Advantages of reverse/forward handle

[ron w]

   

Whatever,

[legends1]

Took me awhile but I did read through every post. Some of those that posted had fact and others had a opinion. I have been a competitive archer for many years. Most of my friends are the same and some are world champions in NFAA,IBO, ect,. Im into IBO competition because foremost I am a hunter. There is no question you put a bow design of any type in a world champs hand he is going to find a way to make it shoot. The real question though is what bow will shoot best for everyone? The forward handle is always going to be much more forgiving. What that means to me is event shooters and hunters alike can shoot it at the best of their personal efficiency. Something to keep in mind. A error of 1/6 of a inch at the riser grows every foot it travels. That make up a large error on the target. Im not going to pick on Kirk because I know him and he is a friend of mine. I do know about the bow he mentioned that was used in a NFAA event but I don't know the details. I personally shoot IBO events throughout the nation. I havnt seen Kirks bows do well there YET! But, it took us a few years to get bows doing well there ourselves. Also get in the right shooter hands. Other bows you seeing do well in IBO trad events are Dryad, Hoyt, Border, Tradteck, in the high-tech bows. Other classes are Legends Bows,Fox, Bob Lee,21st. and Zipper. I may have missed one or two.  Each one of these Companies has a style or two that is shining in the IBO events. The one common denominator is a forward forgiving riser. To me the proof is in the pudding. Ask a world champion of any organization and you will here the same thing. Hard to argue that. Happy Holidays from Legends Bows.

[Brianlocal3]

X2 ⬆️⬆️⬆️

[curlis]

Right on Mike. Widows have had a great amount of success as well.

[legends1]

Bill, Your right.
I knew I missed one or two but how did I miss Widows. You and others have done well winning IBO events with the Widows in past years. I'm glad to have you shooting one of our bows now. You have a great record of IBO wins.

[Zradix]

wonder what olo' Britt (topic starter) thinks about this thread...lol
Hasn't been back since asking the question..

[ron w]

Very few answered or tried to give him what he was asking for.......a few did.     I still say I like'm and can't wait to get my Morningstar.

[Gapmaster]

Great post Mike.  

   

There is no question you put a bow design of any type in a world champs hand he is going to find a way to make it shoot. The real question though is what bow will shoot best for everyone?  

I've been a competitive finger shooter for 40 years and I am a hardcore tinker-er (is that a word)when it comes to tuning equipment. Those are my credentials, not much to brag about, but years of shooting just about everything and trying really hard to make them work well. There is no question that sometimes with a little luck and patience you can make anything shoot. You can get lucky and find that magic sweet spot where everything happens to be perfect. But in reality, the forward handles are much easier to tune and be consistent with. Then the straight risers, then everything that is left. I'm not talking about hitting pie plates, but consistently shooting groups of arrows in a 3 inch dot at 50 yards. Most of the other bows you can get them close but they never really wad arrows like the forward handles do for the average shooter. Someone posted this:
   

Inherently more stable and forgiving. I dare you to shoot a bow of shorter length with a reflexed riser where the deepest part of the grip is inline with or behind the fades and you not notice that you need to be more on your A-game.  

Makes perfect sense and right inline with everything I've seen. Couldn't have said it better myself. The brace height is usually slightly less than a deflexed riser, which usually means the arrow is on the string for a slightly longer distance, which means little human errors can occur in that little extra time, which is why he said you need to be on your game to make them work well. We work to eliminate those errors, but that's archery. Which is why an archer with great form can shoot just about anything fairly well. But the forward risers are usually easier for everyone, including the really good form archers. The big bow companies know it to be true to. Usually the top of the line target bows are deflexed. But not all the time because even though the bow companies know they should be for accuracy, they also know the public is hung up on speed so they straighten that darn riser or reverse it to get the speed ratings up to make them more appealing to the speed freaks. Anyway, just my thoughts. I know there are alot of different ideas on the subject. And I know from time to time someone shoots well with a reflexed bow. I hear it all the time, archers talking riser design. Please nobody take anything personal. Just posting some things to think about. Gap

P.S.--Don't use a bow in a hooter shooter as an example of what a bow can do because you have eliminated the human factor with those. We all have flaws and need everything in our favor most of the time. Anyway-----------------

Hey Britt, what kind of a bow are currently shooting?

[nineworlds9]

Hey'd y'all hear I invited Sid Jr. from Border Archery over here to join the discussion...

Just kidding      

[legends1]

@nineworlds9 That's funny.    

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by legends1:
@nineworlds9 That's funny.      

2 X.....

[britt]

I am shooting a Heart Land reverse handle longbow and Hill Country Harvest Master forward handle longbow.

One of each and good ones as well.

[Sant-Ravenhill]

I'm dragging this post out of Christmas 2014 just to say I learned some interesting things about reverse/forward handle bows when reading over this old thread; in spite of a few personal broadsides.

I made a couple of longbows years ago. A straight limb and a mild reflex-deflex. I'm going to try it again this summer and have been reading, pondering and storing every little bit of information I can.

So thank you to bowyers and arrow flingers alike for sharing your experience and wisdom.