APA Archery 2024 Black Mamba Pro Series – From December 2023 Inside Archery, By Patrick Meitin – APA Archery bows stand out through several trademark features designed to create more efficient and independent archers. Shooting several APA models to date has also revealed some of the fastest arrow velocities in the industry. The company achieves this with the only remaining two-cam system made, an infinitely adjustable design that solves any of the inherent difficulties that approach once posed.
Trademark features include their Carry Handle, a riser bridge set to the outside of the grip to stiffen the riser, improve balance, and provide a handy carry point. The top Riser Fang offers an integrated hook allowing hanging the bow from any handy limb. And of course, there is APA’s Tool Center, incorporated into the riser below the grip, providing a convenient carbide knife sharpener, broadhead wrench, nock indexing tool and Cam Lock pin held in place with a wing-head screw. Holes through the front edge of the cams allow for partially drawing the bow, inserting the Cam Lock pin and letting down so it wedges against the limb to remove tension from the bowstring and buss cables for easy string replacement or accessory instillation. This pin also includes a center-shot mark, plugging the pin into an arrow shelf orifice allowing quick rest adjustments and setup. Additionally, the sight window includes Nocking Point Alignment Zone hash marks that extend through the Carry Handle to further aid in rest setup and adjustments. It’s all about that built-in independence referred to earlier.
APA’s Direct Mount Wrist Sling is now being imitated by others, but APA was the first to introduce this nifty feature. A cut-out behind and below the grip accepts a rope or braided wrist sling, anchored to the desired position with a set screw. The system is streamlined and allows removing the stabilizer for travel or storage without upsetting the sling. APA provides a top riser tap to accept an optional Camera Mount to allow self-filming the hunt, there is a hand-positioning reference groove, and MultiPosition Balancer (MPB) plug-in points with set screws are provided.
I can safely say APA’s Twin Flex Limbs are the narrowest in the industry, and include engineering allowing them to flex through their entire length for maximum efficiency and energy transfer. The Torque Free Limb Anchor system provides tabs to accept drop-away rest activation cords, making tie-off more streamlined and balanced.
Black Mamba bows maintain an impressive degree of hunting stealth through an ultra-stiff riser and parallel limbs, but the riser is also treated to a rubberized Soft Touch Armour finish, introducing enhanced vibration dampening and providing a nonslip grip. A carbon-mounted string stop and LimbSaver Broadband limb silencers are standard equipment. Those aforementioned MPB modules can be added to multiple positions on all Black Mamba bows to personalize balance and provide additional dampening qualities.
More APA Genius
In addition to these unique APA traits, the company introduced three additional ingenious features to create more convenience and streamlining within the 2024 Black Mamba Pro Series.
The Black Mamba Pro is equipped with Pro-Connect Technology, three exclusive new features helping further streamline and balance this advanced bow. I first noticed the dual Pro-Connect Stabilizer mounts. These include integrated round slots accepting floating barrels that create a quick-detach system. The barrels can be locked from the sides with hex-head screws to act as standard taps, or left free-floating to create a quick detach option. The test bow arrived with a stubby rubber dampener installed in the Pro-Connect Stabilizer mount directly above the lower limb pocket, another QD attachment point located in the standard position. This allows finding an ideal mix-and-match stabilizer balance.
I next noticed the Pro-Connect sight mounting feature. This consists of three sets of sight taps recessed deep into the sight window with tracks cut into the riser’s front and rear edges. This allows securing the chunky mounting block of popular dovetail sights (like the HHA Sport Tertra added) closer to the center of the riser, the recessed tracks allowing the extension bar to feed through the bolted mounting block. This shifts the entire sight, particularly the side-mount block, closer to the true center of the bow riser for a sleeker and more balanced connection.
APA also introduced an exclusive Pro-Connect Sling for 2024. This QD-style shoulder sling offers hunters convenient carrying ease. It can be mounted or removed from the Black Mamba Pro effortlessly through a push-button ball-bearing/detent-ring system that also act as sling swivels.
The Black Mamba Pro is also compatible with APA’s Integrated Bow Winch, introduced last year. This system integrates into the riser cut-out directly above the lower limb pocket and ensures hunters have a pull-up rope along at all times. The cord is stored on a spool that can be released and wound back inside for quick and silent cord storage.
Black Mamba Deadly
The 2024 Black Mamba Pro is as quick as ever, while offering sub-4-pound mass out of the box, and a surprisingly pleasant draw cycle.
The Black Mamba Pro is fueled by APA’s proven dual-cam system with XS Tune Modules and rotating draw stops. This design not only provides easy adjustments for fine-tuning draw length and clean arrow flight, but it also delivers a solid rear wall via polymer-covered limb stops and is capable of pushing arrows to IBO speeds of up to 360 fps.
While the industry long ago gave up on the dual-cam approach due to persistent and frustrating timing/tuning issues, APA persisted with the design—rewarded by some of the fastest bows in the business. They solved the inherent drawbacks of older two-cam systems by introducing their Micro Tune buss cable management system. The Micro Tune system is roller equipped and manipulated by two knurled knobs. The system is locked/unlocked by a red knob, and tuned by a black knob. After unlocking the system, the black knob is used to advance/return cam rotation to maintain optimum cam synchronization in relation to the provided cam tuning hash marks. Turning the black knob adjusts tension on individual buss cables—clockwise advancing the bottom cam, counter-clockwise retarding the bottom. Self-adjusting Variable Yoke Technology also helps eliminate cam lean and limb torque.
The Black Mamba Pro is APA’s latest hunting machine, offering a good balance between maneuverability and stability, incredible speed and energy delivery, and a plethora of built-in features designed to make the shooting experience more enjoyable. It really is something. Learn more at apaarchery.com
