Bowtech SR350 Review

Editors' review

Bowtech built the SR350 around a contradiction it puts right in the tagline - "Smooth has never been this fast." Most speed bows make you pay for every foot per second with a brutal draw; the SR350 hands you a switch instead. The two-sided FlipDisc module lets one bow draw like a smooth 85% let-off hunter or, flipped over, like a faster speed bow that stacks energy late in the cycle - same riser, same limbs, two personalities. Underneath sits Bowtech's DeadLock system, still the easiest press-free tuning on the market: you move the cams along the axles with an Allen key until the arrow flies clean. At a 33-inch axle-to-axle (the distance between the cam axles) with a performance-leaning 6-inch brace height, it is built for the hunter who wants real speed but refuses to give up a forgiving platform - and who would rather tune the bow in the garage than drive it to a shop. It arrived in 2022 as a flagship-tier hunting bow and carried unchanged into 2023.

Finish

The SR350 ships in nine finishes - four solid colors and five camo patterns - which is a deep palette for a single hunting model. The solids are Black, OD Green, Smoke Gray and Flat Dark Earth; the camo options run Subalpine, Mossy Oak Break-Up Country, Realtree Edge, Kuiu Verde and Kryptek Altitude, covering most Western and whitetail terrain a buyer is likely to hunt. Bowtech extends the personalization past the riser dip: the Clutch grip clips off and swaps for other colors, and the rubber Orbit dampeners come in colors and can be repositioned around the riser to fine-tune feel. Owners who have lived with the bow a full season report the fit and finish holding up cleanly, with the dip resisting marks where a treestand bow normally collects them. A solid black SR350 in particular reads as understated and purposeful rather than flashy. The coating quality is in line with what the flagship price tier should deliver.

Riser

The riser is machined aluminum with a reflexed geometry - a 5.25-inch reflex - which is what lets Bowtech run a short 6-inch brace height for speed while keeping the grip set well behind the limb pockets for stability. The headline feature is the DeadLock Pocket: the limb locks into the pocket and the pocket locks to the riser, so once everything is torqued where you want it, nothing shifts under repeated shooting. Paired with it is DeadLock Cable Containment, a flexed rod that offsets the cables and pulls cam-twisting torque out of the system for a cleaner arrow launch. Practical touches show Bowtech designed this for hunters who set up their own gear: dual rest-mounting holes let you lock a drop-away down with two bolts so it can't walk after banging through brush, and the sight mounts offer forward-and-back as well as up-and-down positions to dial in sight picture. A single front stabilizer mount and rear string stop keep the back end clean. The long 39-inch cam-to-cam measurement, longer than the axle-to-axle number suggests, gives the riser a planted, stable feel on aim.

Grip

The Clutch Performance grip is the part of the SR350 that splits opinion, and it is worth understanding why. It is a thin, low-profile grip with a flat back panel, designed to put the pressure point through the center of the hand and minimize the torque that throws arrows left and right. Weight-saving cutouts trim mass, and a small channel molded into the grip lets your index finger find the same spot every time. In my experience that alignment channel is the underrated feature - it turns hand placement from a guess into a repeatable reference, which is exactly what a speed bow's short brace height demands of you. The grip is modular, so the angle can be adjusted, and it swaps off entirely if you want a different color or an aftermarket replacement. Most owners - including those who disliked Bowtech's older rounded grips - find this one a genuine step forward that fits the hand and shoots repeatably. The dissent comes from shooters with larger hands who find the narrow profile makes them work to keep the bow from pivoting; if that is you, handle one before buying, because a fuller aftermarket grip is the easy fix.

