Compound Bow 37 or 40 ATA bow?

Libris

Supporter
Supporter
I currently shoot recurve (sorry) but fancy getting into compound.

I notice that the bows seem to be available in a plethora of sizes with no real indication of why you should choose one over the other. Is it a height based thing or just personal preference? I watched a review on Lancaster archery of the Hoyt Prevail and the 40 inch bow he was holding looked fine. Then he picked up the 37 and it looked fine as well!
 

Ozzy

Member
Observe - The GB Mybo pro archers seem to be nailing it with the 35" Mybo Origin :eek:ptimist:
I've shot compounds of a variety of ATA lengths, but loving my 35" bow.

No doubt you will have some strong opinions in answer to your question, but keep in mind, variables like limb location, cam size, etc, all have an affect on string angle & how a bow feels at a specific length.

Certainly seeing more bows in the 35" - 38" range doing well here of late.
 

lbp121

Member
Traditionally fast bows were short and target bows were long. This isn't so clear cut now although a shorter bow will feel very different because of the string angle. If you use a short bow, you may find the string angle makes you draw further back towards the neck before the string touches the nose. In turn this may have a less defined contact point before the string also comes back to the nose. If you then shorten the draw to feel right at the jaw end, you may find that you can't get the nose to the string without leaning forward or 'dipping' down.

Your own dimensions will dictate, but I did best with around 36 ATA and 28 inch arrows at 5'8". My current 34inch ATA is also good but if you are very much taller you may be better to start with something a little longer.

As always, try before buying and also have someone who knows what to watch for since you won't really be able to tell to what extent you are making the bow fit you.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
Buying a compound is a bit like buying shoes. They feel a bit odd at first but get more comfortable the more you use them. I wouldn't get hung up on ATA (axle to axle) length, anything over 35" is shootable by most people. I started out at 48" ATA and noe shoot 37" ATA. Both were perfectly fine to shoot. But get a bow with adjustable draw length as you won't get it right straight away.
What release aid? ... now there is a question :)
 

bimble

Well-known member
Supporter
Fonz Awardee
Ironman
AIUK Saviour
Buying a compound is a bit like buying shoes. They feel a bit odd at first but get more comfortable the more you use them. I wouldn't get hung up on ATA (axel to axel) length, anything over 35" is shootable by most people. I started out at 48" ATA and noe shoot 37" ATA. Both were perfectly fine to shoot. But get a bow with adjustable draw length as you won't get it right straight away.
What release aid? ... now there is a question :)
Surely the most important question about buying a compound is.... what colour!! ;)

Though it is a really good idea to try out as many as you can, it's really important to get one that's a good fit for you, draw length on a compound is critical. Your local shop should have a range for you to try :)
 

Aleatorian

Member
Now I'm over a year into compound shooting, switched Oct 2015, I picked a Podium 37 as my first compound. Have settled on a 29.25" AMO DL (27.5" to the berger hole) and find this very comfortable, string contact is just forward of the corner of the mouth and also center of nose contact.

As KidCurry stated a 35" is shootable by most, with that setup i'd be more likely to have an exact corner of mouth contact. Glad I didn't go for the 40" as I'd originally intended. Also KC's question of what release is quite critical, as these vary massively in length of the release head from the fingers, which tied in with your choice of anchor point (I myself prefer the index and middle knuckles on the back of my jaw bone) and loop length will determine what size fits you best in terms of reference points.
 

jerryRTD

Well-known member
If only it were that simple, I own two Bowtechs , a Constitution and an Insanity CPXL. The Connie has a ATA of just over 41 inches, Its stable and comfortable. The Insanity CPXL has a ATA of 36 inches But the interesting thing is that the riser length of both bows are about the same (the Insanity being a little longer). Where the Constitution does score over the Insanity is the extra Inch of bracing height 8 vs 7 But of course it looses considerably as far as speed goes. The longer an arrow is in the air the more it will drift down wind. The string angle on short bows tends to take the peep sight away from the eye. That'ss ok if you can draw the bow a little more ,but if not then you could have problems.
It's a juggling match as to what best suits your physical characteristics, ATA, bracing height, riser length, cam size,. parallel or towards parallel limbs and reflex or deflex riser. All this before you get into how hard you like to back wall , what release aid you are going to use and how you are going to activate it.
Me I tend to go for a long riser bow biased towards speed for out doors.
 
Last edited:

Libris

Supporter
Supporter
Surely the most important question about buying a compound is.... what colour!! ;)
As long as it's available in red that's fine!

I'm 5'10" and my current 68" recurve draw is 28 1/2. The 37 inch bow I looked at has 27-29 draw range and the 40 has 28-30. On that basis I'd take it that with a d-loop the 37 would be the better fit.
 

Aleatorian

Member
As long as it's available in red that's fine!

I'm 5'10" and my current 68" recurve draw is 28 1/2.
I'm 5'11" and had a recurve draw of just over 30", moving to the bow I have now it is now 29?"

If you watch/read any of the American stuff like BowJunky, Greg Poole was recently asked what he feels the crossover range for going from a 37" to a 40" ATA is. To which he stated around 29", however this was based on the archers physiology (face shape, form, style, etc)
 

Shirt

Well-known member
ATA is a misleading measurement.

What you actually want to think about is the distance between the points where the string leaves the cams at full draw. (Think string line being tangential to the cam itself)

This is the distance that, when compared to your draw length, will give you an angle around the nock at full draw.

The Mybo Origin may be a 35" ATA, but because it's got reasonably large cams, is the same distance cam to cam at full draw as an Apex 7 which has got a small idler and cam combination.

