Super excited about my Inline 3. My shop screwed up when “setting it up” so I haven’t been able to shoot it other than four shots. Rest slams into the riser and the nock low tear when I left the shop was the “best it’s gonna get”. Later found out it was a new bow tech. Really frustrating but they better make it right when I go back with my brand new Inline.

 

Bow shop made it right. Corrected the tune with adjusting the nock height and tiller tuning. Bow shoots well, fit and finish is awesome (other than the first couple of shots not knowing the rest was slamming into the riser shelf until I heard and noticed it, causing a paint chip in the finish, thanks to the “new bow technician”). The Inline 3 feels really light when holding at full draw. Will probably add a stabilizer and some Prime specific items from Hi-Tek archer. Bow seems really well made.

 

So the shop sold you a bowtech but told you it was a prime?

 

Well played and almost humorous. *Bow technician.

 

I shot a 3 last week and was highly impressed. I agree on the hold and the build quality, both are outstanding. I did not find it to have an inordinate amount of post shot vibration, it wasn’t Mathews dead of course.
So many excellent offerings right now, but if I was buying another bow right now, it would be a 3 or possibly a 5 if I didn’t find it to be too long, 33 is a great number for me.
Appreciate your efforts, thanks for sharing.

 

I hope it didn't come off like I found the Inline 3 had a lot of vibration. It has some vibration, but it is noticeably better than the Black 3, which I found quite buzzy. But it's still a step behind Mathews and the Hoyt RX-7 Ultra. But it's certainly not bad.

 

So it came in 18 fps slow?!

 

To be fair, MFJJ was seeing 328 for the Inline 3. So it could just be chrono and atmospheric differences in fps.

The early 2000’s really hurt bowhunting when everyone started chasing speed. Brainwashed so may hunters.

 

Thanks for the post. Trying to decide what bow I need next to replace my 11 year old quest

 

I will have four more reviews coming in the next week.

 

Love my Prime Inline 3. So glad I went to my pro shop and tried plenty of bows. Prime fit me perfect and so far has been a dream to tune/shoot.

 

Thanks for the review. I’ve frequently read that the Inline draw cycle is very stiff. Is it similar to the Mathews SW draw cycle: stiff and linear?

 

I don't know that I'd call it stiff. Stiffer than the Elite Envision I tested this year, but the vast majority of bows are. But it's so linear (much like the Mathews VX3 29) that I love shooting it.

 

Really wanted to love this bow it was first choice to try out. Love primes design one of my favorite looking bows. Just too much vibration for me compared to the rest of the 2022 bows.

 

You guys making these decisions on the Inline 3 as having high recoil vibration, are you labeling this to bows off the rack that have not been tuned?
I ask because when my ordered bow that came direct from the factory was shot the first time it had some vibration but with each shot through the tuning process that vibration gradually disappeared and when I finally finished getting her tuned it has been the smoothest bow through the shot I have ever owned. If you all made that decision in haste I'm telling you that you've done yourself a dis-service and robbed yourself the pleasure of shooting incredible shots in the archery world.

 

You guys making these decisions on the Inline 3 as having high recoil vibration, are you labeling this to bows off the rack that have not been tuned?
I ask because when my ordered bow that came direct from the factory was shot the first time it had some vibration but with each shot through the tuning process that vibration gradually disappeared and when I finally finished getting her tuned it has been the smoothest bow through the shot I have ever owned. If you all made that decision in haste I'm telling you that you've done yourself a dis-service and robbed yourself the pleasure of shooting incredible shots in the archery world.

This is the absolute truth, once set-up and tuned the difference between bows now-a-days with vibration/recoil isnt worth talking about.

 

after ya'll put front and back bars on all vibration will be gone
I just use a 5inch vibration dampner on my bows

 

they finally put something out there really nice besides that 2 cam side by side foolishness..........

 

That parallel cam system was not even close to foolishness. Solved a problem many bows had, especially in the solid limb days.

 

🍿

 

Which bow with conventional cams allows the string to run exactly in the middle between outside distance from limb edge to edge? Dead center of bow.
I don't know of any that do that other than the parallel or new inline cam.
I am also familiar with marketing as I've been in the archery industry for over 40 years and don't just contribute the parallel cam strictly to that. I have seen substantially less cam lean or uneven limb torque from the parallel cam than any other I have dealt with. Just sayin..

 

thankfully they actually put out something worth looking into

 

Great info, thanks for taking the time to write this up!

 

There have been very few truly unique features on compound bows in recent years and now there is one less…Prime has done away with its double side-by-side cam setup and introduced the new Inline cam system on the Prime Inline 3 I have been testing for the past few months.

Before we dig too deep on the cams, let’s talk specs. The Inline 3 has an axle-to-axle length of 33 inches, brace height of 6.5 inches, and a rated speed of 337 feet per second.

Back to that new Inline cam system. While it may look like a traditional compound bow cam design, Prime did build some interesting technology into it. Prime says it is the first ever cam system that balances cable load during the draw cycle. During the draw, the heavy cable load track moves towards the center of the cam, which brings it inline with the string track. This is supposed to keep the cam balanced, but I’d be lying if I said the description goes slightly beyond what my non-engineer brain can fully comprehend. If you are really interested, Prime does have some videos on its YouTube channel that do a much better job of describing it than I can.

The new cam system also simplifies the string and cable situation. With the Inline cam, Prime uses a traditional three-piece string/cable setup, rather than the 7-piece offering on the Nexus 2 I shot last year.

