ESC Black Eagle Bow Review

By Bob Humphrey

Claude Pollington, the owner of C.P. Oneida Eagle Bows is one of those guys who felt so strongly about a product, he bought the company -- sort of. Pollington has been shooting bows since 1952. He worked his way up from recurves to the first compounds – “I wore out a few of those,” he said – to his first Oneida, in 1982. He loved it, and so did the customers who came to his little archery shop. “By 1989, I was selling 600 or more a year.” But as the company struggled, Oneida bows became tougher to get. Then, they went out of business. Pollington chidingly claimed he had no choice “I had to buy the company because I had so many customers that wanted Oneida bows.” 

In the roughly two years since, Pollington has turned the company around, thanks in no small part to a loyal customer base, and some of solid technological advancements. “When people shoot them and understand them, they always go back to them,” he said of Oneida bows. “Right now, that’s what’s happening; we’re really getting busy.” And much of that busyness is related to limb technology. “The (manufacturing) equipment was getting old, and it was costly to produce the outboard limb,” said Pollington. So they updated their equipment and their limb technology, among other things, and set about to improve upon an already great bow. 

FROM THE OUTBOARD IN:
For 2003, C.P. Oneida Eagle has incorporated Engineered Structural Composite (ESC) outboard limbs, and a few other advancements, into their standard Black Eagle to produce the ESC Black Eagle. Now, every limb is molded to within .001" tolerances to produce perfect deflection between top and bottom outboard limbs. Because they lacked the necessary vacuum set ups for grinding glass power limbs, they recruited nearby Darton Archery to do it for them. The power limbs are ground to a given deflection, and are then matched as pairs and installed as a balanced set. This leads to a symmetric energy generation, storage, and delivery system, which adds to an already smooth and recoil-free bow. “We also built new equipment to drill holes and hold tolerances on power limbs,” said Pollington. “We haven't had a limb break yet, though we've tried. We dry fired a 60-pound bow 96 times until a cable broke. If I'd corrected that, it could have kept on dry-firing.” 
Next, they addressed the limb hinges. Experimenting with five or six ideas and designs, they settled on one where the power cables are centralized and clamped into the hinge so they're dead center. “We did the same thing with the saddle cables. They’re within two or three thousandths so when bow goes together it's dead center.” Then came the riser. “With computer capability to analyze strength, we were able to add a few thousandths here and take some away elsewhere, making the bow stronger, but no heavier.

IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING:
The ESC Black Eagle also retained all of the features of its predecessor. For example, the independent timing system allows for critical adjustment of tiller and timing wheels, thereby obtaining an even balance between limbs, and straight nock travel. One of the biggest differences between Oneida bows and all other compounds, according to Pollington, is “the cams being on the riser, with a timing system that ties the two together with stainless steel cables, not strings. Oneida's unique design boasts absolutely no cable stretch, which means consistency. With this system the bow is also very simple to time and repair. You can measure the cam to the string on both ends, then lock your spool. Once you get acquainted with the technique, it’s simple, and you can do it in the field.

DRAW CURVE:
Another great feature of Oneida bows is the smooth draw curve, which offers the qualities of a traditional recurve with the sizzling speed of a compound. With the long, easy pull, you can actually stop where you want to shoot it out. That means it can be shot instinctively, and draw length is not critical. However, with the bow’s module system, you can adjust it incrementally to fit your draw length and give you the let off you like.

SPEED:
All of the above is done without sacrificing speed. In fact, you get a lot of speed with less input. Because the cable alignment is so precise, properly-spined arrows fly straighter. That means less energy and speed are lost to wobble. The ESC Black Eagle is rated at 305 fps (IBO). When I asked Pollington about the rated speed he was hesitant to quote numbers. He did, however intimate that he tested the bow against a number of other manufacturers’ speed bows and in all cases, a 60-pound Black Eagle achieved similar speeds to other bows set at 70 pounds.

RECOIL:
One of the more intriguing features of the Oneida bows is their ability to eliminate harsh recoil. This is purportedly a result of the bow’s unique draw curve, wherein the recoil is absorbed by the bow and not the shooter’s arm, hand and wrist. When I asked Pollington how this works he replied: “We really don’t know, but it does,” which I verified on the range.

VERSATILITY: 
Last but not least of the bows outstanding features is its versatility. With a smooth draw curve it can fit nearly any instinctive shooter, yet five riser/limb combinations can accommodate draw lengths ranging from 25 to 34 inches. It is available in three draw weight range options, and seven module inserts permit full-draw let-off percentages from 40 to -80 percent. Finally, with the Perfect Draw Control System (PDC) you can fully customize the bow to your unique draw length.

SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: C.P. Oneida Eagle Bows, Dept. PB, 20669 30th Avenue, Marion, MI 49665; 231-743-2427; www.oneidaeaglebows.com
Model: ESC Black Eagle
Draw Weights: 35/55 50/70 60/80 pounds peak
Draw Lengths: 26 to 34 inches, modular
Riser: Machined Aluminum
Limbs: ESC Molded Carbon
Eccentrics: n/a
Mass Weight: 4 to 4.5 pounds
Letoff: 40 - 80 Percent
Grip: Wooden Oak
Brace Height: 6-1/2 to 8-½ inches
Tip-to-Tip Length: 43 to 46 inches 
Finish: Skyline Excel Camo
String length: 42-1/2 to 45-1/2 inches
Advertised IBO Speed: 305 fps
Suggested Retail Price: 
Comments: By adding precision machining and the latest technology to a smooth drawing, nearly recoilless and speedy bow, C.P. Oneida has come up with a winning combination.

The UPSHOT
CRAFTSMANSHIP - Machined precision ***** 5
GRIP ERGONOMICS - Mid-wrist, wood ****^4.5
FINISH - Predator Skyline **** 4
DRAW CYCLE - consistently very smooth ***** 5
RECOIL - Negligible ***** 5
SHOT NOISE - Better than average **** 4
Total - ****^ 4.5