I got my new longbow, FF compatible, about a week ago. Brace height, set at 6 1/4" on first bracing, seemed great right out of the gate. Low noise, great arrow flight, and nominal handshock. Of course, being new to me it's seen some extended range sessions but the string has never been off of the bow, just slid down the limb. Increased noise and slap led me to recheck my brace height only to find that the string had stretched almost a full inch in about a week's time. I thought these FF strings had considerably less stretch. Do I have a bad string?

Sounds like a lot of elongation. Hopefully you can twist it up to correct brace without over twisting it.
Sounds like the string could have been made a little better. Any chance the string was to short to begin with and you may have untwisted it to much for lower brace?

Several good sources of string makers sponsor here that can fix you up.

I make my own strings. They generally don't stretch but a tiny bit, but actually just settle and elongate your first 50-100 arrows, depending on bow weight. If you twist it back up to the proper brace, it shouldn't move any more, yet check it from time to time. Any time you make an adjustment, shoot it a few arrows and re check it.   It will usually change 1/8 or so after twisting up and then shooting to get it settled.

One inch???? Look like a very bad string,next time try to buy stabilized FF string.

Where did the string come from?  Is it a skinny string?

One inch is a lot for a ff string to stretch. I would try twisting it up to your brace height now that it has had a few shots on it and see if it stretches any more. A well made ff string should only stretch within the first 100 or so shots.

Without knowing what FF material the string is made from, its guess work to suggest whether that amount of stretch is normal. I don't know why we always talk about FF like its all the same. Its not.

For expample, I shoot 450+ out of my bow. When its strung it will stay exact after the initial settling-in. If I un-string the bow it needs a few hours to again settle-in, but is pretty close.

Initially, it stretched a fair amount.  Great string material BTW.

Joshua

It's also possible you don't have a FF string at all.  A FF compatible bow doesn't guarantee you a FF string.

Where did the string come from?

I have never had a string that didn't stretch and I have to adjust the life of the string. I have bought from the best and they also stretch.

That's not normal stretch for a fast flite string.  Either the string wasn't made correctly and stretched when made and/or it may be coming loose at the braids, another indication of a poorly made string.  Even for dacron, that would be a lot of stretch after the string is already shot in, as yours was.

QuoteOriginally posted by ranger 3:
I have never had a string that didn't stretch and I have to adjust the life of the string. I have bought from the best and they also stretch.

X2, particularly when the weather gets extremely hot. However, I am talking 1/16-1/8", not inches.
Once upon a time, I bought a string that had a loop start slipping apart.

I would be very suspicious of that string and whoever made it. Strings are inexpensive; do yourself a favor and get one of the sponsors here to make you a proper one and get a back up too.

Lol, I'm too much of a newbie in this to go blamin' anybody, could've been something stupid on my part...don't see how, the string never left the limbs while unbraced, but with my luck it's possible. Just glad I caught it when I did, my groups went from great to WTH in zero to no time. I've adjusted it out, got my groups back.  I'm going to order another string, shoot it in, and keep this one for emergencies.
Any suggestions on FF strings? I checked the sponsor list, I must have missed a source.I'd always prefer to deal with forum members/sponsors.

Chad at Champion Bowstrings

Flemish traditional sports
Champion custom strings
Olverstacy
SBD
Lefties are Us


All good ones

Buy 2 from one of the sponsors listed and keep the one you have as an extra backup, would not trust it as a primary string.

Could be one or more of several causes for your string stretch.  One thing that never fails to amaze me is that some of the more expensive bows still ship with strings that came from the cheapest source...to me it's like putting "regular unleaded" fuel in a dragster.

Some things that contribute to stretch/creep:

string wasn't pre-stretched
the way it was made
the material it was made from
the number of strands used
draw weight
temperature

Even some "FF" materials have a considerable amount of initial stretch/creep, especially if they weren't pre-stretched.  Some never fully settle in.

Chad

Strong recommnedation for Champion Custom Bowstrings.  Just put a flemish twist D97 from Chad on a 59# Pronghorn. Really quieted the bow down, which wasn't that loud to begin with.  I am shooting at about a 3/4-inch longer brace height than before for best combination of arrow flight and noise.  Even with shorter brace height, I had to increase spine weight.  Still playing with brace height, so not sure where I will end up.

Don't know if speed increased (no chrono), but it is noticeably  quieter!  It took about 100 shots to settle in and has not budged in several hundred shots since.  It also looks great!

Thanks for the help guys, I ordered a couple of FF strings from Champion Custom Bowstrings yesterday....

Most all bow strings will stretch over time.    We normally don't see that much stretch in a new string like an SBD or a string from Josh because they pre-stretch them before we get them.  The usually hang the string overnight with a 5 gallon bucket full of sand or similar weight before they are sent out.

Is one inch alot?  Eh...ask Pierre or Josh how much they stretch during the "pre-stretch".

I've found it normal for most D10 strings to give up 1/2" over time.