Martin Saber Review

Welcome to my review of the Martin Saber.

Image	Length	Bow Weight	Draw Weight	Takedown?
Martin Saber Recurve Bow See on Amazon.com	64 inches	3.4 lbs How to: choose arrows, draw weight, and tune your recurve	30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 lbs.	Yes

Pros: - Durable, light-weight riser. - Wonderful vibration-dampening technology. - Extremely comfortable to hold; you’ll want to keep shooting it. - Smooth to draw and carries an arrow like a beast. - Very accurate even in tough weather conditions - Fantastic value for the money.	Cons: - Arrow rest is made of rubber, so you may have to replace it (costs a few dollars) after a year or so of shooting, depending on how often you practice. This isn’t a given though, and many people will never need to replace the rest
Also recommended: Best Martin Bows

  

Best For

• Hunting, target practice
• Beginner and intermediate archers

Martin Archery – The True Experts?

Do you like accurate and affordable recurve bows? I do. And Martin Archery definitely seems to like them as well. In fact, I’ve never seen them produce an inferior product (except for a few exceptions, which were promptly taken off the market and were only re-introduced once the defects were taken care of). The Martin Saber is a particularly good piece of equipment, which is exactly why it earned a spot in our top 10 best recurve bows list. You’d probably like to know what makes it so special though, so let me explain.

The Riser & Vibration Reduction – Great Value

Let us begin by taking a look at their Riser. Martin is known for using aluminum in the making of their risers, and while this is somewhat different than the traditional wooden constructions you are probably used to seeing in traditional bows, it’s definitely not a bad thing; you see, being made of aluminum means that the riser is both durable and lightweight, which are both important things to look for. But what other good stuff has the Martin Saber riser got to offer?

Let’s look at the handle. If you read my recent Martin Jaguar review, you might have seen all the good stuff I had to say about the grip in that bow; it’s extremely comfortable, ergonomic, as well as sweat-resistant – once you hold
it once, you really won’t be able to let go. And the good news is: the exact same is true in the case of the Martin Saber. You’ll love it. All of this is possible thanks to the Thermal V protective dampening grip that was introduced by the manufacturer. In addition, two Vibration Vortex V.E.M.’s are integrated in the riser, reducing vibration even further and making the Martin Saber really quiet to shoot.

The arrow rest is made of rubber, which is likely the only flaw this bow (and most other bows in this price range) has. While it often doesn’t cause any issues, some people experience wear of the arrow rest with time. This can be amended easily by simply purchasing a metal arrow rest (the Martin Saber accepts all the ones available on the market), which you can get for as little as $3-$10.

The Martin Saber Limbs – Powerful & Detachable

No Martin Saber review could be complete without at least a mention of the limbs’ quality. Made of laminated wood and glass, you’ll find them to be really durable and capable of sending an arrow through the air with complete authority. The limbs don’t have a tendency to bend as time goes by (thanks to the high quality lamination used by Martin). But there’s more.

If you aren’t sure what kind of draw weight is right for you, check out my Recurve Bow Draw Weight Chart to settle this matter.

Since the Saber recurve is a Take-down bow, it means you can quickly and easily remove the upper and lower limbs from the riser by simply unscrewing two screws. This is particularly important since this is a pretty long bow, so transporting it might have been somewhat of an issue for some if it weren’t for the take-down nature of this recurve. The whole procedure is really simple and doesn’t take more than a minute to complete. This also means that you don’t need to purchase a bow case to transport your weapon, since you can easily place it in a medium-sized handbag after it’s been disassembled. Unless, of course, you simply think bow cases are cool, just like I do, in which case you’ll get one anyway.

Performance & Accuracy – The Important Stuff

I’ll begin this section by quoting a certain user from the Martin Archery forums:

The draw is hard to explain… Even at only 40#, it was very firm yet smooth… It was a steady increase all the way to my 27.5″, but you were left with no doubt to how harshly it was going to throw the arrow.

I might personally add to the above that the bow feels the same not only at the 40 pounds draw weight, but also at the higher ones; I own the 50 pounder and have found it to be really easy and exciting to shoot, as I can focus my entire attention on hitting my target rather than having to wrestle the weight. You’ll love just how natural it feels, at least I strongly believe so. Why is it this good though?

Three main reasons:

• High quality limbs.
• Advanced vibration-reducing technology (I’ve already talked about this in the “Riser” section above)
• A really cool total length of 64 inches, which isn’t easy to come by in this price range. In case you didn’t know: the longer the bow, the more accurate it is.

Accuracy is fantastic as well. The brace height is forgiving of a beginner’s form mistakes and does not result in “string slap” at all. There’s no torque or side-to-side swaying of the limbs involved upon release.

Martin Saber Review – Summary

To sum up this Martin Saber review, I will just say that it will provide you with years of quality shooting, regardless of how experienced you are as an archer. Beginners, intermediates and advanced – they all have to appreciate the simplicity and effectiveness of this bow’s design.

Take a moment to check out Today's Amazon.com price on the Martin Saber.

Hats off to Martin!