Repair Old Bow or Buy New Bow

[AlabamaMountainMan]

Well, I dry fired my Matthews Outback Friday night. I made the mistake of talking on the phone while shooting and got distracted. Next thing you know I forgot to nock and arrow and shot. I know at a minimum I am going to be replacing the string and cables. I think I will be need a cam replacement as well. There may be other issues that I am not experienced enough to see. With that said, if it is only a couple hundred dollars, I would likely pay to fix it. If it is more than $300, I am leaning towards buying something newer, but would not be buying a flagship bow. I am just not sure that I want to spend over $200 - $300 on a 15ish year old bow. I would need to stick around the $500 or less range. I can strip the Matthews for parts so I would not have to immediately buy a sight, rest, etc. and do not have to buy a RTH package.

With all that said, are there any bows you all can recommend? I have very little bow experience as that Matthews was bought used for $400 to see if I enjoyed archery or not. I have been shooting a good bit and definitely am in it for the long run now, but am not committed to any particular brand. So far, some options I have seen in my price range are:
- Bear Archery - Almost all of the Bear bows at my local Bass Pro are within price range (looking more at the Adapt bare bow option)
- PSE Stinger ATK
- Diamond Edge Max, Edge XT, and Infinite 305
- Used bows and local bow shop - May or may not have good options
- Mission MXR (looks like these are normally about $600 but I could probably make that work)

What other brands/models should I look into? My local shop carries Matthews, Hoyt, BowTech, PSE, and Mission and I have a Bass Pro nearby.

 

[knale87]

I’d buy a new (used) bow. A lot of good deals can be found a 2-3 year old bare bow on here or archery talk.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

i would buy from your local shop, not bass pro. PSE has offerings that hit all price points, wherease bowtech puts out cheaper/more adjustable stuff via the diamond brand, and matthews does the same with mission. some of the bear offerings have good reputations, in particular the alaskan seems to get mentioned a lot.

if you can put hands on the used bow and do a thorough inspection before buying that's a great option, my luck buying used bows sight unseen has been really poor.

 

[Ultracarry]

I would get a used Elite - comes with a transferable warranty also .

 

[Mighty Mouse]

New string/cable set will cost around $100-$150. Call your local Mathews dealer to get a price on a replacement cam (I'm guessing at least $100).

If you decide to get something new (or new to you), I would stick with a brand your local shop carries and is familiar working with. Diamond, Mission, and PSE have models priced under $500 new. Some used flagship models would also be within your budget.

 

[Ho5tile1]

There has been a few Mathews VXR bows for sale on here in that range I believe and the VXR is a great bow imo. I still hunt with mine over the new Mathews I have. Go check the classifieds on archery talk it’s a good site just ran by commies who police your every word but they have some good folks and good deals on bows.. good luck


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[AlabamaMountainMan]

i would buy from your local shop, not bass pro. PSE has offerings that hit all price points, wherease bowtech puts out cheaper/more adjustable stuff via the diamond brand, and matthews does the same with mission. some of the bear offerings have good reputations, in particular the alaskan seems to get mentioned a lot.

if you can put hands on the used bow and do a thorough inspection before buying that's a great option, my luck buying used bows sight unseen has been really poor.

Anything in specific I should look for on used bows? When I bought my Matthews Outback I was pretty much at the mercy of the pro shop since I am still pretty new to bows.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

There has been a few Mathews VXR bows for sale on here in that range I believe and the VXR is a great bow imo. I still hunt with mine over the new Mathews I have. Go check the classifieds on archery talk it’s a good site just ran by commies who police your every word but they have some good folks and good deals on bows.. good luck


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Not currently a member but may have to check it out!

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

i would buy from your local shop, not bass pro. PSE has offerings that hit all price points, wherease bowtech puts out cheaper/more adjustable stuff via the diamond brand, and matthews does the same with mission. some of the bear offerings have good reputations, in particular the alaskan seems to get mentioned a lot.

if you can put hands on the used bow and do a thorough inspection before buying that's a great option, my luck buying used bows sight unseen has been really poor.

