# What are short/medium/long limb lengths?



## mmbtargeteer (Feb 16, 2006)

Hi All,

I have an 11 year old son who has been shooting for 2-3 years. He needs an ILF bow and I need help understanding info on ILF limbs. How long are short, meduim and long limbs? Why does it matter and what does it affect?

FYI, my son is about 5' (I'm 5'6"). I am plannng on getting him a 23" riser and he is currently shooting a 25" Optima with 25# limbs. I'm planning on 30# limbs for his new set. Also, he has been shooting indoor and now also wants to start out door. 

I appreciate any help you can give me to understand limb lengths?


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## hkim823 (Oct 6, 2004)

In general, the short medium and long lengths mean that on a 25" bow, the limbs would make a 66, 68, and 70" bow respectively. On a 23" bow, it would make a 64, 66 and 68" bow. 

Why the different lengths of bows? The rule of thumb (but not set in stone) has been that if your draw length is 24" or under, go with a 64" bow, if your draw length is between 25 and 27", go with the 66", if your draw length is 27 - 29 go with the 68" and 30 or above, go with the 70". But these are just guides, some people with short drawlengths like longer bows and vice versa.


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## cc46 (Jan 22, 2005)

A few quick thoughts, 

ILF means *International Limb Fitting *and means the limb pocket and the limb geometry where the limb fits into the bow handle will be the same regardless of manufacturer, and will allow you to buy a riser handle from one company and limbs made from another company and they will go together. Nearly all new bows will be made with ILF. Older ones probably not.

For an 11 yr old @ 5' -- I think either a 23" or 25" riser and short limbs will be fine. If you choose the 23 riser it will be a little lighter. But 25" is more common should you want to sell it later. A 23" riser and short limbs will be a 64" bow. A 25" riser and short limbs will be a 66" bow.

30# limbs -- seems a like a big jump to me at 11 yrs. How strong is he and how easy is the 25# he has now? One good thing about ILF is that most manufacurers that have ILF also have adjustable bolts allowing you to crank them in and bit or loosen them off. The benifit is then the bow has a 10%range in weight so 30# is generally adjustable up or down 5%. I personaly would pick 28#s and let the bolts out a bit to get 27 to start, then over the next couple years crank in the bolts all the way to 29-30. Buy the time he starts to grow say 13 or 14 yrs then you are going to need heavier limbs. Then a jump to 32# limbs let out to 31, will allow you him to progress up again. 32# limbs will have a range of say 31 to 34. The next jump will be to 36# at say 16 yrs old. This means 3 progressive sets of limbs in 5 years, but if you get a good 25" riser now, the same riser will do.


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## mmbtargeteer (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks you all for your advise, I appreciate it. Is going up 5# from 25 to 30# limbs a big jump in weight? Would a 25" riser be better than a 23"? I plan on getting a good riser he can use for several years (looking at the Hoyt Nexus).
Many thanks.


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## VFX_Fenix (Feb 8, 2007)

Depending on how tall your son is going to get, you may want to look at a 25" riser. From my experience handing people my 38# bow when they're used to shooting 30# bows, or even from a 36# to a 38#, goes from the bow being managable to shaking at full draw or being completely unable to achieve full draw. So I would say that, yes, a 5# jump is rather significant when coming into anchor and drawing through the clicker.


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