Contents
Bow Package Contents
This model is available in a version for right handed shooters only at the moment and will arrive set to its maximum settings (55 lbs draw weight, 29″ draw length) at your door. It is sold by Southland Archery Supply (SAS) to the American market. SAS manufactures their products overseas, which is just reasonable if you take a look at the very affordable price. That’s the compromise you have to take, no way around that. But as long as SAS takes care of the customer support you are on the safe side. At least in my opinion.
Alternatives
| iGlow 30-55 | Vortex Hunter | Leader 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" |
| 296 fps | 280 fps | 296 fps | 320 fps |
| Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
You have to install the bowsight, the arrow rest and the stabilizer yourself. Those items are not on the compound and need to be adjusted by someone who knows what he’s doing – or watch an instructional Youtube video, if you don’t know such a person. I have an article about sighting in a bow here => How To Sight In A Sight.
The arrow rest probably needs to be adjusted to centershot. If you have no idea and are a bit unsure I would suggest you go to a local pro shop. Those guys will set it up for you for free or for a small fee. It does not hurt to see those things be done by a pro the first time anyway, in my book.
If you don’t want to tune this model yourself, you have the option to buy an additional accessories kit or the pro package, that includes all the add-ons you will need to start shooting.
The optional accessories kit includes a 5-pin fiber optic adjustable sight with bubble level (light included), a brush-style arrow rest, a 4-inch stabilizer, a wrist sling, peep sight and tubing and a D-loop string plus two sets of Allen wrenches for adjusting.
You have to set the peep sight up yourself, of course, as every bowhunter needs to place it on the string where it fits him and his style of shooting best. Same goes for the D-loop. There are a lot of instructional Youtube videos out there about how to install a peep sight or a D-loop. It’s not complicated, but seeing someone doing it (in case you have never done it before) helps a lot.
The accessories are good quality items but clearly don’t expect too much of them. They are good for starting out, though, but you will invest in better add-ons along the way when you know what you want and when you know what works best for you. For a beginner, the accessories kit nonetheless is just a great option to get started fast.
You will need to get an additional quiver, if you want one. There are standardized pre-drilled holes on the riser of the SAS Scorpii, so you should be able to attach any model you want.
The Pro Package includes: The Scorpii 30-55 Compound Bow, a 3-pin sight, a Trophy Ridge Quick Shot M arrow rest, a quick detach quiver, a tube peep sight, D-loop, wrist sling, and an 8″ 6.5oz aluminum stabilizer. The items included in the pro package are of a slightly higher quality than the ones included in the accessories kit.
If you know what you want exactly you can of course add anything you want to the SAS Scorpii: Whisker Biscuit, fall away arrow rest, single pin bowsight, whatever.
What you will need to get anyway is a release aid and arrows. Finger shooting a model like this makes not much sense (your fingers might torque the string every time you shoot, thus affecting the arrow flight massively), so you will need to get a mechanical release aid that you can shoot comfortably with.
Finding the right arrows for the compound is more important than getting the most expensive bow out there. If the arrow has the wrong spine or is too light you won’t hit a thing. I have a guide about choosing the right arrows here => Choosing The Right Arrows.
Personally I would go for carbon arrows – always. Invest a bit of time here and you will get so much more joy out of it later.
There is a manual included, which is very basic, to be honest. But again, there are a lot of Youtube videos out there about adjusting in general, so you should find what you need to know sooner or later.
There is no draw length or draw weight chart included, though.
Some safety considerations for beginning archers:
If you want to shoot in your backyard, check local laws first. If you are allowed to shoot, make at least sure that you have an adequate backstop behind your target. 55 pounds can send an arrow a long way and you don’t want it to be stopped by your neighbor‘s cat.
Never aim at people or pets or cars or anything else you don’t want to shoot at. If you let the string pull forward over a certain point (let-off) it pulls forward with its maximum poundage from there and you won’t be able to stop that from happening.
Always check your string. Look for wear and tear and switch it out before it snaps. Shooting with a damaged string could destroy your model. Waxing the string at least once per month would help a lot, though.
Never ever shoot without an arrow in place. This is called dry firing, which again, can destroy your gear. The energy at full draw is relieved into the arrow at release. If there is no arrow, it goes right back into the limbs. Shooting with an arrow that is too light has the same effect, by the way, so always check if your model demands a minimum weight for arrows at certain poundages.
If you want to learn more about dry firing, I have an article about it here => Dry Firing.
Noise Level / Hand Shock Of The SAS Scorpii 30-55 Compound Bow
As noise or sound is often a more personal impression than anything else, the opinions about the SAS Scorpii vary. I found it quite normal for a 55 pound compound.
