# Recurve Length for Long Draw



## lordgoof (Mar 26, 2008)

I have been shooting a long bow for the past 3 years but 68" is annnoying to ttransport. i am lookign at a take down recurve, but want to know what length i need with my 30.5" draw. is 58" too short? or will i need a 62"


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## red44 (Apr 11, 2005)

I think it's going to depend on which bow. Some 58"-60" will supposedly handle it, depending on the model. Black Widow and Great Plains are two that make them. DAS and Trad tech also, as well as many customs. But if your talking about older 60-70's bows, I'd think 62" would be the shortest I'd even try.


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## Shawnee Archer (Mar 18, 2003)

I agree that 62" would be a good way to go.


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## lordgoof (Mar 26, 2008)

well i was looking at the hoyt dorado, or the reflex nomad. both are 60". how would these fair?

i am in australia and don't have all that much choice (2 shops here in sydney and one is pretty much exclusively compound)

also, i am wanting 50# at my 30.5", would 45# at 28" equate to about 50?

Thanks


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## red44 (Apr 11, 2005)

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=660362
I'd post the ? in this thread on the Dorado, or PM a few of them to be sure if it'll handle your draw lenth. You should be real close on your DW estimation, unless it starts stacking beyond 28". Ask the guys in that thread who have them.


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## alanraw (Feb 18, 2005)

lordgoof said:


> I have been shooting a long bow for the past 3 years but 68" is annnoying to ttransport. i am lookign at a take down recurve, but want to know what length i need with my 30.5" draw. is 58" too short? or will i need a 62"


I have a 30+ draw myself and I found that the old 58" PSE Kudu I had a few years ago gave me extreme finger-pinch. Since then, I've stuck with a 62" AMO length _minimum_ and found that everything works out just fine, although some of the guys that stated that in _some_ cases, _certain_ 58"-60" 'curves may facilitate a long draw length fairly well with no problems:wink:


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

Recurves are much less sensitive to draw length in relation to stacking, i.e. abrupt increases in draw weight as draw length increases, than modern longbows and selfbow longbows are. So that is not much of a problem. Finger pinch can be, depending upon how you hold your bowstring- some guys are more sensitive to pinching than others. So.........longer is better. 

Since your are going takedown, you have no need to go short overall. I have owned many bows. I have only a moderately long draw, around 30". But all, all of my favorites, the ones I loved to shoot, have been longish for their design. So in every choice, I choose longer.


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## LBR (Jan 1, 2004)

Depends on the bow, but in general terms I'd say 62". I've shot quite a few recurves that hit a "wall" at a longer draw length. Until I bought my first custom (made for my draw), I thought that was just what they were supposed to do. I've noticed it more in recurves than longbows myself.

Chad


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## Jack NZ (Apr 7, 2006)

lordgoof said:


> well i was looking at the hoyt dorado, or the reflex nomad. both are 60". how would these fair?
> 
> i am in australia and don't have all that much choice (2 shops here in sydney and one is pretty much exclusively compound)
> 
> ...


I have the Dorado,an while it's a very nice bow it's not a long draw bow.
I think You'd be better off with the Gamemaster at 62'.
Good luck with your search.


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## lordgoof (Mar 26, 2008)

well i tried out some 60" normal recurves, and they were quite fine. the 60" takedowns weren't. i think i might go for an x200, at 45# it felt normal back to about 30.5"


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## Harmony (Jun 27, 2007)

a 58" recurve would be too short for your draw length, with having a short recurve bow like this with your draw length would risk breaking the limbs or twisting them, which could present a hazard for you and the other people around you.

My draw length is 28" and I am 5ft 11inches tall and I shoot a 68" olympic recurve. I would suggest going for the longer recurve of 62" or longer.

Gemma :wink:


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## MM1354 (Apr 13, 2005)

I have the same draw length as you, I shoot Olympic recurve 70 inch. I have shot shorter length bows and found that I got finger pinch with all of them. The shortest bow I was able to shoot without finger pinch was 68 inches. Also with your draw, stacking is an on going problem, at 68" you should be able to avoid that.

Have you thought about getting an ILF riser with limbs? Since you are talking about take downs, you'll have a lot more options in both risers and limbs. You can get a good used riser, machined aluminum are the best, for a round $200-250 US and the limbs for about the same. I just checked the AUS archery forum, and there are several good options for sale. If you went to a 25" riser with medium limbs you would be in business. With your draw if you get a set of limbs around 40-42#'s you'll get 48-50# bow, 44# limbs will put you at about 53-55"s. I don't know what sort of game you are after but you can kill just about anything in North America with about 40-45# although 50# is better. Yours MM1354


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## dakota archer (Aug 8, 2007)

*bow length*

i shoot a 64" my draw is 31 a longer recurve willgive you a smoother draw with minimal finger pich even though it will be slower than the 58 you will be happier with the longer bow


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## lordgoof (Mar 26, 2008)

well i have been trying out the x200 which is 60" and at 45# i don't get any pinching and it feels rather good. i had a chat with the guys down at the local archery shop, and they seem to think that it will be fine.


