brace height and string question

[Boognish]

i have a samick sage 35# and 3rivers recommends 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 brace height and to upgrade the string. what kind of performance changes will a fast flight string give me? and what performance difference will i get with 7 !/2 VS 8 1/2....? any help would be appreciated, thanks

[DJ Hardy]

You will see a speed increase by going to a FF string.
How much depends on the string.
Not the answer you wanted but there are different materials and string counts that decide how much of an increase you will see.
Brace height is dictated by several things.
The lower will give a bit more speed generally but you need to understand your bow and adjusting brace height is part of that.
You want it to shoot smooth,quiet ,shock and vibration free.
Your brace height,arrow weight and good tune work together to get that. Forget the speed.

[Boognish]

wouldn't more speed help out when shooting a deer? never hunted but from all the videos i see the deer usually drop down a bit as soon as they here you release?

[mahantango]

More important than speed increase, which will be only a couple fps, the feel of the shot will be drastically improved. A low stretch string will give you a crisper release without the "springy" feel of dacron. Less vibration and more energy transfered to he arrow. Honestly, even if there was NO speed increase, I would still use low stretch on all but a couple old irreplaceable bows. Not that I'm convinced that it can hurt them, just not taking any chances. As far as brace height, I've always found most bows to behave better at the high end of the recommended range, but that's just me.

[Boognish]

btw, I'm shooting a gold tip warrior 600 spine 125 field tip

[dagwood64]

I have a Samick Journey 64", 45#. I switched to a 6 strand from SBD, and what an improvement. The shots were smooth and quiet.
I have my brace height at 8" and it shoots great for me.

[dirtguy]

This gives you a great opportunity to experiment.  As was said above, the speed increase, while nice, is not that important. Learning how to tune your bow is.  Buy a new FF string and twist it up to 7 1/2 inch brace height.  Shoot it.  twist it up to 8 1/2 and shoot it more.  Untiwst it down to 8"  and shoot it again.  Twist in some silencers and see what BH gives you the quietest bow.  You'll find out what works best for that bow with that given string.


Check to make sure your #35 bow is legal for deer hunting.  In my state it must be #40.

[LBR]

mahantango is spot on.  Might get a tiny boost in performance, but the big difference is how the bow feels, plus you get a much more durable and consistent string.  My favorite is 18-20 strands of BCY-X.  I've been shooting a Journey (64" version of the Sage) for 5 years with BCY-X, both endless and Flemish.  The difference is amazing.

The only weapons faster than a deer's reflexes require gunpowder.

I let the bow tell me what brace it likes.  Tinker with it within the recommended range, you'll find it shoots better in the "sweet spot".

Chad