I about had myself a heart attack today. While shooting my recurve with my dad i watched him come to full draw and see the nock somehow slip off the string just as hes letting go practically dry firing my bow. After a moment of silence i said hand me the bow, after checking it all over i didnt notice anything, so i tried a few shots and everything seemed ok. needless to say i'm still worried about it. I know that dry fires are about the worst thing for any bow, and that many bows will simply just blow up due to dry fires. I was wondering what you guys think about this situation? How many of you guys have had this? How often do bows survive and when they do survive do dry fires have any effects on them?
Yep, that scares the stuffin' outa ya for sure. I've done it a few times, all the same scenario as yours. 1 bow has taken 3-4 of them, still no side effects and its been shot alot since then.
Definately ruins your concentration for a while!
Eric
Had it happen to me last night for the first time and it sucks! I always just hope my deep core longbows can take the beating they are supposed to if something like that were to happen.
I had a nock slip off when I was shooting someone elses Widow longbow! I freaked out and he was just laughing. He said not to worry about it, you couldnt hurt that bow. I now own a black widow longbow as well, but I hope I never have to see how tough they are again!
Please post a picture in case it is for sale in the classifieds in a few weeks.Just kidding.I had a cracked knock give way when i shot with an old longbow i had and it scared the crap out of me but i had no problems out of it.I think it is a little different with a partial dryfire compared to a fullblown no arrow at all dryfire.I seen a guy dryfire a recurve that had no arrow at all 5 minutes after he bought it from a buddy of mine and it broke the entire tip off the bottom limb.I said what in the hell were you thinking and he said i didn't know it would hurt it.It was his first bow and didn't know any better but he learned an expensive lesson.I wouldn't stress too much about it if it hasn't shown any splinters yet.Later.
Sorta like Westbrook said, I think its definitely harder on my nerves than I think it is on the bow.
I wouldn't intentionally test a bows worth by dryfiring it, but I dont think I'd wanna own a bow if it couldn't handle an accidental misfire. I got a 15 year old Great Plains recurve thats been accidentally dryfired several times. So far she's in tip top shape. Just frazzles my nerves for a few shots afterwards, though!
A dry fire means you draw and release with no arrow on the string. I believe having an arrow on the string takes some of the energy making that situation not as bad. Jawge
Over the years I have witnessed many broken nocks, broken strings, and other "accidents" where a dry fire occurs...and not one resulted in damage to the bow.
My opinion is that any quality bow (Widow, Wes Wallace, Morrison, others) have some dry fires in them. Unfortunately, I hate to experience any.
Any bow worth its salt can take a dry fire. I have a Martin X-150 that's handled a broken string and 2 other dry fires due to nocks slipping off. Still works fine, no cracks or anything.
I think I heard somewhere that a lot of places when they test out a new bow design, they test it by dry firing to see if it can handle that kind of stress. Not sure if that's true or not...
If a bow won't take being dry fired it is because it had a problem to begin with that just had not shown up yet.A good bow will handle it just fine. jmho
My bows get dry fired every now and then usually it is someone who doesn't have a clue about archery. Just last week I had visitors. An old friend and her new boyfriend fresh from fighting in the streets of Iraq. They usually all do the same thing. Pick up one of my bows and draw it way back and let R rip. I turned around just in time to see my bow shutter. I had to give the whole expination to a Sgt. Major why you do not dry fire a bow. I look them over very carefully always and keep my fingers crossed.
Im glad most of your guy's did not suffer from the dry fires, I wonder if multiple dry fires or partial dry fires weaken the limbs or stress the riser more.
It can't be any worse than guys trying to get a few more feet per second by shooting too light of an arrow.I ain't dissing anyone who does it but it can't be good on em.
As stated, a well built bow should be able to handle a dry fire or a few dry fires for that matter. It wouldn't be a reliable piece of equipment if it couldn't. Chad
Chad is right. Earl Hoyt had my brother and I dry fire some of his SKY proto type longbows for him. The bow I had was dry fired 165 times with no sine of damage
every bow ive owned i have dry fired at one point or another, i have a bob lee that has broken two strings and three nocks, no problems. just did it with my adcock no problems.
I have a White Wolf beowolf t/d that has had two strings break and one nock fall off the string. The bow is unharmed as far as i know. The last string pop gave the top limb a noticable twist, but I fixed that and everything seems fine.
I had a Moanrch go 13 dry fires, then broke across the riser,
There is a limit to what a bow will take.
Always look at your nocks, most of the times that I have dry fired a bow its from a broken ear on the nock.
