Sore hand.......string beating me

[2crazy2run]

Ok.....I feel like a fool....bought a cheap old bear cub longbow......50#.... off ****......I thought i was doing something wrong.. every time i shot the string popped my left thumb muscle holding the bow...past the arm guard! Upon closer inspection i realized the string didnt run the center of the bow......its way to the left......an inch maybe...... any suggestions........steam.....heat? !!!! Cant really afford another bow

[moebow]

Lay the bow's tip on the rug in front of you and sight down the string (string bow of course) from the end you are holding.  Any twist will be apparent.  Long bows usually do not twist.  If the string is hitting your bow hand thumb I suspect that your brace height is WAY too low.  What does it measure?  On a long bow, the brace height should be at least 6" but in all likely hood higher than 7".  You measure from the deepest point in the grip to the string.

[2crazy2run]

From the grip to string ....it is 3 1/8".....So the string it came with is to long? And it is twisted or warped.....sighting down it ...the string actually is outside of thebow in the grip area on the side i hold it.

[2crazy2run]

62" bow....what should string length be?

[moebow]

Kenton,  I'm not really familiar with the Bear Cub.  Is it a straight ended bow or do the tips curve back (away from you)?  It sounds like the bow may be warped side to side which is different than twist.  If it is unstrung and you look down the length of the bow, it should be essentially straight.

If it is a straight ended bow (longbow) your string should be about 4" less than the measured length of the bow from string nock to string nock on the bow.  So about 58".  Many E*** sellers think everything traditional is a "longbow".  If the Cub is a recurve then I think you want about 3" less string length.  What is your draw length too?  62" is really short for a longbow for anything over a 25" draw IMO.

Whatever you have,3 1/8" brace height is the reason you are getting your thumb hit -- that brace height is WAY TOO LOW!!!!  One of the Bear experts here will chime in I'm sure and be able to give you better particulars.

[moebow]

PS.  You could do a search here on TradGang for Bear Cub and see if you find anything.

[njloco]

There are also plenty of Tradgangers in the great state of Georgia, I am sure one of them would be willing to help you out in person.

[Kituwa]

I am thinking he has the string on the bow backwards.

[Stump73]

Can you put up some pics of the bow strung and unstrung?
Do you have a bow stringer?

[Kituwa]

If you have the bow strung backwards like i think you do, then you would have around 3 inches of brace and the string would not stay centered either.A cub could be either a long bow or a recurve.A recurve will have rather sharp bends at the ends of the bow. If it is a long bow, it will have some what of a reverse bend too but not at the ends of the limbs.A lot of the older bear bows like that also had arrow shelfs cut on both sides so it could be used as either a left or right hand bow.If you can post some pics someone here can get it sorted out for you pretty quick.If it is strung up backwards i wouldnt shoot it that way,,it could break it.