# My Samick SLB Longbow arrived.



## rsarns (Sep 23, 2008)

Nice looking bow.


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## TheLongbowShoot (Mar 23, 2012)

Nice longbow!


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## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

Congrats. 

These bows don't get a lot of press, so (like it or not!) it is now upon *you *to wring it out and give us a grand update when you have tamed it to your satisfaction. It will be nice to hear your opinions concerning the construction and performance of a Samick longbow from this price range. 

(As opposed to one of the usual "customer reviews" on a retailer's website that often goes like:
"Got this bow yesterday. First time I ever shot an arrow in my life. I can't believe how accurate it shoots. I've already placed my order for another one that's twenty pounds heavier for our snipe hunt next weekend!)

Have fun shooting!


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## woodpecker1 (Sep 6, 2012)

that has a classic looking vibe to it! i dig the shallow pistol grip.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Lol! Thanks!. It's way to early for me to post reviews with my limited traditional archery experience but I will do my best to share my thoughts and opinions and more importantly, ask others here for tips and tricks on longbows. I was rushing out the door but was able to shoot three arrows at 15 yards. No nock set, BH wasn't set yet and the third arrow was a bullseye. The bow feels good in my hand compared to my cobra. Seems to be more forgiving but it is 10 pounds lighter in DW and it has way longer limbs. I already know this will be an enjoyable and positive experience.
I'm a sponge right now so I'll gladly take any tips anybody may have. If you guys and gals have a recommendation on a longbow specific book or DVD that gets deep into longbows... Please let me know so I can order it.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

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## Sanford (Jan 26, 2009)

Nice! Have you decided on a shelf cover/rest yet?


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

I goofed when I ordered it and mixed it up with another dealer that was selling one with the shelf/rest with it. So i forgot to order one. What's your recommendation on a shelf/rest?. Also, what do you recommend for silencer on the strings?. It does have a little hand shock and a twang but that maybe because i don't have it set up properly. I had to shoot it. lol. The strings that came with are from TailorMaid, Dacron, 18 strand. I shot some of my 400 carbon HT-2 arrows with gator feather vanes that I use for my Target compound and it flew great. 



Sanford said:


> Nice! Have you decided on a shelf cover/rest yet?


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## rsarns (Sep 23, 2008)

Look on tradtech and get a calf hair rest and side plate. I like the muskox silencers, but yarn ones work well. Tradtech (John Wert) will take good care of your needs.


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## Sanford (Jan 26, 2009)

It's got a radiused cut shelf, looks like, so if mine, it would just get a piece of stick-down velcro and good to go. On the shelf wall, I would try to preserve as much to center as I could and find some thin stick on material or tape to protect the finish/wood. There's so much good rest material at Home Depot, I don't invest in much else these days.

My favorite silencers have always been beaver balls - look good and stay long. After you get used to it a good bit and comfortable with your groups, you can throw a bare shaft in the mix and start working toward a tuned arrow for it - you'll be able to see the variance in flight and impact by then. Vanes ain't that good for shooting off the shelf, but again, as long as they come off good and fly decent, for the time being, they work for you.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

rsarns said:


> Look on tradtech and get a calf hair rest and side plate. I like the muskox silencers, but yarn ones work well. Tradtech (John Wert) will take good care of your needs.


Copy that. I'll make sure to contact John. maybe I should go ahead and order strings for it too while I'm at it. :thumbs_up


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Copy that Sanford. I appreciate the assistance from you guys.


Sanford said:


> It's got a radiused cut shelf, looks like, so if mine, it would just get a piece of stick-down velcro and good to go. On the shelf wall, I would try to preserve as much to center as I could and find some thin stick on material or tape to protect the finish/wood. There's so much good rest material at Home Depot, I don't invest in much else these days.
> 
> My favorite silencers have always been beaver balls - look good and stay long. After you get used to it a good bit and comfortable with your groups, you can throw a bare shaft in the mix and start working toward a tuned arrow for it - you'll be able to see the variance in flight and impact by then. Vanes ain't that good for shooting off the shelf, but again, as long as they come off good and fly decent, for the time being, they work for you.


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## Jeb-D. (Sep 21, 2011)

Nice bow!Calf hair is my favorite rest material, but velcro works good too. Silencers will kill the string vibration (twang). I just break into the wifes yarn stash and make my own. Yarn puff silencers work great.