You could add a bunch of silencers but for me it was not that loud that it would justify doing so. Other customers complained about the noise, others described it as ‘whisper quiet’. It makes some sound, but not enough that it would distract me – or game. At least in my opinion.
Bow Specifics / Limbs / Riser / Grip / String
The SAS Scorpii is a solidly built, durable looking model. It offers good basic features, a modern looking composite riser with a waffled look and compressed ABS Limbs in a split design. Its cams look rock solid and work like a charm.
With an axle to axle length of only 28″ this one is a very short and compact model, ideal for hunting in small tree stands or ground blinds. Just make sure that your draw length does not exceed 29″. If that’s the case, you need a different model. If you want to learn more about measuring your draw length, I have an article about how to do it here => How To Determine Your Draw Length.
Its brace height is at 7.5 inches, which is quite normal, and its net weight is 3.3 pounds. That means that with all accessories added, it might be slightly over 4 pounds. Although it’s not lightweight, it‘s still manageable in the field, in my book – cuz we’re no weak vegetarians, are we? 🙂 .
Draw Cycle / Shootability
The SAS Scorpii is smooth to draw, very accurate and shows an excellent overall performance. Its cam system works flawlessly, sending arrow after arrow downrange with a repeatable accuracy – provided you got some skills.
Its draw length can be adjusted from 19″ to 29″, its draw weight can be adjusted from 30 to 55 pounds. The manual is lacking information about how to adjust, unfortunately.
Draw length is adjustable via the screws in the cams. Just unscrew, adjust like you want and put the screws back in again. You won’t need a bowpress for adjusting the draw length up or down.
Try to adjust the poundage with no more than 2 full turns (limb bolts) for a start and see where that takes you. If you back them out too much, the compound might fall apart violently, as it’s under a lot of tension all the time. And keep both limb bolts at the same number of full turns. If in doubt, tighten to the max and start over from there.
This one has a let-off of 68%. Odd number, right? The valley is wide enough and the wall feels quite solid. So all in all it feels very comfy.
Shooting Speed Of The SAS Scorpii 30-55 Compound Bow
SAS states that the Scorpii shoots an arrow with 260 FPS downrange. As there is no info given about what type of arrow they’ve used and if this speed was measured after the requirements of the IBO (International Bowhunting Organization), we only can use it as a rough estimation. But nonetheless, 260 FPS is not bad at all for a 55 pound model – it’s rather quite impressive.
Suitable For Bowhunting / Kinetic Energy (KE)
Southland Archery Supply did not give any charts about kinetic energy etc. concerning the Scorpii, but in general, a model like this with a 55 pound draw weight should be enough to take down deer. Take a look at Easton’s Field Chart to get an idea about kinetic energy etc.
Just be careful when adjusting the poundage down, as kinetic energy gets lost pretty quickly being affected by the weight of the arrow used, bad weather conditions or distance. This sums up pretty quickly.
If you want to learn more about kinetic energy for bowhunting, I have an article about it here => Kinetic Energy For Bowhunting.
Suitable For Bowfishing
The SAS Scorpii is definitely suitable for bowfishing – some customers bought it just because of being able to use it for that reason.
Setups that seem to work well use the AMS Reel and a Tidal Wave arrow rest together with the Scorpii.
40 to 55 pound draw weight should be enough to penetrate the water and hit the fish well. So yeah, happy bowfishing!
Pricing
The SAS Scorpii 30-55 is a very affordable model. For around 120 bucks you will get a solidly built, well performing little shooter that is as accurate as models that cost three times as much.
If you buy the accessories kit with the Scorpii, you will have to pay around 160 dollars. Bow and pro package cost around 270 bucks. But still these are options that won’t break the bank completely and are a very good deal especially for beginning archers that want to get their feet wet as soon as possible.
If you want to spend more, you could take a look at the Diamond Infinite Edge Pro, the Bear Archery Cruzer or the SAS Rage.
Pros & Cons
Pros
– very affordable
– great performance
– very compact model
Cons
– you might want better add-ons over time
Summary
The SAS Scorpii 30-55 Compound Bow is a very well made entry level model that – thanks to its small size – can be used by tweens, teens and females as well. Its overall performance shines in this price range and lets some of the more expensive models go down in shame.
It’s easy to maneuver around in the woods, tree stands and ground blinds while nonetheless being dead accurate. A customer described it – if you know how to dial it in and tune it with add-ons etc. – as a ‘monster among men‘. And to be honest, you cannot describe that thing any better.
Thanks for reading and shoot straight!
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