Post by lars on Nov 25, 2004 14:18:09 GMT -5
i used to bowhunt/make holes in hay quite alot years back but an accident changed all that for me,nonetheless i will share what i know for yall,the one thing i see now and then is people with older recurves using fastflite strings instead of a dacron b-50 when they buy a replacement then wonder why they split a limb or worse sometime down the road soon afterwards.
the reason is string stretch,the newer hi tech combo gel spun braided lines the use have no give like the older dacron strings we used instead.this gives the bow quite more handshock as well with the new "hotter fastflite strings" and put a lot more stress on the limbs,if your in doubt call your bows company and ask them for the correct string info and or if it will shoot the newer strings safely,that is your best bet to hear it from the horses mouth and not someone elses opine,its best to know direct from the factory period.
i know i sure wouldnt use anything other than a dacron b-50 on my 1973 kodiak mag. for safetys sake. some newer compsoite limbed recurves thru the 80's or 90's though may be able to use a newer styled fastflite with no problems though if its stated in your factory manual for it or if you dont have the bows book make the call and know for sure!
theyres alot of good old bows and archery stuff still around for next to nuthin if ya look hard or hit garage sales or look for the sales and ask at the dept stores etc etc.some too nice to let lay and gather dust for almost nuthin at times! my neybor bought one of my old bows at a yard sale this year i sold last year and he got it for 5 bucks.
i had to retune it and now his kids shooting that old pse phaser.regularly and havin fun doing it.check kmart and walmart at the end of the hunting season for reduced clearance archery sales.every thing at my wifes store was 50% off or more.i got 6 carbon shafts for 8 bucks a cupple years ago i still have for the bear recurve sitting on the wall.a couple prong rests from allen and cobra this year for the kids bow were 9$ total that were running for around 12-17$ a piece before the sale!,vanes for a buck,strings for 3-4 etc,keep your eyes open before and after turkey day for the sales for stuff you can use and or pass on to others.enough of that now back to the strings.
this leads us to another thing we all face with new strings on a recurve,handshock and higher brace points!!.for instance,i pulled the old bear mag out to teach the neybors kid instictive sighting as he didnt like pin sights.welp got a new b-50 fastflite rated for my 52" bow which normally is 3 to 4" shorter than bow length,my pick was a 48" string,if i got the 49" i would have to change in less shots as shes stretch too far over time,optimum would be a 48.5" but they dont make half/stock sizes at the stores i find for recurves/longbows etc.
what i ended up with was more handshock and high brace vs my older string which was nicely stretched over time to almost 49" ,that string gave a lower brace hieght but with less handshock than the 48" does now ,
but will over time stretch in as b-50 strings will close to what i like while keeping arrow speed,dealable handshock and a brace hieght i like.when the 48 stretches in by the time it gets stretched in it should be about where i like it with less hand shock to say maybe 48.50" or 48 3/4",if i had gotten a 49" string it would stretch too far with an even lower brace hieght and more wrist slapping maybe,in my case its better to use a 48 and get more miles on it than the 49 which i wouldve had to change sooner.
when i hit the country store again i found no half sized strings ie: 48.5" etc i could match up closer ,the best method i found was to put the new b50 dacron string on,pull the bow back with a good grip on the string about 12-20 times or so,then shoot maybe 12-20 arrows and put it away stretched for a week and repeat till she "settles in" and stretches a bit more on its own.i use a tape measure to measure tip to tip on the bow and keep track of its stretching in,its always more prevalent on teh shorter less forgiving but yet faster recurve bows.
another way instead of paying 6 bucks for a string and doing it the old way is to hit the archers shop and have him make a string for around 12$ or so tailored to your specific length you want where you know youll get the bvrace hieght you like instead of "shooting a string ". say you shoot a 48" string and after a month or 2 of heavy use she settles in at 48.50" but the brace hieghts still a bit high then use a 49" to begin with off the shelf or have your archery tech make one at 48.25" which will settle in to say 48.50" to 48.3/4" giving the optimum brace hieght with the least handshock you like..
alot of folks i know wont use string silencers .i usually use the rubber skirts off a fishing spinnerbait bait jig or get the replacement if they havem at a fishing tackle shop or order them online thru lurecraft.com or basspro.com.get like a handfull of skirts for dirt cheap so you can add as many as you like if wanted to "deaden" string noise and help with some handshock vibes felt.
the same above applies to compound shooters as well as some of the older all glass bows from the early 70's,late 60's when they were just still taking off as a new style of bow may not like a fastflight and split a limb as well,i had that happen on an early pse and also a bear as well over the years as in experiments in terror.
