Mathews TRX 38 Review

Editors' review

When Mathews built the TRX 38 for 2018, it took the 40-inch TRX target platform that spot and 3D archers had spent a year falling for and shrank it to a more manageable 38 inches. The two 2017 bows that started the line, the TRX 7 and TRX 8, ran 40-inch axle-to-axle frames (the tip-to-tip length of the bow) with 7- and 8-inch brace heights; the TRX 38 split that brace difference at 7.5 inches and pulled the tips in, giving shooters a shorter, lighter long-riser Mathews without surrendering the planted hold the platform had become known for. It rides the same mini-Crosscentric cam as its bigger siblings, and for 2018 it added a new 70-Valley mod that deepened the hold. This is a dedicated target and 3D bow -- no camo, no hunting kit -- built to sit still on the pin and finish the shot dead quiet. Discontinued now, it lives on the used and clearance market, where its long-riser stability and famously silent shot still earn it a second look. What follows is who it was built for and how it actually shoots.

Finish

The TRX 38 shipped in a clean, target-oriented palette rather than the camo patterns of a hunting bow: Black, Blue, Red, White, and Yellow -- five solid riser colors, no woodland prints a spot bow has no use for. That spread covers the archer who wants an understated tournament look and the one who wants a bright rig easy to spot on a crowded shooting line. The anodized riser finish is the same durable coating Mathews runs across its premium line, and it stands up to the knocks of case travel and range stands better than paint. Both right- and left-hand builds were offered, so the color choice was never gated to one hand. For a bow that lives on a stabilizer-heavy setup and in a hard case between shoots, the finish menu leaned practical and competition-first rather than flashy.

Riser

The heart of the TRX 38 is its long, dual-bridge aluminum riser -- the feature the whole TRX line was built around, carried down to the shorter 38-inch frame. Twin bridges tie the riser together top and bottom and, with the weight-relief cutouts milled through it, make it stiff without being dead weight, so it does not flex under a fistful of stabilizer bar. That rigidity is the entire point on a target bow: a riser that holds its shape lets the pin sit still, and drawing this one back, the first thing I notice is how planted it feels at full draw -- it settles and simply stays there. Mathews set it up around a true-center nocking point and enlarged stabilizer bushings for the front-and-back bar setups target archers live by. Even pulled in to 38 inches from the original 40-inch TRX bows, it keeps that long-riser character -- more mass between the grip and the tips than a hunting bow carries, which is exactly what steadies the aim. It is the same bridged target-riser family Mathews had already proven on the TRX 7 and TRX 8, so the build reputation was well established by the time the 38 arrived. This is a riser designed to be aimed, not carried up a mountain.

Grip

The TRX 38 wears a slim, flat-backed target grip meant to index the hand the same way shot after shot, because on a spot bow that repeatability is what tightens groups -- the more consistently the hand loads the grip, the smaller the shift from arrow to arrow. The narrow profile keeps the hand low against the throat of the riser for a low-torque position, which is what you want when the pin has to hang steady at fifty meters. The grip is a straightforward swap on the riser mounts, and target archers who arrive from a different aggressive flat grip or a custom side-plate often fit their own preferred plate so the hand meets a familiar shape. That is standard practice on a competition rig and not a knock on the stock piece -- the grip that indexes best is simply the one your hand already knows. Coming from another Mathews target bow, the shape will feel immediately at home. It is a small, personal part of the setup, easily tuned to the shooter rather than the other way around.

Limbs

The TRX 38 runs wide, short, near-parallel split limbs -- set close enough to parallel that their motion largely cancels at the shot, which is a big part of why the bow finishes so quietly and so still in the hand. The limbs came in three draw-weight modules with peak weights of 50, 60, and 70 pounds, each adjusting roughly 10 pounds down from its peak, so a shooter could spec the bow to a holding weight they could actually manage over a long day rather than muscling a fixed 70. That choice matters on a target bow: an archer sending hundreds of arrows a session is far better served by a 50- or 60-pound peak settled under a deep let-off than by a maxed limb that wears the shoulder down by the last end. The wide limb stance also widens the base of the whole system, which is what gives the bow its no-wobble stability on the shot. Setting peak weight within a module is the usual limb-bolt turn, no press needed for small changes. Across the early TRX line this limb geometry earned a dependable, quiet-shooting reputation.