Realistically, there probably will be some handshock. Adjusting the brace height might help some, as will shooting a heavier arrow and playing with how you grip it. You likely won't be able to get rid of it completely. IMO, you want to heel the grip with your thumb's palm and you should feel the pressure going strait into the arm bone.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

By the way, I have my 2 SLB set at 8 inches brace height. I have a Bear rug and strike plate. I have the 30 and 35, although the 35 measured 39 at 28 inches on my draw board. They are 40 and 49 pounds at my draw length. I really like the 30 , which is the lightest made. These are my Samick SLB, along with my Milton Cable Pyramid bow.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks Jeb-D!. noted and stored for future reference. :thumbs_up
Do you guys recommend any Longbow Specific Books or DVD's? 



Jeb-D. said:


> Nice bow!Calf hair is my favorite rest material, but velcro works good too. Silencers will kill the string vibration (twang). I just break into the wifes yarn stash and make my own. Yarn puff silencers work great.
> 
> Realistically, there probably will be some handshock. Adjusting the brace height might help some, as will shooting a heavier arrow and playing with how you grip it. You likely won't be able to get rid of it completely. IMO, you want to heel the grip with your thumb's palm and you should feel the pressure going strait into the arm bone.


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## jkcerda (Jan 25, 2007)

nice bow.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up HDT!. I was scratching my head....I was following the Lancasters recommendation BH of 6 1/16 - 6 9/16. I have it at 7 1/2 right now. I will readjust it tomorrow when i go back out to shoot. I still need to get a few things for it. We have a New Dicks Sporting Goods opening up 80 miles away in Spokane on the 5th. This might give me an excuse to run over to the city and see if they carry anything traditional. 


Hank D Thoreau said:


> By the way, I have my 2 SLB set at 8 inches brace height. I have a Bear rug and strike plate. I have the 30 and 35, although the 35 measured 39 at 28 inches on my draw board. They are 40 and 49 pounds at my draw length. I really like the 30 , which is the lightest made. These are my Samick SLB, along with my Milton Cable Pyramid bow.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Hank...Are you using aftermarket strings? if so, from who?


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks Jk!. :thumbs_up


jkcerda said:


> nice bow.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Double S said:


> Hank...Are you using aftermarket strings? if so, from who?


Mine came with D97 endless loop strings. I make my own strings and will probably replace them with D97 when necessary. D97 is a good basic string material that performs very well. I use D97 along with 8125 on my FITA bows. It looks like it is 16 strand. I re-served with 0.25 #62 XS to fit the large Bohning nocks on my wood arrows.

7 1/2 is probably fine. I think I was hitting my wrist bone when I had it low. I used to be able to find the SLB on the Samick website. It listed the recommended brace height range. I could not find it the last time I looked.

Check out this review. The reviewer lists the recommended brace height as between 7 1/2 and 8 1/4. That sounds like the range that I remember from the Samick website. I think Lancaster has the SLB mixed up with one of the shorter Samick longbows. My bows shoot very nicely at 8 inches -- and it is easy to remember.

http://www.archers-review.com/bow-reviews/samick-slb-ii-69-35-at-28


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks. I was just wondering. The strings that came with are from TailorMaid, Dacron, 18 strand. 65 inches. If i was gonna buy the shelf, and beaver silencer, etc. I might as well upgrade the string too. 



Hank D Thoreau said:


> Mine came with D97 endless loop strings. I make my own and will probably replace it with D97 when necessary. It looks like it is 16 strand. I reserved it with 0.25 #62 XS to fit the large Bohning nocks on my wood arrows.


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

Most longbows like a brace height of less than 7 inches and don't need silencers at the height they prefer. Listen to your bow. You will need an armguard as wrist slap is normal. Longbowmen have used them for many centuries. That string is a rope. You need one in a modern 'fast flight' material of 15 or fewer strands, probably 66 inches long, served to fit your arrow nocks. 'Shooting the Stickbow' by Anthony Camera aka "Viper" is a good reference. When gripping it relax the thumb and forefinger and grip gently with two or three of the other fingers. - lbg


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Good morning everyone. Copy that LBG. Thanks. I do have several armguards already from shooting my recurve. 


longbowguy said:


> Most longbows like a brace height of less than 7 inches and don't need silencers at the height they prefer. Listen to your bow. You will need an armguard as wrist slap is normal. Longbowmen have used them for many centuries. That string is a rope. You need one in a modern 'fast flight' material of 15 or fewer strands, probably 66 inches long, served to fit your arrow nocks. 'Shooting the Stickbow' by Anthony Camera aka "Viper" is a good reference. When gripping it relax the thumb and forefinger and grip gently with two or three of the other fingers. - lbg


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## JINKSTER (Mar 19, 2011)

Simon...first off?..Congrats! :thumbs_up

2ndly?...i just checked that bow out at LAS and..wow..$200 for what appears to be a nfaa legal D-shaped longbow that's actually "long" and made of walnut and maple?...sweet! 

btw..if you're wondering about BH?..i also found this on their website..

