The overall appearance of the Legacy is excellent. The Legacy incorporates Mathews new Parallel limb system, Roller Guard System as well as Mathews String Suppressor system. These are all new 2002 innovations we'll look at more closely in the performance section of this review. The Roller guard system replaces the traditional cable rod and the unique String Suppressor System mounts directly on to the limbs instead of mounting in the string like traditional suppressors. How do they work? We're going to keep you in suspense, but we will answer all this later in the review.
The Realtree camo pattern does an excellent job of breaking up the bow and should work in most any hunting situation. All the threaded holes, rest, sight, stabilizer, etc. are free from debris, as you would expect from one of the largest archery manufactures in the industry. We have consistently contended that Mathews pays very close attention to manufacturing quality, top shelf, products. All the machined aluminum components are anodized in a satin black. No fading or scratches were noticeable. The machining itself is excellent, no sharp edges or machining marks where noticed. The grip is an attractive and very comfortable walnut competition grip, with Mathews Solo Cam engraved on one side and Mathews Legacy engraved on the other side. The cam system on our Legacy is an SL3 Solo Cam, which is draw length specific. This means there are no adjustments. The Legacy is available in draw lengths from 24-30" with half sizes available between 27.5 and 29.5, weighs 4.35 lbs. with a 70% let-off. Make sure your draw length is accurately measured at your local Pro Shop when ordering this bow or you'll need to order a different cam. For you competition shooters, the Legacy is available in Black/Cherry, Kiwi, Root Beer and Blueberry. We're guessing the food analogy helps sell bows. You can view the specs listed on the Mathews web site here.
One thing we noticed while closely inspecting the cam is how much thinner it is compared to the idler wheel. This could be a problem in actual hunting situations if you were to bump the cam on the ground setting your bow down or bang it on the bottom of your tree stand when pulling your bow up to you in the dark. This could cause the thin edge of the cam valley to bend into the string track and cause premature string wear or worse. Best-case scenario if this were to happen? You'll be buying a new cam.
If there's one thing Mathews is all about, it's performance. We feel performance is the number one reason most Mathews shooters cite for spending the extra bucks. Mathews has always been on the forefront in the archery industry when it comes to performance and the Legacy is no exception.
We're going to start with the most noticeable feature of the Legacy, the Parallel Limb System. By utilizing a longer riser, Mathews has been able to lay the limbs back on the Legacy while maintaining a respectable axle-to-axle length of 34". By keeping the limbs parallel and a generous brace height of 7-1/2", Mathews has created a very smooth shooting bow. The limbs move in opposite directions from one another during the shot, energy is transferred up and down instead of back to front. The limbs traveling in opposite directions from one another nearly cancels out all forward jump in the Legacy, as well as tremendously reducing felt vibration. Although new to Mathews for 2002, this parallel limb design has actually been around for years. Companies such as Oneida Eagle have used this design for over a decade and newcomers like Bowtech have experienced huge success with this parallel limb design. Mark our words, this is going to be a huge trend in the archery industry, and for those companies who don't think they need to get onboard, we feel they're going to be left behind when annual sales figures and market share are determined.
Another new feature on the Legacy for 2002 is the use of string suppressors. String Suppressors have also been around for years. Typically, small amounts of rubber are placed in the string to absorb vibration, thus making the string quieter. A significant negative to note when using string-mounted suppressors is they tend to slow your arrow speed down. Mathews has a different approach to an old technology which we feel definitely overcomes the traditional problems. The new String Suppressor System attaches directly to the limbs and only contacts the string in its rest position.
Attaching the suppressors in this fashion accomplishes three (3) very important things:
1) Reduces string vibration from reaching the riser by cradling the string when firing the bow.
2) By cradling the string upon firing the bow the suppressors reduce the length of time the string vibrates. This reduces that "TWANG" sound you hear after the shot. When you remove the string suppressors the difference is dramatic and obvious.
3) This is important! By placing the suppressors just above the cam and just below the idler wheel, Mathews has all but eliminated the tuning problems that arise when you attach silencers to the string. Plus it doesn't significantly reduce the speed of your bow. BIG Bonus!!
Without a doubt and hands down, Mathews has one of the best string suppressor systems that we've seen to date. Although it may look a little funny, it functions perfectly and we all know that's what really matters!
The Roller cable guide on the other hand? Um, we're not so sure about this feature. We couldn't test the Legacy with and without the rollers installed, because Mathews unfortunately doesn't give you the option of choosing between the standard cable rod and the roller guide. We would have like to have seen the difference between the two to make a good comparison on which one works better. Also, we noticed we had a small click noise coming from one of the rollers at about half draw. Does this click affect the way the bow shoots? No, but it is noticeable and annoying. Another thing we'd like to note about the roller guide is the fact that we can no longer use our favorite drop away rest, the Muzzy Zero Effect. The roller cable guide stops the cables from moving forward and backward. Many of today's popular drop away rests won't work on the Legacy. Bummer. There is something else that makes us nervous about the roller cable guide. The amount of material removed from the riser so the roller mount bracket could be installed creates a very weak point in the riser. Although we didn‚t experience any problems with riser failure, we would suspect that this might be an issue on bows being shot at full poundage for extended periods of time. As the saying goes, "only time will tell".
