# Longbow Draw Weight????



## BryanB (Jul 14, 2005)

Rick-
I would contact the person you bought the bow from and get a refund. A pound or two off is reasonable depending on humidity, however, 17 lbs is completely unacceptable. You don't want to change the string length too far off from it's correct brace height. The only thing that will really increase the draw weight is to grow longer arms and have a longer draw. :smile: If you are stuck with the bow, consider having 1-2" cut off each end and have new string groves added. That should get you much closer to the desired draw weight.

Good Luck
Bryan


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

Rick -

Your stuck with a #38 bow.

As you INCREASE the brace height you slightly increase the draw weight, but you loose a lot more speed due to the decresed power stroke, and vice versa.

Other thing is that if the bow is an "old" selt bow, it mahe have lost some poundage.

In either case I'd have a talk with the preson you bought it from. 

BTW - not knowing how long you're doing this but if you're new, you're better off with a #38 than a #70 anyway.

Viper1 out.


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## RicknKansas (Jul 2, 2005)

Thanks for the help guys.
Viper1, I'm very familiar with recurves, this is my first longbow. I always wondered how the bowyer would know the poundage before testing it. Length? Wood density? Type of backing?
I emailed the person I purchased it from, we'll see where it goes from here.

Rick


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

Rick - 

You didn't say if it was a glass lam bow, or backed selfbow. If lam most of the weight is determined by how far apart the glass lams are. A good bowyer can make an educated guess on the weight a given bow will be, based on his experience, but wood being wood, there's alway a varieance. #17 is a bit more than a variance.

Have to ask, does the bow feel like #38 or #55??? 
Did you check the scale against another bow of a known draw weight?

Viper1 out.


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## RicknKansas (Jul 2, 2005)

Viper1
It's a self bow, red oak with a fiberglass backing. Compared to my 55# recurve it's real mushy feeling, and shoots the same same arrows like lame ducks. It feels like a 38# bow especially when I'm used to a bow that's 55# at 28" and I draw between 29 and 30". I'm used to a little stacking, the only way to describe this bow is "mushy".
Thanks for your help,

Rick


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

Rick - 

If you talk to the guy, let us know what he said. Red oak is a tough wood, that may follow the string amd loose weight. Sorry, I don't knowthat much about self bows.

Viper1 out.


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