• HARD MAPLE AND WALNUT
• BROWN FIBER GLASS LIMBS
• RIGHT & LEFT HANDLE
• BOW LENGTH : 69"
• DRAW WEIGHT : 30 TO 60#
*• BRACE HEIGHT: 6" 1/16 - 6" 9/16 *

have ya given any thought as to what sorta bullets you're gonna try to tune to it?

Good Luck, Happy Shooting & L8R, Bill. :cool2:


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

The listed brace height is incorrect. I believe that there is a mixup with the shorter Samick longbows. Checkout the 68 inch Red Stag on the LAS webpage. It is listed as BRACE HEIGHT: 6" 3/16 - 8" 1/8".

Check out this review http://www.archers-review.com/bow-reviews/samick-slb-ii-69-35-at-28. His numbers are in line with what I remember from the Samick website when you used to be able to find this bow on it. He found that slightly under 8 was best for him. If you check out the authors comments at the end, he mentioned that he ended up a just about 8 to reduce hand shock. It looks like we ended up hitting the same number.

Remember that this is a 69 inch bow which is much longer than a lot of folks on this forum shoot.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

Here is a link from Merlin Archery which is a big archery supplier and bow builder in the UK.

http://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/samick-slb-ii-69.html

Specifications-

* Hard Maple, Rosewood, Merbau
* Hard Maple Veneer
* Brown Fibre Glass
* Bow Length - 68"
* Draw Weights - 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 (55 & 60 special order)
* Brace Height - 7 1/2" - 8 1/4"


Well, they got the 68 inches wrong. People must type this stuff in by hand.


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## JINKSTER (Mar 19, 2011)

Good catch Hank..and it stands to reason that a longer longbow would exhibit a proportionally higher BH...my 64"er seems to shoot best at 7-7 1/4..then again?..my soul hero from MBB is Steve Fausel..as he pointed out (cause he knew others would take notice) that he shoots his longbow braced at 8-9"s (forget the exact numbers but deep..real deep)..then went on to explain that he does this on purpose because it feels better to him that way and that it seems to come up and back in a smoother more natural fashion..and i like a lot of brace for just those reasons as well..anything under 7" brace feels awkward and unstable to me from jump street...like it wants to start out by flipping your wrists..like a mistuned engine?..cold blooded hence hard starting! :laugh:


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks for all the info. I acutally just got off the phone with Chad about some strings. i need to double check to see if this bow is FF compatible. The stock strings that came with the bow is from Tailormaid, Dacron. 18 strand. I measured the string and it's 65 inches long. I've untwisted it as much as possible and all I can get it down to 7 inches. This was earlier this morning. Prior to reading the updated posts. It didn't feel right so I twisted her back up to 7 1/2 inches. Had to quit as it was pouring down rain...Wet feathers. lol

Thanks for those links Hank!.


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## northern boy (Aug 25, 2010)

18 strand of dacron will be a terrible string for that bow slow an lots of hand shock. First you need to fine a brace height for the bow problemly hard to do with that rope for a string. I see the recom brace is 6-6.5 that might be a little low 7 might work well. A good string will make all difference in the world. Bow will faster an have a better shot feel to it. For a 40# I would go with a 8 strand of 450plus with loops padded to 12 an halo serving about a .025 serving size.. But get use to shooting the bow first before ordering string a good string is going to cost 20-25 dollors so you don,t want to mess up on size. bow is ff compatible. Also the string will change your spine of your arrow what arrows are you shooting whats your draw lenght. Nock size is very important also.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

The SLB has reinforced tips. It can take any string you would put on a modern recurve; nothing special needed. Both of mine came from Lancaster with D97 endless loop strings (no padding) which is 100% Dyneema (fast flyte style). I redid the center serving for nock fit. As I mentioned before, I make my own strings and will probably continue to use D97 when the current strings wear out. Got to stop raining so you can go out and shoot it. I shoot a tournament in a couple of weeks with mine: 80, 60 and 50 yards; 36 arrows at each distance. I got some newer, lighter arrows that seem to spine better and should give me a bit more speed. I have gone from 610 gr 33 inch footed shafts with 125 points, to 495 gr 31 inch shafts with 100 gr points.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks fellas for the info. I'm gonna have Chad build me some strings. I still need to get the shelf/pad, some string silencers. But the nearest archery shop is 80 to 90 miles away in Spokane. We are heading over in a few days to go shopping. Plus we have Dicks Sporting goods grand opening soon. I'm gonna see if I can pick something up at the grand opening. My DL with the Longbow is 27 1/2". I've been shooting some arrows I have around the house. 400's have been shooting well. I usually like my carbon arrows 29 inches long from valley from the nock groove to the end of the carbon, 100 grain points.I have a copy of the 3 rivers arrow chart and it is recommending 500 spined carbon shafts for bows between 37-41 pounds with 100 grain points. I actually have some brand new Easton Powerflight 500's that I bought a year ago on sale. Would these work for now?. Should I go with another spine?. My objective right now is form and accuracy and most importantly...to have fun!. I already have some 5 inch feathers in the mail heading my way. I have both Straight and right helical clamps at the ready for fletching.


let me throw some pics in from Spokane Valley Archery Shop. We stopped by the other day to test shoot a Mission riot. Looking for my son's first compound hunting bow.


