Recurve Problems
Equipment
I have a recurve problem. I used to have a 55lb. Martin Mamba and loved the bow, but I couldn't pull it back to my anchor point. I don't know about you guys but in the area I live in the shops don't keep hardly any traditional bows in stock to try out and see if they fit. I really want a recurve but not at the cost today if they don't fit me. What do I do? What do you guys do?
Well, you need to get one you can get to anchor on and hold steady and develop your form. Go up to the forums link, then go to the traditional side of bowsite. Sell it or trade it on their classifieds or the swap and trade thread.
I was at the range last year and run into a couple friends I hadn't seen in a while. They were all shooting 65 to 70 pound compounds and not a one could get my 63 pound recurve close to full draw. It takes just shooting it to develop the muscles needed fr the increased weight and full weight at full draw. But you got to be able to get to full draw and anchor and develop good form.
Get one you can pull and anchor and go from there. The Leatherwall, which is the traditional side of this site, is a great reference for traditional archery and hunting. Then enjoy your new bow. Traditional hunting is great and every bit as effective as wheel bows if you desire it to be but, only after you get repeatable solid form. Good luck and God Bless
Get a bowfit and workout with it . The gym hasa lot of eexercises that will help. You just can only get so strong shooting...it takes working out to get comfortable.
get a samick sage, great recurve for the price, you can find them on sale for 129.99, and a extra set of limbs are 79.99. the limbs go from 30-60lbs if I remember.
Go to a trad archery meet. There will be many folks who would let you fling an arrow or 2 with their set up and also dealers that will certainly let you shoot. I don't know where you are, but if you are near southwest Va I have a black widow you can try, I could also hustle up 3-4 more most likely. A trad meet is your best bet, though.
The Leatherwall has a for sale feature that should be able to help you our. You are "overbowed" right now and I would suggest that you drop down to about 45 lbs. You can kill any deer or black bear around with that bow and you will enjoy shooting it a whole lot more when you are hitting what you are aiming at.
I recently inherited a bow from a friend who passed. He had 53# limbs on the bow. I normally shoot 50, and thought 3# wouldn't be that much to deal with. I was wrong, and got a set of 50# limbs and now things are fine.
Lost Nation Archery deals in used bows also. You can get a great bow second hand that would cost you a lot more.
Old Town Archery, in Old Town Maine, has a nice used Black Widow 45#, he wanted $600 for it. It is a $1,400 bow that has some dings in it but it could be the answer if you are looking for a BW.
PM me if you want more info.
TBB
I have shot recurves for 40 years. Up until last year I resisted shooting anything less than 60 pounds. Then I bought a DAS Kinetic with an adjustable drawweight. I cranked it down to 53 pounds and found that not only is it more pleasant to shoot, my accuracy has improved dramatically.
martin stickbows are notorious for being heavier draw weight then what they are marked. your 55# could have been heavier?
as suggested above, a samick sage for about $130 is a very good bow and a great place to start. the string and proper arrow set-up are crucial to a stickbow shooting at its full potential.
Here's a link to the July swap and trade on the Leatherwall. There's several bows that would fit your needs as far as lighter weight goes.
http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/tf/lw/thread2.cfm?forum=23&threadid=250043&messages=216&CATEGORY=9
There are alot of good tips posted above. I shoot both recurve and compound, and I shoot alot of recurves, I own 6 of them, and hunt alot with them.
That said, NOT ALL RECURVES ARE CREATED EQUAL. What I mean by that, is some bows just stack, and thats the truth. I have never found a Martin stick that I could shoot worth a lick.
That does not mean, others might like them. Here is a good example. I usually shoot about 46 pounds. My draw length is 27 3/8, shoot 3 under, anchor on the cheek bone, under the master eye.
I looked at a Bruin, 54pound for sale. I could not shoot it, it pulled hard for me......
I bought a Checkmate at 56pounds, why, because it drew like butter, and shot out my ACC's fast and true.
It comes down to the bow design, period. Like stated above go to Trad shoots. Wis has alot of them......
Next year, if you could, go to Compton. Every bowyer in the country is there just about, and you can shoot alot of bows........
My next 3 bows, will be a Stryker, a Schrew and a Wes Wallace....... however hard to save the money, when your hunting on your funds, ha ha
TBM had good advice. Regardless of the bow, you have to build your muscles. Lots of great ways to do that.
I row troll for muskies, and I swim. Swimming builds up those back muscles easily.......
Good luck in your adventure. Some guys never get into all the bows, but shooting anything, that throws an arrow is what I love.
