# Bow Noise, brace height, nock points and bow type.



## SuperGrizRiz (Jan 1, 2014)

I just got my newest bow... A Bear Montana Longbow in #55 pounds. I bought a #55 so I could should the same arrows as my Super Grizzly Recurve also #55. I set up the string with wool string silencers and brush buttons. The thing shoots amazing. I took off the lousy stick-on leather grip and arrow rest and replaced it with a bear hair rest. It has nice speed and accuracy. Here is the surprise of the day... it is dead quiet. I thought my recurve was quiet until I shot the montana. The question I pose is this... Are longbows always that quiet? Is it just random bow to bow? Both are 55#, I am shooting the same arrows, my form is the same as far as I can tell. I even have the brace height set at 8 inches on both bows. The only difference I can find is that the montana likes a nock point that is almost exactly square and the recurve likes a nock point about 1/2 inch high of square. 


Do you guys have any suggestions on how to quiet the recurve down? I was thinking of playing with the brace height on the recurve to see if something other than 8" is optimal. Both bows have a recommended range of 7.5-8.5 inches for the brace height. I always just set it in the middle and never really experimented with any other setting. I was thinking of moving the BH on the recurve to 8.5 and then backing down a quarter inch at a time to 7.5 to see if there is a sweet spot. What should I do with the nock point if I raise the brace height?


----------



## Easykeeper (Jan 2, 2003)

Good plan on the brace height. I've always found the quietest brace height is on the high side of the recommended range, sometimes even 1/8"-3/8" over the recommended. I have a couple of recurves that are significantly quieter about 1/4" over the high side of the recommended range, the difference is well worth the couple of feet per second I might be loosing in arrow velocity. I'd start on the high side and go up and down a few twists and see what happens, or just set it on the maximum recommended point and tune from there. You will have to retune if you do more than a few twists, but it will be relatively minor. 

If you don't have this link it's a good one for tuning...http://www.acsbows.com/bareshaftplaning.html

A relatively high brace height, yarn wrap on the ends of the string where it contacts the limbs, string silencers, and not too light of an arrow keeps all of my recurves nice and quiet. Maybe not as quiet as a well tuned longbow but darn close.


----------



## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

SGR - 

Hill style, mildly reflexed LBs, like the Montana are almost always dead quite, unless you have a REALLY wrong arrow. 
I would loose the silencers and buttons and see how it sounds. 
Sorry, sort of a running joke about trying to "quiet" a Hill style bow... it's just not necessary.

The Griz being a recurve will be a bit louder in general. 
Yes, tuning, which includes arrow selection, should be the first step, like Easy said. 

BTW - I would seriously doubt the same arrows will tune from the Griz as from the Montana.
Even though you are pulling the same weight, the arrows are experiencing different forces due to limb acceleration and degree of center shot.

Viper1 out.


----------



## AReric (Mar 6, 2010)

I agree with the above advice. Viper is right, my recurve and longbow are within a pound of the same draw weight, but the longbow requires a significantly weaker spined arrow than the recurve. Shelf cut makes a big difference.


----------



## SuperGrizRiz (Jan 1, 2014)

Viper1 said:


> BTW - I would seriously doubt the same arrows will tune from the Griz as from the Montana.
> Even though you are pulling the same weight, the arrows are experiencing different forces due to limb acceleration and degree of center shot.
> 
> Viper1 out.


I didnt think of this. It is good info. Somehow the arrow flight is perfect on both bows. I am shooting heavy arrows too. About 11 grains per pound. They are around 620 grains.


----------



## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

SGR - 

Strip the feathers off a few and see what happens.
A little fletching goes a long way to mask things.

Viper1 out.


----------



## Nokhead (Jun 10, 2012)

If you set the brace height for "most quiet", then aren't you removing the option of using brace height to tune the bow/arrow for best flight? Or is that important when you can tune the arrows and bow in other ways? I have never set brace height to quiet the bow, have never played around with that...never really thought about it. Really, getting good arrow flight seems to keep me busy.

And then, adding string silencers can un-tune the bow a little bit as you add mass/weight to the string and slow it down. ??

I watched a video on a guy making a "Viking" bow, and he seemed to be setting the brace height to his hand and thumb, using the "thumbs up" gesture as the measure. After I saw that, I measured my hand and thumb in that position, and it came out to that same as what works for me on my flat-bow/self bow, and my English type Long bow, which is 6.5-6.75". ??? I thought that was interesting.

ken.


----------



## ismo131 (Nov 19, 2014)

I have 3 silencer on my Falco Force 58# 70" bow


----------



## rickstix (Nov 11, 2009)

The nock point should remain in the same place on the string as you change brace height...the center of the string will always be the center of the string through any brace height changes. Rick.


----------



## ismo131 (Nov 19, 2014)

I have made my own bracehightarrow


----------



## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

Ken -



> If you set the brace height for "most quiet", then aren't you removing the option of using brace height to tune the bow/arrow for best flight?


Unless you've gone to painfully high extremes or have really mismatched your arrows, "setting the brace height for most quiet" is effectively getting pretty darn close to tuned. Doing it properly, the "most quiet" means the arrow is leaving the string as it passes the center line of the bow. Again, if your arrows aren't close enough to what you need, all bets are off.

Generally, the first thing you do is play with the brace height for most quiet, then the other parameters should fall into place with minor tweaking. 
Did I mention the thing about the wrong arrows?

Viper1 out.


----------



## jeeckel (Mar 22, 2013)

my grizzly's like about 8 1/4 and i shoot my montanas about 7 5/8 yarn puff balls for silencers, and the montana is a touch quieter but not much. my grizzlys are not the supers.


----------



## BarneySlayer (Feb 28, 2009)

My wife's Montana, 45#, with 450 gn arrows, was close enough to silent with a Dacron string. With a FF+ string, little bit twangy, remedied with some otter fur.


----------

