This one can be finger-shot as well, which makes it a great choice especially for recurve archers that want to transition to compound shooting.
One downside is, that this Leader Accessories is not that flexible concerning adjustments, so kids or tweens won’t be able to use it properly due to the 40 lbs minimum poundage. Teens on the stronger side should be able to use it without any problems. I hope this review will help you to decide if this one might be a good choice for you or not. See you at the end!
Contents
Alternatives
| SAS Scorpii 30-55 | Vortex Hunter | iGlow 30-55 | AW Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| RH | RH | RH | RH |
| 30 - 55 lbs | 45 - 60 lbs | 30 - 55 lbs | 20 - 70 lbs |
| 19" - 29" | 26" - 30" | 19" - 29" | 17" - 29" |
| 260 fps | 280 fps | 296 fps | 320 fps |
| Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
Bow Package Contents
The Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model is available for right handed shooters only at the moment. This means you hold it with your left hand while pulling the string back with your right hand. If you don’t know what that means I’d suggest you read my beginner’s guide here => Beginner’s Guide.
This one is manufactured by Man Kung in Taiwan. Man Kung has been in business for years since the eighties, manufacturing high quality components successfully for the big brands of the American market. That’s the main reason why I would not be concernend too much that this model is made overseas. As long as the quality is high, that should not be a problem at all.
The add-ons that come with the Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model are made cheaply. This is quite usual with very affordable models like this, as they have to cut the cost somewhere, so in general, the bare bows are often very good, but the add-ons suck.
In this case you will get an arrow rest that does not hold arrows well, which means you need to get a better model as soon as possible or your results won’t be as good as they could be, provided you are shooting with proper form. In case you don’t know the term ‘proper form’, I have an article about it here => Proper Form For Archers.
I suggest you get a Whisker Biscuit instead. This brush-style arrow rest will make shooting a joy resulting in higher accuracy and more fun. A good arrow rest is the most important thing for achieving good and consistent shots, so don’t save some bucks on the wrong end.
The sight is not great either. It will come loose after a few shots and start moving around, making it impossible to shoot consistently, which is very important, especially for beginning archers that are still learning and developing their form.
The Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model is available in three finishes: Black, Black / Silver and Green Camouflage.
There are a few things that you might need additionally for this model to transform it into a great shooter:
There is no stabilizer included. A stabilizer will take out vibrations while shooting. Vibrations make the shooting process quite noisy, which is bad for bowhunting as the game might get warned by this noise. On the other hand, a stabilizer gives more balance in general. The additional weight makes the shooting process more stable, resulting in better and more consistent shots.
In case you don’t want to shoot the Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model with your fingers – and there are a lot of good reasons not to do it that way – you might need a D-loop, peep sight and release aid.
The D-loop is necessary for pulling the string back, the peep sight acts as a rear sight. The release aid gets attached to your wrist and is clipped to the D-loop. It has a mechanical trigger – like the one a gun has – that takes your fingers out of the equation while shooting. Fingers tend to torque the string – especially at release – which might result in awkward shots and arrows missing the target.
If you want to finger shoot this Leader Accessories, you will need an archery glove (finger protection) and a nocking point to mark where you need to nock your arrows to the string. This is necessary for consistency as well.
If you know what you want, you can get these add-ons via your local pro shop or on the internet. If you don’t have a lot of experience yet, you might want to get an additional Upgrade Kit to start shooting as soon as possible.
The Upgrade Kit contains the following items:
- a brush styled arrow rest for left and right handed archers
- a 3.5 inches long rubber stabilizer, weighing 4.6 ounces
- a 5 pin bow sight with 0.029″ thick fiber optic pins including sight level (there are no batteries for the light included)
- a braided bow sling with an aluminum base
- a silicone rubber peep sight (1/8″ hole size)
These add-ons are of course not of the best quality, but you can start with them immediately. After some time you might want to switch some of them out against better components, but for getting your feet wet they are just fine.
You need to set up the arrow rest and the bow sight yourself, but there are no instructions included how to do that properly, which sucks. I have found a video by Jeffrey Rhoades, who explains how to do it it quite well, though. Hope that helps with this Leader Accessories.
You need to sight the bowsight in, by the way. I have a guide how to do that here => How To Sight In A Bowsight.
There are no arrows included. Finding the right arrow that fits you and your model is a lot more important than buying the most expensive compound. Some models have minimum weights for arrows at certain poundages. This is very important! Never ever use an arrow that is too light for your bow because that might lead to severe damage of your gear or – in the worst case – yourself.
Using an arrow that is too light is like dry firing, which means shooting without an arrow in place. The energy of a full drawn bow is relieved into the arrow at release. If there is no arrow, the energy goes right back into the limbs, destroying them more often than not. I have an article about dry firing here => Dry Firing A Compound Bow.
I have an article about choosing arrows here, in case you are interested => Choosing The Right Arrows.
Noise Level / Hand Shock Of The Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting Compound Bow
The Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model has some vibrations going on while shooting it. So you need to get a stabilizer – get one around 24 ounces or two that add up to that weight – to get rid of the noise. You want to have it as quiet as possible for bowhunting but even for shooting at the range it is better to make it as quiet as possible – at least in my opinion. I hate loud compound bows.
