In-Depth Test and Review: PMZ 65” Takedown Longbow

PMZ Archery

Producing Longbows, Recurves, and Asian Style Recurve Bows, PMZ Archery manufactures a full line of Traditional Archery Bows and Accessories.

PMZ 65” Takedown Longbow

Overview

The PMZ 65″ Longbow is a mid-level Take-down longbow. It is available in right handed only(hold the bow with your left hand and pull the string with your right) We tested the 30 lbs. version.

Construction

A three piece take-down bow that consists of an engineered hardwood riser with accent woods and two limbs. The riser is laminated hardwood, constructed from contrasting materials to create a striking appearance. The riser has 2 index pins and one limb bolt for each limb, duel pins are usually used on more expensive bows.

The limbs are of a fiberglass/bamboo/fiberglass lamination design. Engineered Bamboo limb construction is considered an upgrade over the standard limb materials. Bamboo offers better flexibility, greater strength and a high resilience to tension than standard hardwoods, when used in bow limbs.

Included With The Bow

Included with this bow are the bowstring, string nock, arrow rest, strike plate, finger tab, arm guard, bow stringer, allen wrench and 6 carbon arrows. The bowstring is a Dacron continuous loop string, with center serving and served string loops. The bow stringer, nock, strike plate and arrow rest are of reasonable quality and will serve their purposes well. The arm guard and finger tab are of promotional quality. They will serve their purpose, but you will probably want to upgrade to something better at some point. The arrows are entry level 500 spine carbon shafts and fletched with 4″ turkey feathers.

Performance

The PMZ 65″ Longbow shot very well. The limbs have a reflex-deflex design (the limbs reflex toward the archer from the riser and then deflexes back away from the archer) that stores and transfers energy more effectively than a standard longbow design. This bow design, gives the bow a smooth pull, good arrow speed and makes for a quiet shot. The 500 spine arrows that come with the bow weighed 569 grains (unit of measure used in shooting sports) and did not perform well with the bow. However, we shot some 700 spine arrow that weighed 330 grains through the bow and they performed wonderfully.

This bow is marked at a 30lbs. draw weight. At 28″ it weighed 27.7 lbs, which is within 10% plus or minus which is the norm. For comparison purposes I weighed the bow at different lengths as shown above. As you can tell from the difference in draw weight between 28″ and 30″, the weight starts to increase more after 28″. This indicates that the bow beginning to reach its safe draw limit. The manufacturer states that 32” is the maximum draw length.

Is This The Bow For You?

The Pros

Available in a range of draw weights from 20 – 50 lbs, there is a bow that will work for archers from 16 to 80 years of age. The PMZ 65″ Longbow comes with a good selection of functional accessories, including bowstring, string nock, arrow rest, strike plate, finger tab, arm guard, bow stringer, allen wrench and 6 carbon arrows. This bow features upgraded items not found on most bows in this price range: duel index/alignment pins for each limb, brass washers for the takedown bolts, reflex-deflect design and engineered bamboo lams in the limbs.

The Cons

The 500 spine, 569 grain arrows that come with the PMZ 65″ Longbow are not well suited to the 30lbs. draw version. They would be better suited to the 45 or 50 lbs. draw version of this bow. This bow is only available in a right handed model.

The PMZ 65″ Longbow is great beginner to intermediate bow. It has a smooth draw, forgiving release and shoots where you look. This longbow would be well suited to archers of any age with a 26” draw length up to a 29″. With good care, this bow will be shooting arrows for a long, long time.

This review was a learning lesson for me. After I started the process the kit I tested sold out and is currently not available. All the links above are for the bow only. This is the link for the currently available PMZ longbow Kit which has slightly different accessories, but no arrows. This is the link for the PMZ Longbow Kit With Arrows in case it comes back in stock. After scouring the internet looking for a substitute for this bow to offer, without success, I have come to the conclusion that PMZ is manufacturing or having it manufactured specifically for them. I can only hope they continue to do so, because for under $100 this is a terrific bow!