Just got a new Holm made bow on Thursday. I have heard good reports on Chad from many people and was greatly awaiting his bow to arrive. 62" River Runner recurve. Unpacked out of the PVC tube he sends them in and went to the basement to give it a little shooting. The bow was very quiet and smooth drawing and fit my hand very well. What did not happen was good group. Arrows in about a 12 inch circle. Man I can't get this bow to group. Funny my other bows shoot very well and still do. So I tried adjusting how I gripped the bow. Tight , loose, wrist up and down.
Man I will try it tomorrow. 3 days no luck. So I called Chad and left the message no bowyer wants to hear. Hey I got your bow but I can get it to shoot for me. Some things wrong, what can we do, give me a call back. I am sitting around dumfounded trying to think what is wrong with this bow and about 3 hours latter Chad calls and says to call him back. He also says the bow is not as center cut as some bows and you might try different spined arrows. Well la de da I am shooting 2 different carbon arrows and one aluminum and they shoot well out of my other bows. Then it hits me. He said spine and center shot. I have been shooting bows for over 50 years and I can not remember anything I have learned. I grab some wood arrows that I have from days gone by and all the feathers are touching. One little group after another. Thanks Chad for straitening out an old man that can't remember his past. Those old wood arrows may not stay as straight as carbons, but they sure do work when they match the bow. And Chad said the carbons will also, but you have to match them to the bow also.
Good story. We sometimes panic when our shooting isn't going right and forget the basics.
I have seen it many times in my shooting.......it's never the bow....lol! I find wood arrows to be a lot more forgiving than other shafting.
A happy ending facilitated by one of the friendliest and talented bowyers around.
:clapper: :archer2:
You will learn to love that River Runner. I had a right hander that I sold when I switched to lefty. I've owned several Ospreys (and have one for sale in the classifieds now). I'm going to have Chad build me another River Runner, but with a dual shelf so I can pretend I'm ambidextrous (equally clumsy with left or right hand).
A dual shelf obviously can not be cut to center, so I expect I will have to do some experimenting with weaker spined arrows than normal. When I hit the right combination, though (and I will) it's really going to be a fun machine.
You may be surprised how quickly carbons recover. I'm having great luck with 1535s out of my mid-40# bows.
Great Story I have been there.
Hey Ed,
When you get the chance try feeding that River Runner a couple of carbons. It will swallow them whole and say"more please"
Seriously,my Osprey that Chad built really performs well with carbons.
(http://i.imgur.com/ccInWKr.jpg?1)