RECURVE VS LONGBOW

[fred w]

CAME BACK TO ARCHERY FROM A LONG TIME BACK, MY PAL GAVE ME A WHEEL BOW TO USE, BEEN HAVIN' A GREAT TIME SHOOTING IT, BUT THE HARDWARE ATTACHED , AND SEEMINGLY NEEDED I FIND REAL FUSSY SO TO SPEAK.  HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT THE OLD SCHOOL STUFF, I LIKE SIMPLE. WHATS THE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LB'S AND RECURVES.? LIKE WGT'S, EASE OF DRAW, POWER, SPEED, DISTANCE. ETC. ETC . ETC.  THANKS, (NEW TO IT, MAYBE ACADEMIC FOR MOST, BASIC FOR ME.)

[hawgslayer]

 
Say fred w,
Go to outdoorchannel.com ( versus country ) and then click on hosts. Click TRED BARTA and you'll find him at 3 rivers archery and you'll get some first hand info on the difference. Once you've click on Tred, look for LONG BOW vs RECURVE BOW and you'll get some helpfull info.
H/S..........................  

[Dave K]

I must need my glasses adjusted. I went to the site and could not find "hosts". Hmmmmmm

[hawgslayer]

 

Sorry buddy!!!!! Try versuscountry.com.....Once your there click on hosts. Scroll down until you finD tred and click on him. Look for the long bow vs recurve.

Hawgslayer...........  

[JRY309]

Recurve or longbow? For me it is a personal choice,I prefer longbows.Recurves are usally cut past center on their riser and for some are easier to shoot for their mass weight.Except for 50's style recurves with more of a longbow riser.A longbow's riser is usally cut off center or some are cut to center.Arrow tune seems to be alitttle more critical to a longbow with the riser cut off center.I think longbows are alittle quieter then recurves,but you can quiet a recurve to be very quiet also.A recurve is generally faster then a longbow,but a longbow is fast enough for me.For me I just never really cared for a recurve type grip,I much prefer a longbow grip whether it is straight,dish or mild locator.For me it comes down to a personal choice.If you can shoot both and see which one you like,you may like them both.

[fred w]

thanks to all for takin' the time to respond. i'll check it out, and definitely find a couple to shoot see first hand etc.

[strcpy]

I'll also agree with JRY there - score wise I have never really seen much difference in mine.

I will usually run one of our traditional league nights as a "swap bow" night where we all just randomly pass around bows before the night starts, have about 15-20 minutes of practice time (have to learn where the "new" bow shoots compared to our old faithful), and then we shoot our scores.

Everyone's scores across the board drop by pretty much the same amount. The recurve guys do not suddenly find themselves not able to hit a barn door and the longbow guys do not suddenly find themselves driving tacks. For people new to doing this it is always amusing as there is usually some period of time where they say "Were I shooting a recurve I would beat all you guys" - turns out they were not correct and everyone there but them knew what was coming up at some point.

The only people who really see a benefit/loss are if any one (and other than in playing around it hasn't happened, I do not know what I will do if it shows up in leagues) goes from primitive to modern. But then I try and randomize the process (and being a math/computer science academic weenie I can do that with a fairly high degree of statistical randomness) so I sorta feel complaints are not justified (and even in other venues I usually give the complainers what they want - they still do as bad as everyone else and then get made fun of, most learn to just go with it).

There are, however a few technical differences. First (and foremost in my mind) is that recurves will generally propel an arrow a greater speed than a longbow will at a given poundage/draw. For unmarked yardage games and hunting this is a distinct advantage. For known yardages this isn't nearly as important.

Bows also tend to "stack" based on the string angle from the limbs. This means that a recurve can be shorter than a longbow for a given draw length and still not stack. This tends to called "smooth" in the draw - recurves have a definite advantage there. For some situations this is useful (say in a tree stand or shooting from the back of a horse in a battle).

Given that, I would say the main difference is feel. One can easily get either to fit the shooter, you will just have to try both and see. I like both of them about equally well, I got a great deal on a Sky Hawk recurve so I ended up a recurve shooter. I know some that swear by a longbow and others that swear by a recurve (and many that always figure the person who beats them wouldn't have if they were shooting different equipment).

That being said at the near perfect human levels recurves are slightly more forgiving and those scores tend to be higher. However outside of top end of the national meets one will not notice the difference (and even then the recurves only have a slight advantage - it's not uncommon at all for the longbow division to beat the recurve).

