USA Archery has many different equipment classes with specific guidelines for nearly all of them. Please review Book 3, Chapter 11 of the World Archery Rulebook for all the details of the compound, recurve, and barebow equipment classes.

General Equipment restrictions

• Draw weight is limited to a maximum of 60 pounds.
• No electronics are allowed in any archery equipment. If your sight has a light kit, you’ll need to remove it or remove the batteries.
• The maximum arrow diameter for USA Archery events is 9.3 mm (23/64″). That’s why you might hear archers refer to their largest diameter USA Archery indoor arrows as “23s.”

Each of the equipment classes is described in some detail below. This is not intended to be an authoritative description for each class, but rather as an informal reference when registering for a USA Archery event. Please consult the NFAA By-Laws referenced above for the official rules. All equipment classes are not necessarily offered at every USA Archery-affiliated MAA event. Check each event's registration information for details.

Any type of sight or stabilizers are allowed on this style of compound bow so long as the rear stabilizer doesn’t touch the archer’s body.

This is the equipment class for recurve archers that are using long stabilizers and adjustable sights. No magnification is allowed in the sight. No mechanical release aids are allowed, so archers must use fingers, a glove, or finger tab to hold the string.

An arrow rest, arrow plate,  and cushion plunger are allowed, but a sight, clicker, draw check, and level are prohibited. Weights may be added to the lower part of the riser, but the entire unstrung bow much be able to pass through a 12.2 cm ring.

“String walking” is allowed in this class.

Bows in this class are limited to five fixed pins in the sight with no magnification and a front stabilizer no more than 12 inches long as measured from the bow’s riser. (For example, any quick release connectors that would be attached to the bow and all stabilizer weights or vibration dampening attachments would be included in the 12-inch maximum length.)

No modifications to the sight, peep, draw weight, or other related equipment on the bow is allowed once scoring begins.

This class is only available in the youth and collegiate age divisions.