The one thing I discovered….

[Cottonwood]

#5746

Well I got a hold of some carbon 7.0 gr arrows, I know what I had said about carbons but, they were the lowest GPI that I could find to shoot and these would be considered 600’s.

Well in shooting the longbow that I just finished which is a 45# bow vs the Bear Kodiak recurve 45# was accuracy was pretty much the same. Now arrow penetration into dock foam was a whole nother animal all together.

The Longbow produced minimal penetration while the Recurve produce at least double the penetration using a 145 gr FP on the arrow shaft that measured 29.75″ from insert to nock valley. I just could not get any more draw on the longbow than I could as I was to the arrow point already.

Is this normal with a longbow vs recurve?

Maybe this longbow is just not going to be a shooter bow for me after all or it needs a new bowstring as I originally thought.

[Stephen Graf]

#44621

You said it was a longbow you made… Was it a self bow or a laminated bow? While it is true that a recurve is a more efficient design that yields more velocity and generally better arrow performance, it isn’t THAT much.

If your longbow is well made and performing up to snuff, then you can always use a heavier arrow to achieve better penetration.

But my guess is that you should look toward the bow and make sure it is tillered well. The wood used to make the bow can have an affect as well. Not to mention humidity. Maybe all you need to do is wait for a dry day.

I don’t think another string will improve performance.

Keep playing with it and have fun. Even if this bow doesn’t yield good performance, don’t give up on longbows. They definitely hold their own in the woods.

How about a picture?

[Cottonwood]

#44749

Steve I didn’t mean that I made the bow, I found it in the rough needing refinishing. I finished the bow, after some work on it. So I don’t know what wood or laminations that were used. I got it as an encourager, to see what I could do in obtaining another longbow.

This by no means has spoiled my desire to own a finely made longbow from a bower lime Bama Bows though. I will continue to play with this one, and will use your advice for a dryer day and heavier arrows to see if that will yield better results.

Thanks
Jon

[LimbLover]

#45005

That looks to be a self bow and I do not see any glass unless it is clear?

You can tell if it is backed by fiberglass or not.

A fiberglass-backed modern longbow is going to give you just as much penetration as any recurve.

Focus more on the differences in grip and what not. Its all in how it feels in your hand when considering a longbow. FYI, you may notice a drop in your accuracy for awhile while you are getting used to it. Shooting a longbow well takes time to develop.

[Cottonwood]

#46123

LimbLover it is 100% all wood.

So this is a self bow, and not an English Longbow… my novis self is coming out here 😛

[LimbLover]

#46452

You are definitely not going to get as much oomph out of an all wood selfbow when compared to a glass-backed recurve.

A selfbow of that design will trump a recurve in a few ways, but not in that way.

[Cottonwood]

#46621

LimbLover, now you went and did it with posting your blog information. It will give me something to read, and learn alot by.

Thanks
Jon

[Holten101]

#49229

Longbows and flatbows (all wood selfbows in particular) generaly has better energy transfer with heavy arrows. And only exceptional all wood selfbows will ever reach the speeds of glass/carbon bows (its hard, but not impossible to reach 180 fps with 10grs pr # of draw weight imo).

The 10 grs pr pound of draw weight seems to be a good formular to get max performance from all wood selfbows.

If you want performance but still stay inside the realm of “traditional” a laminated glass/carbon recurve or reflex/deflex longbow is the way to go!

If you want raw authenticity you go selfbow and heavier arrows (imo).

Cheers

[LimbLover]

#49331

Well said.

Don’t be afraid to subscribe to that blog Cotton. lol

[Fletcher]

#49915

That bow looks like hickory,to me.

Even slightly crooked arrow flight will greatly diminish penetration and it isn’t likely that both bows will shoot the same arrow well.

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