For certain combinations, the ATA can be different but cam to cam distance very similar. At 26"ish draw, a Podium 37 with GTX is very similar to a Podium 40 with Spirals.

Decide what your probable specs are first, then buy. If it's your first compound, buy something with an easily adjustable cam over what at first appears to be 'the perfect bow' because there's no calculation or combination of body measurements that can tell you what your draw length actually is. If anyone tells you it's your armspan, fingertip to fingertip, divided by 2.5, run like your hair's on fire because that does not work.
 

Mrrikki

New member
I am shooting a 34 ATA Hoyt Defiant, works well for me for a number of reasons and better than my previous 37 ATA bow.

As others have said I think fit and comfort is important, I have never shot one but hear a lot of positive reviews on the Mybo Origin which as other have said is 35.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7
 

Ozzy

Member
A Mybo Origin (35") & a Hoyt Podium (37") at my draw length of 29" have an almost identical string angle.

Compound bows of yesteryear had small rounder cams , that is where all this longer ATA for target archery originated.

As for the old longer bow "stability" stuff, if someone has a feasible theory of why a long compound (40"+) is more stable than a shorter/average (35"/38") , let's hear it.
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
...As for the old longer bow "stability" stuff, if someone has a feasible theory of why a long compound (40"+) is more stable than a shorter/average (35"/38") , let's hear it.
Theory... no, but experience, I still have my old Hoyt Carbon Plus. I went through 3 risers and don't shoot it now as it has a cracked riser, ahhh the joys of cast risers! It is light about 4lb against my 5lb Podium. It is very heavily deflexed, so much so the throat of the grip is on the same alignment as the front of the limb bolts. This make it comfortable to shoot with little rear weight. I would say you could shoot it 1-1/2lbs lighter for the same stability as my Supra.
Stability... well holding the naked bow it presents far more resistance to tilting than the Podium and even more so compared to the Supra probably because the weight is in the limbs. It also is a lot harder to intentionally torque the bow at full draw. Cam lean... I don't think was even invented then :) Small eccentric wheels and cable guard offset proportionally much less on the small wheels so far apart. Let-off more like 60% than 65% and nothing like the 75-85% of the short bows today.
Downside... a bit slow, but I could still reach 100yds no problem. I would love to shoot it indoors today if I thought it wouldn't kill me to try :)
 

UgyenT

New member
I think, being a finger shooter, the first question you have to ask yourself is, "Finger or Release?" If you stick to finger shooting, which I assume you do with your recurve bow, then your choice of bow should be based on this factor. I started with a Hoyt Ultratec, 50-60# dw and 27.50" dl and cam and1/2, then switched to an Ultramag, 60-70# dw. These bows were easy and comfortable for finger and then I switched to Carbon Matrix after which things started going haywire. The cam on this bow is not finger friendly and the so called 'back wall' at the end of the draw cycle is not at all finger shooting friendly. I lost a couple of arrows because my hand were still pulling the string back when the string suddenly stopped but my hands kept pulling back. This ended with my prematurely firing my bow. Again I say tht you should really choose a bow after you decide on which style of release you have your mind set on. Hope this helps.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

Libris

Supporter
Supporter
I think, being a finger shooter, the first question you have to ask yourself is, "Finger or Release?" If you stick to finger shooting, which I assume you do with your recurve bow, then your choice of bow should be based on this factor. I started with a Hoyt Ultratec, 50-60# dw and 27.50" dl and cam and1/2, then switched to an Ultramag, 60-70# dw. These bows were easy and comfortable for finger and then I switched to Carbon Matrix after which things started going haywire. The cam on this bow is not finger friendly and the so called 'back wall' at the end of the draw cycle is not at all finger shooting friendly. I lost a couple of arrows because my hand were still pulling the string back when the string suddenly stopped but my hands kept pulling back. This ended with my prematurely firing my bow. Again I say tht you should really choose a bow after you decide on which style of release you have your mind set on. Hope this helps.
I hadn't actually realised that people shot compound without a release! So in answer to that it'll be a hand held release - I'm not sure which type exactly but, having looked at them, buying the coolest looking one seems about as logical a method as any :)
 

Aleatorian

Member
I went straight for a hinge, it kept that fluid feeling I was used to (when I got the setup right) on a recurve, using the back scapula to rotate the arm which moved the hinge resulting in the shot. The other option would be a pull through like the Carter Evolution for that crisp release feeling and keep the surprise shot.

I found I was too tempted to actively trigger a thumb button, but each to their own, those may work for you
 

jerryRTD

Well-known member
A Mybo Origin (35") & a Hoyt Podium (37") at my draw length of 29" have an almost identical string angle.

Compound bows of yesteryear had small rounder cams , that is where all this longer ATA for target archery originated.

As for the old longer bow "stability" stuff, if someone has a feasible theory of why a long compound (40"+) is more stable than a shorter/average (35"/38") , let's hear it.
40 inch and Greater ATA bows are more likely to have bracing height of more than 7 inches I have a Constitution which has an 8inch brace height plus these bows have toward parallel limbs rather than parallel . This means that the cams move back with respect to the throat of the bow adding to the effective or drawn bracing height. Which in turn makes for a more stable bow.
 

UgyenT

New member
I hadn't actually realised that people shot compound without a release! So in answer to that it'll be a hand held release - I'm not sure which type exactly but, having looked at them, buying the coolest looking one seems about as logical a method as any :)
I am from Bhutan and here almost 90% of us shoot finger without peep or sights. Recently the trend to use release and putting in peep is picking up. But there are some tournaments where such gadgets are not allowed.

An archery contest in Bhutan.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
Top