What do you mean by "Stable" bow

[Zradix]

I hear it all the time...."Bow is forgiving, fast, no hand shock, STABLE...."

Just what does "stable" actually mean?

Thank you

[Wildschwein]

I always figured it meant well balanced.

[FerretWYO]

When I say stable I am saying that a bow is all of those things really. A "stable" bow is easy to be consistent with, does not have more handshock or vibration that the shooter is comfortable with, is balanced, and is comfortable through the entire shot.

Like anything else it is opinion and experianced based and it comes down to what works for you.

[Over&Under]

I agree with Randy, and would add that it would feel like it stayed where it was pointed through the shot and did not feel like it was easily torqued or moved or wobbled once the draw was started, if that makes sense...

[wingnut]

As you shoot many different bows it becomes easy to see that some bows stay on target while other bows have to be held on target.  Usually bows with good center mass weight and good design are the ones that stay on target by themselves.

To me that is stable.

Mike

[Tater 2]

Randy, Jake and Mike are spot on with what I think about in a "Stable Bow".

                 

[lpcjon2]

Think of it as a relationship.if your in love all things are just perfect and comfortable.thats what a stable bow is "in love".

[LongStick64]

Simple, it's the bow that when you are at anchor, it points easily at your mark.

[KentuckyTJ]

When I use the word stable I mean that even though my release or form isn't perfect the bow always seems to hit the mark. I have a few bow's I can turn totally sideways and they still shoot a perfect flying arrow. I think we are all saying the same thing.

I have one bow that I could not part with that does not seem to be affected by release, angles, has virtually no jump on release, stays on target without trying when shot, is fast for its style length and draw, it seems to shoot itself at my draw and can shoot a wide variety of spines.  It is a Hill style longbow. The result is the most accurate longbow I have ever seen and I tillered it myself to boot. The most stable recurve I have ever shot was a Jack Howard, shoot one and you will understand stability.

[Bill Carlsen]

Back in the day (say the 1950's or so) bows were frequently referred to as "sensitive" or "stable" (stable also meant "forgiving"). A sensitive bow was a bow that simply amplified your shooting/form errors making your misses more off target than a stable bow which was more forgiving of shooter error. That was Howard Hill's biggest complaint about recurves and his reason for not shooting them.....they were not stable enough for him to shoot accurately or so he said. Both recurves and longbows have come a long way since he said that.

[Orion]

To add a little detail, longer bows are usually more stable than shorter bows because the more acute string angle on shorter bows amplifies form errors.  For example, unequal finger tension/pressure/placement on the string will pull one limb tip a little further than the other.  Likewise, torquing the bow  will tend to pull the limbs out of alignment.  This happens to both short and long bows, of course, but the effect is greater on the shorter limbs. Limb width and thickness also affects stability.  A narrow, thick cored longbow is more difficult to pull out of alignment than a thin cored, wide recurve limb.  A number of other design features also contribute to a bow's stability or lack of it, for example amount of limb reflex/deflex and placement of the bow limb butts on the riser behind or in front of the grip pivot point, etc.  Riser shape (fit) and mass (heavier is usually better) also affect stability.  In short, stability has to do with shot repeatability and consistency.  A stable bow will accommodate little errors in form, as others have already noted, and still shoot where one aims.

[RocketDog]

I have talked to some well known bowyers about stability.  Generally, they figure a bow with more mass weight in the riser is more stable.  As an example, a phenolic riser would be considered more stable than a wood riser because it is heavier.    It makes sense that a heavier riser will be less affected by little form wobbles.  But the sum of the parts makes the whole bow stable or not, like Orion said.

[Bill Carlsen]

CB:  I agree with you about mass weight but limb design and materials have a lot to do with it.

[Sid]

Stability has many facets when talking bows. The first and easiest to register is overall bow geometry. Bows with properly deflexed handles/geometry increase the distance between the push point on the grip and the combined centre of gravity of the entire bow, the greater this distance is and the heavier the mass of the bow then the greater the rotational mass of the bow and the harder it is to torque the bow from a bad bow hand position. Reflexed risers/ geometry place the push point on the grip back into the bow and so closer to the C of G and so easier to spin and more sensitive to bow hand torque.

The stabilisers on FITA bows are designed to increase the rotational mass with out making the overall mass of the bow over heavy and so bow geometry and weight are vital here and designed for maximum stability. Deflexed risers and external stabilisers to increase the rotational mass in a big way

The way the limbs are designed can be forgiving or sensitive to the archers shooting technique or should I say lack of it. LOL

For example - When you release the string the string rips your fingers out of its way and reacts to the resistance it meets as it springs clear. The string jumps left from the release, the bow riser has not moved (RH archer). This is the very beginning of paradox the fishtailing of the arrow as it leaves the bow.

Now if the limb tips are sensitive, easily deflected left or right  then the string will go farther to the left as it pulls the limb tips accross, out of alignment compared to a limb that has greater lateral limb tip resistance.  And so with any limb a clean crisp release will give you a central impact on the target and a poor release will increase the reaction and push the string farther left and so you get arrow left right dispersal at the target. A laterally resistant limb will hold these two reactions to a less left reaction a narrower band of string and arrow nock movement and so groups at the target will be less spread left and right. The greater the limb’s lateral resistance, the greater the effect to control paradox. Since with this limb type the amount of Yaw from the arrow is reduced then the arrow speed variation is also less from a good and poor release and some minor improvements in vertical dispersal of arrows at the target will also be apparent.

Limbs that are vertically stable and this can be measured by gripping the string and pushing it up and down in the same line of the bow. The limbs that are more resistant to up and down movement will defend better top finger and bottom finger  pressure variations from the release hand and reduce the porpoising  effect of the arrow on its way to the target from a good even finger pressure to a heavy top or bottom finger pressure.  Those of you with ILF risers compare this form of vertical stability. Wind your limbs fully out and fully in, the vertical stability drops considerably fully wound in compared to fully out and low stability here affects high and low spread of arrows at the target assuming that you have a release problem of the type indicated.  On vertical stability this is less evident for short hunting bows but easily seen on a long target bows.

Now for those rare individuals with near perfect form these issues are less of problem as consisteancy solves these issues a hootershooter does not even register the above as issues but they are real and a slow hit is infinately better than a fast miss but modern technology and materials allows us to have both speed and stability but not all bows have both.  Speed is the first thing that every one asks about but stability  and a good natured performance is parramount.

Sorry this was much longer than I intended but stability is a big topic and not easily described in a few words

[Irish]

Sid,  

[amar911]

Sid said it best. No great surprise, considering his background.

Allan

[Zradix]

Lots of GREAT INFO here!!!
Thank you all

[joevan125]

What Randy Jake and Mike said. My PSA X sits in my hand after the shot and is really stable.

[Hud]

Personally, I have always found a traditional longbow with string follow (or straight limbs) to be the most stable. Obviously, the bow is light, with very little physical weight. Then a longbow with a little backset, 1/2 to 3/4" would be next. For me, a R&D longbow with mild curve is more stable than a shorter bow of the same design. What it means to me is the bow is easier to shoot because it does not exaggerate little shooting errors when they happen. Since my form is pretty good and I don't have to fight any shooting demons, it is easier for me to feel differences in the bows I shoot. If I find a bow that doesn't shoot the way I want, I'll get rid of it.