Bowtech Air Raid Review

Bowtech Air Raid

Average user rating

out of 2 user reviews

Pros

  • Smooth and stable bow with a solid back wall
  • Good balance between speed and forgiveness
  • Either fast or smooth cams can be installed
  • Extremely adjustable draw length without using a bow press or changing modules

Cons

  • Should be tuned carefully
  • Could be lighter

Video

content from YouTube

Editors' review

The Bowtech Air Raid is an extremely adjustable and great shooting bow when tweaked properly. This rig is designed to deliver great blend of speed and smoothness and has a good solid back wall. It is equipped with the unique binary cam eccentric system making it possible to adjust the draw length without using a bow press or changing out cams/modules.

Limbs and limb pocket system

The Bowtech design team decided to step away from their unique Center Pivot technology when coming up with the Air Raid. Instead, they just used a typical limb pocket system. The laminated limbs add extra strength and go to beyond parallel angles at full draw.

Eccentric system

Bowtech powers the Air Raid with its smooth-drawing rotating module binary cam system, advertised to hit IBO speeds reaching 336 feet per second. This eccentric system allows for tuning the draw length within a range of 26" to 30" in half inch increments. This extremely adjustable system does not require a bow press or modules for changing the draw length. Also, each Bowtech Air Raid can be equipped with either smooth or fast cams to fit different shooting styles. The let-off can be adjusted from 65% to 80% to fit your shooting style.

Draw cycle / Shootability

Shooters say the Air Raid has a smooth draw cycle. Some of them like comparing this rig with the Bowtech Admiral. The results of such comparisons indicate that the Air Raid has a smoother draw cycle compared to the Admiral. Interestingly, we found that some shooters did not like the way the bow shoots until it was tuned properly. We believe this bow needs to be tweaked carefully to deliver great shootability.

Quietness and vibration

Many archers and hunters agree that Bowetch is known to manufacture quiet rigs. While some shooters say the Air Raid is very quiet and shock free, others believe it's not as quiet as other Bowtech bows such as the Admiral or Guardian. Such people say that while the bow could be a bit quieter it's still a good shooting bow with low shock and vibration. Having analyzed a lot of Air Raid tests and reviews, we can say that this rig is quiet enough when tuned properly.

Summary

To summarize, the Air Raid appears to be a very solid bow that delivers great shootability characteristics when tuned properly. The unique rotating module cam system design makes it possible to adjust the draw length without using a bow press or changing cams/modules. Although this is not the most lightweight bow out there, this rig is very stable. Overall, this is a great all-around bow for those shooters who like a good balance of speed and forgiveness.

User Reviews

  • 2 reviews
  • ( out of 2 reviews for all versions)
This bow was easy to tune, is very smooth, fast and forgiving.
by A. from Gulf Shores, Alabama - November 20, 2010 at 9:28 am

Version: 2009 Bowtech Air Raid

Rating:

Pros: Easy to shoot. Very accurate. Very stable at the shot. No creep. Great back wall

Cons: The grip is like my 2005 bowtech. It is ok but i have some other bows with better feeling handles, they just don't shoot as well.

Full review:

I have shot many different bows. This is my favorite one and it didn't break the bank!
I have been shooting over 20 years and have shot bows as low as 60 pounds all the way to over 100 pounds. This bow at 65 pounds is very impressive! I do not feel the need to have it any heavier.
I haven't shot it through a chrono but my first my first pin goes out to 30 yards. This pin is about 1 1/2 inches high at 10 yds and dead on at 30. My next 2 pins are pretty tight and are 40,50 yds.
I do own a bow that is faster, but it is a much less forgiving bow. If it cost's me 10 fps to shoot much tighter, consistent groups, i am willing to give that up for better arrow placement.
I shot several 3 arrow 2 inch groups at 40 yards the first day.

Decent Bow,I think it should be tried when looking for a new one.
by George from Vermont - August 10, 2010 at 12:41 am

Version: 2009 Bowtech Air Raid

Rating:

Pros: Very smooth draw on this bow,I felt that it also had a good firm back wall. Loved the ease of draw length change.

Cons: Nice as this bow is to draw and hold I felt that I had to concentrate a bit too much on perfect form and grip to shoot it well at longer yardages.It just seems sensitive to me.

Full review:

I feel that the Air Raid is a pretty decent bow, I just dont think that for me it was the right choice. I have a 30 inch draw and like to shoot 70 pounds. This rig with my drop zone rest and 400 grain arrows did shoot just over 300 fps on the crono when I had the draw weight at 75 pounds.I never ran it through when I backed it back to 70.

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