I'm an amateur when it comes to bows and knives, but this now not only looks beautiful, it is easy to handle. I got the 40 lb recurve to help with getting my shoulder back in shape after the motorcycle accident. It has been 12 years since the accident and my shoulder hasn't been right since, but I can feel the change since I have started using this bow. The stabilizer muscles are getting stronger and it feels better. I wanted a 50 lb but didn't think I could hold it steady yet. Maybe next year when I have had more time with this one. Until then I'm very happy. Now I need to go hunt for my arrows in the south pasture.

I ordered this bow to get into archery, so for me it is the first I have personally owned. I spent a good while doing some research on what to look for in a bow and why I should get one over another and finally I came across this one and decided to take the plunge and give it a shot. I am very happy that I did because this is a magnificent bow, the riser is very beautiful and it’s not just looks, this bow offers some good performance. I ordered my bow with the 40lbs limbs since I am just starting out and did not want to go too high up in draw weight since I wouldn’t be able to take the time to learn aiming and technique. It may be worth mentioning that I am probably above average in physical fitness levels so this weight may not be a good place to start for others, I tried out a friends 50lbs longbow before purchasing this and felt good about it, but also felt that I couldn’t hold it for very long to take aim so I decided a lower weight would be appropriate to start with. I am satisfied with this weight and I believe it was the appropriate amount for me to begin with. The bow shoots very well and I can hardly feel it once I loose an arrow so it fires very smoothly. I will say I did not go with all the standard pieces that came with the bow such as the string or rest because of past reviews scaring me away from giving them a chance. I went to a local store to purchase a new string (and seemingly much better too, but I didn’t try the original string so for all I know it may have been fine). The string was very cheap and less than 20$ as was the rest, I purchased a cheap adhesive rubbery rest and am very satisfied with the way the bow works with all of these devices. So for the manufacture I do have some feedback I’d like to give, your product is amazing and I am very happy that I decided to go with this model, however, having said that there were a few small things that really disappointed me and made me unable to give this product 5 stars. If it were not for this I would be jumping with joy over this bow and would give it more than 5 stars if I could. So first of all when I received the package it looked a little shoddy, but no big deal, right? I mean stuff happens with shipping and handling. Well it wasn’t just that since when I opened the box to look at my bow I was met with immediate displeasure once I saw rust on the nuts and bolts on the riser. Seriously? I received a new product right out of the factory and it’s already began to rust? There is no excuse for this and I honestly am astonished that they didn’t take any measure to prevent these devices from rusting. I tried my best to clean it up with a little sandpaper which does take off the black finish on the hardware, whatever. But I am concerned now for the longevity of my bow because once rust starts it’s not really something you can be rid of entirely. I plan to use this bow for as long as possible and the whole reason I got this model was because it was supposedly the higher quality model from the seller with the best materials (without going into the crazy stuff that costs 300$+). I understand you get what you pay for, but this is a pretty standard price for a starter/intermediate takedown recurve. The whole reason I went with a takedown bow was so that I could upgrade the weight in the limbs down the line a ways so I can continue to grow as I get better and eventually use it for hunting, but if the bolts get jammed due to rust I’m going to have to purchase a new riser altogether, which is what I wanted to avoid with this purchase. Literally, I looked all over on dozens of sites from various manufacturers, I went to a bunch of stores and saw the products in person. It’s a good price for a good bow, but there is no reason for something like that to happen. I for one do not think customers should have to bite the bullet due to some silly negligence like that seeing as how there is so much competition for these products. I also wanted to mention the stringer tool seems fine to me and I have had no issues with it so far, but have only had to use it a few times or so. In closing, maybe I just got unlucky and received the one dud in the warehouse. It is what it is, truly and even after this I would still recommend this product to others provided they wouldn’t be receiving blemished goods such as I did. If you are looking to get into archery and you want something that’s better than some goofy bottom line starter kit from a store look no further. This may be the bow for you, just be sure you never dry fire it, string/unstring it properly, use string wax and have fun with it!Update: the company sent me a whole new riser that is sparkling clean and new with not a sign of rust. 5/5 quality and customer service I absolutely recommend this product and company to others. If you’re looking for a great bow and above and beyond customer support you’ve come to the right place!

Updated review 11/13/2018:Southwest archery reached out to me and replaced my limbs within a few days, with no expense to me. It's like a completely different bow now! Very little hand shock or vibration, quite quiet, and very smooth drawing. There was definitely something wrong with the limbs that were initially purchased. It really shoots an arrow quickly now too... I am very, very happy with this bow. All of the points addressed below are still valid, but this bow absolutely deserves a 5-star review. Even if there was something else available in the same price range of this quality, it's unlikely you'll get the same support from the seller should you ever need it. Southwest was an absolute pleasure to deal with.This bow is fantastic for the price, and absolutely beautiful! I feel bad for unfortunately having to give it a 3 star review because I feel it deserves to be a 5-star bow, but there are a few glaring issues that I feel need to be addressed.- The packaging was pretty bad. Just a flimsy box and a few small pieces of thin foam covering parts of the riser and limbs. When mine arrived, there were several large holes that went straight through the box, exposing everything inside.-There is a small chunk missing from the lower limb of my bow (see attached photo). This is definitely not a result of the aforementioned packing issue, as the defect was clearly painted over at the factory. I'm not sure if this would really affect the durability of the limb, but I dont want to find out by having the limb break while shooting. Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with the quality control of the product.-The included bowstringer is not only useless, but is definitely a safety hazard, especially on a 50# bow. Including this was nothing more than a gimmick to sell more bows on Amazon, and it really diminished the whole experience of unboxing such a gorgeous bow. I've seen other comments regarding this, and it still doesn't seem like they have listened to the feedback from customers and swapped or removed this accessory.-The included string is terrible, and is not sized correctly for the bow (at least in my case). With zero twists in the string, the brace height is still just a bit over 8.5" and I have no way of lowering it without purchasing a new string. It is also made of cheap Dacron, even though this bow has reinforced limb tips and can use fast-flight style strings. A better bowstring is not much more expensive, and I feel like Southwest really cheaped out here. Once again, it really diminishes from the whole experience of unboxing, assembling, and shooting such a gorgeous bow.Of the four "cons" listed above, only one is with the actual bow itself, and even that could have just been a very low probability defect. This bow otherwise is put together very nicely, shoots extremely well (despite the extra bit of vibration from the high brace height mentioned earlier), and is stunning to look at. It is an absolutely amazing value. With the string swapped out for something better, I couldn't imagine the need to ever upgrade.Despite the 3-star rating and the issues listed above, I absolutely think anybody looking for a bow in this price range should stop looking here. Just be prepared to spend another $40 or so on a good string and stringer, and you will be very happy with your purchase.