Black Widow Noise

[doug77]

Try an SBD string.

doug77

[DennyK]

Ross, what is your brace height and nocking point height?

[joekeith]

I've had real good results with the sticktamers.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

[RUSTY1]

Also consider stik tamers. I have them on mine. The are not the greatest looking things but they do a good job of helping quiet things down a bit and it adds some protection while hanging on my bow holder in the treestand. If you don't like them they are easy to take off. Pretty easy to put on also.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Keep in mind, quiet is subjective...

I've been to trad gatherings hearing guys brag on how quiet their Widow is.  When I hear their bow go off, I wonder about how many years they had to have worked in a foundery with no ear protection.

I've never heard a quiet Black Widow.  Ever. And I've been around a ton.  But...they just weren't quiet by MY standards.  The guy shooting them thought they were quiet as a mouse fart.  

Everyone thinks their own Widow is the quietest and everyone thinks their own kid is the cutest.

[GMASIUK]

Vanilla Gorilla is correct, a recurve is not as quiet as a hill type bow. They are two very different animals. It really depends what you used to shooting. Sounds are subjective to the listener. Lots of critters fall to widows every year just take a look at the widow wall photo gallery.

[stabow]

If you were a lefty I bet I could find one in my collection  to trade you that is quiet......stabow

[Friend]

Be sure to get in touch with Pierre of SBD.

My PCH has absolutley no sound issues.

Note: I tried many different options and she remained far too loud for my taste until I turned to Pierre.

BW's are wonderful bows and sometimes we have to go the extra mile to satisfy I personal requierments.

It is quite likely that you could utilize a 6 strand SBD.

[Yellow Dog]

Been there done that. The only solution IMHO is a SBD 8 strand string with Navaho Wool silencers from Centaur Archery. I had a PMA that drove me crazy until I put that combo on it, went from a loud pop to a silent thump. It's all I shoot on all of my bows now and the Widows are now as silent as the rest.

[Overspined]

Send it in for BW  to fix. They should stand behind it or at least tell you what needs to be done and the cost.

[LBR]

I've quietened a few, and didn't have to go to extremes.

I agree "quiet" is subjective...I shoot primarily longbows and selfbows, so I think I have an idea of "quiet".

The solution I've found is simple.  Do the obvious tuning.  The best string I've used on one is a 12 strand Dynaflight '97 with the loops padded to 18 with dacron.  Pretty simple, and the difference was amazing.  

Add a set of cat whiskers, tune them (you can tune the silencers like anything else, by moving them up or down the string), and the bow should easily be hunting quiet.  Not longbow or selfbow quiet, but much quieter--no hoops to jump through.

One other thing that some folks don't think about is nock fit.  A tight nock can be noisy--very noisy in some cases.

Chad

[Gordon Jabben]

Before you give up on the bow, see if someone will make you a 12 strand D 10 string with 16 strands in the loops.  I was at a shoot the other day and noticed one of the guys shooting a Widow that was very quiet.  I mentioned it, and he said it was all in the string and was nice enough to take my name and address and said he would make me a new string for my Widow bow.  It came in the mail today with cat wiskers deviding the string in thirds.  I can't believe how silent the bow is now.

[MCNSC]

Try lowering the brace height. I have one that was loud, kept raising the brace height because that is supposed to make recurves shoot quieter but it didn't work. Went lower with the brace height and it got much quieter.

[Widow's Son]

I have been using my vintage Bear recurves as a comparision on how quiet I want my BW to be. I'm going to reglue the limb studs since they were a little loose when I checked and replace the O rings. I'm also going to make a couple of new strings, one FF and another of dacron, and compair the two. To be honest I've been down this same road ten years ago and had no luck. The only "new" thing that I haven't tried is the stick tammers. I also want to aid some weight to my arrows to see if that helps. Thank you guys for all your suggestions and help. To be honest I'll probably just end up getting a new bow. If ya'll can offer any suggestions on a recurve that is both smooth and quiet be sure and let me know. My vintage Bear Kodiak will most likely be my hunting bow this year barring any miracles with the BW. The Kodiak isn't as smooth as the BW but it is whisper quiet even with the "noisy" spring arm quiver.

Once again, Thanks
You guys are great.
Ross

[bluej]

I had the same problem with the psa 11 I bought from black widow, got tired of trying all of the things to make it quiet, sold it, shouldn't have to go through all that with a bow that cost that much.

[Dave Lay]

i'm sure your vintage Bears are shooting dacron, that alone will make a diffrence, I am of the opinion the earlier widows were a little louder than the later ones with the wider limbs, But as mentioned several times try a SBD string they do make a diffrence, My PSA is huntin quiet with a d97 string and tuned properly and I am a quiet freak with a hunting bow. a little brace variation makes a big diffrence, I can tell by sound when a new string has stretched..

[Jim Wright]

I have personally shot at least 8 or 10 black widow recurves ahd have been around many, many others being shot by fellow competitors at 3d shoots. They are practically all noisy and that is just a fact.  Black Widow owners are very loyal and mostly rave about how well they shoot. The guys in Nixa, Missouri are doubtless a great bunch as you never hear anything but positives about customer service. That said, they are in a large majority and in a word, noisy!

[Widow's Son]

You said it bluej and that's the truth. I don't mind paying for quality but surely there's a bow out there that is smooth, reasonably fast, and quiet. This ordeal with the BW has gotten ridiculous. I don't mind tweeking my equipment but give me a break.

[archeryx]

Originally posted by Widow's Son:
 The bow was noisy from day one. I almost sent it back the week it was delivered. ... I've been very disappointed in this bow.

What kept you from sending it back if it was that noisy when it was new?