Returning this year is the Nano Grip, which features NASA-engineered Aerogel underneath the gets warmer the longer you hold it - perfect for those of us that hunt in chilly northern climates.

As for the hands-on portion of the review, I like to start with the draw cycle. This is category where the Inline 3 was at its best. The draw cycle is perfectly linear, which is a big plus for me. There’s no big dip into valley…just a smooth pull into the wall.

Once you get to the wall, you are greeted with a rock hard limb stop. A couple years ago Prime offered both limb and cable stop options and last year it was only cable stops. They’ve switched gears this year with only a limb stop offering. I know a lot of people prefer this, but I liked the cable stop setup a bit better. And this year we also lost the ability to make adjustments to the stops. Where the stops used to slide to allow you to make micro adjustments, you now just have individual draw length holes to choose from ½ inch apart. It works, but I do miss having that adjustability.

I’ve long been a fan of how well Prime bows hold at full draw and the Inline 3 does not disappoint here. If you wanted one do-everything bow, the 35-inch Inline 5 would probably be best, but the 33-inch Inline 3 holds its own.

All of my test bows were pretty nice as far as post-shot vibration goes, but the Prime was not among my favorites in this category. There is a bit of hand shock after the shot, though I’d say it’s still a good improvement over the Black 3 and Nexus 2 I shot the past two years.

As for speed, I set up the Inline 3 with 30 ¼” of draw length and 70 pounds of draw weight and shot a 350-grain Gold Tip Platinum Pierce arrow and average of 319 feet per second. My heavier 477-grain Gold Tip Platinum Pierce arrow saw speeds of 278 feet per second. That was good for fourth place among the five bows I ran through the chronograph.

Fit and finish has long been a hallmark of Prime bows and the Inline 3 absolutely shines here. The paint is absolutely flawless after months of shooting and I am a big fan of how nice this bow looks. Prime just knows how to make a good looking product…at least in my opinion.

When it comes to price, the Inline 3 has an MSRP of $1100, which is tied for the cheapest of all the test bows I have this year. Plus, Prime still offers its free replacement strings every two years for as long as you own the bow.

The bottom line is if you are in the market for a bow with a smooth draw cycle and great accuracy, head to your nearest Prime dealer and take the Inline 3 out for a test drive.

Just picked one up. Looking forward to dialing it in.

 

After a year, I am still extremely happy with my Inline 3. The grip was a big seller for me. It got me to ditch carbon riser bows. The way it holds at full draw is also something special. I have never had a bow shoot better for me than this one. I do have a question though. Did they quit making the Inline series all together? They seem like way too good of a product to get completely dumped for the Rev X. They have only been out for a little over a year.

 

Did they quit making the Inline series all together? They seem like way too good of a product to get completely dumped for the Rev X. They have only been out for a little over a year.

Yes. Right after they were introduced Hoyt sued Prime over the name "Inline". They had just released their line of "In-line" accessories and claimed that Prime was in violation of copyright law. It took most of the year to settle, with Prime losing. In Sept of 2022 Prime was required to cease all production of the Inline series and remove all marketing with that name. Dealers were informed to clear out stock. The plan had been that the Inline series would continue through 2023 alongside the Revex series, but the lawsuit ended that. Hence the reason for all the extreme deals on brand new Inlines. Nothing wrong with the bow, other than the name.

 

Damn, well that sucks. Seems a bit extreme to force Prime to stop production over a name that is common across multiple industries for many technologies. Makes me not want to own anything Hoyt related for something so petty.

 

Well, QAD also sued Hamskea over their dovetail-style COR mount. A lot of bows that were going to incorporate that mount got delayed in order to remove it from the riser. Darton's Prelude and Prime's Revex were two of the hardest hit. That's why the huge delays in getting the Rev bows out to customers. All the risers with the mounting holes had to be tossed, and a new C&C program setup without the holes.

On top of that Darton sued PSE over cam design patent infringements (which PSE settled out of court on), and then has started a lawsuit against Bowtech over the same thing.

Unfortunately, corporate lawsuits are all over the industry.

 

Iv got an imline 3 showing up at my door tomorrow if ups doesn't mess anything up. I shot the revex 4 at lancaster archery right next to my solution and fell in love with it. Really hoping I feel the same love with the inline

 

I blew up my Inline 3 accidentally with a cracked nock dry fire. Bent the cams and tore up the lower mod. Limbs and axles came out just fine though.

I can totally afford a new bow, but I put over $600 back into my Inline 3 and kept on trucking. That is saying something there!

Have had many bows, all flagships, still nothing impresses me more than the Inline series.

 

Good review! I've been trying to decide what (used) bow I want to aim for next. With a 30.5" draw length though, it makes me wonder if this bow would even fit me well enough...

 

Meeting a friend at the range today to shoot his Inline 1. Looking forward to it. Appreciate the review!

 

The inline series is so nice man. Great review.

 

How does everyone like the replacement strings that come with the prime warranty? Do people use that much or replace with custom strings when the time comes?

 

I have never used them. I usually put them aside as back ups. Our shop uses Droptine Outdoors strings. He is also our G5/Prime rep. When I order a bow, I order a set of strings from him. I will shoot the factory string in, and then swap over to the Droptine ones.

 

I have, with the Nexus and Inline, but that's only been the one time for each at this point. Haven't decided if I will for those later, or with the two Revex bows. Considering the aftermarket strings are free for me since I'm the lead tech and store manager at our shop, going with those just makes sense.

 

awesome to have access to that for free! Since both set of strings are free I’m guessing the aftermarket strings are better in some way? I don’t know anything about the difference in strings that come on a bow vs customs