Bow Design Considerations for Lighter Draw Weights?

[mmattockx]

Like Stic, I have somewhat gimpy shoulders that will not tolerate much in the way of draw weight if I want to shoot more than a few arrows. For me this means 35-40lb @ 28" and no more.

What I want to know is what kind of design choices you make for those lower draw weights to keep the speed up with 8-10gpp arrows? Do you go with a recurve design (working recurves or static?) or switch to an R/D style or something else? This is just for casual target/field shooting, no hunting or anything otherwise special. I would prefer something with a smooth draw, little hand shock, high string tension at brace and plenty of early draw weight.


Thanks,
Mark

[Crooked Stic]

How you know my shoulders are gimpy
And 35_40 gonna be smooth. I would say an 3 piece R/D with a short as possible working limb at you draw length and heavy riser wood. Ur gonna get a multitude of answers here.

[Kirkll]

The only way you are going to get higher performance out of a low draw weight like 35-40# is by keepin* your limbs as narrow as possible and still maintain stability, and use thin glass, or carbon and keep your core woods ultra light.

Different limb shapes, with different taper rates, and lengths will vary a lot form one bow design to the next in performance. The preload on the limbs at brace height, limb pad angles, and the length of the working portion of the limbs alone can make a huge difference. 

I think I would recommend a hybrid long bow with deep core very skinny limbs, and .030 glass. Or possibly uni carbon back / .030 glass belly for best performance.

It’s a tough one to pull off sucsessfully once you drop to 35- 40#…. Good luck.