Osage longbow vs modern laminated wood/glass longbow

[Mo_coon-catcher]

I havnt chronographed any glass bows but I have quite a few wood bows. With a well made straight limb bow pulled to 27” I see around 165fps quite often. And if the bow feels quick but not fast it’ll generally be around 150-155fps. A R/D or recurve I will see in the mid to upper 170s with some creeping into the 180s, if they limbs weren’t over stressed in the process of tillering. Draw length also makes a big difference. With the same bow and same arrows I’ll see 10fps difference for every 1” over or under drawn. Essentially 180s is a good number to see with a 28” draw, 170s with 27” draw, 160s with 26”. It also seems like more extreme designs also allow you to either get to the next tier of speed or maintain the speed in a shorter more compact design.

But for a good baseline number, I’ve seen a lot of average selfbows shoot around 150 fps.

Does all that make any sense?

Kyle

[Beck955]

Thanks Kyle - it does seem like the performance on a top notch self bow rivals the wood/glass. My R/D 65" glass/wood LB launches a 510 grain arrow about 180. Sounds like I can make a self bow without loosing too much zip.