Jim
I worry when I occasionally pull an arrow out of the target and the point and insert comes off and stays in the target. Usually, I don't notice and fire that arrow again without any point or insert. I've done that several times, without any apparent damage to the bow, but it's probably almost as bad as dry-firing it.
Ironically I had a nock break on a nice '65 Bear Kodiak and a couple of months later it delaminated. Related problem? Who knows but it happened.
Also had a 60s Hoyt Pro Hunter loose it's lower limb last week but never had a dry fire or any problem with it.
Maybe I have bad luck with old bows.
I just did the exact same thing while drawing the bow the arrow was pulled off the string but inbetween my fingers and I fired it, twice I did that. The bow seems o.k. I sent the string to a pro here on tradgang to reserve it with some thicker serving because the nocks were just to loose, don't want to do that again.
I didn't have a dryfire but this past fall my Dryad Hunter exploded on me as I was coming to full draw...I just shot one arrow and started drawing for my second shot and Snap,Krackle and Pop...I was smacked in the forehead at about 3/4 draw...My lower limb had a very small pin knot that worried me from day one and I probally got a good 2000 shots out of her before it blew...Anyway it can scare the life out of you either way if it was a dryfire or just a fracture....I would go to say most bows will withstand an accidental dryfire with todays glues and limb makeups...
I had a friend that shot a Redwing Hunter, when we would go to the area shoots, if he thought he would lose an arrow on a target he dry fired his bow at that target. He would dry fire at a passing bird or anything else. He always tossed his bow out of his tree stand. His bow finally died when he left it lay in the back of his pickup on a hot day strung.
QuoteOriginally posted by pavan:
I had a friend that shot a Redwing Hunter, when we would go to the area shoots, if he thought he would lose an arrow on a target he dry fired his bow at that target. He would dry fire at a passing bird or anything else. He always tossed his bow out of his tree stand. His bow finally died when he left it lay in the back of his pickup on a hot day strung.
If I knew someone like; I would'nt let him near anything of mine.
Iam sure your bow is just fine. Over my life time of shooting (40yrs.) I have had the unpleasant exp. many times w/ many diff bows--usually casused by nock breakage. Point is - never had a bow effected by it. Its definitly something you want to avoid, but these bows are a lot tougher than they are often given credit for.
I was shooting at a 3d shoot one time and I had a 70's bear grizzly.I had one arrow that had a loose nock.Well I went to shoot and the arrow slipped off the string just as I released.Nice loud pop but no damage to the bow as far as I can tell.She still shoots fine.If it was one of my customs my reaction would have been ALOT different.That's why now I use snug fitting nocks.I like a nice authorative click when I nock an arrow so I know it's on there.
I did have one bow delam on me after the string broke.It was a Pse Impala.I always used endless strings on it so the serving was there to protect the loop from the poorly cut string grooves in the nocks so I never noticed it.I had a flemish string on it and it cut the loop.My buddy was outside shooting it and I was inside when it happened.I tried to file and clean up the nocks but it kept cutting into strings.
That bow was junk from day one anyways,should have never bought it.There wasn't even any finish on the limbs,or sanding the saw marks out of the sides.I noticed the limb had delamed at the fade so I tossed the limbs.
Glad to find this posting !! My son's friend was trying my son's Kohannah Kid's Osage Longbow. I heard this terrible,un-nerving twang and looked over to see the friend looking down at the ground at his arrow laying there rather than down range. Arrow had slipped off just before or at release resulting in the dry-fire. I almost passed out because I was the one who loaned the bow to the kid to try, without my son's permission!!! Checked it for damage and we continued firing it..no apparent issues, but what a sick sound and feeling. Thanks for all the postings that kind of take the edge off of a full blown panic based on an accidental dry-fire.
Shouldnt be a problem.I have never had a bow damaged from a dry fire.
Its a good idea to check the glue lines in the riser and limbs after it happens though just to make sure everthings tight.
This conversation about dry-firing a bow points out safety issues we should all be reminded of:
A: Worn serving material will produce a loose nock fit and promote an arrow falling off of the string.
B: Damaged and/or worn nocks produce a loose fit and will also promote an arrow falling off of the string.
C: Either of the above degrades accuracy due to erratic nock/string tension. Accuracy in this sport is about consistency, if nothing else.
Inspection of the arrow after EVERY shot is essential for safe operation. Nock-end damage, shaft damage, tip damage can all produce unsafe shooting conditions.
If you have a group of arrows that are used regularly for practice, the nocks should be replaced annually to assure proper string fit. I have found that in many cases, re-nocking annually also brings up the subject of re-fletching (how did they get so tattered?). With a modest investment, a degree of customization and independence from retail outlets can be gained by fletching your own shafts.
