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Welcome
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Select Archery and
Outdoor Supply
Featured Bows |
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A bow company finally listened...great
speed with a very smooth draw.
A review of the Pearson TX-4. |
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I've been talking to customers for
quite some time now about the speed race that seems to be preoccupying the
majority of the bow companies. The major problem is that these bows
put out the speed with a price - normally a harsh or steep draw curve.
It's great if your bow is putting out 450 fps, but if I draw back a 60#
model and it feels like a 70# model, then what good will that 450fps do me
on a cold Illinois morning in a tree stand? The answer is that I'll be
sitting there with my fast bow while the deer go around with no fear of
being shot.
I talked about this problem with Jon and Dale at Ben Pearson archery.
I loved the Z-34 that they put out for 2007 and it is the biggest seller at
Select Archery. I wondered if they could somehow put out a bow like
the Z-34 (smooth draw, easy to shoot, very little noise or vibration), but
put some serious speed into it.
The accepted the challenge and put out a winner.
I got the demo model of the 2008 Pearson TX-4 in late August. Upon
getting it out of the box, I began to smile as I saw this bow had the
ultra-smooth drawing Z-7 single cam. I love this cam. It's the
one that turned me from a hybrid cam guy. Initial impressions were
that the bow improved upon the looks of the Z-34 with more rounded cutouts
and some deer prints. The Barnsdale laminated limbs with ETI inserts
were still there, as was the stock string suppressor. The string
suppressor has been updated with a better stopper, so there will be less
need to replace it with an aftermarket model. They also have a teflon
cable slide included.
So, how does it shoot?
I dialed in the cam and shot a 368 grain arrow at 301 fps. That's with
a peep sight, Bowjax slimjax and string loop at 28" draw length using the
factory supplied Xcellerator strings. I found that with the Crackers
string and cable set, the loaded string got up to 304 fps with all the same
specs. Word from the factory says that the final production model is
even faster.
The draw on the cam is the same as on the Z-34. There is no noticeable
hump in the draw cycle. It has a rock solid wall and very smooth draw
characteristics. In fact, I had a customer at the shop when I was
testing the bow and I handed the bow to him. I asked him what the
thought the weight was at and asked him to draw his bow first. His was
a 65# Hoyt PowerTec. He pulled back the TX-4 and said it felt the
same, if not a little easier. That's great, as the bow at that time
was set at 71/72#. How many speed bows can claim to draw easier than
the weight listed? I've only found the Pearson TX-4. The creep
was also good with this bow. You can creep forward about 1/4" into
your draw before the bow begins to want to go. It's got a very nice
valley.
The vibration and noise of this bow is similar to the Z-34, although bows
that come from Select Archery are supplied with an extra string dampener on
the cable and a cable guard dampener. This takes a bow with little
noise and vibration even lower. Hats off to Pearson in regard to
listening to customers and dealers who wanted an improved dampener on the
string suppressor.
Weight of the bow - this was the one drawback of the demo model. It
weighed in at 4 pounds 7 ounces on a postal scale. The final
production model is 4 pounds and 1 ounce.
Shootability - one thing that did honestly worry me is that the brace height
is 6 1/4". Shooting the bow took this worry away. After aligning
the Spot-Hogg Whammy rest and HHA BF400 sight with the Bowplane laser tuning
device, I found myself shooting the best 30, 40, 50 and 60 yard groups that
I have ever shot - even better than my trusty Generation II with a generous
brace height. After putting a ton of shots through it, my confidence
continued to grow and I know guess I have to rethink the whole brace height=shootability
idea.
Overall impressions - I think that this bow will be a hot seller. At
$599.99 minimum advertised price, it is priced much less than other bows in
its class. For $599.99, you get a bow with Barnsdale laminated limbs
with ETI inserts, stainless steel inserts, sealed ball bearings in the idler
and cam, rock solid and smooth Z-7 single cam, Xcellerator factory supplied
string, teflon cable slide and an improved string suppressor...and 330fps!
For more information on this bow, you can go to
www.selectarchery.com/pearson.shtml or
www.benpearson.com when their site
is updated. |
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