Hello folks. Hope everyone's enjoying the fruits of their hunting seasons. Or perhaps you're out there futilely chasin' geese like me :)
So, I've hit a dilemna with my current bow that I'm hopin' more experienced archers can help me with. I bought this ol' used Red Falk for cheap at a store probably 6-8 months ago. Of course, about a week after I bought it I realized one of the limbs is twisted. I flipped them to try and let the bow fix itself, which seemed to work for a time but...I noticed a few days ago it's back at it again. Time to replace them I imagine.
Here's where I'm at: Replacement limbs for said bow are 160 dollars. That's not bad pricing, of course, but with the future plan being to replace said bow eventually I thought I'd look at other bows in case.
I would like to keep the price around $300 currently, because I'd like to buy an XD handgun before I hunt black bear in the spring. Does anyone have any particular bows in that range they like and would suggest I look at? Or in the end am I better off just replacing the limbs and saving up for a custom bow further down the road?
Merry Christmas folks, enjoy the holidays!
Before giving up on that bow see if you can fix that twist. Most twists are relatively easy to correct.
While the bow is strung, twist it in the opposite direction. It might take some time, and repeated attempts before the limb relearns proper alignment. Some people have had success with hot water or other forms of applying heat, but personally I don't like to do that. Too much danger of doing permanent damage, in my opinion.
Some twists are very easy and come out with a minimum of fuss, while others are very stubborn and take more time.
For some more stubborn twists I sometimes put the bow in a vise with the limbs perpendicular to the floor. Then using an expandable clamp apply pressure near the tip to twist the limb in the opposite direction and leave it for a day or two. Sometimes I also devised a way to hang a weight off the limb to do the same thing.
In case you do buy a lower priced bow, a second hand Damon Howatt Hunter is an EXCEPTIONAL bow for the average resell price of 150-250 bucks.
Unless you're really itching for a new bow I'd listen to joe/whip, he knows a thing or twelve about fixing up bows!
I'll definitely be trying these ideas fixing the limb twist. I'd really like to save up for a Dwyer and this bow is just fine for the time being. Thanks very much Whip. I'll torque on it later today and see what I can do.
If you have the money there is no better time to buy a good used bow...not sure why but deals are coming out of the woodwork right now
DDave
Isaw a really nice Howatt on the classifieds for $160. Almost bought it myself.
I agree with what Whip said about correcting the twist. My experience is that fixes are temporary. In other words, you get it corrected and a few days or weeks later, it comes back. When it comes back, try to catch it before it gets too far out of hand, and it will be easier to correct than it was the first time.
A limb twists because one side is weaker than the other, either because of something inherent in the wood or some excessive stress placed on it. Why doesn't really matter, because the correction is the same: make the other side just as weak as the side that twisted, because unfortunately, there's no way to make the twisted side stronger. Since you've now got two weak sides, the chances are it will twist again. Which isn't the end of the world; just keep correcting it before it gets too bad.
McDave, I wondered if it would need to be repeated regularly. Luckily, this first round it took less time to "fix" the twist than to write this post. I hope to stay on top of it and just continue to save up for a replacement. Thanks again guys.
McDave, I wondered if it would need to be repeated regularly. Luckily, this first round it took less time to "fix" the twist than to write this post. I hope to stay on top of it and just continue to save up for a replacement. Thanks again guys.