Like a kid standing in front of a candy store with a dollar bill burning a hole in his pocket, that’s the way I feel every time a new bow company makes its debut into the archery industry.

Though many new bow companies vanish as quickly as they appear, some hit the ground running with a solid product line and never look back. This looks to be the case with the newest kid on the block – Newberry Bows.

Back in 1999, I had a gut feeling that a certain bow company would someday be one of the giants. I won’t name any names, since this article isn’t about them, but that company did exactly what I envisioned. Today, I have the same feeling about Newberry bows. Not necessarily to be one of the giants, but definitely one that will be around for a while and a name that will be common around the campfire.

Richard Newberry, owner, officially started the company earlier in the year (2003) with two fine looking bows: the B1 and SB1. Though the company is as green as the Hulk, don’t let that scare you away.

Newberry has a solid track record in the archery industry as a design engineer with another company. Only now, he gets to do things his way. Sort of like the backup singer in a band that decided to go solo and show the world what they can do, Newberry has done just that and hatched two fine pieces of archery art that deserves a look.

Newberry agreed to let me put one of his bows through the paces and sent me the SB1 to shoot for a few weeks. Here’s what I found:

The arrival was a surprise itself. The bow was shipped in an odd looking box that resembled a bow case … hmm, it is a bow case! One big fat brownie point for Newberry. It’s one less accessory you won’t have to buy.

Idler head, to cam toe

The 34.5-inch axle-to-axle, hand-built bow is equipped with a 3-inch wide-track idler and perimeter single-cam powerhouse. Coupled with the cam are interchangeable draw modules that allow eight inches of draw length adjustment (23 – 30 inches). The draw modules are designed for 70-percent let-off, which won’t rob you of valuable stored kinetic energy like higher let-offs, yet still provides a solid wall and a comfortable holding weight.

The 6.75-inch brace height provides a long power stroke for blistering arrow speeds, while remaining just long enough not to rip your forearm off.

Holding the 14-inch Carbon Tough limbs at bay are custom-made two-color Brownell D75 Thin string and cable. The cable’s split yoke is self-centering, eliminating limb twist for perfect string, idler alignment. Another brownie point for Newberry.

One of my favorite parts of the bow is the riser. It has a sleek, slim look and has a good length that moves weight from the grip for easy, stable aiming. The riser cutouts are filled with a rubber/silicone-type substance to help reduce vibration. I shoot the bow with and without the cutout fillers. I couldn’t really tell if the fillers made the bow noticeably quieter or not, but the sound of the bow did change.

Married to the built-like-a-Sherman-tank riser is a very unique grip. Made of wood, the single-piece grip only covers the back (hand side). Seems like it would be rather hard on the hand, but it isn’t and found it to be a true pleasure to shoot. The real benefit of the narrow grip is the reduction of hand torque. That makes three brownie points.

With respect to features, one of the best is the extra long limb bolts. “Why is that so special?” you might ask. Well, if you like working on your bow yourself, you can do so without a bow press. That’s right, no bow press. The limbs don’t have much pre-bend and with the long limb bolts, you can safely let out the bolts until the string and cable go limp. Sure makes it nice when you’re out on that once-in-a-lifetime hunt, light years away from the nearest bow shop and something goes wrong. Add another one to the brownie plate.

Of course all of these bells and whistles don’t mean nothing if the bow isn’t accurate and doesn’t pack a sweet shot. Well, it has both.

I did notice some hand shock in the shot, but it’s not bad. The addition of a decent stabilizer fixed it and I never thought about it again. Very nice, sweet shooting bow.

The bow’s accuracy is top-shelf. Most people base accuracy on the results they see when the arrow hits its target. Though I could do the same, I’ve decided to take a different approach and base the bow’s accuracy on tolerances. Before I even shot the bow, I knew the bow would be accurate just by looking at how tight the bow’s parts fit together.

Here’s an example: I tried to slide a single piece of notebook paper between a limb pocket and a limb. I got the paper to slide in about 1/8 of an inch. It doesn’t get much better than that. I’ve got a whole pan of brownie points cooking in the oven for this one.  

Great job Newberry!

*Notes on the speed: Tests were conducted using the IBO standard of 5 grains of arrow weight per 1 pound of draw weight. The string was loaded with a typical hunting set-up of a loop and kisser button. That said, the SB1 is very quick bow when rigged for hunting.

Specs on the SB1

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