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## Sanford (Jan 26, 2009)

Man, that's rare for any archery shop in this part of the country. Finding one with one target recurve would be rare. Finding a shop with that level of inventory of target stuff would not even be thought of as happening.


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## jusoldave (Apr 28, 2012)

All the stores around here stopped stocking traditional bows just about the time the hardware stores stopped stocking plow bolts. 

I still use both.

:sad:


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## BLACK WOLF (Aug 26, 2005)

Double S said:


> Would these work for now?


Yes...they should work fine...and once you've nailed down your form to be somewhat consistent...than you can start doing some finer tuning.

I don't see the need to buy new arrows...yet.

Ray :shade:


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks. I'm just waiting on some fletchings, etc. and I'll get to work fletching.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

I'm using a Neet three finger glove. I'd like to try a three under tab. Any recommendations?


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## Sanford (Jan 26, 2009)

Double S said:


> I'm using a Neet three finger glove. I'd like to try a three under tab. Any recommendations?


The best three under tab I have found is the Bateman tab.


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## foodtraveler (Feb 12, 2011)

Bateman 3-under tab


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks fellas. I'm looking it up right now.



Sanford said:


> The best three under tab I have found is the Bateman tab.





foodtraveler said:


> Bateman 3-under tab


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## Sanford (Jan 26, 2009)

Double S said:


> Thanks fellas. I'm looking it up right now.


I should have mentioned that the best is always in Cordovan. They offer a calf hair, but those just don't hold up and are usually too thin for comfort for me. Cordovan in any tab is the way to go.


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## TheLongbowShoot (Mar 23, 2012)

Sanford said:


> Man, that's rare for any archery shop in this part of the country. Finding one with one target recurve would be rare. Finding a shop with that level of inventory of target stuff would not even be thought of as happening.


You are very right! I was really surprised!


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

Simon -

Ya hadda go and do it, right?
A friend of mine is doing pretty well with that same bow. 
Since it seems to be FF capable, just go with a 14 strand D97 string, 3" shorter than the AMO length of the bow.
Might also be a good time to start building your own as well 

While you're waiting for shelf material / strike plate material and strings, any leather and even the fuzzy part of velcro will work. Just don't try any serious tuning until you get that part ironed out. 

Agree with Bateman tabs and the BWs are pretty decent too.

Good luck!

Viper1 out.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks fellas. I'm taking it slow reading up on the subject . I did order a video from Lancaster archery. My assorted feathers arrived today and I decided to fletch them up with 5" feathers. They look pretty good as someone who mainly uses fobs. I was using platinum glue for the longest time. I ran out and used some AAE fast set get. I now love this gel glue. It as a fast set time but I can still adjust things if needed. I bought. 96 color assortment off e bay. The string is exactly 65 inches long. 18 strand Dacron. I'm gonna replace it for sure. We are heading to Spokane on a few days so I'll pick up the rest pad, beaver balls and whatever I need at one time. Maybe I'll save money on shipping costs
View attachment 1513992
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## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

"Beaver Balls"?

Well, if you must. But ... if you already have some wool (or acrylic, or whatever) yarn on hand I can point you to a link where you can make your own silencers for pennies. Unless you have to buy the yarn. Then the first set of silencers is between 5 and 10 dollars. But the second set is half that, and so forth until you can retire on the savings and still have enough yarn left over to knit a pair of socks.

The cool thing about the yarn method is that when you take your first few shots after installing, the yarn puffs out like a fuzzy dandelion and bits of wool fly everywhere and you suddenly sneeze. Now, ever seen a beaver ball do that? Eh? I thought not!

Have fun stocking up on all your archery goodies in Spokane.


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## longbowguy (Nov 14, 2004)

That 65" string is too short. Better get 66". - lbg


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

longbowguy said:


> That 65" string is too short. Better get 66". - lbg


That's the stock strings that came with it. I don't know if Tailormaid does their strings or it's something the dealer put in.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

Tried out my new fletched arrows. I was at 10 feet. I did alright on one spot but when I changed spots, not so good. I had changed the Angle of the bow.
View attachment 1514291


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