APA Innovations Viper V7 Review

There was absolutely no hesitation on my part when I was asked to write a review of the viper V7. My brother Bruce has been the proud owner of an A.P.A. bow for a couple of years now. He shoots a black mamba and quite well I might add. He ran across an offer he couldn’t refuse from a dealer who had gone out of business a few years prior. Upon contacting the manufacturer they quite willingly agreed to honour the three year old warranty. This is the kind of commitment to customer service that you can expect from the folks at A.P.A. archery. This company is and has always been Canadian, Hailing from Saskatchewan.

From my vantage point A.P.A. really has their head in the game with ingenious little additions such as a carrying handle machined out of the aluminum riser, an integrated tool center that contains a handy little carbide sharpener, a nock wrench and a broad head wrench. These are only a few of the simplest innovations offered by the people at A.P.A. Another great feature on these bows is the cam lock press. This is a system that provides an inconspicuous pin that is tucked away in the riser. This pin is designed to be slipped from its hiding place and inserted into any one of a series of holes in the cam while tension is applied to the string. This allows the shooter to perform such tasks as adjusting or replacing peep sights or servings in the scorpion string and cables that come standard on all A.P.A. bows without the use of a conventional press. Think of how handy that little feature would be in some remote region when someone accidently runs a broad head over your string. I’m not saying who, that’s not important what is important is that ideas like this can save your dream hunt.

I know there are those of you out there who only care about one thing. Speed. That’s cool, A.P.A. has got you covered there too with such models as the lightning fast king cobra, blistering through the chronograph at 362 fps Ibo with a brace height of a mere 5 1/16” this bow should satisfy your need for speed and with both limb and string dampeners included along with other vibration reducing equipment overall shooting fatigue shouldn’t be an be an issue either.

With tuning features such as ½” draw length increments possible without the need for module changes on the venom cams as well as the multi position roller guide, getting your groups into the 12 ring should be no problem. I could go on forever about the technological advances coming out of the A.P.A. factory such as the (high efficiency) 3 stage limbs and a host of other equally impressive features but I would rather get right down to sticks and strings.

At the range, after some very minor tuning I was shooting great groups. This bow is quite simply a pleasure to shoot. In fact I was so impressed with its overall function that I ordered one for myself. Although the V7 is a single cam bow with a 7” brace height due to the superior engineering of the bow overall it still has an Ibo rating of 332 fps and with an 80% let off my rotator cuff problems are a thing of the past.

I also feel compelled to mention the functional and practical line of products that A.P.A. offers to completely outfit your new bow starting with a great drop away arrow rest and ending with a tough versatile removable quiver.

Don’t take my word for it. Drop by the store and try one out for yourself. I’ll bring back the one I’ve had for review. Maybe I’ll have mine all set up by then. See ya there.

Anthony Dickson
Creative Nature