Just thinking through the keyboard here.:d If you have a very short draw length such as myself, can you get away with shooting a higher draw weight bow? For example, I am only pulling like probably 38 to 40 pounds with a 45lb @ 28" bow. If I were to have a 55 to 60lb draw weight bow, would this put me drawing 50 to 55lbs? If so, will the bow perform as well as it would if pulling the max draw weight? I know with a compound they usually perform best when the max draw weight is utilized.(usually) Thanks, Bobby
Draw weight is usually 3# per inch of draw. So if you bow is marked 50 @ 28" and your DL is 27", you pulling around 47#. If your pulling 29" your DW is around 53#.
Interesting question there Bobby, that's one I'm not sure myself about. Maybe one of the bowyers we have aboard this forum can answer this one, I'm Interested to know myself.
Bobby. It will shoot like a 50lb bow because thats all the energy the limbs are going to store at that lenght. Comparing compounds to trad is comparing apples to oranges.
Not sure you follow me Russ. I am asking, "will a trad bow rated at say, 55lbs @ 28" perform as a 55lb bow or will it be less of a bow because of my draw length?" I know it's apples and oranges with compound and trad, but my question must be worded wrong. I guess what I am asking is, if I go buy a 55# @ 28" bow, and my draw length is only 25.5", is that bow going to shoot as good as it would drawing it to a full 28" ? Thanks, I hope that makes sense. Bobby
Bobby, It will not perform as well b/c the limbs are not being used to capacity as they were designed. I think a bow designed for [email protected] will be more efficient than the same bow designed at 55@28, even though you are pulling the same amount of weight. You follow me? I doubt the numbers are enough to worry about though. Of course I am not a bowyer, but those have been my observations.
Stack is relative to design and limb length. Joe has the basic formula. About 3lbs per inch, that is stack. The other direction, you can assume a little more loss. Agian, depending on design and limb length. A general notion about stack is; Recurves generally stack about 4lbs per inch beyond marked lenght and for longbows about 2.5lbs per inch beyond marked weight. Its not quite as easy to assume less draw lenghts, but you can get a general idea. As for your question about performance. It will shot equally well with arrows tuned for your draw weight. That is assuming you are not drawing too short. What I mean by that is; With a recurve, if you draw too short to the point of not stack the relfex, it will shoot a little different. But you would have to be doing some major short drawing. If you are drawing say 26" on a 28" marked bow, you should have no problem. But if you are drawing 22" on a 28" marked bow, you will have problems due to the limb design. When I make a bow, I tiller it to a particular draw lenght. The limbs are tillerd for that length and will be ok up to 3-4" less that draw. When I make bows for shorter draw lengths, I will tiller to such. The opposite will happen with over drawing. If I make a bow tillered to say 24 inches it will stack way too much at 28" and probably break. The limbs reflex will not handle the excess of stack. To get longer draws, the reflex will be more relaxed. As for D shaped bows, like flat designs, the limbs will lose quite a bit at shorter draws. AS Russ said, comparing compounds to trad bows are like apples and oranges. What all you know about compounds, you can throw out the window when you think of trad bows. That is, unless you have been shooting fingers and instinctive with a compound. But that is about it.
This answered my question completely. Thanks Burnie. So if I have a 55# bow @28" and I draw say 26", I am not losing bow efficiency, but will not stack it to it's capacity either? And, if my bow and arrows are tuned together, I should see little difference? This is great info guys. I really appreciate the answers. After all, I am a Green-horn.
At 25", you shouldnt see much difference, as long as a proper arrow is shot for that respective weight at said draw. When a bow is drawn too short on a reflexed limb, the reflex will not "uncoil" as designed. You will not get the full benefit of the reflex. Like I mentioned before, it depends on how much shorter you draw. With reflexed limbs, the reflex will be adjusted to a particular draw lenght. If you shoot it too short, they will not stack to the design. Agian, you should have no problem with 25" on a 28" bow. But if you are drawing 22" or so, you will not have enough working limb to get the full efficiency. All relative to design.
Burnie, So if I'm hearing you correctly, you are say that if a guy shoots a bow that is tillered 60@28 and one that is tillered 54@26 (assuming a 3#/inch stack), there will be no difference in efficiency?
This is getting a little techy for me,but I've always thought the longer amount of time the string is pushing the arrow the more efficient it will be ?Like a 50# @ 32" will hit harder than a 50# @ 22". I've been wrong before. :d
Not quite, and sorry if im not being very clear. What I was trying to say is, if you shoot a bow, say 60 lbs @28" and you are drawing only, say 26". You will be shooting a bow around 55lbs at 26". The same bow, less lbs due to shorter draw. That bow (with the exception of design), will be about the same as a bow tillered at 55lbs @ 26". I was just saying that if you draw less, you will have a lighter bow than marked, which you already know. Figure the weight at your draw length with a scale and get arrows tunded for that weight. You should only have a problem if you short draw the bow to a certain degree and relative to design as well.
Thanks, that clears it up and was what I was asking. I would have figured the 55@26 would outperform the a bow that is 60@28 but only drawn to 26". For you long armed gorrilas it doesn't matter much, but us short armed studs worry about such things lol
