Review: Mathews Halon 32 Review (Plus Video)
Lucas Cooney 09.25.17
The Mathews Halon 32 is the second of six hunting bows I’ve been testing for AllOutdoor.com‘s sister site, ArcheryTalk.com.
This bow has an axle-to-axle length of 32 inches, brace height of 6 inches, IBO rated speed of 343 feet per second, and mass weight of 4.73 pounds. The bow has a retail price of $1,099.
I outfitted the bow with a QAD Ultra HDX Rest, Bee Stinger Counterslide stabilizer, Trophy Ridge React H5 five-pin sight and a ¼-inch peep sight. I have the draw length set at 29.5 inches and the draw weight at 60 pounds.
Fit and finish on this bow is second to none. My Halon 32 test bow came dressed in Lost Camo XD, which looks great on the stout-looking long riser. I’ve long been a fan of the look of long riser bows and that doesn’t change with the Mathews Halon 32. String and cables are holding up well after several months of shooting.
Of course, that stout riser comes with a weight penalty. The Halon 32 is the heaviest hunting bow I tested this year. That’s not a big issue for tree stand hunters, but if you need to lug your bow for miles over the back country, it is worth considering.
A bow’s grip is a big factor for me and I’m not a huge fan of the grip on the Mathews Halon 32. I like the fact that it’s nice and flat on the front, but it’s a little too wide at the throat for my liking. However, that is very much a personal preference.
Grip aside, the draw cycle of the Halon 32 is fantastic. It offers a smooth, easy pull and letting down is fairly comfortable. I like to shoot a lot of arrows when I get to the range and that’s easy to do with this bow.
I’d consider going up a few pounds in draw weight if I owned this bow. A generous valley and letoff mean I can relax on the shot. The wall is pretty firm for a cable stop bow. It’s a great feel with just a touch of give, which I really enjoy. But if you like a rock-hard back wall, this bow doesn’t have it.
As for accuracy, I came away impressed with the Halon 32. I was happily slapping arrows at 20 and 30 yards and my groups were still strong at 40 yards and beyond.
Tuning the Halon was fairly straightforward. Once I got the arrow rest in the right spot, I was putting bullet holes through paper easily enough. However, I feel like I’m getting a bit of cam lean. There’s not much that can be done about that unless you get the Top Hat system, which is a bit of a pain and an added expense. I love how the Crosscentric cam system feels and performs, but sometimes I miss having yokes to make quick tuning adjustments.
To test for speed, I shot the Mathews Halon 32 through a chronograph using a 398-grain Gold Tip Valkyrie arrow and saw an average speed of 286 feet per second. However, after putting the bow on a draw board I noticed its draw length was about a half-inch long so you can probably knock that down to about 281 or 282, which still good speed for a 60-pound bow.
