Peterson's Bowhunting Magazine Review of the 2012 Bengal...anyone else read it...?

[Phantonza]

for the bow to only hit 280 fps in Petersons bow test with a 29 inch draw length and at 65lbs....
But the fact of the matter is that martins dont really ever hit there speed specs.....

That's not the case. See for example these reviews by Ike's Outdoors (Onza 3 and Rytera Alien XT):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNld32UWUgA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z_mo0u_7BM

[droppixel]

The biggest thing we have seen, is the bows need to be set up as close to perfect as possible for them to make it. I think that is a fair assessment for a lot of bows. As seen by Bill's Need for Speed thread he was able to pick up about 20fps just by doing some small adjustments here and there.

[Thermodude]

The biggest thing we have seen, is the bows need to be set up as close to perfect as possible for them to make it. I think that is a fair assessment for a lot of bows. As seen by Bill's Need for Speed thread he was able to pick up about 20fps just by doing some small adjustments here and there.

This is very true, I have worked part time in a local archery shop for many years and yes it takes alot of tweaking to get boys to shoot at their 100% potential. The problem is that most guys arent going to have access to or the knowledge of what to do in order to accomplish this. I would have liked to have veiwed the set up process that took place prior to the testing of the bows on the Utube videos. I have talked about my Pantera not meeting all my expectations many times, I still love the bow and its still one of the most accurate 3D rigs Ive ever owned. This winter Im going to do the same thing to it that Bill did to his bow.............Im going to supper tune it to see just what its capable of doing.

[WestMichiganBowhunter]

That's not the case. See for example these reviews by Ike's Outdoors (Onza 3 and Rytera Alien XT):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNld32UWUgA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z_mo0u_7BM

yah i've seen these................the onzaIII finally hit it on the second attempt for testing and after someone at martin personally tuned them........

Really..........should one have to go thru the hoops, hurdles and expense of super tuning..........they really should be set to go right out of the box.
My mathews have always been within 2-3 fps out of the box......
same with my two Diamonds
My darton pro 3000........within spec.....

I don't think it unrealistic for a bow to be within spec out of the box.
I really think martin should do a birth certificate like diamond and bowtech have done.

[Phantonza]

yah i've seen these................the onzaIII finally hit it on the second attempt for testing and after someone at martin personally tuned them........

The first time it wasn't tested according to IBO specs. Whether someone at Martin personally tuned the bow for the second attempt could be true of course, but there was no reference for that in the video. But it was a different version anyway (TRG removed and replaced with a conventional rod/slide), being close to 2012 model (I have a similar "intermediate model" myself, although a 60# version).

The Alien XT was almost 340 fps. Of course, it could have been "super tuned" before sending the bow to Ike, but even so, I wouldn't consider it faking.

Really..........should one have to go thru the hoops, hurdles and expense of super tuning..........they really should be set to go right out of the box.

I am quite sure that all manufacturers give the highest fps reading that the bow can be tuned to. If we have a look at the factory settings of the bow, my Hoyt CRX 32 had those much more off than the Onza (had to adjust both cam lean and timing for the Hoyt, while these were both perfect out of the box for the Onza). Setting cams in sync for Hoyt too and shooting a speed test gave pretty much equal result in my tests. CRX IBO is 323 fps and Onza's 330-340 fps, so Onza should have been faster, but it was actually 1 fps or so slower than the Hoyt (I tested at 56#, 400 grain arrows). But the accuracy of draw weight measurement is something I cannot be so sure about. Anyway, I was satisfied with the speed of Onza 3.

[Phantonza]

As seen by Bill's Need for Speed thread he was able to pick up about 20fps just by doing some small adjustments here and there.

Interesting. I should check that out!

[Ehunter]

Another thing to consider is, the labor it costs to individually tune each bow to perfection. Can't do that as an assembly line set-up. I do think Martin might be able to hit it a little closer to perfect before they send them out, but realistically, the bows I have received have all been very close to spec, or right on. I just do alot of final tweaking to get the most I can out of them. I'd prefer to save the $3-400 and tweak them myself. Teaches me more about the bow and how it works. With the bows I have put a little time into, ALL of them hit IBO or better.
FC400 70# 28.25 true draw 386 gr. arrow @303fps
Onza III 70 same set up @ 302fps
Alien X 72# 28.25 draw 484 gr. arrow @ 302fps
Alien X 65# 386 gr. arrow @ 296fps
Old FC I had was 70# 386 gr. arrow @312 fps
That's at or above IBO on all those bows. Loop, peep, whiskers on every bow.

[Phantonza]

Another thing to consider is, the labor it costs to individually tune each bow to perfection. Can't do that as an assembly line set-up. I do think Martin might be able to hit it a little closer to perfect before they send them out, but realistically, the bows I have received have all been very close to spec, or right on. I just do alot of final tweaking to get the most I can out of them. I'd prefer to save the $3-400 and tweak them myself.

That's a good point. BUT, I don't think other manufacturers tune their bows to perfection either. I have personal experience about Hoyt and lots of experience by my friends: not even close to perfection out of the box. Or the latest Bowtechs such as Invasion CPXL: you actually need to adjust the cams to a tilted position to tune the broadheads to the same point of impact with field tips!

[droppixel]

I think with the Bengal all it is going to take is one person doing a really specific review on the bow and the tuning. Jim put together a really nice video with some of the basics on the Nemesis. I think once more people get their hands dirty with the bow and the Fury XT cam ... it will be a lot easier for people going forward. I know I plan to give mine a good look as soon as I can, most like after the season when I can really commit to it and put some new strings on and really see what this thing can do.

[wannawhitetail]

I picked up a new '09 Firecat with Cat 2 cams. Set at 47 lbs, 28 inch draw, 360 gn. arrow, Specialty archery peep, 2 monkey tails, dloop and 1 brass nock, it was shooting 243 fps. I don't know what the accessories on the string weigh, but it seemed pretty to me. And that was out of the box.