Old Recurve Questions...Strings & Brace Height

[Custer]

After a 40 year hiatus, I pulled out two of my old bows from the closet and took them up for new strings.

Bow #1 is a 1964 (I think) Lord Mercury, 66", 37# @28". The string with it, which is 40 years old measured out at about 59.5"...maybe a tad of stretching over the years. The guy at the shop, without seeing the string was going to make a string about 3-4" shorter than the bow.  I did not measure the brace height with the old string but after some reading, I was wondering what I should actually have in string length. I was able to find on the net that the suggested brace height was in the range of 7.5-8.25.

I wonder if in the old days brace heights were longer than today and that could account for the shorter string from the 1960s?

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

(Some of this is slowly coming back to me but that being said, what I knew as a kid was not at a particularly high level).

[Bill Carlsen]

Don't really know what to tell you about string length as some bows seem to like a string 3" shorter and some 4" shorter. However, in all my years of shooting bows which dates back to the early 50's I have always liked how my bows shot with a brace height of between 7.25 and 7.50 inches. The Lord Mercury is a target bow so it may like a brace height a bit higher. That is what has worked best for me but others with more knowledge may be able to offer you better advice. I would also advise you to have your strings made with B-50 and not the modern  fast-flite type material as they may damage the bows.

[Custer]

Thanks Bill. I have only been a target shooter and that was the purpose for all my bows. Perhaps that was my Dad's thinking back then as I don't think I would have been fully up on such tech.

Your advice on the string material is dead on. Thanks.

I never even heard of that new material until I talking to the guy at the shop a couple days ago and his advice was the same as yours.

[Bill Carlsen]

Ernie: You just have to be careful with older bows. The newer strings are tough on them as they don't stretch as much as B-50. Those old Lord Mercurys were nice bows. Good luck with it.

[Dave Worden]

If your bow is marked AMO 66", then your string should be 63" long.  The AMO length is determined by the bowyer by adding 3" to the length of the string which properly braces the bow.

[Custer]

The Lord Mercury is marked 66" and the string, which may be original or an aftermarket from that era (1964ish) measures out at 59 1/2 or maybe 60".

I don't know why. Maybe my Dad bought something that was close but not quite right or it was something to do with that era???

I also have a Red Wing Hunter from the same period. 25#. My Dad ordered it for me because I was too short to shoot the longer bows but not strong enough to use hunting weights, especially since we were target shooters, not hunters.

That bow is 58" and that string measures out at about 51 1/2".  Again, I don't know if that is the original string or a period after market.

There are a few more vintage bows but they are at my Dad's house. I will have to check them out at some point and see what they are all about.

I know there is a Lord Sovereign, a Lady Sovereign and some lefty bow that my kid brother used but I can not recall make. He was not very avid.

Everything I have is from that early-mid 1960s period when our family was into this hobby.

My Dad even became a Ben Pearson dealer for a couple of years so we could buy equipment at a good cost.

[Cottonwood]

Recurve brace height  http://world-of-archery.com/Recurve/Recurve_Brace_height.htm