I live in central Missouri. Anyone know of a shop around here that stocks a lot of recurves?
The Black Widow bow shop is in Nixa, MO. It might be worth a road trip. I hear they have lots of bows to try out in-store.
KBB, Start shooting at 6 feet, with one thing in mind - get to full draw before I release. You'll be surprised at how easy it is when you don't have to aim.
Bowmania
Samick Sage 140 bucks bought one for my cousin. Great bow and you can get limbs to start light and go heavy. Keep the Mamba for when you can pull it.
I just got the Mamba back on a trade for a Samick Sage. I know it probley can't be fixed but maybe. I can affored it, he can't.
Get into ilf setups to start, lots of cheap limb options to choose from, then once you know what you want, but a nicer bow or more expensive ilf.
Do not know your age or physical condition, but for the money a Bow Trainer would help immensely for conditioning. The newer recurves you really do not need to go over 50# , I hunt with a 43# recurve and it zips through about anything in the lower 48, shot placement is always the key.
As was previously mentioned go to Leatherwall and those guys are VERY friendly and more than willing to help you out....I think a swap is you best bet....and don`t worry about a bad deal...there are folks over there that know the price of a bow to the Nickle.
Yep, Samick Sage. I have one and it shoots better than a lot of custom bows I've had...put a BCYX string on it...ditch the stock string. Mine is quiet, dead in the hand. Another route you could go is check with The Footed Shaft, they have used bows for sale. With them you can return it if you dont like it. I would recommend not getting a poundage that you cant comfortably handle. With the Sage you can start out at a lower poundage and move to a higher poundage later. $75 for the limbs.
Another source is Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear. They have a web site with hundreds of used and new recurves and longbows.
Forgot about RMSG. Lots of bows.
Wait a sec....
Same OP, but 4 1/2 years later??
Just checking!
If so, you’re one lucky sonofagun to get your Mamba back!
Unless it’s still too heavy for you, maybe, but Howatts are just great bows.
How many strands on a new string does the Mamba need and can it use fast flight flemish strings?
If your Mamba has reinforced black micarta limb tips you can use s FF material string. If the tips look like grey laminated wood then it's dacron only. Don't let anyone tell you differently.
But FWIW, Larry once told me that a 12-strand string of B-50 would let my #55, Pre-FF Hunter shoot along with any FF custom I cared to put it up against.
So you might have somebody build you one...
Larry Hatfield is da man! Contact 60X for a string is you have a non-FF bow.
Building up to a higher bow weight is possible but, as was mentioned above, you don't really need anything more than 50# for most animals we hunt. If you can shoot more that's great but don't ruin your form or learn bad habits by overbowing yourself. There are so many good bows out there from the 60's and 70s that will perform as well as most bows made today but cost a fraction of the price. I've owned several Howatts/Martins and they all seemed to me to be a heavier draw weight than marked. It could be the way they measure the draw weight. I've had that same experience with some other bows as well.
A 12 strand B50 string should work just fine. I won't recommend using low stretch to anyone but will say that I own nearly 20 vintage recurves from the 60s and every one has a BCY-X string. I've been shooting low stretch on all my bows for several years with no problems at all. There are many others that have a similar experience. I just make sure the loops are padded and see no issues but do see improved performance.
So what is the big deal with flemish strings?
Take a good look at Old Mountain bows, especially the takedown recurve linked above. Sweet shooters, better quality than Samick Sage, built by the same Korean boyer company under a different name. I have one at #45 and with my pull to 29.5 inches I get #50 out of it with 180 fps using a 57 inch D97 Custom Longbow & Recurve Bow String made by 60X custom bow strings to launch a 32.5 inches, 500 grain hunting arrow. Stay away from bows with aluminum limb pockets like Samick Sage as they will make squeaking noises over time as you pull the string. Also, stick with D97 string material as it will make the bow quiet.
Flemish twist is a technique to make a bow string. You can twist it to increase brace height and untwist to shorten brace height. I agree with the others. Get a #40-45 bow and learn to shoot correctly. I believe the main issue with guys giving traditional bows a try and then discarding them is they try to start too heavy, establish bad shooting habits and then get discouraged with the results once the 'honeymoon' phase is over. if you don't build a good foundation form wise, you will be like the vast majority of shooters who can't shoot worth a hoot past 15 yrds and eventually, you will just get discouraged and quit. I know because I was one of them. Decided that I was going to do this so I bought a membership to an indoor shooting range by where I worked. Went over during lunch when I would have the range to myself and starting completely over just far enough in front of the hay bales where my arrow could clear the shelf and started from scratch. It was worth it.
