Southland Archery SupplyOutrage 70 Lbs 31'' ATA Hunting Compound Bow

Just received it today. This is more of a first impression review. I will review it later on as I play with it. I am 100% new to archery. Before I make a purchase on anything I read a ton of reviews on many different websites and even YouTube videos to ensure I am getting a decent product. If I were super wealthy I would always go for name brand bows and get top of the line stuff, but I am not so fortunate so I try to get the most for my money and I found this to be the best option for my budget. I bought the plain model for $149.99 without any accessories since I'd prefer to buy accessories separately to ensure I am also getting the best deals on those individual parts too. I found a cheap sight and whisker bisquit arrow rest that were only like $12 each and had 4.5 star ratings. I bought a 6" stabilizer for $26 by Trophy Ridge also rated very well. I read reviews on the SAS accessories separately and they weren't terrible, but the one that did appear problematic is the SAS stabilizers. Many reviewers said it actually enhanced the vibration and I would rather not take a risk on that. The Trophy Ridge stabilizer had many positive reviews and it was only $6 more than the SAS one I was looking at, so it made sense to give that one a shot. I do like the look of the SAS one a ton better. It looks sweet, but function is more important to me and Trophy Ridge seems to promise more function. Trophy Ridge also seems to have very well rated arrow rests and sights for $30-$50 which isn't bad. Maybe I will move up to those eventually since they are still affordable. For now I will stick with my cheap stuff until I know better.As I said I am 100% new to archery. I am a fairly strong person. I weigh 220lbs 6 feet tall and my max bench is 275 currently. I know benching has hardly anything to do with archery. I have a strong back and arms as well, i'm just trying to give you an idea about how I feel about the pull weight of this bow for my size and strength so that you can compare to it yourself to see if you think this bow is for you. The bow comes with the limbs all the way tightened so it is supposedly 70lbs. I don't have equipment to measure actual pull weight, but other reviewers have said this can actually get past 75lbs and I might believe it since I couldn't draw the string all the way back when I first pulled the bow out. If I had an arrow release installed I could probably do it with the tension off of my fingers, but it is not a weight I would like to practice with. I loosened the limbs 3 turns (Apparently 4 turns is the maximum amount you can loosen it which should be 55lbs) After the 3 turns it was much more manageable, it definitely still is powerful, but I feel it is a weight I can practice good form with. I believe most any adult could handle this bow loosened to 3-4 turns, so don't let the max weight of the pull scare you out of it.I can't afford lessons so I don't know how good my form will actually be, but I find YouTube and reading many websites about archery and maintenance to be very helpful. I will make the most out of what I can afford and I don't treat a new sport lightly. I know that anyone just can't pick up a bow and be amazing quickly. It is an art that many practice for years to correctly master. I don't let pride and arrogance interfere with my learning. Many articles I've read from pros recommend that new archers buy a weak bow to first practice proper form one guy had a chart of recommended pull weights for people my size and it said 30lbs max. I already went against that advice buying this bow lol, but I still feel after loosening the bow that I could easily shoot it many times without getting tired. I think that is the point. You don't want to get a bow that you will be tired using after 3 shots. If you get tired that quickly then you are also probably struggling to have correct form when firing.There is a lot more to archery then I thought there would be. I could easily write a 20 page report on everything I learned from reading and watching videos for the past week. Bow maintenance seems to be pretty important as well. I bought snot string wax on amazon because of its good reviews. Keeping your string waxed is step of maintenance I didn't know was required on bows. Another bummer is that it is very difficult to replace the strings by yourself if you had to due to the crazy strength of compound bow limbs. There are special tools and presses required in some maintenance steps like replacing a string or changing the draw length or cam timing, etc. So be prepared to eventually have to pay a professional to tune your bow. Probably should even have it tuned out of the box, but since I can't afford it I will take my chances I guess. The bow was pre-set to a 29" draw length. It can adjust from 25"-31". Since the bus cables are directly on the Cams and not the mods you can actually adjust the draw length by unscrewing one screw and put the screw in the hole printed with the number of inches your draw length is. You don't need a bow press or any special tools to do this on this bow which is nice.I love the looks and science behind compound bows, but it would probably make more sense to start with a take down recurve bow if you are new to archery like me since the maintenance is minimal and you can buy limbs of nearly any weight so you can find the right strength that works for you to use proper form. It was just hard for me to get a recurve since this bow was the same price as their SAS recurve option.I hope I gave some helpful information to other newbies like me to help your decision. To you pros out there I hope I was somewhat accurate in my studies. Feel free to comment and correct me or add additional information that could be helpful to us. Archery is a huge new world with so much to cover. If any of you pros can simplify any aspect of it it would be helpful.Updated 12/6/16 -I was going to install a peep sight myself. Install a D-loop myself for an arrow release, and guess where my nocking point should go. I went to Scheels in Sandy, Utah to pick up a release, d-loop string, and a peep sight and I talked with their staff for a short while. Turns out they will tune your bow for free! They will