PSE Mach6

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I have owned Precision Shooting Equipment since around 1985 having won many Archery tournaments with one of their round wheel 48 inch length long axle to axle compound bows.  I added a custom built overdraw onto the riser and used a Barners drop away rest and very light 1713 Easton Aluminum arrows tipped with a cut down nibb field point that rendered arrow speeds of 272 feet per second which was extremely fast for 1985.  Of course that arrow speed is nothing compared to the blistering IMO arrow speeds today of around 315 fps and more.

With the success with that bow, I quickly became a PSE fan and shot nothing but PSE equipment and later in 1994 purchased their top of the line aka Flagship bow, the Mach6 and purchased a lifetime warranty for the bow which covered everything except maybe the bow string.  With heavy weight hunting arrows that weighed 562 grains, the bow would send an arrow at around 235 feet per second which was plenty fast at the time.  I also purchased their top of the line Mach6 target bow and had them custom fit their Mach5 carbon limbs to the Mach6 riser since they did not offer their Mach5 target bow in a left hand model and the custom fitted bow yielded arrow speeds around 300 fps if I am not mistaken.  However, that bow with the longer Mach5 custom carbon limbs had problems with the cable swedge slapping the side of the limb cut outs for the cams and PSE changed the limbs to a  much shorter version of which I wasn't happy with since I desired a 48 inch axle to axle bow for target shooting which was much more forgiving than their 43 inch axle to axle Mach6 hunting weight bow.  That was about the end of my tournament shooting anyway and kept that 1000 dollar bow as a wall hanger as a back up for my hunting bow.

The PSE Mach6 bow had hatchet type cams (Synergy) which was very hard to break over but the 60 percent left-off was great once you got the bow to full draw.  That cam had an extremely long power stroke which means it kept the full weight of the 65 pounds on the arrow for a much longer time which yielded more kinetic energy which translates to more speed and energy in the arrow.  I harvested at least forty (40) deer with that bow and think that PSE might have replaced the limbs on it at one time but not sure. 

Everything was fine with that bow except it was a dawg to get to full draw because of the hatchet type cams and right before our annual archery season in 2008 I observed a problem with the limb.  I am going to copy and paste the details from my short story titled Murphy's Law that I wrote about this bow and my dealings with PSE to get the bow repaired.   Several days ago while getting ready for a practice session from my 20 feet elevated shooting platform at three deer 3D targets, I just happened to run my fingers across the upper limb tip section that houses the cam axle shaft and noticed it didn't feel just right.  Upon closer observation, I found there was a diagonal crack about 75 percent across the limb bearing tip surface that renders the limb unsafe since it could easily come apart from the heavy recoil of the antiquated 1994 PSE Mach6 Maxis bow and a metal cam, axle and cables flying backwards into your face and head at break neck speed is not a pretty thought or sight.

I called one of PSE's authorized repair facilities and the person on the telephone told me that PSE did not start a lifetime warranty on their limbs until the year 2000 even though I told him I knew for sure that this bow was their top of the line or flagship bow in 1994 and did have a life time warranty on the limbs, etc.  I further told the person I would call PSE direct and PSE advised the bow limbs were under warranty and they did not have the serial number in their system due to the age of the bow but said it was not uncommon for someone to seek repairs on a bow of that age...go ahead and grin...the lady did make me feel a little better...frugal is the word for the day!  I got a return authorization number and she stated it would be several weeks once they got the bow before they could replace the limbs so plan B has to go into effect which is to get my back up bows out and get to work. 

This is my target PSE Mach6 that I camouflage painted to use as my back up until my repaired Mach6 was returned and did harvest a buck with this bow. 

PS:   I received my bow back from PSE of which the new limbs were ill fitting, cams way out of sync. and after sending them a "nasty gram" aka email, decided to switch over to Mathews totally and ordered a Drenalin LH 29"D @ 60 lbs.  I harvested 40 deer with the Mach6 and time to put them out to pasture.  My ole shoulder and elbow cannot take the shock and abuse from that Gorilla bow anymore.  Current bow technology has made that type of bow design obsolete. 

Pix below of the PSE Mach6 received back from PSE sans the string and cables ready for making a take down version...ooops, I think this voided their lifetime warranty!

The "floating" plastic rockers between the limbs and pivoting limb pockets were positioned wrong which was the main problem for improper limb fit allowing one limb to be longer than the other.  I am glad it was a shoddy repair otherwise I would probably kept that monster a few more years as frugal as I can be at times.

