does a longer limb= a faster bow?

[Gen273]

does a longer limb make a bow faster, with everything else being equal?

[Zradix]

no.
Generally a longer limb makes a bow slower.
There are many other variables to consider though.

[tradlongbow]

Zradix is correct.

Darren

[Gen273]

Thanks for the info guys!!

[L82HUNT]

http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=074231

Tests done on 4 BlackWidows of the same weight.  Seems the 60" is the fastest.

[7 Lakes]

Generally the heavier the limb the slower.  Extra length means extra weight.  It's not always a bad thing.  Longer limbs are more forgiving of release errors.  Plus if it comes off the same form the added length will have a tad more reflex (added speed)

i gave a 68" R/D bamboo with a nice radius multi pieced  dark handle to a friend, that is 51@ 28, made by some Ballenger dude.  It is smoother and faster than any 68" longbows of that weight. Design, workmanship and expert tillering can make a long limbed bow shoot like a like short bow and behave like a gentle giant.  He had the bow for a year before he realized that it was 68" long, "Seems short when I handle it in brush and trees" he said.

[Swamp Yankee]

I think the only real answer to that question is "it depends".  Limb design, riser design, arrow weight all interact.  Most of what I have read says longer bows, in general, are actually faster; primarily because of their greater leverage.  My experience is the fastest bows seem to be in the middle; 60" or so.  Side by side, my 58" Red Wing is considerably faster than it's 52" "stacks like a deck of cards" brother; same arrow and weight.

[Deadsmple]

I think it really depends on the design. In my limited experience shooting hill style bows I have found it really depends on how much of the limb is actually working. All of my bows are 68" to 70" ntn and to me it seems the bows with the smaller risers therefore longer working limbs shoot heavier arrows much faster than the shorter limbed bows of the same draw weight. But in turn the shorter limbed bows seem to like the light arrows much better and shoot them much faster.

[ron w]

My friend has a bow, 64" 45#, he broke a limb in an accident and replaced it from the bowyer with a 45# 66" limb. Same arrow, same draw,same string, when he ran it thru a chrony it was 5 fps faster. Now that's just one case, but.........

[hova]

surprised with all the engineers on here that know all about this stuff and have simulators , that we havent figured out 100% if everything is equal , where you start to see differences.

theres lots of variables. thats why we build bows i think. even the glass guys who calculate tapes and whatnot , you learn something every time.


-hov

[Elk whisperer]

I used to think that shorter limbs were faster until I started shooting my 68 in. triple crown. dang fast

[Zradix]

I don't want to start the arguments again here.

There are many..many..topics about this here already.

The search function ( or google advanced search on tradgang.com) will find you more opinions and and facts than you want to read.

Some of the posts above are not comparing apples to apples. Problem is every bow design is different. Some like shorter draws, some longer. Some like heavy arrows, some lighter.
So to go deeper, some apples (even from the same tree) aren't the same.

Gen273 ...If you are looking for a bow and maybe new to this, I would put speed a few lines down the list priorities for my bow.

Find a bow that just "feels right" to you when you shoot it. Not just holding. SHOOTING it.
Don't worry about an arrow not flying well during testing. YOU CAN FIX THAT.

With comfort comes accuracy. With accuracy comes MEAT.

I'd like to find a FAST bow too. I haven't found one ( that I can afford ) that was comfortable for ME.

Find a comfortably shooting bow for YOU, not comfortable for me or your friend, or someone in the gang..YOU.

After that the rest will come together for you.
Good luck!    

[bigbadjon]

I think some of you guys are interchanging bow length with limb length. Many fast bows with longer lengths (for example Martin Hunters, JH Gamemaster Jets, Black Widows) have large risers and relatively short working limbs. I will agree the weight of the limb is the driving factor of speed as Jack Howard and OL Adcock have most notably proven.

[Zradix]

Originally posted by bigbadjon:
I think some of you guys are interchanging bow length with limb length. Many fast bows with longer lengths (for example Martin Hunters, JH Gamemaster Jets, Black Widows) have large risers and relatively short working limbs. I will agree the weight of the limb is the driving factor of speed as Jack Howard and OL Adcock have most notably proven.

yeppers...bow design.
overall length doesn't tell you much.
Just how long a case you need.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

as already mentioned... Maybe!  

[bigbadjon]

To clarify I was not seeking to steal deadsmples answer, I was just trying to give an example of limb length versus bow length. A better example may be taking a 62" Martin Hunter and a 62" Howard Hill. Both are the same length but the riser on the HH maybe 6in where the Martin maybe closer to 16in.

[Sixby]

any bow that shoots a light arrow faster than another bow will also shoot a heavy arrow faster if the two bows are same poundage and the draw lengths are equal.

 . Weight and speed of limb return for x amount of power applied equals speed of projectile. the lighter the moving limb is and all else equal the more force that is applied to the projectile.
Here is a fact.

 When a bow shoots a light arrow faster than another bow shooting that arrow and all else , poundage draw length, string. brace height ect is equal . the slower bow will be much closer to the speed of the faster bow with a heavier arrow. Hoever, It will never , ever be faster. It may get really close but within the margin of error it will always be slower. This is because the slower bow is applying more of its efficiency against the heavy arrow.

 the faster bow already has a very high efficiency then it does not have as much more reserve to apply.
For instance if the fast bow is 90 percent efficient with the light arrow , it only can increase 9 percent to attain 99 percent. on the other hand if the slow bow is only 70 percent efficient with the light arrow it has 29 percent to apply before it reaches 99 percent. In theory it has 19 percent more to gain than the faster more efficient bow.  it may actually come real close when the arrow is heavy enough to use most of that lost energy efficiency. Buttttt realisticaly within any weight of arrow that is reasonable the faster bow will always be the faster bow. God Bless, Steve

[Friend]

Lot of great information presented thus far.

Had wished to acquire 60" limbs for a 64" ACS RC.
ACS said that there would be a noticeable loss in performance and that they would not recommend it.

My suggestion would be to ask the bowyer.

[Bjorn]

My son and I both went from 3pc 62" ACS to 64" and got performance and comfort improvements, bow weight stayed the same.