Image | Length | Bow Weight | Draw Weight | Takedown? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Samick Polaris See on Amazon.com | 48, 54, or 62 inches | Less than 3 lbs How to: choose arrows, draw weight, and tune your recurve | 15 to 40 lbs. | Yes |
| Pros - Excellent bow for beginning archers - Interchangeable limbs - Beautiful design | Cons - No bow stringer included - Too long for comfortable use hunting |
| Also recommended: Best Samick Bows |
What comes with the bow?
Hi there, and welcome to my review of the Samick Polaris takedown recurve bow. Each package delivered by Samick includes the following items:
- The Samick Polaris bow, including riser and limbs
- Assembly hardware
- B-50 Dacron bowstring
- Owner’s manual
- Warranty card
Assembling The Bow
Putting the Polaris together is quite easy, but I wish more bow manufacturers would include a bow stringer with the bow. Samick does not include one with the Polaris, but I fortunately already own several. This bow features atapered knobs and a metal limb pocket design, so you don’t absolutely need any special tools to attach or remove the limbs. I had this bow ready to shoot within 5 minutes of unboxing it, but I’m a pro at assembling bows—count on having yours ready to go within 15 minutes.
How Powerful and Accurate is the Bow?
The Polaris is available in a variety of sizes and weights, from 48” to 70” lengths and draw weights from 10# to 40#. I’m shooting a 68” Polaris at 40#, and I’ve found the bow to be quite accurate and powerful. I can maintain 1” groupings from 15 yards, and 1-1/2” groupings from 25 yards. That’s pretty impressive for such an economical recurve bow.
Is The Bow Suitable For Hunting?
Only the 68” and 70” limbs are capable of draw weights heavy enough for bow hunting, so this bow is really only suitable for hunting if you’re an adult capable of handling such a large bow. Personally, I probably would not use the Polaris for hunting simply because I would not want to have to maneuver such a long recurve bow in the woods.
Is The Bow Suitable For Beginners?
The Polaris is designed with beginners in mind, which is why it comes in such a wide variety of sizes and weights and at such an economical price. It is very forgiving of amateur stances and techniques, and suffers only a tad bit of limb twist if you are careless about your shooting style.
Does This Recurve Accept Accessories?
The Samick Polaris has bushings preinstalled for a brass plunger, stabilizer, and sight/quiver, so you can trick the bow out however you want. I’m more of an instinctive shooter, but I found the bushings worked perfectly with third-party sights and quivers, helping to set the bow up for a wide variety of shooting styles.
Arrows For The Polaris
What arrows you choose depends entirely on your own personal preference in hunting or target shooting style. I had excellent luck with Carbon Express arrows and both field tips and Rage broadheads with the Polaris, but you should check out our guide on arrow selection to choose the best arrows for you.
Is This Bow Comfortable To Hold?
The Samick Polaris is very comfortable to hold, and is designed for lengthy competition shooting at the beginning level. I’ve shot the bow for several hours at a time without suffering any hand fatigue or sore arms, but I would not recommend such lengthy shooting sessions if you are a beginning archer. For a beginning archer, the Polaris is very comfortable for at least an hour of shooting, which is really all you should try until you build up your arm muscles for archery.
Materials And Durability (Riser, Limbs)
The riser is constructed from walnut, hard maple, and white oak, and the limbs are hard maple with fiberglass laminate. This is a budget bow, but it’s well made and should last you through several seasons of archery.
What String Fits The Samick Polaris?
The Polarish comes with a B-50 Dacron string, and lacks the reinforced limb tips that you need for heavier, faster strings. Any B-50 Dacron string, though, will work perfectly with this bow. The included string is very good quality, and has lasted throughout several months of intense, frequent shooting sessions without any problems.
Is The Samick Polaris a Heavy Bow?
The Polaris is lightweight and easy to carry, coming in at under 3 pounds. Of course, your weight will vary depending on what size limbs you choose, but your total weight should not be much more than 3 pounds; mine is actually less than 3 pounds. It’s an easy bow to carry around the archery range, and holds well at the shooting lanes.
How Loud Is The Polaris?
The Polaris is quieter than most budget bows, and is almost silent when you install string silencers. This is a very good quality bow for the price, both in its accuracy and its suitability for long shooting sessions. You don’t have to worry about vibration or noise, and can instead enjoy your time at the range in comfort and style.
Recurve Bow Review – Summary
Thanks for reading my bow review. The Samick Polaris is an excellent bow for target shooting, whether you’re a beginner or an intermediate archer looking for a budget bow. It is too large for hunting, but it is very forgiving in the shooting lane, suffering from little to no limb twist and being very accepting of poor stance and technique. For the money, this is probably the best recurve in its class. Take a look at Today's Amazon.com price on the Samick Polaris if you’re interested.
I’ve been trying to find the polaris that comes with at least 68″ limbs or better yet the 70″ limbs. Where can I find them? I’m sort of tall and have heard a longer bow is better when possible. Thanks for giving me the sites where I can buy these limbs.
Also about the string. I’ve been advised not to get the Samick Polaris because it doesn’t have limbs that can handle the flemish strings. Other than hunting, when would it be necessary to have the FF strings? Thanks.