I’d buy a new (used) bow. A lot of good deals can be found a 2-3 year old bare bow on here or archery talk.

How old of a bow would you consider? When I bought my Outback I did not realize how old of a model it was. It shot great, but I don't think I would want to buy something that old again.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

New string/cable set will cost around $100-$150. Call your local Mathews dealer to get a price on a replacement cam (I'm guessing at least $100).

If you decide to get something new (or new to you), I would stick with a brand your local shop carries and is familiar working with. Diamond, Mission, and PSE have models priced under $500 new. Some used flagship models would also be within your budget.

Sounds like it will jump up over $300 once I factor in the actual labor of the repair and that is assuming nothing else is broken. I'll still bring it by the pro shop just in case it is not as bad as I am thinking it is, but it sounds like I will be buying a new bow.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

I would get a used Elite - comes with a transferable warranty also .

Any particular models I should look into? I get a bit lost in how many models of bows are out there over the past 5 years. Let alone the past 10 years.

 

[OR Archer]

Your Outback is a much better bow than any of the ones you listed. I’d repair over replacing it with any of those on your list. Check EBay for a used cam to help cut cost. That’ll help keep you under $300 or right at $300 to fix it up.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Sounds like it will jump up over $300 once I factor in the actual labor of the repair and that is assuming nothing else is broken. I'll still bring it by the pro shop just in case it is not as bad as I am thinking it is, but it sounds like I will be buying a new bow.

The Outback is a perfectly capable hunting bow despite its age. It's much slower than more recent models but also much smoother. However, I understand your reluctance to invest several hundred dollars in a bow that old.

If you do decide to upgrade, a used Vertix would be a good candidate IMO. The Vertix (2019 model) kicked off Mathews' current "family" of flagship bows and would give you most of the performance and features of a Lift (2024 model) at less than half the cost.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Anything in specific I should look for on used bows? When I bought my Matthews Outback I was pretty much at the mercy of the pro shop since I am still pretty new to bows.

cams are straight, strings are perfect/brand new, no abnormal rattles, test shots sound good, cams are smooth/no nicks/burs, limbs are smooth, no splinters/cracks, bow is in-spec for ATA, brace height and draw, stuff like that.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

Sounds like there is a lot of support for either buying a high end bow that is used, or just paying whatever it cost to repair the Outback. I'll see what the pro shop says in a couple of hours and check out their used selection as well as some offers on here. I appreciate everyone's feedback! I'll be sure to post whatever decision I wind up making!

 

[Zac]

I'd get a Bear White Tail Max.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

I'd get a Bear White Tail Max.

Looks like a nice bow, but surprisingly I don't have a bow shop in the area that is a Bear dealer. Doesn't look like Bass Pro carries this model either.

 

[HighDesertHunter]

New string/cable set will cost around $100-$150. Call your local Mathews dealer to get a price on a replacement cam (I'm guessing at least $100).

If you decide to get something new (or new to you), I would stick with a brand your local shop carries and is familiar working with. Diamond, Mission, and PSE have models priced under $500 new. Some used flagship models would also be within your budget.

I will second the string issue as a word of caution on buying a used bow. Sometimes the savings are not there. Our local bow shop is charging almost $300 for a new string tuned on a VXR. It will make the better price not that much better on used. If you do buy used watch the accessories. They can cost as much as the bow itself. If you find a good used bow with good accessories, that might be a good option.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

Unfortunately I just checked their used section. Only had some extremely old bows, a Hoyt CRX 35 that did not fit me, a Matthew’s Z7 that needed a cam replaced, and a used Bear Trace. If they can’t fix my Outback, I’m either going to have to buy from Bass Pro, Online, or get a PSE Brute from my bow shop. They basically don’t have anything around the $400 - $600 range except for some youth bows and the one PSE Brute.

 

[Zac]

Looks like a nice bow, but surprisingly I don't have a bow shop in the area that is a Bear dealer. Doesn't look like Bass Pro carries this model either.

Darton came out with that really good budget option this year as well. However the Bear I mentioned is much, much faster, and has got some very solid reviews. I'd just pick one up off Ebay or something. Your not gonna get out of your shop for much less than a grand.