Well I ordered a Samick Journey and it arrived in the mail today. Tried putting it together and found the top limb screw went in very nicely, but the bottom limb didn't screw in correctly without stripping the metal threading, alot of resistance to screwing in. I am very disappointed so far with my Samick Journey. Lancaster Archery is supposed to send me return information tomorrow night so that I can get a new riser. Samick Journey/Sage buyers BEWARE you may wind up with a bow that needs to have the riser returned, because although the limbs maybe fine the riser for whatever reason isn't working properly. Demand that who ever you buy the bow from first ensure the limbs and riser assemble correctly before sending it to you. Seems to me that this practice would be in the best interest of any archery company both financially and ethically.
Good advice as far as assembly first. BUT...1) it's a mechanical device and anything can fail. 2) it's a $139.98 bow, you get what you pay for. Samick has a good reputation. Sent from my iPad Mini using Tapatalk Bows, Broadheads and Backstraps
I agree with that, anything higher than what i paid for now is beyond my affordable rate at the moment would like to buy higher priced bows, but just can't afford to much for now. If I had the wood around I would rather build and tiller my own bow.
You did well. I'm sure Lancaster will make it right for you. Waiting does suck though. Imaging waiting for a custom made $650.00-$1000.00 bow. Sent from my iPad Mini using Tapatalk Bows, Broadheads and Backstraps
I imagine it would suck just as bad as waiting 12 months for the multi-thousand dollar custom precision rifles ive had to wait for. Im so glad i got out of that money pit. (and into this one)
I might as well be waiting for a $1000 bow. The samick journey/sage riser arrived in the mail today. LA said they tested it before it was shipped. Upon taking the riser out of the box I found one screw on the plate of the riser missing, I don't mean the bolt screws, while the other screw looked slightly angled into the plate. The riser even has a huge black splotch on it. My concern here is that the plate would rattle loose upon use. If lancaster archery had tested the riser before it was sent there would not have been a missing screw from the riser. The plate does not look like it is properly aligned with the screw hole in the riser either. I wound up sending the limbs and riser to la at the request of a representative. Long story made short even if lancaster archery says they test their bows and risers after a return to see if anything is working they don't. They're more concerned about saying one thing doing another, meanwhile hoping everything comes out fine. The limbs were sent in the mail today and apparently another riser is on its way as well. All I have to say is this better be one hell of a bow. Either way I will never purchase from Samick or Lancaster Archery after this again. I do appreciate the companies policy of free shipping on defective items, which does indicate a semi honest business. I am very upset by this so I am probably over reacting to a degree.
I will say , there are lemons in every manufacturers bunch. That being said however, lancaster obviously didn't look the bow over before they sent it to you. I wouldn't swear off the manufacturer, but i would think twice about lancaster in the future.
Its been a week now. The limbs arrived yesterday. Found the riser is functional. Both limbs fit in the riser and can be bolted down. The lower part of the riser seems to still have a bit of resistance once the bolt is about a quarter of the way screwed in, but the bolt stays in place tightly once it is hand tightened. I am wondering if the other reviews about the samick sage who said they couldn't get bolts to stay in the riser had to initially strip threading in order to get the bolts down. If so then they should have requested a replacement. It seems a riser that can accept limbs will be able to accept the bolts hand tightened down very easily. I am considering adding a little W-D 40 to make the screw in process easier and less squeaky. The bolts do show signs of rust as well. Samick could have invested in slightly better bolts as I imagine they will need to be replaced later on. I am thinking either lancaster archery didn't test the bow and sent a good riser by luck or they did test the riser, but didn't see the missing screw. In any case I couldn't resist stringing and shooting it even with the missing screw on that plate. Who could? The plate is admittedly tightly positioned on there, but the obvious question is for how long? I decided to "risk it" and take the bow out to my yard. Drawing the Samick Journey back is nice and smooth. The release seems to be pretty smooth and all that jazz. When they say in other reviews that the string buzzes vibrates and is noisy they are not over exagerating by any means. I want to play with the string for a while and see if twisting the string to make it shorter will quiet the sound and vibration in the riser. The sound certainly pissed the next door neighoors dogs off to no end. My back was turned to them and I was shooting away from them for those of you that are wondering. I was likely no more that 10-20 feet from the target, but accuracy so far seems to be pretty spot on. In other news though Lancaster Archery is making good on their promise to replace the riser. They sent me tracking information for the replacement and a tracking number for the return of the riser I have now. I am going to wait for the other riser to arrive before doing anything. I know that I have 1 working riser, but the other riser could be defective as well. I don't want to end up back at square 1, but with limbs and no working riser. My opinion of Lancaster Archery at this point is that their customer service may be rude and uninterested in your issue, but there is some 1 in the company that cares enough about the betterment of their business to make good on their word. The company may be slow to react, but they do fulfill your order and follow through with what they say will do, but they may be slow at a response time. So if you're in a similar situation give them a little time. Who knows, if you purchase a $400 plus bow with them they may be more inclined to provide immediate service for you, just seems that they would want to provide better and more prompt service with every order they receive regardless of amount. I still don't think I will repurchase directly through them again in the future as a result of this. Cabelas, and 3rivers are on the top of my list for better customer service. All of this is my opinion and personal experience, and in no way is a statement of what your experience will be. Looking forward to not having to wait on the mail for archery stuff for a while. Happy Shooting!
