Martin Archery Cypress Review – a Recurve Bow Inspection

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LengthBow WeightDraw WeightTakedown?
Martin Archery Cypress Review

Martin Archery Cypress Review

See on Amazon.com


64"Unspecified


How to: choose arrows, draw weight, and tune your recurve
35 to 55 lbs.Yes

Pros
- Beautiful zebrawood riser
- Powerful and accurate
- Darned near silent
Cons
- No bow stringer included
Also recommended: Best Martin BowsCompare prices across top hunting gear sellers

New for 2015, Martin Archery has crafted a quite distinctive takedown recurve bow in the Cypress. Made from zebra wood, the bow is lovely and has the traditional dark Martin limbs. Let’s take a look at the Cypress and see how well this takedown recurve stands up to the Martin name.

What Comes With the Martin Archery Cypress?

Martin Archery CypressWhen you open the box, you should find these items within:

  • The Martin Archery Cypress bow, including riser and limbs
  • Assembly hardware
  • 2015 Martin Archery catalog
  • Assembly instructions

Unfortunately, Martin does not ship a bow stringer with the bow. I already had one, but you should make sure to purchase one if you are new to the sport or simply don’t have a bow stringer in your tool box already. The box also doesn’t include an Allen or bow wrench for assembly, so make sure you have that on hand.

Will I Have A Hard Time Assembling The Bow?

The assembly instructions that ship with the bow are quite easy to understand, and assembly of this recurve is quick and easy. You attach the limbs to the riser with the included hardware. You’ll need a set of Allen wrenches or a bow wrench, since one doesn’t come with the bow. Once the limbs are attached, string the bow using the bow stringer you purchased separately. Not using a bow stringer for this part will make the job more difficult, more dangerous, and leave you with a bow that is not nearly as accurate as it should be.

What Accessories Work With This Bow?

Right after assembling the bow is the perfect time to install your accessories. No accessories come with the Cypress, but it is predrilled for your sight, stabilizer, or Berger button. You will need to supply your own brass inserts, unfortunately, since those don’t come in the box.

Many veteran archers will shoot without a sight or arrow rest, a style known as instinctive shooting, but I don’t recommend this for beginners. If you are new to archery or have been away from the sport for a while, I recommend installing an arrow rest and a sight, at a minimum, to help you get the feel for archery.

Before you start shooting, even if you choose not to install a rest, sight, or stabilizer, there are some things you need to do to tune your bow. This includes placing your nocking point, which you’ll have to purchase separately, and tuning your brace height. For a complete rundown of how to tune your bow, start with part one of our four-part guide to bow tuning.

How Powerful And Accurate Is The Cypress?

Once you’ve got your bow ready to shoot, you’ll naturally be ready to find out how powerful and accurate the bow is. The Cypress is available in draw weights from 35# to 55#, with the heavier draw weights naturally being the more powerful. The 64″ Martin Archery Cypress is quite powerful if you choose the higher draw weights.

Accuracy of a properly tuned Cypress is fantastic. From 40 yards, I was able to hold 1.5“ groupings with ease, using a sight. Instinctive shooting, my groupings were more in the 1.75” range, but still quite respectable. This might not be a competition target recurve, but it is certainly accurate enough for most recreational and hunting purposes.

Can I Use The Martin Archery Cypress As A Hunting Bow?

Absolutely! It is a bit long for close-quarters hunting, at 64 inches, but I still found it to be relatively easy to move through the brush and swing to bear in my tree stand. With draw weights up to 55 pounds, you can easily get a Cypress that will be deadly enough for hunting any legal game in North America, with the exception maybe of the grizzly bear. Then again, I wouldn’t recommend hunting grizzly with a bow anyways, even though there are those who love the thrill of such sport.
link to beginner's buying guide

Is The Cypress Beginner-Friendly?

The Cypress isn’t designed for young beginners, with a minimum draw weight of 35#, but if you are an adult just getting into the sport you’ll hardly find a better bow. The Martin Archery Cypress is very forgiving of poor techniques, and it easily accepts sights and stabilizers, along with a Berger button, to trick out your bow and make it as accurate as possible. With a suggested retail price of under $200, the Cypress also isn’t a huge investment if you aren’t sure you’ll take to archery.

