Martin Savannah Max draw

[307TradShooter]

I just picked up a Martin Savannah long bow. I had a couple of questions.

First, I want to make sure that I am not overdrawing the bow with a 31" draw. Yes it does start to stack the last few inches, which I am fine with as long as the bow can take it.

The second question is that I read on the Martin website that they say that you must be shooting at least 10 grains per pound of draw weight, or it voids the warranty. Does everyone find that true? Seems like a heavy arrow to me.

My Savannah is 62" AMO and 45# @ 28". I did check the poundage and it is accurate at 28". At my draw it was registering 59.5 off the fingers. So I am thinking I need a 600 grain arrow to meet the Martin specs.

[JDunlap]

I don’t have a real educated answer for you, but I think I would be careful. 14 more pounds at your draw tells me the bow is being overworked…
I think you would do better with a longer version, just not sure if they make a longer savannah.

[307TradShooter]

In case anyone is curious I did hear back from Martin/Damon Howatt

"All our Damon Howatt bows are built to follow standard amo build spec's using the industry standard 28" AMO draw length unless something else is ordered at a specific weight at a different draw length then what the industry standard is.
As with most every traditional bow made today you will gain typically between 2-4 pounds per inch past the specific 28" amo scaled weight that bow was built for. This is called "stacking".
So in reality. Yes that draw weight is correct weight at your longer draw length.
If you need a 45# draw weight at a 31" draw length you would need to special order one custom built specifically for your 31 inch draw length. So that bow should now draw around a 30 pound draw weight at the 28" amo standard. Or just have yours relabel it at 45# @ 31" to possibly avoid any legal
Now there's another possible serious issue with that now because if you're hunting with a bow that's built and labeled for 30-35#, it may not be legal for use in a lot of states for big game species depending on their minimum draw weight requirements.
As far as it damaging the bow it's hard to know with so many factors involved depending on arrow weight. Outside temperature. Any signs of prior abuse on it, etc, etc.
But a good things for you to keep in mind is that all of our bows are draw length tested out to 32" or 33" and they are then draw cycled on a draw machine for either a 10,000 or 20,000 draw revolutions.
But please read our disclaimer in our traditional bow section for minimum arrow we we suggest to avoid any warranty issues.
https://martinarchery.com/traditional-bows/
I hope that clears up any concerns or questions you have."

[McDave]

Or just have yours relabel it at 45# @ 31"

This makes no sense to me.  Are they seriously recommending that you relabel your bow 45# @ 31”, even though you know that it draws 59# at 31”, or am I losing something in the translation?

In any event, whether the bow is strong enough to handle it or not, you are not going to be happy shooting a bow with that amount of stacking, most of which is bound to be occurring in the last inch or so of draw.  You need a bow that will consistently gain 2-3 pounds per inch of draw at your draw length.  Otherwise, one shot is going to be high and the next one is going fo be low, unless you can figure out some way to consistently have no more than 1/8” variation in your draw length every time you shoot, which most of us cannot.

Second, most modern bows are built to shoot arrows as light as 8 gpp, or even lighter in some cases.  I'm not disputing that the Savannah may have a limit of 10 gpp; just that that is not typical of most modern bows.  10 gpp is a good hunting weight and many people would recommend that weight, or even higher, even if it weren't the minimum permitted on the bow.  However, many people, myself included, like to hunt with a 9 gpp arrow and that is also a very reasonable thing to do.  Many people also want to shoot 3D tournaments with an 8 gpp or lower arrow, which is also a reasonable thing to do.

I recommend that you look for a bow where the recommended draw length includes 31”, and is warranted down to 8 gpp.  This would typically include longbows in the 66-68” range, and recurves in the 64” range, although some bowyers do make shorter bows that are designed to be drawn to 31”, which should not be overlooked if you prefer a shorter bow.

[Wudstix]

 

[JDunlap]

They appear to be saying that he would need to special order a bow with those specs. I.e., if he wants a Savannah that is 45@31.
And by the way, I agree completely with McDave that you may need to look for a different (longer/smoother) bow.

[307TradShooter]

To me it did sound like if I wanted a bow that did not stack as much I would have to special order it. Being a lefty and with a longer draw, it makes it very hard for me to snatch up good deals and actually have the bow work for me. But I will keep looking for a good deal on a longbow.
Thanks for everyone's help.

[CoilSpring]

I think Martin's intent was....that in order to get a bow (w/AMO std markings) that draws 45# at his 31" draw, he would need to get one that is built and "AMO-Labeled" as "30# @ 28"", but that bow may not be deemed legal in some states, so have it re-labeled as 45@31 (if it actually scales 45@31), to meet the intent/letter of the law, since most laws do not take into account the bow wt. at a certain draw length.

However, at that draw length, a longer bow in some designs would stack less than the Savannah.