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"tuning" a longbow?

muddy

muddy

Well-Known Member
Not sure how many can help with this but I'm having some issues with my newly acquired longbow. When I knock the arrow up and shoot the arrows consistently shoot 6 inches left. I'm only shooting about 8 yards to keep it easier on myself... and my garage wall.

Anyway, I started shifting my grip on the bow after I noticed that the string is not centered down the middle of the limbs while strung up. Doing this adjustment actually caused the arrows to sit more square on the rest and brought the groups back over to the bulls eye but has now caused me a little string/arm slap?

Is this pretty typical with longbows? Instead of holding the bow square like on my compound I have to hold it about 15 degrees off center to torque the bow around and square it all up. It's working, so I probably shouldn't complain.

Another oddity... I've shot wood, carbons, and aluminum arrows through it... carbons group and shoot the best and to be honest that's what I may end up sticking with. Thanks for any help.
 
It's common to have some string slap. Most of the traditional shooters I know use arm gaurds. You can grip that bow down the center if you like. It may just require playing with different tip weights to get your arrow spined right and back in the bullseye. Just takes some experimenting. As far as the carbons, I finish mine at 11 grains per lb of draw weight. Most people would recommend being around 9 - 10 grains per lb for hunting purposes.
 
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Howard Hill said "Grip it like a suitcase handle".

Hitting your arm is inevitable!

Look at all the old movies and english longbow pictures and you see large
arm guards.

Even if you don't hit your arm the string travels so close that any baggy clothing will catch.

I forgot my armguard one time and took a shot at a standing coyote at 25 yards, it "FWAPPED" my sleeve amd the coyote was 5 yards away as the arrow struck where he had been. :(

Arrow spine and clean release is very critical with longbows. It may take several feet to completely recover from the paradox. Play with fletching size and be sure to step back a little and shoot some too.

BTW, I did not know know there was anything but wood? :D

Happy shooting and hunting!
 
If you aren't getting string slap on your arm you aren't holding the bow correctly.. The handles on a long bow are not designed for a high wrist position like most recurves. Instead of having almost all of the pressure from drawing the bow on the web of your hand between the thumb and index finger, it should be mostly on the palm and heel of your hand. You should be able to lift the web of your hand off of the bow while it is at full draw if you are holding it right. Also any kind of long bow or stick bow that is not completely center shot should be canted as you make the shot instead of straight vertical like compounds. The cant gives a better release that allows the arrow to clear the shelf and side of the bow without having to almost completely bend around it. I always try to set up a bow with the lowest brace height that will allow the 5 inch feathers to clear the shelf, and I set the noc height about 1/8 to 1/4 inch above center and shoot with 1 finger above and two below the arrow. I make my own strings and use serving string to tie in the noc point instead of the metal ones, because I can make it a little smaller and it doesn't hurt my fingers as much that way. For hunting I also use those no-glove rubber things that go right onto the string and can be the nocking point as well.
 
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