i talked to several of the fellas here on tg, via the phone. the general consensus is, i got a hold of some bad hickory. i talked to Batman, he also has some of the hickory. i told him of my failures with this batch, he said he was gonna check his with a moisture meter. he also told me about some of the hickory bows he has built in the past, bad hinges , severe set, they have shot like crap but have never exploded like what has happened to me. we both agreed that the hickory i have left should be saved for the fire pit, oh well. i did learn alot from this, even though i didnt make a shooter. rv