Hello everyone! For Christmas I bought a lot of traditional bows so that my sister, brother and I could have a blast together shooting targets, but because I am new to archery I wanted some advice. Some of our bows are wooden and they are just beautiful, but when we bought them they were already strung. I appreciate this because I would have been too afraid to string them myself. The only problem is that I don't know how long they have been strung, and I am afraid of the wood snapping, warping or being victim to any other type of damage; but I'm terrified to unstring them because they shoot so well and I don't want to ruin them or the strings. What should I do? This question goes for the other fiberglass bows as well. I took them to an archery store, but while the guy there seemed very interested in them, he didn't know much about them and referred me to the Three Rivers Archery site (but I couldn't find a forum :/ ) Thank you.
First things first - Welcome to the site! 2nd...put it this way - I would be leary of the condition of the strings first - are they worn, frayed or visibly damaged(or perhaps they are new)? If they have been left strung and the strings are in poor condition, I would be wary of the string breaking(not a pleasant experience if one breaks while at full draw - could cause serious injury). Unstringing the bows will not affect anything that isn't already 'warped' or damaged provided you do it correctly. IMO recurves should be left unstrung for storage anyway. There are a few good 'how tos' on youtube - here's one that shows the easiest and safest method(may not be the best instrucional vid but good enough) using a bow stringer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ariz17USvao You will want to check the bows for any splinters, cracks, or if one limb is bending more than the other(which generally would mean that there is damage or weakness in that limb). It may be best if you can find a reputable Archery shop that deals with traditional bows to give you some hands on help. Hope you found yourself some good bows there and Enjoy!
Thank you so very much! I watched the video you sent me and it is very helpful. I've looked over the bows and their strings and they all look to be in good shape. I also think I may have found a store that might help me learn how far I can draw my bows. I'm going to invest in a bow stringer, and wanted to ask, what is a reasonable price for a stringer? Also, how can you tell the difference between a recurve bow stringer and a longbow stringer? I've been looking on Ebay, but I don't know if the listings are good deals, and also if they would work for our recurves, and my two longbows.