Anyone that knows us, knows we stress performance. We try to escape the hype and get to the facts on how specific technologies are supposed to work and then carefully analyze whether or not field and bench tested performance backs up the hype. Let's look at how the Legacy did on the performance part of the review.
First, we adjusted the draw weight to 60 lbs., and checked our draw length to make sure it was set at 30" so we could do our AMO test. Next, we installed a launcher style rest and mounted the Legacy in our Hooter Shooter. For the AMO test we used an extremely heavy 540 grain arrow. For the life of us we don't know why we even still do this test. No one even shoots 9 grains per pound anymore. In our opinion, AMO needs to come up with some new standards! But, we digress. We took the time to do the AMO test, so you're going to hear about it. The Legacy repeatedly shot 232 fps while firing a 9 grain per pound slug at 30" draw. For a more realistic test we moved on to the IBO test. We would need to turn the poundage up to 70 lbs. and use a 350 grain bullet for this test. The problem we ran into was the fact that our Legacy wouldn't make 70 lbs. OOPS! The best we could get out of our test bow was 68 lbs. Although not making weight is not a good thing in anyone's book, when we contacted Mathews about this issue they agreed to ship another set of limbs out immediately. One point for customer service! We opted to continue the test with the limbs that came with the bow for the sake of getting this review completed and in front of you.
It's an acceptable test practice to turn the bow down to 65 lbs. and use a 325 grain arrow. This is what we did to continue the test. Shooting the Legacy at 65 lbs. using a 325 grain arrow we were able to get 305 fps. Mathews advertises 308 fps. This falls well within the 3% that we allow for calibration differences in scales, chronograph etc.
While shooting the Legacy with the Hooter Shooter shooting machine it repeatedly slammed arrows together at 30 yards. When we removed the bow from the Hooter Shooter we really began to appreciate how well the improvements for 2002 all come together. Shooting the Legacy is a pure unadulterated joy! The Legacy is a bow you can shoot all day, and by God that's exactly what most of our test crew did. The more you shoot it, the more you enjoy it. To really appreciate the Legacy, about every hundred or so shots, go pick up your other bow and you'll think to yourself how did I shoot this thing for so long?
Let's talk about the new String Suppressors. The Mathews new string suppressor system looks a little funky the way they attach to the power limbs, but they work! When you remove the string suppressors you can actually hear the difference. We would like to say we could feel a difference but unfortunately we could not. Since sound is acoustic energy, we have to assume there is in fact a significant difference, but the hands are not the most sensitive of test apparatus.
The Roller system is another story. We can't say definitively if this system works or doesn't work, due to the fact that we can't test the bow with the traditional carbon rod. The fact that the riser looks like it has been seriously weakened and we have this strange click in the roller system, we're going to have to give this new system the thumbs down for now until there is some way to compare and contrast.
Overall, we were impressed with the Legacy. Mathews has made many changes this year and most for the better. The new Parallel Limb system does an outstanding job of reducing forward jump as well as reducing felt vibration. The new String Suppressor, although they look a little funky, does an excellent job of reducing string noise. The new Roller System is questionable.
We didn't like the way the riser has been cut out to mount this new system and the fact that it limits you in some ways, like rest selection. The BowCountry.com test crew was also in complete agreement in that Mathews should consider making adjustable cams for their bows. Trying to get multiple inputs from different shooters is almost impossible due to the fact you can't adjust draw lengths. This also makes switching releases impossible - you better be happy with what you're using at the time you order your bow. We selected staff shooters who happen to have a 30" draw and the appropriate release to complete our testing.
Even though our test bow didn't make weight and some of the other negatives, we were still very impressed with the Legacy. The Legacy is such a joy to shoot, we felt it overcame any perceived or real negatives.
The price of the Legacy is a little steep at $699.00, but it does come with some solid values. Let's end the debate once and for all regarding how much this extra value is worth to some archers. One thing we all share is a passion for archery and hunting. One man's food is another's poison. Whether you appreciate Mathews products or not, there IS a market for their bows. Clearly there is a loyal following of archers ponying up the scoots to own a Mathews. We say "To each his own and to thine own self be true!" Let's all be active in ending the Ford versus Chevy, the Mathews versus other debate shall we?
The BowCountry.com test crew gave the Legacy a 4 out of 5 star rating. For sure, there are a few negatives to this bow, but we felt that the sheer pleasure of shooting the Legacy out weighed these negatives. Hats off to Matt McPherson and the engineers at Mathews for an outstanding job in the making of the Legacy. Please take a moment to visit the Mathews web site here.
We think the Mathews Legacy is bound to become exactly that, a Legacy!