on the other hand if your compound bow can take the newer hi tech no stretch strings go fo it,it will give you a faster arrow flight as well,just set the bow up accordingly,check the tiller and cam/wheel positions,recheck the draw weight and finally re set the sights again.its all part of being prepared right so you dont
have any probs when hunting or shooting targets.
nowcheck the cables again for any wear,readjust cams and or readjust the yoke settings if your bow has them,my old bear hunter has an adjustable yoke on each buss cable to the adjust cams timing to a t.some bows dont and its usually cable slippage thats the culprit or out of tillered bows.the general consensus is replace the cables every 5000-12000 shots depending whose sight you read or shop you visit,when they show wear,replace them ahead of time.a broken cable can split a limb when it does sometimes and wake one right up fast.it aint fun to have happen on a full draw or shot off.the older browning bows were notorious for splitting limbs with anything other than a b-50 dacron string from what i remember when i owned a cupple way back when.
as a rule b-50 dacron for older recurves and longbows use Dacron B-50 strings,if your bow weight is under 40# use a 10-strand string. 40-45#: 12-strand string. 45-55#: 14-strands and 55# or more: 16-strands.
Fastflight strings will use 18-20 strands for hunting weight bows and usually its a spectra or spectra/gel spun combo string. S4 strings will normally use 12 strands for hunting weight bows 50lbs and up.
if you can try a bow with a flemish twist string for recurves and longbows sometime if handshock is an issue even after a longer string/lower barce hieght,shorter bows will alaways have more handshock no matter what than a longer more forgiving bow.also loop servings are not required as the loops in a 16 strand string will have 16 strands in the loop. Flemish twist strings have stronger loops and are quieter shooting strings than those of endless loop construction to boot.
the hi tech strings are expensive and top of the line materials used for less stretch IF any but worth it for speed on your compound bow if it will accept them.for more arrow speed try the following,up your poundage to what you can work up to,if your shooting say 55lbs up it to 60lbs then 65lbs,
taking off the string silencers will add some speed but make more noise,add on an overdraw and shoot shorter arrows,use a prong rest and change you nocks on teh arrows,some like the fletch to shoot thru the bottom,some like the fletch on top,just adjust the prongs so the are set correctly to hold the shaft with hitting the vanes.make sure your cams are in time with each other,if theyre not one look will tell you as each came should be the same as the other in position on the limbs.
if not theyre adding stress and fighting each other,this is where proper cam timing and tillering are extremely important to each other.shoot lighter,shorter cabon arrows vs them aluminum ones which usually weigh more than carbon ones do.use a straight fletching,can the twist.you wont need it if your compounds setup like the above.welp i hope this clears up some myths for ya...
the reason is string stretch,the newer hi tech combo gel spun braided lines the use have no give like the older dacron strings we used instead.this gives the bow quite more handshock as well with the new "hotter fastflite strings" and put a lot more stress on the limbs,if your in doubt call your bows company and ask them for the correct string info and or if it will shoot the newer strings safely,that is your best bet to hear it from the horses mouth and not someone elses opine,its best to know direct from the factory period.
i know i sure wouldnt use anything other than a dacron b-50 on my 1973 kodiak mag. for safetys sake. some newer compsoite limbed recurves thru the 80's or 90's though may be able to use a newer styled fastflite with no problems though if its stated in your factory manual for it or if you dont have the bows book make the call and know for sure!
theyres alot of good old bows and archery stuff still around for next to nuthin if ya look hard or hit garage sales or look for the sales and ask at the dept stores etc etc.some too nice to let lay and gather dust for almost nuthin at times! my neybor bought one of my old bows at a yard sale this year i sold last year and he got it for 5 bucks.
i had to retune it and now his kids shooting that old pse phaser.regularly and havin fun doing it.check kmart and walmart at the end of the hunting season for reduced clearance archery sales.every thing at my wifes store was 50% off or more.i got 6 carbon shafts for 8 bucks a cupple years ago i still have for the bear recurve sitting on the wall.a couple prong rests from allen and cobra this year for the kids bow were 9$ total that were running for around 12-17$ a piece before the sale!,vanes for a buck,strings for 3-4 etc,keep your eyes open before and after turkey day for the sales for stuff you can use and or pass on to others.enough of that now back to the strings.
this leads us to another thing we all face with new strings on a recurve,handshock and higher brace points!!.for instance,i pulled the old bear mag out to teach the neybors kid instictive sighting as he didnt like pin sights.welp got a new b-50 fastflite rated for my 52" bow which normally is 3 to 4" shorter than bow length,my pick was a 48" string,if i got the 49" i would have to change in less shots as shes stretch too far over time,optimum would be a 48.5" but they dont make half/stock sizes at the stores i find for recurves/longbows etc.