Eccentric System

The TRX 38 is built on Mathews' mini-Crosscentric cam -- the original-generation TRX target eccentric, a perimeter-weighted, near-round cam tuned for a smooth, linear pull rather than a speed-cam's aggression. It draws without a sharp hump to break over and, paired with the AVS system, holds its rotation stable and repeatable, which is what a target cam is chasing. Speed tops out at 328 fps IBO (the industry-standard rating measured at a fixed 30-inch, 70-pound, 350-grain setup, so a marketing number rather than what most shooters will chronograph) -- the 7.5-inch brace and long riser deliberately trade a little velocity for the forgiveness and steady hold this platform is built around. The headline for 2018 lived in the mod system. The cam took two let-off modules: the standard 80% and a new-for-2018 70-Valley mod (let-off being the percentage the holding weight drops to at full draw, so an 80% mod on a 70-pound bow leaves you holding about 14 pounds). The 70-Valley ran 70% let-off but, unlike the shorter-valley 70% module on the earlier TRX bows, it deepened the valley so the bow no longer wanted to lurch forward at anchor -- more holding weight to steer against, with a hold that stays put. Behind either mod the back wall is firm, a cable-stop wall you can genuinely lean into rather than a soft slope. It is a deliberate, planted cam tuned for the line, not the treestand.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the TRX 38 is a target pull through and through: the mini-Crosscentric rolls back cleanly with no sudden drop into the valley -- you simply draw and arrive at the wall, no spike to fight through with the shoulder. That back wall is where the bow shines, a firm cable-stop wall with only the faintest give that rewards leaning hard into it and letting the shot break clean. Honesty note on the valley: even with the 70-Valley mod fitted, in my experience this stays a fairly short, demanding valley rather than a long lazy float, which is the nature of a target cam -- run the bow maxed at a 60-pound peak and holding it becomes real work over a full round, so many archers settle a module down to sit comfortably in the hold. The shot itself is the memorable part. This bow is strikingly quiet -- quiet enough that strangers on the line notice -- and the near-parallel limbs and long riser leave almost no recoil, so it sits still in the hand instead of jumping. The pin behavior follows from the riser: it comes down, settles, and stays parked while you finish the shot, which is exactly what a spot archer is buying. The trade is mass and length -- at 4.86 pounds bare and built long, a full bar setup takes real front-and-back-arm strength to hold up end after end. It is a bow that rewards the shooter who has built the holding stamina to let its stability do the work.

Usage Scenarios

The TRX 38 is happiest on a target line and in a 3D lane. Indoor Vegas rounds, outdoor field and 50-meter, and spring 3D clubs are its native ground -- the long riser and forgiving 7.5-inch brace are what put arrows in the middle when the pin has to hang steady at distance. Picture an archer grinding a full 50-meter scoring round on a hot afternoon: the 38-inch frame holds the dot planted end after end, and the shooter who has done the deltoid work to carry a heavy target rig will find the pin drifts less and the shot breaks cleaner than on a shorter, twitchier bow. The 23-to-30-inch draw range, set in half-inch increments, covers most target archers and reaches down for shorter-draw shooters that many long-riser rigs leave out. It is squarely the bow for the archer who tried the original 40-inch TRX 7 or TRX 8 and found them a touch much to maneuver, wanting the same planted feel in a shorter package. This is not a crossover hunting rig -- there is no camo option and no ready-to-hunt kit, and that focus is the point. For the archer whose season is spots and 3D targets rather than treestands, the 38-inch length is the asset.