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## Spektre21 (Jul 22, 2008)

Sorry to butt in here, however, this is my first post and I am unfamiliar with this site. I have a 34 inch draw (yeah, i know, i'm 6'6") and I am interested in acquiring a Recurve for target shooting as well as hunting. Obviously I have concerns with the length of the bow. I am looking for about 50-60 pounds at my 33.5-34 inch draw and would like a decent wood bow at a very affordable price. Needless to say I feel as if I am chasing the little white rabbit through wonderland. However, I would appreciate any help on the subject. My personal opinion (or desire if you will) is to attain a 70 inch hardwood Recurve Bow and lath my own 37ish inch arrows. Please email any tips or suggestions.


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## meesier42 (Feb 14, 2007)

I don't know how much you will like a 58" bow. I often shoot a 60" bow with a 29.5" DL and that is about as far as finger pinch will let me draw. the 2, 62" bows that I have are much better for a long draw


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## hockeyref (Jun 2, 2006)

Spektre21 said:


> Sorry to butt in here, however, this is my first post and I am unfamiliar with this site. I have a 34 inch draw (yeah, i know, i'm 6'6") and I am interested in acquiring a Recurve for target shooting as well as hunting. Obviously I have concerns with the length of the bow. I am looking for about 50-60 pounds at my 33.5-34 inch draw and would like a decent wood bow at a very affordable price. Needless to say I feel as if I am chasing the little white rabbit through wonderland. However, I would appreciate any help on the subject. My personal opinion (or desire if you will) is to attain a 70 inch hardwood Recurve Bow and lath my own 37ish inch arrows. Please email any tips or suggestions.



Spek....
First things first - you do not want to try to jump straight into a 50-60# bow.... At your draw length that will be just plain old unpleasant due to the weight, the finger pinch, and the stacking. That said, I would tell you to look for a used FITA riser - 25" and get 25# or so limbs that are long (they come short, med, & long).... this will give you a 70" bow that is about 35# at your draw length... good to start out. FYI - I pull 32" and my Fita Bow with 36# long limbs measures ~46#@32"...

As you get stronger and gain proficiency you can get new limbs in as small as 2# increments to work your way up. I would also suggest a bow scale as the draw weight at your length is what is important to you. You can rpobably get cheap aluminum arrows to learn with. Once you are comfortably shooting a bow in your target draw weight I would then contact a GOOD custom bowyer to make a bow specifically designed and tuned for your draw length. There just ain't no "decent wood bow at a very affordable price" gonna be available for us sasquatch armed suckers.... It's just like shoes and clothes.... we make due, we make it ourselves, or we go to someone willing to make what we want\need.


On the origianl poster's question... I would say 62" is a minimum for recurve, 66" is better and 70" is near heaven... I would consider a 62" 'curve as a "brush bow" for someone of my size. Similarly, 64" R\D longbows seems to be my lower limit with a 66" or 68" being mo' betterer....


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## Spektre21 (Jul 22, 2008)

hahaha, thanks for the reply. I suppose I should have stated that I am quite familiar with archery and have shot up to 75 pound compound bows with little let-off. Thus, 50 pounds will be quite manageable for me. I also have a good deal of experience with instinctive shooting and scored rather high in a junior tournament while in middle school. Due to current budget concerns I am trying very hard to stay away from custom made bows, though it seems more and more that I will be forced to give in and just take the plunge. Oh by the way, your cloths analogy was very good.


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## hockeyref (Jun 2, 2006)

Spek,
a 70# compound with a 50% let off is still only 37.5# on yer fingers.... What wheelie bow you shooting at 75# that has less than 50% let off? I can still vividly remember a rather humorous happening at a 3D shoot 15 years ago... the rather muscular guy bragging about his 90# compound bow and talking down my recurve - after all it was "only 60#@28". Well, with all of his friends around I hand it to him and tell him to put up or shut up. His face turned several shades of red and finally purple as he struggled to get it to "almost full draw" @28". I took it from him and easily pulled it to 32" and he said "theres no way that's only 60#"... I told him that what he pulled was 60#, I was pulling closer to 70#. He says BS.... prove it. We put her on the scale at the range and sure enough - 60#@28 and 69#@32".... He said he had a "whole new respect" for stick shooters after that.... And this was a guy that pulled his 90# Compuond with ease.

Point being, unless you've put the time in building up your muscles and form you are doing yourself a great dis-service by trying to go much heavier that half your compound weight... Some can do it, most can't.... there are no shortcuts to proficiency with a stick bow. You gotta put in your time and work up to it... some have shorter learning curves, and some can build up the weight quicker but rare is the archer that will set down his compound and shoot a 60#+ stick bow proficiently right out of the gate. 

Now if you tell me that you've been shooting 50#@28" stick bows and pulling them to 33" and just want something that fits better, well Ok then no problem... we've just seen too many guys try to go from a 70# compound to a 60# recurve and fail miserably, often getting injured in the processs.

Quite possibly the best, most cost effective way to get where you want to be is a wood handled TradTech with the long bow limbs from Lancaster...


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