Asl vs Martin savannah

[Vroomvroom]

I always loved seeing bows as I was a kid. But except for television, I didn’t see a real one until I was a teenager.    Of course back then, the asl style bow is mostly what I saw.    I’d love to try one.   I currently have a Martin savannah.     I’d like a long, long bow.  I’m 27” draw or a little less.  5’9” tall.   

I’m curious if many here shot a savannah and an asl if they could describe the comparison of the two. 

[McDave]

It's fairly easy to move between a Savannah and any other r/d bow you might want to shoot.  Not so easy to move from a Savannah to a ASL.  Shooting an ASL requires a higher level of commitment, I think.  It's kind of like comparing fly fishing with spin casting, or hand ball with racquetball.  All of us in the traditional bow community have made a commitment to accept certain limitations that we wouldn't have if we were rifle hunters.  ASL shooters just take that one step further.

[Vroomvroom]

Ok. Interesting. 

[Vroomvroom]

I myself don't seem to concentrate on speed or anything.   Nice arrow flight, even with a heavy slow arrow is a thing of beauty.    Are they harder to tune with the shelf not cut as close to center?   Harder to aim ?   I think I'd like one.  Someday, or when I cant take it any longer and splurge.

[McDave]

It's not harder to tune; you just need to use a weaker spined arrow than you would use for a bow that is cut past center.

Since the shelf is not cut to center, or at least not cut past center, the POI for arrows will initially be to the left of where you are aiming (RH shooter), whether you aim with the arrow point or instinctively.  From my experience, this is a little easier to correct if you aim using the arrow point, because you can just look down the whole length of the arrow a few times and it will be obvious that you need to move your bow arm a little more to the right.  When aiming instinctively, you just have to wait for the ‘ol internal computer to adjust, I guess.  People seem to not want to make these adjustments every time they switch from rd to asl, so they generally settle on one type or the other.

[Steelhead]

Yaa,you need to find the right arrow.Not as many choices IMO as bows cut to center or past center.You need shaft clearance of the sight window for sure as the arrow goes through paradox.Too stiff and you got some issues.Not a big deal.But need to be aware of that.You can have one custom made sometimes cut to center.Depending on poundage of the bow and materials the riser is made from.Cutting to center does weaken the bow where the sight window meets the shelf.I have had a lighter poundage ASL cut to center by the Bowyer.He had no problem with that.

Other than that the grips are typically straight or dished and can vary alot between bowers.They vary in size as well and small nuances in shape.Draw length usually is shorter with an ASL vs a pistol grip.Some do have a low locator type grip on them if you dont want to go with the traditionally straighter type grip.

[Vroomvroom]

It doesn’t get much more traditional than an asl, except maybe a self bow. 

[meatCKR]

My first longbow was a Savannah.  They are very nice bows.  I made the jump to ASL about 3 years after the Savannah.  It was tough at first because I was not gripping the ASL correctly.  You have to grab the ASL with your full hand.  Watch the video on YouTube from John Schulz called "Hittem' like Howard Hill".  After watching that video, I started to really enjoy the ASL and have not looked back.  Best of Luck!

[Vroomvroom]

Nice. Thanks

[Vroomvroom]

What do you feel the difference is? Besides the grip?

[Steelhead]

The draw force curve would be different more than likely between your hybrid longbow and an ASL.A little more tension on the hybrid as you begin the draw typically vs ASL.ASLS start out easy and build the weight as you draw more than bows that have preload.

[Vroomvroom]

Ahh. Ok. Been interested an an asl. 

[meatCKR]

Besides the grip, I would say the one word that comes to mind when shooting an ASL as opposed to a R/D hybrid is stability.  An ASL has a narrow and thick core.  No way it's going to torque or twist upon the release.  With a wide thin cored R/D Hybrid if you don't have a clean release, it can twist on you and you might not get good arrow flight.  An ASL is much more forgiving in that regard.  In fact, ever see Howard Hill or John Schulz invert the bow and shoot yet the arrow stays on the shelf?  They actually torque the string in order to keep the arrow on the shelf and when they shoot it, it is just as accurate as when the shoot in the normal position where they cant the bow at about the 2 o'clock position.  There is just something so pure when shooting the ASL that I just love and I think you will too.