Versions

The TRX 38 was sold as a single bow configured to the buyer rather than as separate package tiers. The choices were the draw-weight module (peak 50, 60, or 70 pounds, each adjusting about 10 pounds down from peak), the let-off mod (the standard 80% or the new-for-2018 70-Valley), the finish (Black, Blue, Red, White, or Yellow), and the hand (right or left). Launch MSRP was $1,799.99, and -- unlike a ready-to-hunt bow -- that is the bare bow; the target rest, sight, scope, and stabilizers that define a competition setup were chosen and priced separately. Within the Mathews line the TRX 38 sat between the 40-inch TRX 7 and TRX 8 that launched the line in 2017 and the later TRX 38 G2 of 2021, which rebuilt the same 38-inch platform around the C3X Crosscentric cam and added a 75% mod. As a used-market buy today, the numbers to confirm on any given bow are which draw-weight module and which let-off mod it carries, since both change how it holds.

Mathews TRX 38 vs Reckoning 38, Invicta 37 SVX

Bow	Mathews TRX 38	Bowtech Reckoning 38	Hoyt Invicta 37 SVX
Version	2020	2022	2022
Picture
Brace Height	7.5 "	7.125 "	7 "
AtA Length	38 "	38 "	37.25 "
Draw Length	23 " - 30 "	27 " - 32 "	23.5 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 70 lbs	30 lbs - 70 lbs
IBO Speed	328 fps	325 fps	330 fps
Weight	4.86 lbs	4.9 lbs	4.7 lbs
Let-Off	70% & 80%	70% / 75% / 80%	65%
Where to buy Best prices online	$800 Compare prices	$949.95 Compare prices	$675 to $800 Compare prices
	compare more bows

The two target rigs most buyers cross-shop against the TRX 38 come from Bowtech and Hoyt, and each stakes out a different edge. The Bowtech Reckoning 38 is the closest structural match: the same 38-inch axle-to-axle length, a near-identical 7.125-inch brace, and its own long bridged target riser, at a lower $1,699 launch price. Where they separate is character -- Bowtech leans on its DeadLock and vibration-damping tuning, while the Mathews leans on the long dual-bridge riser and a quiet, motionless-in-the-hand shot. The Hoyt Invicta 37 SVX brackets the pair on the premium side at $1,899 and takes the opposite philosophy on the hold -- a 65% let-off that leaves the pure target archer more holding weight to steer against, on a slightly shorter, lighter-braced platform. Where the Mathews offers a choice between the 70-Valley and 80% mods and a deep, forgiving hold, the Hoyt asks the shooter to drive a heavier hold, which some spot archers prefer for control. Inside the Mathews line itself the closest relative is the later TRX 38 G2, the 2021 rebuild of this same 38-inch frame on the C3X cam -- worth knowing about if you are shopping used and want to be sure which generation you are looking at. Among these three, the decision comes down to priorities: the TRX 38 for the archer who wants the quiet, planted long-riser Mathews hold at the lowest used-market entry, the Reckoning 38 for the shooter who wants the same length and mod flexibility with Bowtech's damping story, and the Invicta 37 SVX for the one who wants a heavier 65% hold to control on the line.

Summary

The Mathews TRX 38 was the bow that brought the 40-inch TRX target platform down to a more manageable 38 inches for 2018 -- the same long dual-bridge riser and mini-Crosscentric cam, now in a shorter, lighter frame splitting the brace height between the original TRX 7 and TRX 8. Launched at $1,799.99, it pairs a 328 fps IBO rating off a forgiving 7.5-inch brace with a smooth, humpless draw, a firm cable-stop back wall, and the new-for-2018 70-Valley mod that deepened the hold. What stays with me is the shot: this is a remarkably quiet bow that sits still in the hand, and the long riser holds the pin planted through a full scoring round in a way shorter platforms cannot quite match. Its honest limitation is that even the 70-Valley keeps a fairly short valley -- this is a demanding target cam, and archers who want a lazier hold should spec a lower peak weight or the 80% mod. It is a bare bow, so a used-market buyer should budget for a rest, sight, and bars on top and be ready to carry 4.86 pounds of long target rig over a full round. Discontinued and now a used and clearance find, it remains a genuinely stable, quiet long-riser target bow for the price. An excellent bow for dedicated target and 3D archers who want maximum hold stability in a long, quiet frame at the shorter end of their draw-length comfort. Buyers who want the same length with Bowtech's damping tuning should look at the Bowtech Reckoning 38, and those who prefer a heavier 65% target hold should look at the Hoyt Invicta 37 SVX.