Widow PL Shooters

[erictetterton]

How in the world do u quieten down yours? I have a one piece 66" PLx spalted maple and ebony 50@30 with a skinny string made by barebowman and I can't seem to quieten it down. I also have a gurlieman string by LRU and its still loud. I have tried wool yarn, all different kinds of fur, spiders, and little rubber pieces... nothing works. My brace height is at the max (7 3/4"). My CX heritage arrows are 9.5GPP so they are heavy enough. I never noticed how loud it was until the other day when I compared it to my Thunderchild. WOW            

[JRY309]

Another method you can try is to put the upper silencer at the 1/4 mark.And put the lower silencer at the 1/3 mark.Try this staggered position and see if it helps.I had a PLV and didn't have a problem to quieten.Are you shooting split or 3 under? Sometimes bows shoot 3 under are louder.

[erictetterton]

i have tried offsetting the silencers like you're talking about with no success. my bow is tillered split but i shoot 3 under. i have the nockpoint set at 1/2"

[Mike Bolin]

I have a PLIII and PLV. The PLV has the woolie whispers set as JRY309 described and the PLIII has the single Spider silencers set the same way. Both are very quiet. The V has the stock Widow string and the III has a SBD. I shoot split and my nock set is @ 7/16". Out of curiosity, when I read your post I went out and shot a few arrows 3 under.....about twice as loud! I am not sure that this helps at all. Is your PL tillered 3 under or split? Might be worth dropping the fellars @ Widow an email and see what the experts have to say. Good luck!

[erictetterton]

its tillered split but i shoot it 3 under. i bet that has something to do with it but i would like to hear what everyone else has found to work for them

[frassettor]

Shooting it 3 under may contribute to the noise levels a bit. I shoot mine split, shoot 780 grain arrows out of her, use Beaverballs and its quiet as a church mouse! I have had multiple shots at deer, several times without them even knowing!

[Lefty]

Never had a problem with mine.  What is your nock height?  I have had great luck with two small puffs set at the thirds, brace height of 7 1/4" and nock at 7/16".  I do shoot over 11 gpp, though.

[frassettor]

I forgot to add, I shoot a 7 1/2 inch brace height

[erictetterton]

nock height is 1/2"

[erictetterton]

sounds like i may need a heavier arrow. i have some CX heritage 250s coming that would put me over 11gpp. hopefully that'll fix the problem

[Alan C]

I have a PLGA 50@30 tillered split and shoot it 3 under also.I have my nock height set to 5/8" and brace height 7 5/8.I use a 16 strand D97 string with cat whiskers at 15 1/2" from the limb tips.Also I have found my bow is alot quieter shooting aluminum or woodies.

[JamesKerr]

I think your nock point is too low causing your arrow to kick of the shelf making more noise. I usually end up with 1/2" to 5/8" high nock point shooting split fingered. I would suggest playing with your brace height and nock point.

[riverrat 2]

Have a bow shop "serve" catwiskers onto your string. It will be a nice round ball of catwiskers that is about the  size of a golfball. You can serve them yourself,but mine always come loose. THEY GOTTA BE TIGHT!! but man,that will shut up a bow good.

[Outwest]

I shoot a 64" PLGA with original string and a set of catwhiskers. Quiet as a church mouse.
But I shoot mine split finger.
Might want to try an original string.

Good Luck
John

[Lefty]

Originally posted by erictetterton:
nock height is 1/2"

I would suggest raising your nock height and see if that helps.  I do not shoot 3 under, but have always read that it can require a slightly higher nock, maybe even especially, since your bow is tillered for split.  I am wondering if the noise you are getting is due to arrow slapping the shelf area.  Try moving up to 1" above for a nock point and if the noise goes away, slowly bring it back down until you get the noise again.  This should tell you where the nock point should be.  The only thing else I can think of to suggest, is have someone else shoot it and eliminate your form or release as the cause.  If all else fails, call the Widow boys and I am sure, they will help you out.  Black Widow's customer service is second to none!

[Archie]

My PL (see my signature) can be super quiet, or a little loud, depending on my release.  It usually is silent, and when I can hear it, I know I'm shooting it 'rough'.  

I shoot a pretty heavy arrow, too (about 700 grains), and at the distances that we shoot trad bows, usually have no trouble hitting what I'm aiming at.  

I was getting a bit of a clink off the shelf, due to my shooting style, and changing the nock height didn't help at all.  I ended up fashioning an arrow rest for it, and now have much better arrow flight, and a very silent-shooting bow.

I shoot split-finger, by the way.

[erictetterton]

lots of great info here guys. i am going to raise my nock point and see where that takes me. if the noise is still there i will move to a heavier arrow. i am a lefty so i dont have anyone to shoot my bow to eliminate the form issues i may have. there's not many lefty trad archers around eastern NC. last of a dying breed i guess

[buckster]

I would try to increase your point weight in 25 grain increments Eric, also try to move your nock height up in 1/8 inch increments, as well as your brace height.  In my experience, PL's shouldn't be that hard to tame.

I would not think that padding the string grooves would be necessary since you have good padded loop strings.  If all else fails, call Roger or Toby, they are awesome to deal with.

[OBXarcher]

Provided your arrows are flying good, I would suggest going up in weight some. I shoot 600 gn out of my 53# PL. It is very quiet. For some reason I like shooting heavier arrows out of a long bow than recurves.

Now that I have all you Pl fellas in one place-- I have been thinking about ordering one. Had an LAG for years which I loved but I needed to go lighter so I sold it. Do you guys feel there is any qualitative difference between PLV and the other PL models? Thanks in advance for input.