Home > Bow Reviews > Dick Boss Td 60" 45#@28"

In my last review I mentioned a story of one that got away, it's not happened often but there are occasions when a bow purchase or trade just doesn't work out and so it is again that this review is about a bow long held in the memory, a bow which finally came home to roost. To be exact the difference this time is that the original bow in this story never actually arrive but I did manage to track down a bow by the same bowyer of the same poundage. Back in my bulk buying days I came across a bow I had never seen before, it was a beautiful looking take down 3PC with a green actionwood handle and snake skin covered limbs. It was set off with brass bolt washers and was the most wonderful looking bow I had seen in some time. It was of course a Dick Boss longbow, a bowyer I had never come across before, and one you don't see too often on the various classified websites. That generally means only one thing, low production and great quality.

I did some research and found that Dick had a very good reputation if a rather low profile, the bow was a good price so I tried to set up the deal. Unfortunately the guy selling didn't use, and had no interest in using Paypal so it resulted in a rather a lot of messing around with international money orders and then a long wait. Unfortunately that wait went on for some weeks and after some frantic phone calls and emails the deal eventually feel through. As you can imagine I was disappointed and from then on a Dick Boss became something of an obsession, I simply had to have one. Well it took nearly 2 years for me to find another one in the same draw weight, this time the transaction was much smoother and after what seemed like a life time to clear customs the bow eventually arrived safe and sound. 

The bow is very nice to look at, one thing that is mentioned a lot is that Dick Boss bows look like the Herb Meland pronghorns (or vica versa), to be fair it's likely with so many bows around that the odd few will look a like and there is a similarity between the two. I did find some information that Dick worked with Herb at one time and that would account for the similarity, but I don't have firm confirmation on that.

The riser is a mix of two different colour Actionwoods, one a light yellow and the other a light grey, running down the center is an acent strip which looks really smart. The riser is rather angular with the ends ending abruptly, which I think is where the comparisons with the Proghorns come from. The limbs are glass over bamboo and the way limbs are cut where they connect to the riser allows you too see that distinctive look of cut bamboo.

The handle is what I would consider more of a medium position as opposed to low and it feels very comfortable to hold, it's not bulky in any way and the addition of a leather handle makes it sit in the hand snugly.  Unstrung the limbs have a lot of reflex, so much in fact that when the bow is strung the limbs do start to come back, nothing like a recurve but very noticably. 

The sight window is rather small and the arrow shelf is also minimal, I will need to measure it but it seems to be cut too, but not past centre. The limb tips are black and while the limbs are not overly wide there is some taper, the tips however do look pretty solid. The bow is 60" long so it's also rather easy to carry around, there is little to no weight to it either which I assume is due to the action wood. 

I had the chance to review the bow this weekend, we had a fair amount of snow this last week and I was worried I wouldn't get a chance to shoot the bow before Christmas. However there was a 3D shoot which while there was plenty of snow around was still on so we headed out in to the cold. 

Unfortunately I hadn't had time to assess the bow before hand, I had in fact only taken delivery the day before, so I was rather stumped on what arrow to use. I went with a 50-55# spine set but on reflection this was always going to be a bit stiff. But no matter a little bit of cant, which the bow seemed to like, and the arrows were coming across the target to where they were needed. We had a few ends on the practice butts for me to get a feel for the power and it was off out to the course. 

The draw was nice and smooth and I had no trouble with the 45#. 60" is a little bit short for me but there were no issues with finger pinch at all. The shot felt great, there was a small amount of vibration but definitely nothing to be concerned about. It took a while to adjust fully to the cant as I tend to shoot a bow cut past centre, but once I had the hang of it I was really enjoying it. It felt like a really traditional bow, no gizmo's or frills just a really nice bow which sent the arrow towards the target with accuracy even if the out and out speed wasn't there. 

After a while we met up with some friends and joined their group and it was only when they mentioned it that I realised how much noise the bow made, basically none. After that I tried to listen more to what was happening and there was nothing there. The string had some whisker silencers installed and boy were they doing their job. I genuinlely think this is the quietest bow I have ever had the pleasure of shooting. 

The other thing to mention is the handle, as I said earlier it is more medium than anything else. I don't like a low wrist grip and I was concerned before I shot this that it would be like that. It wasn't and it felt really good in the hand at all times. 

I had a great day shooting the bow, it just felt really nice. I'm not sure if you will ever have the pleasure of owning or shooting a Dick Boss bow as Dick only makes 60 or so a year and as I mentioned earlier you don't often see them for sale. One thing to mention on that front is that brand new these are less than $600 dollars which makes them exceptional value. 

Due to the cold weather I didn't have the opportunity to test on the chronograph, I will do that in the coming weeks. 

Rating
Features & Design
Looks really nice, gets compared to the Pronghorn but there is enough to make it different. The actionwood on this one is nice too.
Performance
It's bamboo and glass and even without putting it on the chronograph I could tellit was a little slower than some other bows. However the shot was very consistent so once you were used to the power it shot really well.
Value for Money
Excellent, a real bargin for a custom bow.
Overall
A really great bow, especially for the price.

 

 

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Essential Details
What : Dick Boss Td 60" 45#@28" Price : $525 (around £320)

 

 

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Magazine We were very pleased to give our support to the James Whale Kidney Foundation shoot which we cover in this months magazine. We were also contacted by Lars Pilø with news on the archery related finds on Jovfonna, and while we couldn't get out there ourselves Lars kindly filled in some background information for us.


A mixed bag this month, me in the South West, Geoff putting the record straight, a chat with Keith Stay and the wisdom comes from South Cox of Stalker bows. 

We take a tour the length and breadth of the British mainland to visit Scotland with Border Bows, Yorkshire with Aidy Hayes, the Wirral with Jason from thelongbowshop.com, down South with the Company of Canterbury Longbowman, and Geoff is in Spain.

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