AF Archery Turkish Recurve Bow, 50" High-Performance Traditional Laminated Hunting Horse Bow for Adults Youth Beginners Enthusiasts and Hunting

I bought this bow with great hopes seeing many reviews praising its performance but had in mind also the few were it didn't last long, unfortunately that had to be my case. The bow didn't last more than 25 shots in two sessions, on the first it was a quick test and after 6 arrows I was very happy with its performance and no sign of delamination appeared, on the second one after 15 shots or so the bow suddenly exploded in my hand without any prior creaking sound or visible cracks, both times I used heavy arrows over 12gpp and never exceeded 31 inches when drawing and kept it stored in the bow sock inside home and away from sunlight. On every bow I have I always check for damage or limb misalignment before and after stringing and shooting them and I couldn't see anything wrong in this one so I'm quite baffled on what could have happened, my only guess is due to AZ dry climate the glue on the bamboo might have failed. Edit: I contacted AF archery explaining my experience and they kindly sent me another bow, I haven't been able to test it thoroughly yet but seems to be well made

Short, fast bow with a big comfortable handle. The 50lb model is easy to shoot, accurate and has good penetrating power.

It is beautiful to look at - well crafted. It is well balanced and comfortable to hold. Because of the aggressive recurve, it has remarkable power for such a simple and elegant bow. It was well worth the money!

I never like to leave a bad review, but I can corroborate the reports of the string not staying on this bow. I am an experienced archer and shoot horsebows and Scythian style bows exclusively, so I am very familiar with the process of stringing this type of bow. While I could get it strung, drawing the string back would result in the string popping off as the bow twisted, making this a dangerous bow to shoot. It appears that the siyahs twist in the opposite direction and cannot be adjusted in a manner to make this bow work. Perhaps the reason others do not have this issue is because they were lucky enough to get a model that was not defective. I believe these bows are mass produced, so it's the luck of the draw in getting a good one. Save your money and explore other options if you want a traditional Turkish \ Horsebow. Sorry to disappoint.

Edit: Since my first post which was on the first bow only... I have had 2 replacement bows both lasted approximately 4-5 months each with only 4k arrows run through them before their fiber glass became compromised. I use heavy weight arrows and don't exceed the max draw. I hope others don't have this experience and are aware of problems in quality that may arise and to frequently inspect your bow for damage before it fails catastrophically. As my first short bow, it is worth the price. As a short bow its poundage does stack past 28in. I have been using this bow for 3 months with a couple thousand arrows and its held up well. Only issues I have faced is that the serving string started to wiggle free around the nocking point and have had to add more serving string to remedy this and the bow string bridge cracked... Not sure where to find more like theses because the crack has left it with a sharp edge. I have added photos of these issues. after contacting AF they sent replacement string bridges. not long after that had delamination on limbs and was offered another bow free of charge. Overall I'm glad the company backs their bows and hope others don't have similar issues as myself.

This shortbow is powerful, and the Ottomans used it to conquer 1/3 of Europe with it. It's made from Ashwood so it's not the highest quality wood, but it is still strong, flexible, and tough. I have had this bow for a month as my first bow. I have shot roughly 1700 arrows off of it. It's accurate and really brings out weaknesses in your form. This is because mistakes get amplified due to how short the bow is. It's a great learning bow, I've read the other reviews on this bow, and nearly didn't buy it because of the bow string issues. I decided to buy it because I assumed people who complained about the bow string were probably string it themselves instead of using a bow stringer. Like your shooting form, stringing this bow with your body will bring out of your mistakes in bow stringing form, because of how short the bow is. That said, I always unstring and restring it nearly daily and have never had any issues. Hey I get it, it's cool to string a bow using your body, it even looks cool, but it's less safe and effective than using a proper bow stringer. I used thumb draw because I hope to shoot off of horseback someday. But I would definitely recommend this bow for beginners. FYI, I am 6'3", so the picture makes the bow look even shorter.

At the time of this writing this is 1 of the 2 bows I really like being offered by Amazon, and they are both sold by AF Archery. The other bow I like is the 53" Tatar bow. This bow is super light weighing about 4/5th of a pound, its fast and snappy. Built and finished very well. It has one drawback, but that's because of how fine the bow is and how short the bow is and so it should be expected. The bow is a little unstable...what does this mean? It means if you are not careful to make sure the limbs of the bow are straight after you string the bow...this means the string has been put on a little crooked. If you draw the bow like that, it will warp and destring itself violently on you. This is NOT a defect, this is what happens when you so finely tune a bow to these dimension. YOU, need to make sure you string the bow so it is straight. Get on youtube and learn how. If you are uncertain about that, then I recommend the Tatar which is a little more stable due to being a little less stressed with the added length. But this really shouldn't put you off, I am writing it hear to help prevent unnecessary returns. These two bows are my absolute favorite and I am buying another of each in heavier draw weights for hunting.

First one had a cloudy spot in fiberglass that turned into a crack in about a week. The replacement one started to show a crack within a day (may have just noticed it sooner cause I was watching for it.) Seems like a decent bow, but terrible quality control.