Let me first begin by saying that this is a visual appealing gun.  Opening the blue plastic case,  it was like being a 5 year old at Christmas opening the latest GI Joe.

The gun comes with various chokes, recoil pad, and gun oil.  I have the personal opinion that it would be nice to have it come in something other than a blue plastic case.  Call me crazy, but if you spend $1400  to $2000 for a gun you would hope that it would come in something a little better than a molded plastic case.

However, the gun itself is beautiful.  Excellent wood stock and fore-grip with the silver receiver finish makes a perfect presentation.  Nice scroll work and accents on the receiver set off the coloring of the stock and the barrels.

Once the gun is assembled, you first notice how light and agile the gun feels in your hand.  It feels like a sprinter getting ready to jump out of the block. The Beretta has an integrated safety and barrel selector on the back of the receiver that is in my opinion in the perfect spot.  The gun shoots like a dream, quick to the shoulder and accurate.  I was shooting the 12 ga version and after a full day of shooting and a case of shells, I was still a happy camper.  I will say that I had some black and blue spots the following day and a grin on my face.

I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

I have just completed my review of the Mission Voyager and all I can say is WOW! what an excellent hunting bow. I have been very impressed with the Mission line of bows from Mathews since there inception. They have proven themselves as an exceptional no frills hunting bow time and time again.

Features:

• Axle to Axle – 34″
• Brace height – 7″
• Let-Off – 80%
• Riser – Fully Machined
• Draw Weight – 40 – 70 lbs.
• Draw Lengths – 26 – 31.5 “
• Silencers – String Suppressors & String Grubb
• Cam – Single/Perimeter Weighted
• Gable Guard – Carbon Rod
• Bow Strings – Zebra Hybrid
• Grip – Walnut

SET UP

Initial set up and tune went like clock work with very little time spent paper tuning past the initial knock settings.  As with all of the bows I review they are set up as if I were going to take them hunting.

BOW SETTINGS

• Draw weight: 70lbs
• Draw length: 29″
• Let off:             80%
• Axle to Axle: 34″
• Brace height:  7″

EQUIPMENT

• Arrow rest:  Bodoodle
• Sights: SME
• Stabilizer: Sims modular with a 7″ Alpine proflex
• Quiver: Mathews T-7

ARROW

• Beman ICS Hunter Camo
• 3″ feather fletching
• Length 28″
• Tip 100 grain
• Weight total 405 grain

The Voyager tuned very quickly with minimum variation from the standard Mathews 16th of an inch high knock and an 8th of an inch inside center to shoot clean with this arrow

DRAW CYCLE

This is a smooth speed cam with a very solid wall and a true pleasure to shoot. The 80% let off and with a true valley allowed for a great feel at anchor.  This is a cam you do not have to fight.

SHOT GROUPS

• 20 yards : less than 1/4″
• 30 yards: 1/2 to 1″
• 40 yards: 2″
• 50 yards:  3″ and less

This is a very forgiving bow I had no problems holding kill zone shots with broad heads out to 70 yards. I had no problems with the bow setting still on the spot, and a solid no torque feel.

In my opinion Mission has set the standard for the rest of the industry in the entry level bow market, both in price and quality. Arrow speeds for my test set up varied about 3 FPS with a high of 303 and a low of 300. This bow is fast with a good hunting set up.

SUMMARY

This is an easy bow to shoot with great performance and warrants the flagship position in the Mission line for 2010.

There are some issues with the balance of the bow when you first pick it up with nothing on it,  it is top heavy. I added a little extra weight below the handle and that greatly improved the feel. Overall when the bow is completely setup it balances fairly well.

This bow shoots extremely well and is very forgiving, I can honestly say I rank this bow a true 10 in overall performance.

After a 12 month long field test of the Pflueger Asaro I have found a friend in the rod box. I am not saying this is a be all end all type of reel but it fits the bill perfectly for the medium weight freshwater water pounder that I use to catch everything from Largemouth, Hybird, and Sand bass.

I caught everything from a 25 pound drum to a 9.5lb Large mouth with the Asaro and never felt that I didn’t have enough reel to get the job done.