You can also add some string dampeners to bring the noise down even more.
To be honest, there is some handshock recognizable. That’s because this one has more punch than a lot of the newer models out there. This is something you may or may not like – on the other hand this gives a certain character to the Leader Accessories 44-55 Hunting model which is something others don’t have.
Bow Specifics / Limbs / Riser / Grip / String
The bare bow feels very well made, durable and solid. It is a good quality compound that does not need to hide behind the well known models of the big brands. Its aluminum riser is well machined and has a lot of pre-drilled holes for all kinds of add-ons that you might need or not.
It has ABS compressed solid limbs that sit in the back pivoting limb pockets for better accuracy. Those limbs look damn durable as well.
With an axle to axle length of 41.5 inches it is not very compact. For hardcore bowhunters this might be too large, eventually. Just think of wonky tree stands and small ground blinds or dense vegetation. But for archers that want to switch from recurve it might be just the right size.
Its net weight is 4 lbs. This is not that heavy but keep in mind that adding more add-ons will also increase the overall weight.
The length of the string is 29.13″. One thing to note here is that the Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model has the older tear drop attachment points for the string (see image). There are two grooves for slipping on the string. This is an older system which does not affect the performance of this model at all. You only need to check that the old string is in place when attaching a new one.
One more thing about strings. Wax ’em before shooting the first time and then once a month. This will prolong their lives tremendously. Always check ’em for worn areas and switch ’em out early enough, if you find some.
The cable guard does its job well, so nothing much to say about that one.
Draw Cycle / Shootability
The dual cam system works perfectly making the Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model rather smooth to draw. It is a dead accurate model if you get better add-ons. Essentially you need a better arrow rest, sight and a stabilizer. For shooting it with your fingers – even instinctively – that is enough.
If you want to shoot it in a more technical way you also need a peep, a D-loop and a release aid.
The draw weight ranges from 40-55 lbs. It can be adjusted via the limb bolts that connect the solid limbs to the riser. The amount of full turns need to be the same on each bolt. One full turn adjusts the poundage around 5 pounds up or down. Never ever make more than three full turns, otherwise the Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting might fall apart pretty violently, so don’t forget the tension.
You can adjust the draw length from 27″-29″. This is not very flexible but looking at the very affordable price I would not care too much about it. The adjustment can be done with Allen keys. By the way, if your personal draw length exceeds 29″ you need to look for a different model. Here’s an article that shows you in detail how to measure your draw length => How To Determine Your Draw Length.
Its let off is 70% which means that you only have to hold around 30% of the peak weight at full draw, so when it’s set to 55 lbs, you only have to hold 16.5 lbs.
The valley seems to be wide enough, the back wall solid enough. The brace height is 7.5“.
Shooting Speed Of The Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting Compound Bow
The seller states a speed of 220 fps, the manufacturer 206 fps. As we don’t know how they have measured those figures and which arrows and settings they have used, these figures are not really comparable.
220 fps is not bad for a 55 lbs model, though.
Suitable For Hunting / Kinetic Energy (KE)
Set to 55 pounds this one should be good for going after small, medium and large game. Deer should be doable. Just keep in mind that the kinetic energy – which is important for penetration – decreases fast if you change the poundage, if you switch to lighter arrows, if the weather conditions are bad or if the distance is very long.
Just look at Easton’s Field Chart to get an idea about which amount of kinetic energy is recommended for which type of game.
If you want to learn more about kinetic energy for bowhunting, I have an article about it here => Kinetic Energy For Hunting.
Suitable For Bowfishing
According to the pre-drilled holes in the riser I assume that it should be possible to add a bowfishing reel. The poundage is way enough to go for the fish.
Pricing
The Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting model is very affordable. For under 100 bucks you will get a well made quality compound bow that can easily keep up with models that cost a lot more – provided you invest in better add-ons right from the beginning.
But even if you do, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to test the waters and to check if archery or bowhunting is for you at all.
In case you want to spend more, feel free to look at the Diamond Infinite Edge Pro, the Bear Archery Cruzer or the Apollo Tactical.
Pros & Cons
Pros
– very affordable
– good shooter with better add-ons
Cons
– crappy rest and sight
– not that much adjustable
Summary
The Leader Accessories 40-55 Hunting is a really great entry level compound bow for a very affordable price. It can be used by stronger teens and adults, beginners or seasoned bowhunters. Females might struggle a bit as the minimum poundage is 40 lbs. A downer is that the draw length can be adjusted only between 27″ and 29″. This covers most draw lengths but if you are outside of this range you need to look for a different model.
Provided you get better add-ons, this one shoots as well as other models that cost three times as much, so for a beginner or someone who wants a backup bow this one really is a great option – and you don’t need to break your bank completely to get it. And that’s just awesome.
All in all I would say if you are unsure whether archery is for you or not, get this one and test it. If it is for you, you will spend a lot more over the years anyway. 🙂
Thanks for reading and shoot straight!
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