Should a dry fire happen..

[lt-m-grow]

Chuck...so am I but a fun noodle on a Friday.  Thanks Daniel!

[monterey]

I had a dry fire recently due to loose nock fit.  Five of ten strands of an endless loop string broke between the serving and lower limbs tip.  No damage to the bow.  So, I voted no break but really don't know which event would be least likely to result in damage.

[ChuckC]

Monterey... did they break where you might expect long term wear (under the nock impact area) or elsewhere ?  Could you tell ?

[BWallace10327]

I have had a few broken nocks resulting in something like a dry fire.  Once, the string broke under the limb tip and I ended up with a pretty bad crack in my riser  The string wasn't that old, but the grooves had always been a little sharper than I liked.  Nonetheless, I felt bad as I had the bow for a long time.

[mj seratt]

I had one dry fire due to a nock breaking, and I had a string break at full draw.  Based on the excitement these caused, I voted for the string to stay intact.  Both of these were with the same bow, a 66 lb. recurve.  When the string broke, something, maybe the brass nock point, put a small ding in the riser, and the broken string whipped my arm pretty good.

[damascusdave]

I want to never have to find out. Never had a dry fire and never intend to.

DDave

[hawkeye n pa]

I've seen / had my fair share of dry fires over the last 50 years.  Most resulted in no damage, but would say a least a dozen bows have been ruined by this.  Most of the bows from lesser brand names and used.  With  that said, one has no idea of the bow history.  Has it been dry fired previously?  Stored in a hot car, or a attic?  As far as string breakage have had that also, but only on worn strings.  I shoot a lot and replace the string yearly if not sooner.

[Shane H]

Intact for sure, I've had a few and the one that did damage the string broke and my ILF limbs landed between me and target.

[The Whittler]

I have been shooing for about 34-35 years with about 30 years with a stick bow and have never had a dry fire. I check my arrows all the time while shooting and not shooting, I also check my bows.

It just takes a few minutes and it can make a difference.

[monterey]

Originally posted by ChuckC:
Monterey... did they break where you might expect long term wear (under the nock impact area) or elsewhere ?  Could you tell ?

One strand broke at the bottom of the serving and the rest broke midway between the bottom of the serving and the loop.

[myshootinstinks]

Unless the string is in terrible shape I wouldn't expect it to break.  I've had 3-4 dry-fires w/ both recurves and LBs without consequence.
    I've seen where guys have dry-fired their compounds and they did not fare so well.  A lot more stress on those wheelie bows.

[bowcrazybrad]

I was not as lucky as some here. A couple years ago I had a dry fire from a broken nock on a woodie. I brought the bow in the house to look it over. I pulled it back to just about my anchor and the handle broke in half at the throat in the grip. My chest was black and blue and very sore but it could of been much worse. The bowyer told me that he had only had 3 riser failures since 93 and it was all the same batch of diamondwood. Had a string on a one piece Dale Dye break in half at the nock. Scared the heck out of me but that bow is still going strong.

I have about a 26" draw plus a bit.  A  dry fire for me with a longbow is not as big a deal as a dry fire for someone with a 31" draw on a high performance recurve.
Even though I have a handful of bow, the grip pressure is fairly light at full draw.  when I was using Stotler nocks with my first fast flight strings, I had a couple and the bow flew out of my hand both times with no damage other than dirt in the string grove.

[MnFn]

I have had a few dry fires with different bows.  No harm done to any of them.  Every single one was due to sloppy nock fit.  I had thinned the nock to the point where they popped off the string if you tapped the nock.  However, after some shooting the nock becomes too loose.  

I am going to have to leave a little tighter, I guess.

The only broken string I have seen was when I was about  9 or ten.  I was watching my dad shoot his 56# recurve. The string broke snapped be across my face.  Man,  that stung.