Back in 2012 I bought this late Mongol, Manchu-influenced horsebow from "handmadebow" on eBay. It draws 50# @ 28". The riser and siyahs (limb tips) are wood while the limbs are leather-covered fiberglass.


































About 2 weeks ago, I ordered a half dozen bamboo arrows from another Chinese eBay seller, "arrowmaker2013." They are 28" long and I asked the seller to send arrows spined for a 45 to 50# bow. I don't know if he did any special selection or not, but they fly very well from my bow.













The arrows are well made and straight. They have some kind of varnish or shellac finish and are nice and smooth.






You can get these arrows with field points or bullet points, but I went for the 150 grain "broadheads," which have three edges. They are very pointy but the edges are dull, which is fine for target shooting.













These points should work well on small game. Or zombies. ;)






The feather fletching is glued on and also secured at the leading edge with thread. The self nocks are reinforced with thread. The thread goes up to the back of the fletching but is just decorative at that point.













I've been wanting to try bamboo arrows for awhile now. Some people refer to them as "nature's carbon fiber." They fly very well from this bow, at least as good as my Port Orford Cedar shafts from 3Rivers Archery.






 
 

How would you compare shooting one of those bows to something like a Bear KMag?

Compared with a more modern recurve with an arrow shelf, you need to be more careful where you hold the bow, since your hand is the arrow rest. I wear a glove on my bow hand to protect it from the feathers. I use a Hawkwood bow glove from 3 Rivers Archery. Any leather glove would work OK. I've used a Mechanix glove before. Also, since the bow is not center cut you need to use arrows with a lower spine, since they need to curve around the bow more. (See archer's paradox.)

Very cool, I've been thinking of buying one of these some day.