At the 2004 ATA show I found some time to test drive a few bows produced by Richwood Archery’s Custom Shooting Systems (CSS). Bows produced by CSS have become quite popular in recent years with tournament shooters, both domestic and over seas. The company’s flagship bow – the System – was hatched in 1995 and is still the most popular CSS bow among competitive shooters.

2004 CSS camo Contender bow with P1 cam

Bows produced by Custom Shooting Systems are just that – custom bows. Each bow is available in an array of limb and cam configurations and a customer can literally design his or her own bow. CSS offers anything from short speed bows to long axle-to-axle, long brace height bows and anything in between. The “Contender” Series of bows offers limb and cam configurations, which provide the accuracy and forgiveness a tournament shooter demands in a lightweight camo package that is perfect for today’s bowhunter whom is looking for consistent performance.

After briefly test-driving a CSS - Contender bow at the 2004 ATA Show, Chuck Nease – an accomplished competitive shooter, all-around archery veteran and President of Custom Shooting Systems agreed to send me a Contender to test- drive at home and prepare a written review for the FastestBows.com readers. Here is what I found:

'Custom' in every sense of the word

Although the Contender bow series can be made-to-order with an axle-to-axle (ATA) length from 37-inches on up to 45-inches, mine was built to a 37-inch ATA length. With a 37-inch ATA length, the bow sports a generous 8.5-inch brace height (measured from the back of the string to the grip throat). Available with hatchet cams, soft one cam or a hard one cam, mine came equipped with a single hard cam and the CSS signature solid idler wheel.

An Idler Wheel like no other

The 2.9-inch diameter idler wheel is a one of a kind in the archer industry. It is perhaps the most precision manufactured idler wheel made. Most bow manufacturers make their idlers out of aluminum plate stock with a CNC milling machine. In contrast, the CSS LT solid idler wheel is born from solid round aluminum stock and is built with a precision-turning CNC lathe, producing a perfectly round idler wheel with the axle hole precisely located in the center.

The idler wheel is perhaps the most “variable” component on a bow equipped with a single cam. Unlike twin cam bows, the string does not connect to the top idler wheel but rather wraps around it. Every time a one-cam bow is shot, inertia causes the idler wheel to “slip” to a new position. Therefore, the idler wheel is never in the exact same position from shot to shot. This is fine so long as the idler wheel is perfectly round and the axle hole is drilled perfectly square in the center of the wheel. If the idler wheel has imperfections however, this can change both vertical and horizontal nock position on the string resulting in less than perfect accuracy from shot to shot. In addition, most other bow manufacturers produce idler wheels with fancy cutouts. The CSS LT idler wheel is a solid wheel designed to weigh the same as the bottom cam. By matching the weight of the top idler wheel to the bottom cam, the bow is better balanced making it easier to aim. Also, the limbs recover at the same time resulting in less shock and less oscillation.

So many options!

Although the Contender bow sent to me was already set at my desired 30-inches of draw length, all CSS models have interchangeable draw modules in increments of one inch. Fine draw length adjustments can be made with the use of a single allen wrench without the use of a bow press.

The custom configuration of the Contender bow does not stop with the limb and cam options. Three choices in grips are also available. You can choose between a one-piece or two-piece solid walnut grip and a one-piece soft rubber grip. I prefer the thin two-piece grip; it creates a narrow torque-reducing throat and provides an increased brace height for maximum forgiveness. The two-piece grip was very comfortable and promoted a consistent hand placement shot after shot.

The Contender sports an attractive T-6061 machined aluminum reflexed riser. It is available in several target colors but is also available in a practical camo hunting color pattern. All CSS bows come with Gordon Thermal Composite (solid carbon) limbs. Like the top idler wheel, other component tolerances seem top-notch. The limbs fit perfectly into the limb pockets. Very tight! I could not force a piece of notebook paper between the limbs and the limb pockets. Also, with the limb bolts bottomed out, the tiller measurements were perfect. Unlike many other bows the idler wheel is assembled onto the axle using a one-piece Teflon bushing with a compression spacer. This guarantees an exact fit and ensures perfect alignment shot after shot.

What about performance?

The first thing I noticed when I shot the Contender bow was how smooth the recoil was, or perhaps I should say, “the lack of recoil”. I have not fully warmed up to one cam bows even though they have been around for some time now. I have often found it difficult to watch my arrow in flight and observe it actually strike the target, due to the upward “kick” that many one-cam bows exhibit. In some extreme cases, the upward recoil of the bow caused my target to be blocked out by my sight pin guard; something I found unacceptable especially in hunting scenarios. This was not the case with the CSS Contender bow. The bow packs a sweet shot and I was able to follow through completely and observe the arrow strike the exact spot on the target I was aiming at.

After the initial set up and paper tuning, I was consistently shooting 3-inch groups with five arrows at 35-yards on level ground after only three days of shooting. For a hunting bow set up with such a short break-in period, I was very satisfied.

The bow was very quiet. In fact, I found it unnecessary to install silencer accessories such as limb savers or string silencers. Hand shock was virtually non-existent. I found the bow very easy to hold steady and aim with. It was also very easy to follow through with the shot and observe the arrow strike the exact spot I aimed at on the target.