Could an English Longbow....

[huntsmanlance]

I would love to own an ELB that had the horn nocks, shot off of the hand.....and if it was 57#@28" and useing a 570 grain arrow it would shoot around 180fps.

I have owned and shot other ELB's but all of them were pretty slow with a 10 gpi or + arrow. Of course that isnt so bad when you are hunting and shooting only out to 20 yards but i do shoot in allot of medieval tourneys and there are shots from 20 to 50 yards...with some even out to 100!

When i have shot in these my arrows just dove like a frightened turtle. I know you could say that if i practiced enough that i could adjust for that angle but....when i have shot these with a modern reflex bow i dont have to aim so far up.

Sooo...could one be made out of yew with a backing of raw hide or such and have reflex in the limb for more speed? I know that this isnt "period" correct but if it had the D shaped profile when strung i would be happy. Would the horn nocks be able to handle this? Would it have to be backed with glass? Is it even possible ....because i really dont want to have to shoot a bow that is over 60#


Thanks!
Lance

[robtattoo]

Lance, allowing for the time difference, give Keith Gascoine at KG archery in the UK a ring on 44 1623 824877. He's made a few fairly well reflex/deflex ELBs (he's one of Englands finest trad bowyers) in a T/D form. I couldn't give you any performance figures, but he built one as a one-off for his wife at 30# (I think) and it flat out smokes an arrow, compared to a far, far heavier straight bow. I would hazard a guess at maybe 160 fps shooting a 5/16" POC arrow, as compared to a 50# straight bow hitting maybe around 150 with an 11/32. It takes a huge amount of the handshock out of the bow too. I know that Christine's (his wife) bow still shows a small amount of reflex when braced, unfortunately making it illegal for BLBS (British Longbow Society) shoots, hence the fact that he won't advertise them, butI'm sure he'd make one to order. Downside is, he really ain't cheap! You'd be looking at around $600+ for an all wood laminated bow, glass backed I wouldn't like to say.
As I say, if you can give him a ring (9-5 GMT) he'll be able to give you exact figures, rather than my uneducated guesses.

[robtattoo]

Here's a link for you mate......

  KG Archery Shop

[Jason Jelinek]

From what I've seen a lot of ELB's I've seen made and a few I've made in the past bend too much near the handle.  If you look at actual ELB's (war bows) the way the thickness taper is, they look a bit whip ended.  It makes a lot of sense because the longer length allows the whip ended bows to shoot without stacking and be more efficient (less limb mass moving over a shorter distance).  I don't know about 180 fps, but it might be possible to get close to that.

Jason

[Bjorn]

I have John Strunk osage mild R/D that will out shoot any modern Hill style bow. He can make the same out of yew. My bow has a super thin veneer of bamboo backing-non functional. It is 64"; but he can make whatever you wish. John says the yew is comparable in power.

[Ghost Dog]

Hey Lance,

Another factor is the individual characteristics of a given piece of wood.

I have several yew ELBs from Gerald Welch, John Strunk and one from Paul Rogers. They are all within 2# of draw weight. Some of the bows shoot a lot faster than others, even though their profiles are all straight or show some small amount of set. In fact one of the bows that shows the most set is  also one of the faster bows. It has to be the individual properties of the wood of each bow.

By the way, osage makes a great ELB. I have one from JD Jones that is amazing; fast, quiet and sweet.

 

[Dave Coalter]

Lance,
Check out Jim Belcher's web site, he custom makes english long bows and he's located in Michigan.
  www.belcherbows.com