I use 3 rivers archery exclusively for all my traditional gear, I have always had exceptional customer service, fast shipping times, and the staff is knowledgeable on the traditional archery gear.
cgersty, I purchased from them once or twice and remember calling them about what kind of nocks to get. The guy I spoke to ansered my question immediately and pleasantly. I agree they seem to be a great company to buy archery stuff from.
It's been a while, and I decided it was time to update my experience with the Samick Journey. To save space I assemble and disassemble the bow and keep it in a bow case when not in use. I have found that where the limbs are screwed into the riser the the black paint has come off in dents on the limbs, but I don't think this is harming anything, could I be overtightening with my hands on the bolts or need to tighten the screws on the limb riser plates some? Assembly remains as easy now as when I first got the bow after all the waiting from lancaster archery. As far as bowstringers, go I am using the bateman bow stringer apparently for longbows and recurves. I really like it for longbows, but am hesitant to keep using it for my recurve as there have been a few times that the "socks" that go on the bow tips have come off on me, while I was stringing the bow thus having the limbs slap my hand and the bow more less dry firing on me. So if you get this bow stringer for a recurve be careful with it and ensure the top sock is able to get the whole limb tip on it, for a longbow it is great and I would never think of getting anything else. The bow feels nice and smooth to shoot, I have grown accustomed to a handle that at first seemed a little small, I have big hands. I am not sure if I have bad and inconsistent form and shooting habits, am just aiming at different points without realizing it and thinking I am at the right spot, a poor release at times, or if my arrows are just not quite right for the bow, but I find each shot placement varies. Sometimes I will be spot on for one shot whether its at 10 or 30 yards, but the next 2 or 3 shots will be high and low. Though 30 yards is beyond my comfort shooting distance for now. 20 Yards has gotten a lot more comfortable at the range, while at home shooting in my back yard I am shooting at 10 yards. All that being said it seems to me that the only way to get any accuracy with a bow is just practicing with it everyday starting closer and moving farther. Shooting today with this Samick Journey I actually felt confident with it at the range for the first time... right up until at 20 yards the arrow that I was aiming at 3 pins hit dead center of some pins a foot directly above where I wanted the arrow to go. LOL Would say a fun bow to use, just make sure you add some beaver balls to the string, I am using the stock string and beaver balls are awesome, know how to serve the bow string when the serving comes off and keep the brace height about 7-1/4 inches, the string seems to stretch some. The waiting time for the bow from lancaster archery was very inconvenient and frustrating coming from a retail company slow to react. Worth the wait? Atleast I am not waiting for it any longer and am shooting it, so yes worth the wait. The simplicity of any traditional bow despite the challenge of being good with a trad bow in my opinion out weigh the complications and seemingly handicaps of a compound any day. Trad bows are the stuff of legends requiring skill and training making them the symbol of discipline and skill IMO. Really can't wait to take this bow for my first hunt, but that's not likely until next year for other reasons than I am not ready.
I posted photos in the bowhunting talk forum, but since this is a product review post I thought it would be great to put those pictures here to using the Samick Journey 45 lb recurve of my first robin hood using my set-up. I am excited, but still not ready for the first hunt at this time. I like to think of myself as statistically accurate .