Limbs

The SR350 runs wide split limbs seated in the DeadLock pockets, a configuration Bowtech has leaned on across its lineup for a stable, planted shooting platform. The wide stance of the limbs spreads the load and contributes to the bow's steady hold on aim. Peak draw weight comes in three module options - 50, 60 and 70 pounds - and the limb bolts back the weight down roughly a pound and a half per turn, so a 70-pound bow comfortably covers the high-60s hunting range without needing a press. The limbs are visually matched to the riser, part of why the fit and finish reads as cohesive rather than parts-bin. There is no history of limb trouble on this DeadLock-era chassis, and the pocket-lock design is specifically meant to keep limb alignment fixed once set. For a hunter, the takeaway is simple: pick the peak weight that matches your draw, and the limbs hold their tune through a season of field use.

Eccentric System

The cam is where the SR350 earns its name, and one look tells the story - it is an aggressive, oblong shape that several owners liken to the older SR6 hatchet cam, built to store the energy that produces a 350 fps IBO rating (the industry-standard speed measured at a fixed 30-inch, 70-pound, 350-grain setup). What keeps that aggressive cam from drawing harshly is the FlipDisc module, a two-sided disc that sets both the draw character and the let-off: one side is Comfort, a smooth draw holding a high let-off in the 85 percent range (the percentage of peak weight your arm holds at full draw drops to), the other is Performance, which stacks weight late in the cycle for extra speed. Draw length adjusts from 25 to 30 inches in half-inch steps through a rotating module, with the positions laser-engraved on the cam so you can see exactly where you are. Tuning is the system's signature: a drive screw walks each cam left or right along the axle to square the arrow, done standing in the garage with an Allen key and a paper frame, no press required. The chronograph backs up the speed claim better than most flagships - in Performance at 70 pounds and a near-30-inch draw, a 350-grain arrow ran 342 fps, just eight under the rated number, and a heavy 499-grain shaft still cleared 289 fps. In Comfort at a true 29-inch draw the numbers settle to 319 fps with 350 grains and 300 fps with a 400-grain hunting arrow, with the flip to Performance reliably worth about 10 fps. Those are genuinely fast hunting speeds without forcing you into a punishing draw to get them.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

How the SR350 draws depends entirely on which way the FlipDisc faces, and that is the whole point. In Comfort the draw is smooth front to back, riding the peak briefly before settling into the valley - easy to live with for the hunter who shoots a couple hundred arrows in a practice session. Flip to Performance and the first half stays civil, but as the cam rolls over into the valley there is a notable hump you pull through to bank the extra speed; it is not a wall and it is not unmanageable, but it is honest work, and pulling it at 70 pounds I felt exactly the late surge owners describe. That is the speed-bow tax, and the SR350 lets you choose whether to pay it. The back wall is firm and the valley short, as you would expect from a cam built for velocity. What stayed with me is how settled the bow sits at the shot for something rated this fast - the repositioned Orbit dampeners, pulled in toward the path of the string, leave very little hand shock and a measured 96.9 dB shot signature that lands in the quieter half of the bows in this class. A smaller-framed shooter will find the honest move is to run Comfort mode, or drop to 65 pounds, so the bow stays fun to shoot all afternoon rather than turning practice into a workout.

Usage Scenarios

The SR350 is first a hunting bow, and a versatile one. Run it in Comfort and it is a forgiving treestand whitetail rig - quiet at the shot, planted on aim, with hunting-weight arrows leaving the string fast enough to flatten your pins out past 40 yards. Flip to Performance for Western hunting where a flatter trajectory buys forgiveness on a misjudged range across a canyon. The 25-inch short end of the draw range opens it to shorter-draw adults and growing teen hunters who usually get pushed toward smaller bows, while the 30-inch top covers most adult shooters. Picture a do-it-yourself hunter who gets a new arrow spine and a slight left tear two weeks before the season opener: with the DeadLock screw he squares the cam at his bench in ten minutes and is shooting bullet holes the same evening, no shop visit. It doubles capably as a 3D and target bow on summer range nights in Performance mode, where the speed shrinks your sight-tape gaps. It is not a dedicated long-axle target bow, and a recoil-sensitive shooter chasing absolute all-day smoothness will prefer a lower-IBO platform - but as one bow that hunts hard and shoots targets between seasons, it covers a lot of ground.

