Bowhunt America

Article Topics

Similarity is a misstep when it comes to a new bow design. Make your new bow look and shoot like everyone else’s bows, and the most you can hope for is a weak smile from the archery community. Yet that’s exactly how so many new bows are launched. Similarity is boring.

Distinction, on the other hand, is exciting. Among the most distinct compound bows offered in the archery industry today are those served up by APA Innovations. APA currently offers seven different bow models, from the blazing fast APA King Cobra to the wonderfully stable APA Python X. Every one of those bow models stands out from the norm, thanks in large part to a set of exclusive and very innovative APA features. Topping that distinctive-features list is the unique riser-integrated Carry Handle found on every APA Bow. It’s the APA signature feature. Most compound bows today are typically carried by their grip, but that makes the bow top heavy and awkward. APA’s Carry Handle solves that problem. The APA Carry Handle is a flying bridge located out in front of the riser. It’s perfectly positioned to balance the bow for easy carry, and it’s finger-grooved for comfort and control. At the top of every APA riser, just below the limb pocket, is a set of machined “fangs.” The fangs allow you to conveniently hang your bow from almost any overhanging branch, hook, fence, stretched rope or peg. It’s an understated feature that is amazingly useful in the field. I like the APA fangs a lot. Also unique to the APA bows is the Tool Center. Located just below the bow’s grip, and machined right into the riser, is a broadhead wrench, a nock-alignment wrench, a carbide knife and broadhead sharpener and, on some models, a Cam Lock Press Pin. The entire Tool Center is ingenious and very much appreciated.

One of APA’s most popular bow models is the Black Mamba MX2, and I recently ran that stimulating bow through its paces. At just 32 inches from axle to axle, the Mamba MX2 is a fairly compact bow. It also sports all of the distinguishing APA features––flying Carry Handle, APA Fangs, riser-integrated Tool Center and Cam Lock Press capability in addition to APA’s Xtreme Venom high-performance cam system. I found the APA Black Mamba MX2 to be fast, distinctive and very exciting.

How It Shoots

It’s no secret that I like minimalist grips on bows for their accuracy-enhancing characteristics. The grip on the APA Black Mamba MX2 fits that mold perfectly. It’s trim and slim, and my hand slips into it perfectly every time. That promotes consistent bow-hand placement and that, in turn, delivers accuracy.

I like the way this fast bow draws. Draw weight builds quickly, as it must to deliver this level of performance, but the draw cycle is surprisingly smooth throughout, with a relatively gradual letoff sequence. The back wall is medium-firm.

Arrow speed is really quite good for a bow with almost 7.5 inches of brace height. That generous brace height, combined with the bow’s parallel-limb configuration, Bowjax limb and cable-guard dampeners and APA string bumper, also delivers a wonderfully vibration-free shot. That soft shot is a benefit I’ve come to crave in any new bow. I’ve been spoiled in this area by today’s best bows, and the 2009 APA Black Mamba MX2 falls right in with that vibration-free crowd.

In total, the Mamba MX2 is a truly amazing bow. It’s enormously distinctive, with a host of very desirable features. And it shoots up a storm–– smooth, vibration-free and fast. The APA Black Mamba MX2 seems a very complete package.

Key Features and Benefits

APA Xtreme Venom Cam System

The bulk of any compound bow’s performance comes from the bow’s eccentric system. It’s the power plant, and the Xtreme Venom Cam System on the Black Mamba MX2 delivers plenty of horsepower along with easy draw-length adjustability. Arrow speed with this 7.37-inch brace height bow is superb. A full 6 inches of draw-length adjustability are provided by means of interchangeable draw-length modules.

APA Carry Handle

If you think this is just a gimmick, you’re wrong. The flying-bridge APA Carry Handle works like a charm and may be the most comfortable and balanced way ever invented to carry a bow in the field. The APA Carry Handle works great.

APA Fang Riser

This, too, is a startling new invention that has to be tried to be fully appreciated. Tired and leery of putting your bow on the ground? Worried that it will get stepped on or even driven over? Forget all that with an APA Fang Riser. Hang your bow out of harm’s way anywhere or at the ready in a treestand with the Fang. It’s so simple it’s brilliant.

APA Tool Center

Equally inspiring is the APA Tool Center. No more scrambling for a wrench to safely tighten or loosen a broadhead. No more struggling to turn a nock for perfect alignment. No more wondering where that knife or broadhead sharpener might be.

APA Cam Lock Press

Another key part of the Tool Center on the 2009 Black Mamba MX2 is the Cam Lock Press Pin. The Cam Lock System allows you to easily change strings or insert peep sights without using a conventional bow press. Remove the Cam Lock Pin from the bow’s Tool Center, hold the bow by the Carry Handle and step on the bowstring. Gently pull up on the Carry Handle just enough to initiate cam rotation and then insert the pin through one of the special holes in the outer perimeter of the cam. Carefully let the handle back down and you’ll be able to work on your bow. Reverse the procedure to remove the pin when your work is completed. It’s amazingly simple, easy and convenient.

Enjoy this article? Share it!