install anything for free as well. You just pay whatever the item costs. I couldn't say no to their offer and happened to have my bow in the car so I went back out and brought it in to them. The guy there was happy to help since he would much rather work on bows then restock shelves, so he took his time to carefully and professionally tune my bow. He installed the d-loop and didn't charge me for the string. He also installed the peel sight for me. I'm glad I didn't attempt this. It looks hard enough to do with a bow press. He had a bow square to determine the proper nocking point. They have a small archery lane there for tuning and testing. We went in there to do some paper tuning. I've watched videos on this since I was going to do it myself, so I understood the point of it and what to look for. The guy shot one arrow through paper and it was a perfect hole with no ripping. He quietly said to himself, "not bad." He paused almost as if he were in disbelief of the results on the first try on a cheap bow. I must have installed my whisker bisquit arrow rest just right and center on top of this being a good bow. He then measured my draw length which turns out to be 28". I feel like I need to move the bow to my face though when i'm looking through the peep, so I set it back at 29". He also measured the actual pull weight of the bow. After I loosened it 3.5 turns it measured at 54lbs. I ordered some arrows from a friend who works at Easton for 50% off and am just waiting to receive them now. I bought the Easton Bloodline 330 arrows. I bought a dozen Easton arrows for the price I would pay to buy the cheapest arrows at Scheels, so it will be nice to have fairly cheap quality arrows to begin with. I could have bought higher end arrows, but since i'm new I don't want to accidentally destroy very nice arrows. I just didn't want to pay more than what I would for the cheapest arrows i could find, so I found the bloodlines to fit that category. The cheap 3 pin sight I bought separately seems alright. I just centered it by eye and when I got to shoot it at Scheels my grouping was super tight. Of course this was from 5 yards, but still all 3 of my arrows were touching eachother. I have since shot it at about 20 yards and the grouping is still considerably tight. It seems the bow and my 3 walmart arrows are consistent with their flight path. I still have more adjusting to do on my sight, but the consistency of where the arrows land is pretty amazing. This is super fun and I almost wish I just bought a slightly more expensive Trophy Ridge sight for the extra pins, so I can more easily shoot at different ranges. This really is a great bow for the money. My friend has a Diamond Infinity Edge. They sell for $350, but the one major benefit those have is they wide range of weight adjustment. You can go anywhere from 5lbs to 70lbs. You need a bow press to adjust the draw length on that bow though, but the major benefit is that it is a one size fits most bow. Kids and adults can adjust it to their weight pretty easily. It is noticeably lighter too than the SAS Rage bow. Since i'm fairly strong and I'm the only one in my family who plans to shoot it the SAS Rage makes more sense for $200 cheaper. The SAS Rage also looks a lot more manly than the Diamond bow. If you have multiple archers in your family and want one bow to fit all then get the Diamond bow. Otherwise this bow is amazing for $150I've read elsewhere what professional tuning and installation costs on bows and I was kind of scared to keep the bow in fear of future repair/maintenance costs. I was thinking of returning it, but after knowing that Scheels and Cabelas (I happen to live within 20 minutes of both) will install strings or accessories for free and tune the bow for free I feel safe keeping it. A new string for my bow would cost like $20 and they would replace it and tune it for free. Sounds good to me. Their hope is that you buy your arrows and other supplies from them. That is why they offer this free service. Works for me. I get my arrows cheaper elsewhere, but I will buy everything else I need from them for sure. If you live near a Scheels or Cabelas archery/shooting life is a lot easier.

The media could not be loaded. Purchased this bow in June 2015. All the pictures and video were taken with this bow. You're officially buying what my archery instructors called "The Cannon". It's a great starter bow. With such a cheap price, it leaves you enough to get new accessories to try out. I could not pull the string when I first got the bow. I lowered the draw weight to about 55lbs by unscrewing the bolts of each arm.I had to purchase the "bow trainer" and practice every day pulling more and more weight. Then I finally could pull the string without getting a stroke. Even body builders can't pull this bow string without first building up the right muscles. Once you get use to this, have one of your body builder friends try to pull the string (without triggering the string release). It will be funny moment. Buy a string release, it will save your skin and make you more accurate. Join a league. The free advice will pay for itself and you might be able to score some expensive hand me down accessories at very cheap prices.BE VERY CAREFUL! If you unscrew too much your screw will come out with enough force to seriously hurt you. BE VERY CAREFUL TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTION TO THE T. YOUR LIFE AND HEALTH DEPEND ON IT! DO NOT DRY FIRE (pulling and releasing without an arrow). It will cause the bow at best to derail the string and at worse to self destruct and possibly kill you. I did it once and survived with minimal damage. Should have bought a lottery ticket.Fast forward to 2022, haven't shot the bow since before covid but I also need new strings as they should be replaced periodically. So I haven't shot it since and will not till I replace all the strings.Interesting facts. I calculated the force of the arrow when fired from this bow. It sits on the scale between a 38 and 45 cal handgun bullet on impact with target practice arrows. The only difference is that arrows will pierce both sides of a vest, go through walls, etc. This is not a toy, it will kill someone if fired through a wall. Treat it like a loaded rifle.