Gentlemen... What can y'all tell me about a Nirk Chieftain Longbow???

Are they considered to be good, mediocre, or bad bows?

What company actually produced the bows?

Any and all pertinent information and comments are welcome.

As I recall (could be mistaken), Martin/Howatt made bows for Nirk. Not familiar with the Chieftain.

I had a Nirk Frontiersman. It was a version of the Martin Vision with a slightly different grip. I believe Martin made all Nirk bows. btw, my frontiersman was an awesome shooting longbow.

Thanks guys.  I was aware that Nirk did not manufacture their own bows but I did not know what company did produce them.  If Martin/Howatt produced them then how old are these bows?

I believe they were made around 1999 & 2000 and I think for only a year or two.

Randy Dehnel worked for Nirk, and when he left them he began Saxon Archery and made a line of longbows and recurves.  As a bowyer and employee of Nirk, why would Randy not be making some of those.  

I believe it's possible that both Martin AND Randy made various models of Nirks.

Blackhawk, Randy never worked for Larry Nirk.  ..OE

Thanks for the clarification...I was misinformed.

Is there anyway to know which company/person made the Nirk Chieftain?  Also, does anyone know approximately how many of these bows were made?

As you may have guessed I recently purchased a Nirk Chieftain Longbow which I received yesterday.  It is 70 lbs @ 28" and is 68" long.  It came with a string that is 62" long which seems too short.  However, I couldn't resist stringing it up and flinging a few arrows.  I hope to get a new string ASAP and see how well it shoots then.

This is my first longbow and I don't quite know what to expect but it seems to shoot pretty dang good with the short string.

Forgot to mention that the brace height with the short string is 8 1/2".

My guess is you want a string 2-3" longer to end up with a brace of 6.5-7".

Larry Nirk and Nirk Archery are somewhat of a mystery to some of us.  I've seen various posts and comments elsewhere that inicate Randy Dehnel worked there, but that was refuted by Mr. Berry above...and I should think he would know.  BTW, I have noticed the writing on the Nirk bows is about the same as found on Saxon.

The Nirk company seems to have been primarily an arrow, nock, and accessory company rather than a mfg. of bows.  I just do not know if Larry Nirk was a bowyer, but heard he had about 20 or so employees working for him.

Maybe if you posted this on the collecting/history forum, some of those guys may be able to shed some light on Nirk.  Also, maybe Mr. Berry can fill us in on what he knows of the company.

Good shooting to you...

Lon,

Thanks for the information you, and others, have posted regarding this issue.  It is indeed appreciated.  I will take your advise and repost this initial thread over on the collecting / history forum.  Hopefully more info can be gleaned there.

Regarding string length... I thought that a brace height of 8 1/2" was too high so I appreciate the affirmation and I will be ordering a string that is proper length.

Thanks,
Andrew