Q about reflex and performance

[Mad Max]

I use a recurve stringer, grip the handle hard until the tips are below the handle, and feel the string is in the belly grove.
The first time it rotated on me, after that, no problem.

[onetone]

Mark - what are your thoughts about how that Turkish draws and shoots?

[mmattockx]

Some say shorter bows are not as accurate as their longer kind. I have not found this to be true in my experience and I shoot fairly regularly out to 60 yds.

I don't think the bows are inherently any less accurate, but a shorter bow is not as stable in the hand and more likely to move during the shot. This leads to a lot of people shooting less accurately with shorter bows, but this is an archer problem and not a bow problem. Basically, these Turkish size/style bows are the exact opposite of Olympic target bows, which are optimized for consistency and accuracy, so one would expect them to produce bigger groups out in the field.

Where did you get your thumb ring and is there any particular one(s) you can recommend?


Mark

[onetone]

I don’t have much experience buying thumb rings. I bought two from Vermil and their quality is good.
Without a long story, I ended up making my own because the MR (middle) joint of my thumb doesn’t bend.

So far, have made them out of wood only - scraps left over from other bow builds. Started out with Manchu rings, the tubes in the photo. They work fine with bows 48” and up, but with a really short bow, like 36” braced, the string is inclined to jump off the ring unpredictably during the draw. So I made some Turkish rings that would work with my stiff thumb. They are front row in the photo and made out of Purpleheart. If you are right handed, you will shoot off the right side of the riser. Took me awhile to get used to that bit.

[mmattockx]

If you are right handed, you will shoot off the right side of the riser. Took me awhile to get used to that bit.

I bet it's an adjustment, the sight picture is all wrong after shooting Mediterranean style. I sure do like the longer draw length and cleaner release that the thumb ring offers, both are excellent for performance.


Mark

[simk]

Onetone:
I thinks these heavy reflexed bows are kinda standard when it comes to asiatic bows, hornbows and FG-copies. Its hard to be accurate with them. Their adavantage ihmo lies in their ability to get real high speeds with very low gpp. That's where the shorter bows are "better". When it comes to hevaier arrows like 5 or 6gpp+ their speeds are not better than a 60" bow. At 10gpp they are the same.

I have yesterday shot my bow through the chrono and on targets. It seem slightly faster than the earlier Version with 1.5" less reflex. But not by much. A similar bow made from wood only is maybe 5-10fps slower and much easier to string. Don't think I will make another one with even more reflex. Looks like the air is getting very thin alreday at some point here - just looking for a sweet spot and durability now. I think I'm about to answer my initial questions myself.....at some point more reflex only makes life more complicated and overall doesn't add additional advantage.

cheers   

[onetone]

Fine bow you have made there simk! I agree that the “law of diminishing returns” comes into play when adding reflex to a bow.

[dbeaver]

I loved the development of this thread, and simk good on you for asking a question and testing for yourself at the same time.  Some folks are attacking these theory dilemmas without getting rubber to the road.  It was nice to see you find some sort of answer through your own process. Also I'm drooling over these ottoman style fiberglass bows. If anyone wants to start a thread highlighting some of these 'extreme' profiles I'd be watching