How Can I Find The Best Arrows To Work With This Bow?

Everyone asks this question, expecting a quick answer. Unfortunately, this is a really tricky question, because there are so many factors that go into choosing a good arrow for your bow. Are you just target shooting, or are you hunting, too? Will you be hunting large game, or just small game? Do you plan on using the same arrows for both practice and hunting? These questions are why we’ve put together a guide that will help you select the best arrows; make sure you check it out.

How Durable Are The Limbs And Riser On The Cypress?

Martin Archery is known for high quality bows, and the Cypress is no exception. Properly cared for and disassembled between uses, you’ll find the recurve will last for quite some time. It’s too early to tell, but after a couple of months with the Cypress, I haven’t noticed any signs of limb twist or any other problems.

What Strings Will Fit This Recurve Bow?

The limb tips on the Cypress are reinforced, so you can use Fastflight or Flemish strings with the recurve without any problems. The included dacron string is quite good, but I prefer Flemish and quickly replaced my string with one.

Is The Martin Archery Cypress Heavy?

Martin Archery has moved away from providing as many details as they used to, but my educated guess pegs this bow at around 2.5 pounds. It isn’t the lightest recurve on the market, but it also isn’t so heavy that it will weigh you down a lot when you’re moving through the bush. I found it to be very friendly for extended use, and have spent several full days of shooting without hand fatigue or arm cramps from holding and shooting the bow.

How Quiet Is The Bow?

For a sub-$200 takedown recurve, the Cypress is surprisingly quiet. Add in whisker string silencers, and the bow is almost silent when you shoot. I expect this recurve to do quite well during archery season, and see no reason why a deer would string jump on me when I’m using this bow.

Recurve Bow Summary

Thanks for reading my review of the Martin Archery Cypress takedown recurve. This bow is well made, and beautiful to look at. It’s quiet, powerful, and accurate. The only real downside to the bow is that it doesn’t come with a bow stringer. Take a look at Today's Amazon.com price on the Cypress if you’re interested.

6 Comments

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  1. Thanks for the review! My local Archery shop has this bow. I just bought it based on this and many other reviews on this site.I had the owner set it up and show me how to shoot it. It’s exactly as the review states as being forgiving for a beginner.I’m in Canada so got a good deal at $199.00 since that’s the US suggested retail. I got a case, glove, arm guard, silencers, knocking point, rest installed, stringer and six arrows for $369.00 cdn. Very happy with it and going back tomorrow to get some more instruction on how to shoot it properly.

    1. Just a comment… I don’t know if this bow comes at different lengths, I see on the Martin site it says 64″ but here in the review it says 60″ Mine is 64″ as per the Martin website.

      1. Thanks for pointing this out Paul, you are right; the website system was displaying the length of a different bow by accident. I fixed this and made sure the same error is not occurring with other reviews. Thanks again for your vigilance.

  2. I have been shooting my Martin Cypress for almost 4 months now and have been reading this site, and watching Merlin Archery videos on You Tube. A few weeks ago i string snapped myself pretty good right across the back of my thumb and the base of my wrist. After some research i learned that its likely that my brace eight was far too low for my bow and that if it was correct this injury would never have happened. I watched a video on how to tune brace height. I never got a manual with my bow so I am unsure of the manufacturer’s recommended brace height. I have also had a lot of difficulty searching for that information on the Martin website or any other site. One other fellow suggested that he found the brace height for a 64″ Martin Cypress should be 8 3/4″ +/- 3/8″. Does anyone know if this is the correct brace height for this bow? I twisted the string and strung it to 8″ and was barely able to string it. I’m scared of stringing the brace height to high and ruining my bow. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    1. Hey Paul, i have been shooting the cypress for a year and a half and i love it, i have mine strung slightly higher at 20.5cm (8 and a bit inches) it seems to be working great. I am looking to change the string and i notice that the limb tips are reinforced (cool!) that means i can put a fast flight string on it, doesnt it?

  3. Hi thanks for the information. I’m doing 3D competition and now shotting since 6months with my 40lbs Cypress. I followed the manual and did a 7″1/2 brace height but it’s hard to keep it open. I’ll try at 8″ and do anyone know which limbs could fit to the riser? I want to make my bow more smoothly, fast but easier to draw. Thanks for your help.

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