[Soilarch]

For JYR and strcpy, as well as others:

Were do the "newer" longbows with a heavy Reflex/Deflex designs fit in the mix?  I've been under the impression that longbows "tend" to do better with high gr/# arrows and that recurves "tend" to excel in everything else....but that the newer reflex/deflex designs behaved much more like a recurve in regards to cast and canceled any performance differences that used to be between the two.

Of course, I've also come across the idea that a more efficient bow at 7gr/# will always be more efficient at 12 and 15gr/#.  I must confess this just makes sense to me.

[O.L. Adcock]

Interesting to see perceptions and opinions. Keep in mind things like mass weight, centershot, performance, ect...Are qualities someone that puts their pants on one leg at a time "built" into the bow no matter what kind of bow it is. Arrows have no clue what kind of bow they came out of. "Longbows" built like Olympic recurves would have all of the same qualities and some qualities would be even better....O.L.

[strcpy]

Were do the "newer" longbows with a heavy Reflex/Deflex designs fit in the mix?  I've been under the impression that longbows "tend" to do better with high gr/# arrows and that recurves "tend" to excel in everything else....but that the newer reflex/deflex designs behaved much more like a recurve in regards to cast and canceled any performance differences that used to be between the two.

I'll mostly agree with OL here.

IMO the only real difference is the angle the string comes off the limbs. This is what causes "stack". Once the limbs hit, or come close, to the string coming 90 degrees off the limbs the energy you are applying to the string is no longer building energy in the limbs (otherwise known as "stack).

Recurves take a HUGE amount of draw to get there, longbows do not. The big thing this buys is that one can use a MUCH shorter bow to achieve a given "smoothness" of draw and you, therefore, have lighter limbs and more speed. Other than that the things listed (like centershot) are not style specific - there are companies that are now producing ILF long bow limbs.

I can easily take a W&W Inno (around a 1000 US dollar riser that is most definitely center shot) and have it be a longbow by any definition (though not traditional or primitive). There is nothing to say we can not have said bow (sights, stabs, and other exotic material like foam core limbs) with longbow limbs too. Were I too have enough money to play around with it I would, but alas I do not.

The so called "hybrids" that you ask are just bows that the limb configurations are such that they are not clearly one or the other. The real question is what do you enjoy shooting. The next question is what do the rules of the venue you wish to shoot allow. They stack less and have more speed compared to similar configured long bows. I just decided what I liked to shoot and looked at what venues I could shoot in - if it was a minor adjustment I simply followed it (say screw in points over nibbs), but they were always something I just didn't really care much about.

[wvtradbow]

I found out this year after going through some shoulder problems and the pain so was great in my bow arm that I thought my shooting days were over, switching to a longbow and different grip,I was almost pain free when shooting.I never thought that a high wrist grip verses a locator style grip hits your shoulder muscles different.I'm no doctor or physologist but that was the difference for me.

[Terry Green]

Moving to PowWow...

[d. ward]

Thanks Terry and Thank you O.L. well said.The arrows I use have no idea what type bow they were shot from.And in most cases have no idea where there going eather.My body has no idea of the type bow and don't care.We looking at the target...But choose something you like to shoot.Try both..I shoot long bows recurves and some I'am not sure what you would call them.But its like asking which grand child I like best.I would not answer that one even if I could....try both and let use know what you think....bowdoc

[3Under]

'Shoot both types including hybrids (sp?).I guess my choice comes down to laziness! I won't string up a recurve without a bow stringer but don't have a problem stringing up longbows and hybrids without one. So I lean toward the longbows. During hunting season I usually leave what ever I'm hunting with strung so I guess it really doesn't matter.
 
My current favorites are a Wes Wallace Royal LB and a MOAB(hybrid)

Try 'em both. Better yet, get one of each if you can swing it!

[blueline]

Fred get one of each and you will be set!!! There are some great trad gangers up your way try to get together with a few and shoot a few different bows to see what you like best.

Blueline

[cahaba]

For me I like D style longbows. I can pick one up and shoot accurately even after a long layoff. i have not been able to practice at all this year due to a shoulder injury. Finally got to hunt yesterday and drilled a squirrel at 15 yards. I cant do this with a recurve or R/D style longbow. but like I said "For me" Some people can shoot recurves that way. I guess it depends on the individual. Try a D style longbow. You might like em.

[heydeerman]

My favorite bow is a 50's style recurve. I have had a few and my new favorite is  ablack Widow PSR X osage. One of the finest bows I have ever shot.

50's style give you the best of both worlds. Longbow grip with recurve limbs.

[bushytail]

It`s a bit late now for the most part,but traditional shoots are a good place to try out differant bows.And remember,you don`t have to spend a $1,000.00 or more on one bow to have a good shootin bow.