thinking of switching from recurve to longbow

[stick flipper]

I am currently shooting a 68#@31" recurve. my recurve is 64" long and the limbs do not stack at all at my draw. I am interested in 2 used bows. One is a 70#@28 66" howard hill big five and the other is a 78#@28 66" hill style bow. I have shot a few longbows before and I remember my draw length was shooter due to the straight grip. I would guess I will be down to a 29.5-30" draw. Do you think a 66" longbow is too short for my draw?

thank you, chris

[robslifts]

no sir should be fine with your draw length

you might not like the straight grip right away but will like it later probably
jmo

[whitebuffalo]

Going from a recurve to a Hill style bow is going to be difficult,, I would sugest somthin with a bit more lacation grip to start with,,Just my two cents,,I had just sold three of my curves to buy a nice longbow,,It has a nice locator grip and is only 56",,I feel right at home with the grip and length and love the bows performance,,JB

[Frank V]

Chris, don't be afraid of a longbow. I made the transition several years ago & it only took a week & I was shooting the longbow as well as my recurve. The Howard Hill longbow is forgiving I went from a 29-1/2" draw on my recurve to a 28" draw on my longbow. Howard Hill said he gripped the longbow as you would pick up a heavy suitcase. That puts the knuckle of my shooting hand thumb on the midline of the bow not in the web of my hand. Bob Burton showed me this grip a couple years ago & it really is comfortable. Try the longbow you will like it. Good luck. Frank  

[Orion]

If you're shooting a high wrist recurve now, you will lose some draw length in going to a Hill, but probably not more than an inch, which still leaves you at 30 inches draw.  In a Hill, I think you would be better off with a 68- or better yet 70-inch bow with that draw length.  I shoot 66 and 68-inch Hills with my 28-inch draw length.  Also shot a few light draw weight 64-inch bows, and they still felt comfortable, but I don't think I'd want to shoot a 64-inch heavyweight.

A 66-inch hybrid might work out OK.  Because of the shape of the limbs, the limb tips don't move together as quickly as a straight limbed bow when they are drawn.  That means that you can draw a shorter hybrid bow farther before increasing the string angle seriously enough to cause finger pinch.

I recommend trying before buying if you can.  Good luck.