Physical weight of Bow

[KodiakBob]

How much does the physical weight of the bow matter in shooting. Recently I have been shooting an old "1969" Herters Sitka, it has a very large riser, severely recurved limbs, It is the sweetest shooter. Maybe the years of shooting compounds makes my body like the weight of this bow? Maybe because I am shooting woodies?

[Orion]

Heavy physical weight helps steady the bow and reduce hand shock.  Don't think you'll get much argument that more weight in the riser makes for a more pleasant bow to shoot.  But, there are always tradeoffs.  It won't be as pleasant to carry hunting 10 miles a day.  

Type of arrow material really doesn't have much to do with it, but the weight of the arrows does.  The heavier the arrows, the more of the bow's energy they capture, also reducing hand shock and quieting the bow in the process.

A lot of folks are discovering that many of the bows made in the 50s and 60s are darn fine shooters, and they're relatively inexpensive as well.  Have fun.

[poekoelan]

It is my belief that physical mass near the center makes for a very forgiving, easy to shoot accurately bow. Just my opinion. I agree with Orion that it wont be pleasant to carry. But compound shooters do it all the time.

[Van/TX]

That's why they invented stabilizers before most of us wuz born  :D  ...Van

[Terry Green]

I gotta weigh in here......

I have a few R/D longbows that don't have any hand shock....yeah, I know what hand shock is, but I've got a few that have no more than a heavy weight risered recurve.

I think hand shock is caused by design and off tiller....not totally remedied by just adding weight.

The longbows I speak of are pretty dead in the hand let me tell ya.

Also, a light mass weight bow will 'dial in' your form (alignment).......which is a good thing.

Remember, HH, LaClair, Ferguson, all trick shoot/shot with low mass weight risered longbows very well.

Just my 2 cents.

[GroundHunter]

I agree with Terry, and happen to prefer very light mass-weight bows. My fav is my HH Welsey Special at 19 oz. It's a 70# draw, feather-light,  whisper-quiet and I shoot it more accurately than any of my other bows.

I have a wonderful Hummingbird TD that is heavy. Very nice, accurate bow, but, it's noisy and heavy.  

Hummingbird has no handshock. The HH Wesley Special has no handshock at all if I hold it right. Hold it wrong and it kicks like a mule. Hold it right, and you can hit a bottlecap at 20 yards, easy.

So, it's up to you what you like and shoot best.

[Problem Child]

My one piece Pronghorn weighs in at about 1.25 lbs and has no handshock and is very quiet.