Versions

The SR350 is sold as a single bow-only model - there is no RTH package or electronics SKU - with the variation limited to the nine finish choices. It launched in 2022 at a $1,299 MSRP and carried into the 2023 model year unchanged in specification, so a 2022 and a 2023 SR350 are the same bow; the only practical difference a used buyer will see is the finish offered that year. Right and left hand are both available. Draw-weight choice (50, 60 or 70 pounds peak) is made at purchase by module, not sold as separate trims.

Bowtech SR350 vs PSE EVO NXT 33, Mathews V3X 33

Bow	Bowtech SR350	PSE EVO NXT 33	Mathews V3X 33
Version	2023	2020	2023
Picture
Brace Height	6 "	7 "	6.5 "
AtA Length	33 "	33 "	33 "
Draw Length	25 " - 30 "	26.5 " - 32 "	27 " - 31.5 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 80 lbs	50 lbs - 75 lbs
IBO Speed	350 fps	314 fps - 322 fps	336 fps
Weight	4.4 lbs	4.5 lbs	4.67 lbs
Let-Off	85 / 87%	80% - 90%	80 or 85%
Where to buy Best prices online	$600 to $2250 Compare prices	$100 to $800 Compare prices	$140 to $2690 Compare prices
	compare more bows

All three of these are 33-inch axle-to-axle hunting bows from the flagship tier, which makes them a natural cross-shop, but they solve the speed-versus-forgiveness equation differently. The SR350 is the speed-and-tuning pick: the fastest of the trio at a 350 IBO, the shortest 6-inch brace, the deepest reach down to a 25-inch draw, and the only one you can square up without a press thanks to DeadLock - plus the FlipDisc lets it swing from smooth to fast on demand. The PSE EVO NXT 33, at a $1,099 launch MSRP, is the forgiveness pick: a taller 7-inch brace height and a more relaxed 314-322 fps rating make it the easier bow to shoot accurately under pressure, and its longer draw range suits taller shooters, though it gives up outright speed and the press-free tuning. The Mathews V3X 33, sharing the SR350's $1,299 launch price, is the quiet-premium pick: a 336 IBO and 6.5-inch brace put it between the other two on the speed-forgiveness line, with Mathews' signature dead-silent shot and the Stay Afield System bridge for in-field string service. The decision comes down to priorities: the SR350 for the hunter who wants the most speed and bench-tunes his own bow, the PSE EVO NXT 33 for the shooter who values a forgiving brace over fps, and the Mathews V3X 33 for the buyer who will trade a little speed for the quietest shot in the group.

Summary

At a $1,299 launch MSRP, the Bowtech SR350 is a flagship-tier hunting bow that delivers genuine 350-class speed without the punishing draw that usually comes with it - 342 fps with a light arrow in Performance, 300 fps with a real hunting shaft, and a dead-in-hand 96.9 dB shot that belies the velocity. Its two best tricks are the FlipDisc, which turns one bow into a smooth 85% hunter or a faster speed rig with a flip of a module, and DeadLock, which lets you tune the cams square with an Allen key at your own bench. In my experience the combination is what makes it stick: a fast bow you can actually live with and actually tune yourself is rarer than the spec sheet suggests. The narrow Clutch grip and the late Performance-mode hump are real characteristics to know going in, but both have easy answers - feel the grip first, and shoot Comfort mode or back the weight down if you want all-day ease. It is an excellent bow for the do-it-yourself hunter who wants top-end speed and a forgiving 33-inch platform in the same package, and it is particularly strong for the shorter-draw shooter that most speed bows leave out. Buyers who would trade a few fps for a more forgiving brace height should also look at the PSE EVO NXT 33, and those who prioritize the quietest possible shot should consider the Mathews V3X 33.