As soon as my Mathews Drenalin arrives and get it set up, the other PSE Mach6 will be lucky not to meet this same fate since I have a Mathews Conquest4 in reserve also.  I probably will,  since I will be shooting a caliber release instead of a rope release!

Additional Note:  Since I "vented" enough over the PSE repair, I gave my other PSE Mach6 to a friend at work to see if his son could use it since he is right handed but has a dominant left eye and has to utilize a very long sight pin to try and make the right hand bow work for him.  I told him if he couldn't use it to do what ever he wanted to with the bow.  Keeping that bow would be like keeping a Boro in the same stall with a Triple Crown Winner.  11-02-08.     

Bill aka Mickey Porter 10-15-08..

After being totally disgruntled with the service from PSE, I decided to go with the latest state of the art archery equipment and I had already pulled back several different manufactures bows and shot one of my friends Mathews bows and Mathews won out.

Pix below of Mathews Drenalin bow set up and ready to go.  The bow is a dream to shoot and slapping arrows at 17 yards; quiet and fast even with the heavy 2315 30.5 inch length arrows I am shooting with a 125 grain Thunderhead 3 blade broadhead.  The bow is extremely light as well even fully "dressed out."  I have a QAD pro series HD rest on there and a HHA XL5500 sight and a 1/4 inch diameter peep sight.  I have retired the ole scopes for now, the EOTech Holo archery version and the UltraDot scope with the Bracklyn mount.  I actually put a store bought bow (wrist) strap on there and my good friend Ed Terry will be totally surprised since he has ribbed me for years for using a fifty cent boot string for a bow strap on some top of the line bows when they were new.  Purchased this rig from S & S Graham Archery in China Grove, NC and Rick did a super job setting the bow up...he had it practically dialed in when my good friend John Gaddy of Polkton, NC arrived at their business and John purchased an identical set-up but his was right hand whereas mine was ole south paw  left hand.  I did reposition the sight on the bracket to give me a mid-range setting adjustment at my normal anchor.  I think this is the first time someone has actually installed accessories on a bow for me.

Below pix a close up of the rest and sight:  I will have to modify the above bow press for parallel limb design.

The HHA XL5500 with ten feet of .030 fiber optic is plenty bright and has a rheostat to control the brightness of the pin.   

There is way too much back ground clutter behind my bow press for picture taking but oh well....my ole school bow press had to be modified (shortened) to accept the shorter axle to axle bows.  We have a little over one week of our regular archery season left here in the Central Region of North Carolina and might hunt with the Mathews Drenalin after muzzle loading season is over if I don't get a chance to harvest anything before then.

The Mathews bows are ahead of the pack in my option and not to much more expensive than the top of the line bows of some of their competitors if not about the same price in most cases.  Bill aka Mickey Porter 10-29-08.

Below pix of 7 point buck taken with the above bow on 11-11-08.  I changed the HHA XL5500 sight and using an Impact Archery Cosmic sight instead.  Short story under the 2008 bowhunting page under Hunting Stories. 

Below is pix of a four shot group shot this morning with my practice broadheads after hunting. The Mathews Drenalin bow is a dream to shoot...quiet, fast, no shock or recoil and easy to draw even when damp and cold.  I could draw the bow back the other morning when it was 20 degrees F. and still hunting with it during our regular gun season.  Nothing, I have ever shot compares with the Mathews Drenalin 33 inch axle to axle bow.  One of the four arrows in the group is buried up to the nock in the target!

A big difference from the first pix on this page of arrows shot with the PSE Mach6.  Currently, I do not own a PSE bow, only a Mathews Conquest4 and the Drenalin with a couple ole wall hangers like an early Jennings Arrowstar and  Bear Alaskan.

In summation, I enjoyed PSE equipment for many years but one extremely bad experience will totally wipe out all the positive things for their products.  I certainly don't plan to own any of Precision Shooting Equipment's bows or accessories.  Mathews Archery took the lead in archery innovations while other competitors sat on their laurels and have had to play catch up copying the new technologies that Mathews came up with and re-inventing the wheel!

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter 05-30-13.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take this moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation will be attained.   

Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Open this link about faith in the King James Bible.

Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Open this link of Bible Verses About Salvation, King James Version Bible (KJV).

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Micah 6:8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

IN GOD WE TRUST - GOD BLESS AMERICA - "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE"   JOHN 3:16 KJV 

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