Re-serving a string is one of the easiest (and most satisfying) bow maintenance tasks to learn. The materials and tools are inexpensive and you can control the quality of serving yourself by specifying the diameter, type and tension of the serving material(s) rather than being at the mercy of an unnamed archery technician.
Practicing archery is not just about the physical technique of shooting arrows. It encompasses every aspect of delivering the shot.
My arrows are a very personal thing to me. In most cases I believe the arrow to be more important than the bow when it comes to accuracy.
The arrow is the extension of my will.
The bow is the platform from which I project my will.
All that being said, NEVER allow a stranger unsupervised access to your weapons.
Ugly things can happen in the twinkling of an eye!
PS Some of the "modern" archery manufacturers subject their bows to 1,500 dry fire events during durability testing.
Guess I'm in the minority on this one. I dry fired my Quinn Longhorn a couple summers ago just a week before I was leaving to hunt in Utah. The actionwood split all the way up the riser. When I called David Quinn to see if I could get a new riser (quickly), he just couldn't believe it split. Said he had seen limbs blow apart, but never a riser. Had to use a backup bow for the hunt, but David did a great job building me another riser.
Konrad; that was a lot of really good information! I recently went to a 16 strand 8125 bowstring and my wood arrows with traditional 11/32 nocks fit loosely. Should have had a double helping of serving at the centre. The arrows don't fall off when allowed to hang on their own, however it is a looser fit than my 16 strand Dyna-97 string so maybe I'll have it re-served. I'll check my little guy's nock fit for each of his arrows as well just to be sure. Can an extra (double serving) be done on my current serving or does the double serving need to be done at time of string construction? Again thanks for all the info.
QuoteOriginally posted by Osage61:
I recently went to a 16 strand 8125 bowstring and my wood arrows with traditional 11/32 nocks fit loosely. Should have had a double helping of serving at the centre. The arrows don't fall off when allowed to hang on their own, however it is a looser fit than my 16 strand Dyna-97 string so maybe I'll have it re-served. I'll check my little guy's nock fit for each of his arrows as well just to be sure. Can an extra (double serving) be done on my current serving or does the double serving need to be done at time of string construction? Again thanks for all the info.
BCY Fibers' serving materials (one of the best quality manufacturers) come in sizes ranging from .014 to .030 inch diameters.
I have no personal experience with "double serving" except at the beginning and end of the job.
My understanding of good string tension is:
With the bow horizontal and the arrow hanging downward, a moderately sharp tap on the string about four inches from the nock should dislodge the arrow.
Some folks prefer a tighter fit for hunting. I prefer an easy "snap" fit that still retains the arrow well and keeps it from sliding easily vertically along the string. A little experimentation will give you a better idea of what is too tight and what is too loose.
It is known that too tight a fit will adversely affect accuracy.
We definitely don't want too loose a fit.
I know it's a poor answer to your question; however as in many things archery, experimentation will provide your answer. Make sure to document your testing and impressions for future reference. Compiling data like this can get confusing quickly if you have a memory like mine!
Your technician may be able to help you arrive at a quicker solution and then all you have to do is duplicate his tools/materials.
Using his guidance/suggestions on materials during trials will speed up results although your supplying the labor during the experimentation process will provide you with valuable practice.
You will find it is a surprisingly easy skill to acquire.
Good Luck1
When it happens, right away there is a sick feeling. I have had it happen one time, nock had a hair line crack in it. Bow is fine has had thousands of shoot since.
Konrad only has 14 posts...Who else besides me votes that he should post more often? LOL
Some great info in those posts, I know I learned a thing or two.
I double serve all my string centres regardsless of other factors. I find a thicker centre serving "rolls off the fingers" better. This gives me a much crisper release and lessen the effect of spine to a certain degree.
You can add an extra layer of serving at any time. I prefer to replace the entire serving though. I don't cut the bottom layer and the serve again, instead I just loop back and continue with a second layer.
Oh, I forgot to mention...the double serving 9/10 times end up too thick so I pinch it a bit with a narrow mouthed pliers and then "lube" it with string wax. A coupla 100 shots and its perfect :)
Thanks for the tips guys! All good information. I'm taking my 8125 in for a double serve; getting one more made up with 12 strand, padded loops to 18 strand and double serving the centre. Then back to the range to see what's what!! This single serving on the 16 strand 8125 is not good as my arrows are falling off when the bow is held horizontally. Like that 8125 string material quite a bit. Anyone else use it?