I have a stupid ? about pull weight..&

[MikeW]

actual amount felt.
A few years ago I was at a friends house and he had a Slivertip rated 70# @ 28" I tried to pull it back and @ about 6" into it I thought I hurt my shoulder, no way I could this bow back comfortably.
I normally shoot bows 50#-55# and they feel a little weak to me if I shoot a lot, like I could handle 60# easily. Then I go to a gathering of bow hunters a couple years later and am shooting my bow a lot at the time and got handed 2 70# bows @ 30" and they feel like nothing..I pull 28 1/4" I could shoot these all day long. I really didn't believe they were rated correctly cause they were so easy to pull until I shoot my 550 grain arrows out of them and it was very noticeable they were traveling way faster than out of my bow.

Anyone else experience this?

[Cherokee Scout]

Something was marked incorrectly. A bow marked 70# at 30" will be about 65# at 28". If someone changed limbs to a shorter or longer riser, the poundage marked on the limbs will not be correct.

[Kituwa]

To me a long heavy poundage bow feels easier to pull than a short lower poundage bow. I would not say that a bow #70 bow will always shoot a lot faster than say a #50 bow though.Speed has some to do with the design of a bow but i think for the most part a higher poundage draw weight allows you to shoot a heavier arrow at around the same speed as a lighter bow with a lighter weight arrow if the bows are the same design.I may be wrong but that is what it seems like to me.

[Kituwa]

Also,,if you take a #45 @ 28  bow and another bow that is just like it but pulls #45 @ 30,,the longer draw bow at the same poundage will usually shoot faster than the shorter draw weight one at the same pounds because it will have a longer power stroke.

[Looper]

Well, a lot of that feeling has to do with which muscles you are using to pull the bow back with. Maybe in the earlier case, you just weren't pulling it back correctly.  Of course, it could have been mismarked.

I used to have a longbow that I shortened by 6". It was a beater and one of the tip overlays had broken.  I thought I'd make a short bow to shoot while sitting.  It was originally a 70@28 (I pulled it over 30) and I don't know what it ended up being. Way up there, though. I could shoot it, but it ended up being way too short for my draw length. I'd use it to humble my cocky friends. A lot of guys that could bench press 300#, could barely pull that bow back. That bow exploded when one idiot pulled it back and dry fired it.

[McDave]

I think a lot of bows are marked incorrectly.  I measure every bow I buy on my own scale.  My scale is probably not very accurate either, but it does give me a good relative measure, I think.  In other words, it should reliably tell me if a bow is heavier or lighter than another bow weighed on the same scale.  I've found a number of bows that weigh several pounds lower on my scale than other bows of the same marked weight.  I've never found one that weighs heavier than the marked weight.

[David Mitchell]

McDave, I have had several that weighed heavier than the marked weight--especially Howard Hill bows.  Had one that went 6# heavier and three others that are 4# heavier than marked. Not uncommon on Howatt bows either.  My buddy just picked up a pair of limbs for a Dorado that are marked 45@28 and are actually 50@28.  That czan be an issue if you're ordering at or very near your peak weight.

[Raging Water]

I routinely shoot between 80# and 100#. But, I also have a 120# Longbow. As a dyed-in-the-wool heavy bow shooter, I can tell you a little of what I know.

All of my long bows that are, long, ( 66” to 72”) draw smoother and easier out to my full draw. They don’t stack.

I recently “attempted” to shoot a 62” 112# at 28” Recurve.  I got it about 20” before I ran smack dab into a “Stacking Wall”. From there, I only got 2 more inches of draw. I was well short of my 27 ½” draw length.

Here is my reasoning as to why;

The longer the bow, the longer the draw before stacking, thus allowing me to get more back muscle into the draw. With the shorter bow, the draw weight increased dramatically before I was able to recruit my back muscles. Essentially, I was drawing with only arm strength, not back strength.

The Posterior Deltoid (unless you are Marlon Torres) is not designed to draw that much weight. The Medial and Posterior Deltoids begin the draw but the Latissimus Dorsi starts to take over the load quickly, followed by the Trapezius. Eventually the Longissimus Dorsi are recruited. (i.e. the elusive “Back Tension Muscles”)

Okay, that’s my explanation.

Matt

[Keefer]

Mat,
   That's not enougth weight to penatrate a chipmunk..You better go a bit heavier!  :D

[Raging Water]

I know. One of these days I will grow up and not be so wimpy.    

Got any Protein Shakes?

Matt