrows was easy, and I got it right the first time.I am using Heritage 90 shafts with 250 grain points.These shoot very good for me on both the 45 and 50# limbs.A pretty bow is nice but not always nice to shoot.Joe has done a great job with his design, it looks great, and shoots even better.When it comes to performance these bows are more than adequate to do the job.They are not barn burners, and they are not dogs either. I think they are quite comfortable in the average performance range for a short longbow of 56", and I will have no concerns taking the 45# bow hunting.Arrow placement trumps speed, although both are nice to have.

 

This is the DF curve for the slim 45# bow.The 50# bow will come later

 

 

All arrows were shot from a static release, by hand at the same session. Actual draw lengths are confirmed / coached by Pat my wife. I use a constant power supply, and a light kit on the chronograph.

 Every bow in all of my reviews are set up to be hunting quiet, with minimal vibrations, shock etc.

They are not set up for the fastest speed possible.

 The chart below is for the 45# slim model I will be doing the 50# bow later.

AMO Draw length

 Draw weight

Arrow

 gr

 FPS

Arrow

 gr

FPS 

Arrow

 gr

FPS

 

 

  0"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  2"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  3"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  4"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  5"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  6 "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  7 "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  8 "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  9"

   3.46

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  10"

    6.50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  11"

  9.66

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  12'

  11.29

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  13'

  13.27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  14"

  15.08

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  15"

  16.84

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  16"

  18.83

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  17"

  20.59

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  18"

  22.22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  19"

  23.99

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  20"

  25.88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  21"

  27.63

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  22"

  29.50

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  23"

  31.64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  24"

  33.75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  25"

  36.05

GR

FPS

 GR

FPS 

GR

FPS 

 

         

  26"

  38.56

  424

157

  524

145

  610

135

 

 

  27"

  41.23

  424

163

  524

151

  610

142

 

 

  28"


 29"
30"

  44.14


47.31
50.93

   424


NA
NA

171


NA
NA

   524


NA
NA

157


NA
NA

610


NA
NA

148


NA
NA

 

 

I expect that we will be seeing Joes bows quite often after they become known and the word gets out that there is a new guy making very good bows with superb workmanship. The attention to details is instantly obvious, and try as I might, I can not find any flaws. These bows came with a full length fleece bow sock, and a set of limb socks and a riser sock as well as a stringer, and a care/instruction pamphlet. At this time Joe has not given this model a name, so you will just have to ask for the 3 piece model I reviewed. The bow is a hunter, that has that Friday night at the lanes good looks. I like this bow a lot.

Pete ward

"Welcome to my outdoor world"

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