Features

• 7 double-shielded stainless steel ball bearings
• One-way clutch instant anti-reverse bearing
• Titanium line guide
• Patented six-pin adjustable centrifugal brake system
• Rugged one-piece solid aluminum frame with aluminum side plate
• Machined, ported and anodized aluminum spool
• Smooth multi-disc main gear applied drag system with audible star adjustment
• Sturdy aluminum handle with soft-touch knobs
• Soft-touch thumb bar spool release

Casting the Asaro was a pleasure, although it seemed to have a little difficulty with light finesse worm set ups the single point adjustment for line feed was very easy to access and quickly adjusted to fit the application required.

Drag adjustments were positive and always resulted in a smooth line feed with no drag chatter noticed.

The 6.4:1 retrieve is another plus, it is fast enough to buzz a spinner and drive a crank bait but requires a little thought to the speed when working plastic out of cover.

In summary I would have to say the Asaro has performed well to be a mid range reel, and it has earned a place on my boat or in the back of the truck. Overall I would rate this reel as an 8 out of 10

[View with PicLens]

BACK GROUND

I want to start this review out by asking a simple question. How do the folks at Mathews keep building bows that just turn the industry upside down?

The first thing I noticed about the Z7 was what a radical step away from the normal look for a Mathews bow. The second thing was I really liked the red trim and highlights of the bow.

Now as most of my readers know I am not a small man 6’3 and 310 lbs and, I am not a big fan of short bows they never seem to fit or be as comfortable to shoot as say a 34-38″ axle to axle bow.

I was expecting to make a couple of comments about the snow cone effect or the ability of this bow to shoot at distance ( WRONG !! ). So now you have a little background lets get to the review.

SET UP

Initial set up and tune went like clock work with very little time spent paper tuning past the initial knock settings.  As with all of the bows I review they are set up as if I were going to take them hunting.

BOW SETTINGS

• Draw weight: 70lbs
• Draw length: 29″
• Let off:             80%
• Axle to Axle: 30″
• Brace height:  7″

EQUIPMENT

• Arrow rest:  Trophy Taker
• Sights: Extreme
• Stabilizer: Sims modular
• Quiver: Mathews T-5

ARROW

• Beman ICS Hunter Camo
• 3″ feather fletching
• Length 28″
• Tip 100 grain
• Weight total 405 grain

The Z7 tuned very quickly with minimum variation from the standard Mathews 16th of an inch high knock and center arrow position on the rest. I was very happy with the bows performance.

DRAW CYCLE

This is a smooth speed cam until the last 1.5-2″ of draw where if you are not ready for it will sneak up on you. The cam has a little bump at the back, but once you hit the valley and then into the wall which is very solid, it felt great.  A big plus of the Z7 cam was the solid anchor point and ability to hold the spot without fighting the bow.

SHOT GROUPS

• 20 yards : less than 1/4″
• 30 yards: 1/2 to 1″
• 40 yards: 2 to 2 and1/2″
• 50 yards:  4″ and less

This is a very forgiving short bow I had no problems holding kill zone shots with broad heads out to 60 yards. This changes my opinion of a short hunting bow without question, and yes this is the first short bow of all the ones we have tested in the past that I will give a 9 out of 10 score for shoot ability.

In my opinion Mathews has set the standard for the rest of the industry in this market.Arrow speeds for my test set up varied about 10 FPS with a high of 309 and a low of 299. This bow is very fast with such a heavy set up.

ROLLER CABLE GUARD / DRAW ASSIST

Roller cable guard / draw assist. This is something I can not say enough about, I have always had a problem with the short bow wearing cable servings due to the angle that the bus cable tracks in and out of the cam. I have observed minimum serving wear with the Z7.

SUMMARY

This is without a doubt the best short bow I have ever had the opportunity to shoot, it feels very stable has a great anchor point, and tunable speed. In my opinion this bow will have the same impact on the industry that we saw with the release of the Legacy. I rank this bow 9.5 out of 10 with the only negative being the hump at the back of the cam,  but understand that speed has to come from some where in the cam design. Mathews has done an outstanding job in the development of this bow from top to bottom so do yourself a favor if you are looking to upgrade or buy your first bow this year take a close look at the Z7.

[View with PicLens]