Mandarin Duck Black Hunter 60" Take Down Long Bow - Right Handed

To be clear I am writing this as a complete newcomer to archery who did not know his nock from his brace height! So I set off searching for a reasonably price bow to teach myself with as the nearest archery shop/club is over a 3 hour drive away. Firstly Mandarin Duck's Customer service is exceptional, they answered all my daft questions even when I mentioned I was considering various bows and they have some helpful advice clearly and simply laid out on their website.On arrival I was rather confused as the bow came with no assembly instructions, fine if you know what you are doing but I did not, however after investigating some videos on the internet the riser and two limbs were quickly assembled and the bow strung with the aid of a bow stringer. It looks and feels like a good recurve bow and for the price I do not think the quality can be faulted. The limbs fit snugly on the riser and are easily secured with a couple of screw bolts.The riser is solid and has a good feel to it, the only minor quibble I have is that the colour stain applied to the wood is a little patchy in places, but that is probably me being overly fussy. The limbs are well finished and I can find no signs of cracks or splits in them.The bow came with a waxed string which fit without any problems though I am still playing with the string to find the perfect brace height for me as I am shooting straight of the shelf.Now to the important matter of performance, for me it shoots really well, it is definitely not as noisy as I expected and I have yet to experience any excessive vibrations people mention with other bows. However, if you are new to archery like me I do recommend buying a good sized target of a decent depth as I was surprised at how much force this bow generated when firing, bearing in mind mine is the lowest weight at 30 lbs. I also like the fact I can purchase different limbs from Mandarin Duck for this bow as I hopefully improve and progress.So overall I am very impressed with the bow and the quality of help from Mandarin Duck. I would quite happily recommend this item especially at the current price,I have given the bow 5 stars though I do feel some assembly instructions for beginners like me would be useful and I will be contacting Mandarin Duck regarding this. I will also update this review once I have been using the bow for a longer period of time and after it has been used in conjunction with my new arrows which should arrive next week.

I have been aware of this bow for some time and it has often been recommended as a budget bow for beginners. I have had shoulder issues (the bane of archers) so bought one in a relatively light poundage while I healed up.The service was fantastic - I had an issue with delayed delivery but was contacted by the seller who arranged an express delivery within 24 hours at no cost to me.The bow itself bears the hallmarks of a budget bow, no frills and mine had a slight discolouration on the riser where the black stain had not taken to the wood leaving a tiny pale brown mark. This did not bother me as a bow will get dinged with use worse than this and the construction itself was sound. It also came with a string and traditional hair rest for shooting off the shelf which was alright if a bit cheap looking.I applied some upgrades that those on a budget might not want to spend, I added a temporary super rest until a proper bearhair shelf rest and strikeplate could be ordered, swapped the string for a faithful Grizzly String Hybrid in custom colours and fletched up a set of ACE arrows (beginners might not want to use arrows costing more than their bow.) I then set off to my club to try it out.There is nothing beginner or budget about this bow. It kicks out the arrows with a speed that you'd expect from a bow twice it's price. I was grouping tightly immediately and the bow lacks nothing in precision (accuracy is purely in the hands of the user.) The construction was rock solid and it is a punchy little bow that I love for the convenience of it's size and lightness.Archer stuff: The bow is small and light so is obviously less forgiving than a longer, heavier bow but is much more convenient. Hand shock was negligible to me but I am a traditional archer used to wooden risers -those used to Olympic recurves with aluminium/carbon risers might not feel the same. The AFB design is what I wanted so I have not tried the recurve version - at a later date I might buy recurve limbs for it. The fitting for the limbs is a standard limb bolt arrangement so not ILF and don't expect to be able to use other limbs, also don't lose the allen key that came with it (nothing unusual so a standard set would work).RecommendationsBeginners: this is a great choice for your first bow but do not buy too heavy a bow, 20-30lb is fine, it is never worth ruining your shoulders or learning bad habits due to ego.Advanced Archers: Go on, give it a go. It is a great bow that is far better than it's price would suggest and is cheap enough to have "just for fun."

This is a first rate bow that draws and shoots beautifully . I would rate it alongside my other bows which cost many hundreds of pounds more. The delivery was swift. The only downside was that the string supplied was of poor quality but that was easily remedied. I would thoroughly recommend this product to any archer regardless of their experience level.

I was amazed to receive the bow 8 days after ordering as it came from China and I'm in the UK and had the Royal Mail not screwed up and sent it to the wrong distribution centre, I would of received it 4 days earlier, but I digress, I was impressed by the quality of the bow straight out of the box, the riser feels so comfortable in the hand, it's as if it was a custom fit. It goes together very easy (albeit with no instructions or bow stringer) and is simply a joy to shoot. It's quiet, punchy and with a 30lb draw can be shot all day with little fatigue. Absolutely love it and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to get into Archery. It's a beautiful bow at a fantastic price.

Had a good 6 months of use last summer. Started using this spring for a few days when the limb tip snapped. Have treated well, releasing tension when not in use, waxed string etc. so quite a bit disappointed. Wondering which bow to buy that might last a little longer.

Very pleased with this product, good value for money.

I was very pleased with purchase . such a lovely bow and very powerful and nice handle fits nice in hand. Arrived early as well. Would buy again.Allen

I do 3d shooting and the bow is a pleasure to shoot, ergonomic, very accurate and we'll finished for a great price...