PETE WARD

"WELCOME TO MY OUTDOOR WORLD"

Gear Review

Spitfire Horsebows

Chris Constantine Bowyer

www.spitfirehorsebows.com

RR #2 Warkworth, ON. Canada
Phone: 1 705 924 3986
spitfirearchery@aol.com

This is the most dificult review I have done to date.It has taken me a long time to get to the point where I could shoot a horsebow with a "Thumb Ring" and get more than forward propultion.This is not a fault of the bow, rather it is a a product of my ego. I told Chris that I could shoot anything and he took me up on it . I have learned my lesson, and also learned how to shoot a Horsebow with a thumb ring thanks to the guidance of Chris. He has demonstrated a great amount of patience in teaching me over the internet and telephone. I still have a lot to learn before I can call myself a "Master of the Ring".

Thank You Chris for all your patience.

Now for the review.

There are two Sassanid bow styles one has long siyas, 'Early Sassanid' and one has short siyas, 'Late Sassanid'.

The bow I am reviewing is a "late Sasanid" style, that is closely coppied in design from the original Horsebows of the Steppes where Chris's ancestors originated . He has used modern materials to make these bows because the original methods have been lost thru time since the Days of Attila the Hun.

Each Spitfire Horsebow is custom built to the owners body size and condition.Spitfire bows are not generic and meant to be shot by anyone like many other bows.These are built to be only shot by the  person they are built for.Each bow is truly a custom bow.

Our test bow is only 12.7 ounces in weight and 42" long making for a verry manouverable and fast pointing bow . The limbs are made with clear Glass over Bamboo and Ironwood.The riser is made with Ironwood and wrapped with Ostridge leather. True to tradition the Spitfire horsebows are highly decorated with gold and colored ribbons wrapped on the limbs . This will take some getting used to , but after a while it seems to suit the bow and the style of shooting.

Arrow weight is not important with this design like it is with our recurves and longbows. Stiff light arrows are what Chris recommends , so that is what I used for the shooting sessions with the Spitfire Sasanid. Shooting light weight arrows should bring out the worst in a bow, at least that is what I have found with longbows and recurves.The Sasanid handles the light weight arrows with silent ease.

The Sasanid is shock free and without vibrations shooting 320 grain Carbons.This is impressive . I have been hearing that other Horsebows are heavy ,  very rough to shoot and have lots of shock and noise. This little bow certainly is not like that.

True to tradition the Spitfire Horsebows are short ,which makes for a highly manouverable bow from horseback or in tight places. I don't / can't ride horses so there will be no attempt to try this ! I will take the bowyers word on this aspect. I have shot the Sasanid with 3 finger under release and with the Thumb Ring. 3 under is easier to do but this is a horsebow that is meant to be shot with a thumb ring.

The test bow is very smooth to draw and has no stack out to 27" and  gains 4# at 28"inches as the chart shows. Because Chris advocates the use of light arrows I have chronographed the Sasanid with the lightest carbons I have.For good measure and for those of us that prefer heavy arrows I have included the numbers for this shaft also.

The workmanship and design of the Sasanid is very good. It has excellent shooting qualities,and performs like it is claimed to.Horesbows are getting a lot of attention these days and there are a few models out there that barely resemble the origins of Horsebows. Chris has made the Spitfire bows to resemble and perform like the original bows of days gone by with todays modern materials.  These modern composites  use very little glass in order to keep the limb mass down , which makes for a bow with no shock .

For the shooters that find themselves intrigued by the Horsebow like I was ,and want to experience these bows, I highly recomend Chris Constantine and Spitfire Horsebows. With the purchase of a bow from Chris you will also get a thumb ting and instructions in shooting.For those of us that are to far away for in person instruction Chris will coach you over the Telephone and by internet like he did with me.

A visit to the Spitfire website ,will give you a lesson in the history of the Horsebow and the bowyers passion for this ancient bow design.

The one area that I feel the Spitfire bows are in need of {cosmetic} improvement is with the Strings.Perhaps I am looking for the neat twisted strings from custom stringmakers that I am used to , but the strings from Spitfire are not pretty.They are the one thing that distracts from the fine workmanship of the bow. On the other hand I doubt that the bows used by "Attila" had pretty strings.

Pete Ward

"Welcome to my outdoor world"

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