I leave my recurve strung. My brace is set at 7 5/8"....after quite a bit of shooting and adjusting. I thought I had all the string stretch out of it as I have a mark on my arrows that I can easily and consistently check the brace.
I went turkey hunting this weekend and my brace was fine. I did a lot of stump shooting...wasn't so lucky with the turkeys.
Anyway, I just pulled my bow out to take a few practice shots and noticed that the mark on my arrows wasn't lining up correctly. I got out the tape and sure enough, I lost about 1/4".
Is this common? How often is everyone adjusting their brace height? How long will a string stretch? This is a 14 strand fast flight.
A new string takes over 200 shots before it is stabilized in my experience - also depends on Flemish vs. continuous loop vs. B-50 vs. low stretch, etc., etc.. I adjust the brace height until it no longer needs adjusting to stay where I want it.
As needed. Not trying to be a smart---, but that is the answer. If you have a mark on your arrows, then just keep doing as you are and adjust as needed. Some strings just seem to stretchcreep more than others.
ditto
And some string silencers, wool for instance, will squeeze down as shot and need to be "taken up" with more string twists.
Most of my bows have dacron strings. When I first string them, I can press on the limb tips with the riser across my knee and I can literally feel the string stretching a bit. After that, I do not need to adjust the brace height. If I shoot a few arrows it will accomplish the same thing, though, so I normally just do that.
New strings do take a lot of shots to get the string to "set". If the string has been set for a while and this is a new, sudden move, I would be leery of a possible string break either in the loops or under the serving.
Mine does move a little after the string is set but usually not more than 1/8" and it is not very often (Iuse D-97 BTW).
Bisch
My flemish style bowstrings for both of my bows are made up of 12 strands of Dyna97. After they were made for me by a string maker, the strings were pre-stretched before I received them so when I shot them, they didn't stretch very much.
I keep both of my recurve bows always strung hanging horizontally in a bow rack. My 42# bow has a brace height of 7 7/8" and my 37# bow has a brace height of 8 3/16".
When I take them out to shoot them or to go bowhunting, I always check the brace height for each of them and they've stayed the same.
I have only had this happen with a dacron string fast flight does not seem to stretch even with a brand new string though
I have seen that D10 doesn't stretch at all(so be sure of what lenght you need) other ff can stretch in the beginning then they settle.I check the regularly in the first days,then only from time to time.i use my hand for a fast guess.
I have a D-10 from SBD that has not moved since I gave it a twist after shooting 30 arrows. Check it often adjust as you need to. I would caution that if a sting starts stretching after it has been stable for some time it needs to be checked out. This often means breaking of strands.
Since it is a fast flight string I would not expect much if any stretch. I also would be suspicious of broken strands in the string.
Pretty much an on going process until you get it shot in, and it doesn't move.
If you should see movement after this time, and are having difficulties keeping the bh, there may be other issues, and it is probably new string time.
Good luck
Whoops! I lied. I thought it was a fast flight string.
Turns out, it's a B50.
yea, check your loops too, make sure they aren't getting really big. Temprature changes can sometimes make the string stretch or contract. Usually not 1/4" though. that seems like a lot if you have shot much more than the 200 shots. Check those loops though, if they are getting noticably bigger, don't shoot it.
I'll keep an eye on it over the next week or so.
I have a back up string if necessary.
Thanks for the replies.
B50 is bad about stretching. You might want to look into B55. It's doesn't stretch as much as B50.
Even a FF string will untwist its entire life if it twisted real tight to get your proper height. I have a D97 string that is at least 6 months old that I have to constantly reset and it's been shot a lot.
QuoteOriginally posted by cacciatore:
I have seen that D10 doesn't stretch at all(so be sure of what lenght you need) other ff can stretch in the beginning then they settle.I check the regularly in the first days,then only from time to time.i use my hand for a fast guess.
I have also found that my D10 ain't stretchin' at all! Big difference compared to the D97 I had. I knew that the D10 was lower stretch but I didn't know it was THAT much lower stretch. :thumbsup:
What Hermon said.
The distance from the tip of my extended thumb to the right side of my hand is 7 5/8". That is my braceheight. I carry a bowstringer and a bowsquare tucked into a roll of paper towels inside my knapsack.
Sunlight and warmth with change your bowstring. If you travel prepared you can fix it.