[aerosenfield]

Well, I had a lesson with my coach today so for about 90 minutes I was using my "old" rig: Best Zenit BB, Border Hex6 W @ 30# with 1915s and 70 grain tips - 8.5" bh, Beiter plunger and ZT rest.

Afterwards, I had 30 minutes during which I slapped the exact same setup (minus the ZT rest) onto the new BT. I adjusted the rest for the arrows, but otherwise shot it exactly the same way - so no tuning.

Here are my first impressions:

WOW!

Smooth as silk on the draw. The massiveness of the form and the weight seem to allow the limbs to be drawn with no extra effort by the body, if that makes any sense. The balance is so good that once one starts to pull on the string, the weight seems to disappear.

The Best weighs 1800 grams and I shoot with an extra 16.04 oz of weight for a total weight of 79.533 oz. The BT weighs 81.130 oz. so it is slightly heavier than the Best. But once you begin to draw, the balance makes the BT feel effortless compared to the Best and I think the Best is a great riser.

The only other way I know how to describe this is using a sports car analogy. If you were to drive a BMW X3 convertible or a Jaguar XKR convertible or perhaps a Vanquish (I haven't had that pleasure but spoke to someone who owns one), the car feels pretty heavy so that you don't feel any wind buffeting. But when you drive it, it is smooth, very easy to drive, handles well - it seems almost effortless. The workmanship is beautiful and solid and the fit and finish is immaculate. That is how this riser felt.

I am going to spend the next few days setting up the bow more carefully and will try and add more comments, but for now, all I can say in summation is: Holger, I may need to order a second one soon!

Alan

 

[rusty craine]

Yes!

 

[steve morley]

good to here.


Any more members become Black Thunder owners we will have to start our own sub forum called ThunderTalk :cheers:

 

[kenn1320]

Your car references explain why you can afford such a nice riser, I don't know anything about either car. Lol

 

[JParanee]

Great riser for sure

Looking forward to more impressions

 

[aerosenfield]

Your car references explain why you can afford such a nice riser, I don't know anything about either car. Lol

I just said I had driven them, not owned them!

Alan

 

[Unkle Bond]

Hello
Sound oh so good. A picture of your set up would be nice. [ Later

 

[aerosenfield]

Sound oh so good. A picture of your set up would be nice.

I am still just playing so I don't have fixed set up right now. Today I changed the limbs to my Uukha Ux 100 - 38#@28" and did some more bale work.

There is no question that the stiffness of this riser makes drawing less work. I was pulling the 38# as if it were my 30# Borders.

So far I really like the low grip that Holger suggested as well. There is a lump in the grip that fits right into the fleshy part of the hand just under the thumb. The fingers and thumb rap comfortably around the grip so that my hand is relaxed and I am getting a consistent grip each time.

Alan

 

[rusty craine]

The weight of the riser makes guessing what weight you drawn harder. The release is also surprising. Almost no reaction. Just a thud. With light limbs the riser does not even hit my finger sling.

It gives you the impression that more energy must get to the arrow. . With 32# limbs you can see the arrow down the line. Like shooting a three poistion rifle. You pull the trigger and a hole appears. Rifle never moves.

 

[aerosenfield]

That brings up an interesting question Rusty. I am going to check some arrow speeds this week with the only difference being the riser.

Alan

 

[rusty craine]

I have found different risers give me a few feet per second different speed from the same limbs. You are not sure it is all the stiffness of the riser though. There are many things about risers that I don't understand.

Some risers have a softer feel. Some a spanner feel. The SB has a snappy release, slightly reactive then rock solid at near vertical.

 

[tori]

That brings up an interesting question Rusty. I am going to check some arrow speeds this week with the only difference being the riser.

Alan

Hey Alan, please post your numbers. Good to hear you're getting on well with the riser.

 

[Stolid Bull]

The Black (Blazing) Thunder ist surely not designed to be exceptionally fast. Stiffness helps transferring the energy from the limbs into the arrow acceleration and not into vibration and torsional effects of a riser, but a lot of aspects have an influence on arrow speed. There is the overall geometry with the limb angle, reflex/deflex design and brace height which all are important in this respect.
The Black Thunder is primarily exceptional concerning stability and balance. Speed is always good, but stability is more important in this case. Nevertheless the BT can compete with any riser on the market concerning speed. I simply would not claim that it is the fastest under the sun
If you have an emphasis on speed while at the same time wanting exceptional stability, your choice better might be the Vanquish with its more aggressive design. This longer 26" riser can be equipped with shorter limbs (26" riser plus medium limbs gives a 69" bow) even with a long draw length. Using shorter limbs with their reduced mass generally are faster than their long equivalents with the same draw weight.

 

[aerosenfield]

As promised, I did a quick - and I mean quick - test on arrow speed comparing the BT and my Best Zenit BB. Both set at 31.5#, both used the same arrows (1915 with 70gr), same limbs (Border Hex6Ws). The speed in the Best was ~157ft/sec. The speed in the BT was ~156 ft/sec. This was not extremely thorough as I only ran a half dozen arrows through each time, but the numbers were consistent enough that I am comfortable noting that the BT loses very little speed.

However, I then put Uukha 36# limbs in the BT and it still felt like I was pulling 31.5#! The stiffness is worth every iota of speed that I give up and then some!

Alan

 

[Redbow]

I shoot Sky Conquest limbs at 38 lbs, with carbon one arrows at 398 grains.
Arrow speed is 198/201fps

157?????? what am i missing?

 

[Jon Lewis]

157fps, are you sure that's right. You could shoot telephone poles and it should be quicker than that surely?


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[Coodster]

If Alan is using the arrows I think he is they are
2315 or 24 possibly 27's full length and
HHEEEAAAVVVYYY points. A guess but 700gr would be about right.
But that's my memory tho.

How far off am I Alan?

Chad

 

[Jon Lewis]

If Alan is using the arrows I think he is they are

2315 or 24 possibly 27's full length and

HHEEEAAAVVVYYY points. A guess but 700gr would be about right.

But that's my memory tho.

How far off am I Alan?

Chad

That might explain it 😀

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rsarns]

Hmmm 1915's with 70 gr's and getting 157? EVen at full length that cannot be much more than 400 gr's?

 

[rsarns]

Ok, 1916's are 8.3 per " and 31" length.... that's just over 257 plus nock, fletch .. say 25 gr's and a 70 gr tip = thats 352 gr's.... WOW. I would try a different chrono or buy new limbs....LOL