Bow Noise and Brace Height

[Follower]

Have you found there to be a correlation between brace height and bow noise?  Do your bows shoot quieter with a high brace height or a low brace height?  Interested in your thoughts?

[pitbull]

There is a sweet spot on every bow's brace height. Above or below that spot noise and vibration will increase. You just have to play around to find what is best on each particular bow.

[TSP]

Some bows are fussy about brace height while others not so much.  I've found that higher performance bows often fall in the fussy category...my Morrison and Widow recurves take extra effort...while the simpler designs are easier (like D-style longbows such as Abbotts, Hills, etc.).  There's often a BH where a bow shoots best but it depends on the shooter and BH alone isn't the answer.  Arrow, string, silencer placement and even the shooter's shooting style (how clean the release is, etc.) can all  collectively affect noise level.  Getting it quiet is just one aspect of the tuning process for any given bow and shooter.

[caleb7mm]

my rose oak is quiter with a lower brace
my dalaa is the very opposite.

also my rose oak is quiter with a b50 string. the dalaa again is opposite for some reason.

[caleb7mm]

tsp hit on another thing I have learned.

silencer position is a HUGE factor when silening any bow. My dalaa is more picky then my rose oak but they both take a little playing around when putting a new string on (like I did today on BOTH of them)

[Jim Wright]

With brace height there is more to consider than just noise but an excessively low brace height below what would be correct for your particular bow, shooting style, arrow weight etc.. will make your bow noisier. There is a bit of a problem with the way you pose the question in that one bowyer's 62" t.d. recurve properly tuned and shot by me may be extremely quiet with a 7 inch brace height and another bowyers 62" t.d. recurve properly tuned again, same poundage and arrow weight may require an 8" brace height to achieve the same degree of quiet for me.

[Follower]

thanks - you guys are confirming what I thought - there is not a constant correlation - each bow is different.  i have shot longbows for years and they were always quiet regardless but this year i have switched to a widow recurve and its a little finicky.  I guess i will spend the weekend experimenting and learning.

[NoCams]

Widders love Bow hush and huspuppies. Give Terry's girls a call and they will hush that Widder right up !

[Night Wing]

I have two 66" Blacktail TD recurve bows. The suggested brace height from Norm Johnson's brochure which he sent me for each of my two 66" take down bows is 7 3/4"-8". I'm shooting a 42# bow shooting a very heavy 672 grain arrow. You'd expect with such a heavy arrow, the bow would be quiet. With a 7 1/4" brace height, which isn't the suggested brace height, the bow was noisy with the 672 grain arrow. After experimenting with the proper brace height range, I found with a 7 7/8" brace height, the bow was so quiet upon arrow release, this bow does not need string silencers on it.

[Bob B.]

It is a whichery kinda thing.  I have two Mohawks.  With my 30 inchdraw, they seem to prefer a 6 3/4 inch brace height.  Most folks shoot 7 to 7 1/4 as confermed by Vince.  My Whip like 7 on the nuts, again 30 inch draw and with all bows, the arrows are around 10 grains per pound of draw.  They are quieter with lighter arrows, but i hate to stress the bow too much with the long draw, short brace and light arrow.  

I am a quiet freak.  If my bows are even a tad loud I will not toerate it. So after they are tuned and shooting well, I check themwith a decible meter,  must be well under 40 decibles at 10 yards.  then if my son can hear the release at 15 yards, I tune more.  If he can not, I am home!

Every one is a bit different I would wager.


Bob.