what i ended up with was more handshock and high brace vs my older string which was nicely stretched over time to almost 49" ,that string gave a lower brace hieght but with less handshock than the 48" does now ,
but will over time stretch in as b-50 strings will close to what i like while keeping arrow speed,dealable handshock and a brace hieght i like.when the 48 stretches in by the time it gets stretched in it should be about where i like it with less hand shock to say maybe 48.50" or 48 3/4",if i had gotten a 49" string it would stretch too far with an even lower brace hieght and more wrist slapping maybe,in my case its better to use a 48 and get more miles on it than the 49 which i wouldve had to change sooner.
when i hit the country store again i found no half sized strings ie: 48.5" etc i could match up closer ,the best method i found was to put the new b50 dacron string on,pull the bow back with a good grip on the string about 12-20 times or so,then shoot maybe 12-20 arrows and put it away stretched for a week and repeat till she "settles in" and stretches a bit more on its own.i use a tape measure to measure tip to tip on the bow and keep track of its stretching in,its always more prevalent on teh shorter less forgiving but yet faster recurve bows.
another way instead of paying 6 bucks for a string and doing it the old way is to hit the archers shop and have him make a string for around 12$ or so tailored to your specific length you want where you know youll get the bvrace hieght you like instead of "shooting a string ". say you shoot a 48" string and after a month or 2 of heavy use she settles in at 48.50" but the brace hieghts still a bit high then use a 49" to begin with off the shelf or have your archery tech make one at 48.25" which will settle in to say 48.50" to 48.3/4" giving the optimum brace hieght with the least handshock you like..
alot of folks i know wont use string silencers .i usually use the rubber skirts off a fishing spinnerbait bait jig or get the replacement if they havem at a fishing tackle shop or order them online thru lurecraft.com or basspro.com.get like a handfull of skirts for dirt cheap so you can add as many as you like if wanted to "deaden" string noise and help with some handshock vibes felt.
the same above applies to compound shooters as well as some of the older all glass bows from the early 70's,late 60's when they were just still taking off as a new style of bow may not like a fastflight and split a limb as well,i had that happen on an early pse and also a bear as well over the years as in experiments in terror.
on the other hand if your compound bow can take the newer hi tech no stretch strings go fo it,it will give you a faster arrow flight as well,just set the bow up accordingly,check the tiller and cam/wheel positions,recheck the draw weight and finally re set the sights again.its all part of being prepared right so you dont
have any probs when hunting or shooting targets.
nowcheck the cables again for any wear,readjust cams and or readjust the yoke settings if your bow has them,my old bear hunter has an adjustable yoke on each buss cable to the adjust cams timing to a t.some bows dont and its usually cable slippage thats the culprit or out of tillered bows.the general consensus is replace the cables every 5000-12000 shots depending whose sight you read or shop you visit,when they show wear,replace them ahead of time.a broken cable can split a limb when it does sometimes and wake one right up fast.it aint fun to have happen on a full draw or shot off.the older browning bows were notorious for splitting limbs with anything other than a b-50 dacron string from what i remember when i owned a cupple way back when.
as a rule b-50 dacron for older recurves and longbows use Dacron B-50 strings,if your bow weight is under 40# use a 10-strand string. 40-45#: 12-strand string. 45-55#: 14-strands and 55# or more: 16-strands.
Fastflight strings will use 18-20 strands for hunting weight bows and usually its a spectra or spectra/gel spun combo string. S4 strings will normally use 12 strands for hunting weight bows 50lbs and up.
if you can try a bow with a flemish twist string for recurves and longbows sometime if handshock is an issue even after a longer string/lower barce hieght,shorter bows will alaways have more handshock no matter what than a longer more forgiving bow.also loop servings are not required as the loops in a 16 strand string will have 16 strands in the loop. Flemish twist strings have stronger loops and are quieter shooting strings than those of endless loop construction to boot.
the hi tech strings are expensive and top of the line materials used for less stretch IF any but worth it for speed on your compound bow if it will accept them.for more arrow speed try the following,up your poundage to what you can work up to,if your shooting say 55lbs up it to 60lbs then 65lbs,
taking off the string silencers will add some speed but make more noise,add on an overdraw and shoot shorter arrows,use a prong rest and change you nocks on teh arrows,some like the fletch to shoot thru the bottom,some like the fletch on top,just adjust the prongs so the are set correctly to hold the shaft with hitting the vanes.make sure your cams are in time with each other,if theyre not one look will tell you as each came should be the same as the other in position on the limbs.
if not theyre adding stress and fighting each other,this is where proper cam timing and tillering are extremely important to each other.shoot lighter,shorter cabon arrows vs them aluminum ones which usually weigh more than carbon ones do.use a straight fletching,can the twist.you wont need it if your compounds setup like the above.welp i hope this clears up some myths for ya...