MX900 bow

[Eli]

I purchased a bow at an estate sale this morning for five dollars. At first, it wasn't much to look at, as it had been spray painted flat olive green by the original owner. Fortunately, he wasn't a very good painter, as there was no surface prep and the paint stripped off easily. Now, getting to the point...

It's a nice takedown recurve bow, and I suspect that it's a Martin product. The center is made of beautifully laminated hardwoods with combination wood/fiberglas limbs, and the lower limb is marked as follows: MX900, 62", 28", 55#, M.225 . Our local archery dealer hadn't seen one quite like it, but we went through some old catalogues and found a photo of one just like it in the history section of a fifteen-year-old Martin catalogue, but without any information. Thus far, I've learned that the 62" is the string length; and it has a 55# draw at 28". No idea what the M.225 means, though, and a Google search tells me absolutely nothing about a MX900 model. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I'm curious about the age, whether it's a good bow for a novice, and, perhaps, what it's worth.

[bfisher]

welcome to the forums Eli. I'm looking for some history on this thing. So far I'm drawing a blank.

I wanted to advise you on something so you don't get differeing opinions. The 62" on the bow designates the length of the bow and the "AMO" length of the string. The AMO designation means the string is made to the proper length for that bow, but don't be surprised if the string measures 4" shorter or 58". That's how strings for recurves and longbows are made. Regardless, they are packaged and marked for the bow and will be marked 62" AMO.

Hope this helps you in some way.

[bfisher]

Just thought of something. Post your info in the Traditional section of Archery Talk. Might get some help there.

[Eli]

Just thought of something. Post your info in the Traditional section of Archery Talk. Might get some help there.

Thanks. I just did, and we'll see if it helps. I suppose I could have been patient and just waited to call Martin Archery on Monday (I live in Walla Walla, about ten miles from the factory), but I'd rather find out sooner.

[bfisher]

Thanks. I just did, and we'll see if it helps. I suppose I could have been patient and just waited to call Martin Archery on Monday (I live in Walla Walla, about ten miles from the factory), but I'd rather find out sooner.

Yeah well, it piqued my curiosity too and gave me something to fish around about. By the way, I didn't find anything.

[Eli]

Yeah well, it piqued my curiosity too and gave me something to fish around about. By the way, I didn't find anything.

Gotta say, it's nice to find another person who knows how to spell and use "piqued" correctly.
The downside to such a nice bow is that it's more than what I need. My wife and I are getting active with SCA and they have limits of 30 pounds for the bows used in activities there, for safety reasons. I'm a former small arms competitor, though, and may decide to keep and use this one for target shooting. I like the "traditional" feel of it, and it almost fits in the saddle bags of my motorcycle when taken apart. (I realize there are handlebar bow racks for motorcycles, but we're talking about a cruiser here - a large cruiser - that doesn't ever see the far side of the curb.)

[bfisher]

Well Eli, I pride myself on my grammar, although I'm not perfect. I hate the use of all these one letter words (internet talk). To me it's just a case of laziness. That and som many that don't know the difference between "There, their, and they're" if you know what I mean. I've learned to just keep my mouth shut if I can interpret the post. I guess I went to school in an era when the English language meant something.

Sometimes I mispell or make other mistakes. My fingers sometimes get ahead of my brain and I'm not the most astute with a typewriter keyboard.

As for the bow, you might be able to find something out by calling customer service at 1-800-541-8902. I understand what you are saying about a take-down bow. I'm trying to help another guy here that has plans of using one while backpacking. He asked about the Rebel (one piece). I made a suggestion to look at the Jaguar (take-down).

You have fun with that bow.

[Eli]

I just finished speaking with a nice lady at Martin's Damon Howatt plant, and she was able to find info on the MX900 bow. This was a 1976 model, also known as the Pro-Trail King. It came in weights of 25 to 70 pounds, and was designed for hunting, but also makes a good target bow. The 1976 price as $150.

[Spiker]

I have an old mid '70s Howatt (not a take down) and it is a great bow.
Still shoot it quite a bit.

[bfisher]

Nice to see you found out about it from the horses mouth. Don't know ho much you know about these older bows. It's probably still a shooter, but if you should ever have to change the string do not use a fastflight material. Use Dacron or B50. The limbs are not designed to handle the extra stress involved with no-stretch strings.