Shorter limbs=faster??

[David Yukon]

I was wondering if you shoot shorter limbs of the same #, on the same riser, let say 58" and 60", would the 58" send a faster arrow(same arrow of cours)? Would the longer limbs make for a quiter bow?
I thought i knew about tradgear, since i shot one for so many years...
Glad I found this place!

[Zradix]

From what I've heard the answer is a definitive MAYBE.

Same bow in all respects just shorter or longer the shorter will tend to be faster is what I've heard.

Quieter... don't know

[Bjorn]

Au contraire; the longer limbs are said to store more energy and all other things being equal are said to be faster. The difference has not been noticeable in my experience. No two limbs will be of the exact same # anyway.

[Sixby]

Actually its too broad a statement. You need storage but also need to move the leas amount of mass possible as fast as possible. There are way too many variables. Some of the very fastest bows are 64 in d and r longbows built correctly. thats not exactly a short limb. Aerodynamics of the limb even enter into the equasion if you are building a bow and trying to milk speed out of it which is what this subject is. God bless you and have a wonderful day. Steve

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Longer limbs i beleive will store more energy

[Crash]

Blacky did a test on a Black Widow PSAX with the 4 different length limbs and tried to adjust for the minor differences in poundage.  The 60" was the fastest of the 4 limbs which ranged from 56" to 62".  The difference was only a couple feet per second.

[Cherokee Scout]

I have an A&H take down with 62" and 58" limbs of the same poundage.
I have shot them both thryu a chronograph, the longer limbs are about 7-8' faster.

[chopx2]

I think people get confused because although the longer limbs of identical design propel the arrow faster because they store AND transfer more energy to the arrow in units, the shorter limbs are actually more efficient at transferring their stored energy in terms of % of energy transferred.

Typically the difference is very small. For example the longer limb might get you 83.7% efficent transfer (more energy is used to move the heavier limbs) the shorter limb might transfer 83.9%  of its energy. So if the longer limbs store 100 units of energy 83.7 units are transferred to the arrow. The second shorter limbs storing only 99 units of energy will transfer 83.1 units resulting in a more efficient transfer, but slower arrow...


yeah I'm a wannabe technogeek.

[Swamp Yankee]

I'm no engineer, but it seems to me it would depend as much on arrow weight as anything else.  I'd suspect shorter limbs might be most efficient with light arrows, and longer limbs with heavier arrows?
Personally, short limbs help in heavy brush, but longer limbs are smoother (more comfortable) and more stable to shoot; and that's what matters.  The speed differences aren't significant enough to be of any concern to me.

[chopx2]

One caveat to my previous post. This assumes that to get the shorter length the limbs are scaled down. If you achieve the shorter length by shortening the riser and the limbs stay the same, I am not sure how it would impact arrow speed and efficiency.

[David Yukon]

Thank you guys it does help! So longer limbs should also be smoother to draw, at my 29+ draw lenght!?!

[Sixby]

David , I build a takedown using exactly the same limb on different length risers. If the limb pads are milled at the proper angles and all else is equal there is no difference in performance that I have ever detected within the margin of error. god bless you and have a great day. Steve

[Bowwild]

Interesting discussion. My take away from this is good news, the differences are so slight I don't need to worry about. So, that means I can select the bow that feels and wields best.

[DennyK]

Like the Black Widow catalog states when ordering a bow: You can opt for the shorter limb with is slightly more maneauverable or for the longer limb which is slightly more comfortable. Meaning, performance difference isn't really a concern.

[njloco]

Unless he is referring to a recurve ?, I don't know enough about archery to make that call.

[David Yukon]

I am refering to a recurve!?!