a tale of two recurves

[snowplow]

Once there was a manly recurve from the west. His name was Nuck Chorris. He was stoutly built and of good size. He hurled arrows with the best of them and his reputation was legendary.

 
 
One day while in the east he met an odd looking little recurve named Luce Bree.
 

   

He was athletic but slight in stature. But Nuck was impressed with the speed of this one. It seemed to rival or almost surpass his own cast. Yet from a much less substantial recurve.

Eventually they went there separate ways, but Nuck has always remembered this odd interaction and marveled at the strength of this smaller framed recurve.

All kidding aside, what are the pros and cons of the longer and more substantial western style recurve vs the smaller eastern cousin? (I am including bows with siyahs)

I am seriously thinking of getting an eastern style bow and am having a hard time finding a reason not to as many seem smaller, lighter, and just as fast. What am I missing?

[KenH]

No cons; all pros.  The folks from the East were building superior bows long before the West

[nineworlds9]

The top bow is going to be easier to shoot well and with less practice for most shooters, and that using a 3 finger release.  The bottom bow shooting fingers will take more shot discipline/ solid form to achieve same results, and with a thumb ring you add an additional practice factor.  I think if we all grew up here shooting thumb on an Asian style bow from childhood there'd be no problem, but take the average shooter here and hand him either bow the heavy riser forward handle western recurve will be more forgiving.

To me if I may use a motorcycle analogy, this is kind of like comparing say a BMW touring bike with a kitted out Japanese race replica.  Sure the sport bike has better suspension and brakes, and is much faster with better acceleration, but at the end of the day it takes more skill to ride it well.

[TradBrewSC]

Amen Chuck,

Eastern bows are cool and i've tried them, but I guess im too "western."

The eastern bows are not for me. I just cant shoot them, but are very cool in principle. I think if you are going to use one, you need to use a thumb ring. I sometimes have enough trouble split finger, I dont need any more frustration!

But give it a try! you may be different than me.

Cant diss it until you ride it!

[nineworlds9]

Lol I really thing the only reason that Saluki Ibex shot worth a dang for me is that it was 60" NTN with a pistol grip.  I can tell you right now that 48" Hwarang took every oz of concentration to put it in the kill zone at 20 yd shooting fingers drawn to 29".  LOL

[LBR]

I agree with 9w9 here.  There's a reason you seldom see one of those types of bow in a competition, and I don't recall ever see the winner walk up with one.

[snowplow]

So can I summarize this as the western recurve is more forgiving?

It seems like I am hearing an increase in weight/length does it.

I have also heard in the past (compound world) that increased brace height helps forgiveness.

What makes a bow more/less forgiving?

[cch]

Yes a longer and heavier bow will be more forgiving. Also a higher brace will help but not always. I will show you some examples when you come over this weekend.