Bow weight as marked....is it right?

[ron w]

I was just wondering if anybody has ordered a bow or limbs and it has arrived heavy or lighter than marked. If so, is this normal and what kind of tolerance is acceptable. I have heard the Hill are famous for being a few pounds heavy....is it true? Please give me your thoughts.......thanks in advance!!      ron w

[KentuckyTJ]

I've had new bows off by 4 pounds (on my scale). Of course its all relative to your scale. The majority mine are right at where they are marked.

[Danny Rowan]

Most bowyers have a + or - 2# tolerence.

[owlbait]

Need to have an understanding on where the draw weight is measured from with your bowyer or the person you're buying from. That may make a difference in a few pounds right there. Also, did the bowyer round up or down on the weight, and do they say +/- X number of pounds?

[Bow man]

Scales can alway's vary from person to person, we alway round to the closest weight so if the bow scales on our scale at 50.5 we take it to 50 # you could scale the same bow different depending on the scale. If the limbs or bow is a production not custom  bow or limb there could be up to 3# difference
Our goal on a custom is to be whitin a .5 + or - of the ordered weight

[Glunt]

Yep.  Pretty common for scales to be a pound or two off.  I'm sure most pro bowyers arrive at an accurate way to measure, but I'm also sure there are some that buy a scale, hang it on the wall and whatever it says they go with.

I bought a cheap one for my hobby bowyering.  It matches what 3 other scales say so I figure it's probably close.

[WildmanSC]

It also helps to know the frame of reference used, or to be used, for measuring the draw weight.  If a bow says 50#@28" AMO, then it means it is 50# at a draw of 28".  

Many measure their draw weight of their bows at the back edge of the riser.  For a true AMO draw weight measurement, measure an arrow and place a mark 26.25" from the throat of the nock.  Then place a mark on the shelf directly above the deepest part of the grip.  If you draw your bow, using a draw weight scale, until the two marks are aligned, then you are measuring the AMO draw weight.

Bill

[sledge]

i've wondered about this as well.

my longbow mentor and i each recently bought digital scales, and were amazed to learn that my 68# robertson is 58#, his 66# kramer is 61#, his 55# jerry hill is 48#, and my 56# o'brien is 49#.

whassup?

[LBR]

"Many measure their draw weight of their bows at the back edge of the riser. For a true AMO draw weight measurement, measure an arrow and place a mark 26.25" from the throat of the nock. Then place a mark on the shelf directly above the deepest part of the grip. If you draw your bow, using a draw weight scale, until the two marks are aligned, then you are measuring the AMO draw weight."

That is correct--AMO draw length is measured from the throat of the grip plus 1.75".  That's usually to the back of the shelf or very close, but not always.

As others mentioned, there are lots of variations with scales--I've heard of bowyers using cheap scales, and seen bow shops using them--can't go by those.

[sledge]

for the record, we had 2 digital scales, and got identical readings from each.

back of bow.  

joe

[joe vt]

I believe that every bowyer will be consistant marking their bows as long as they use one scale.


However, from bowyer to bowyer and from scale to scale is where the differnece is. I got a few bows in the 45-50# range and they vary quite a bit in weight. Makes me wonder for sure.

[ron w]

I draw 29" and I measured from the front of my riser to the nock of my arrow, checked it with an arrow 29" long. A friend is bringing his Hanson scale over tonight to see what his says. When I check several of my other custom bows they were right on the money as marked.

[Bowwild]

Usually, I put my digital scale on all new bows/limbs within minutes after stringing them up the first time.

Most custom bows seem to be marked very close to the rated draw weight, at least within 1-2 pounds. My draw length is 26" so I measure at 26" and 28" just to see if the bow is correctly marked and what I'll get out of it.

I have had bows that were off 3-4 pounds and one that was 6 pounds heavier than marked. The ones that have been the most off are the factory limbs that are marked in 5# increments. Some of these though are right on the nose.

Of course you have to take care in measuring. Some bows are scaled at 1.75" from the deepest part of the grip throat but most are measured at the back of the bow shelf (furthest from the archer) which could be more or less than the standard 1.75"..

[ksbowman]

I always check my bows for true weight and most are very close or right on the money. There are a couple brands that were kind of suspect as thier weights marked were usually about 5# light and I always attributed that to wanting thier bows to shoot a little faster than the same weight of competetors.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Ron Maybe your scale was having a bad day    

[ron w]

Apparently that was the case, checking it on the Hanson scale it's right on the money! I guess I panicked after paying all that money....LOL!!

[Roger Norris]

My Dads Shrew is mismarked....on purpose. He is convinced that nothing under 50# is a "hunting bow".....yet he is getting on in years and needed a lighter bow. I had Gregg Coffey mark his bow 50#, but it is really 43#. I then had to call Kustom King and make sure they know my Dad's true weight when he orders arrows.   :p

Martin bows are notorious for being heavier than marked,sometimes by a lot.  Most of the custom bows I have owned weigh 1# or so lighter than marked on my scale, an acceptable variance. Now, if you weigh them w/o doing the tare adjustment for the physical weight of the bow, they go a little over the marked weight. I think there are as many ways to measure and weigh and as many scale variances as there are stars in the sky. I think there is truly no "standard" that really is reliable in these things. I have given up and now it's "does it feel the right weight to shoot" to me and does it shoot straight and with enough authority. That's my most reliable measure.

[ron w]

I think that feel right seat of the pants feeling is the best scale....lol! The bow in question scales as marked but just feels a bit heavier to me. I have been shooting it the last couple of days and it's starting to grow on me.....lol!

[Jeff Strubberg]

I've had one custom bow that was embarrasingly wrong.  It was off by 11#, according to my scale.

The rest have been pretty close.  If the weight comes out on my scale at 2# +/-, I figure it's the difference between scales.