Can 2 different samples of a particular bow be THAT much different?

LBR · December 07, 2015, 03:40:00 PM

Bobby Lofton was infamous for that. Some of his bows shot nice, some not so much. I was told he didn't measure, just "eyeballed" everything. That would make a difference.

Kip · December 07, 2015, 04:15:00 PM

I had a great set of longbow limbs on a short riser I bought used in ut 2 or three years they blew up.I sent one good limb to the bowyer for another set of limbs and they turned out to be dogs no feel no life just a board.Boy I miss my orginal went back hunting with a recurve since then.My favorite bow in in my avatar I noticed after I sent the post.Kip

trubltrubl · December 08, 2015, 03:23:00 AM

three under I apologize for asking.....S does happen...nice to have a back up.

I am only guessing but anything hand made or even machine made has its own character to some degree...even cars off the assembly line etc...we all hope for the holly grail of bows....

Mint · December 08, 2015, 11:53:00 AM

Yes it can happen but it shouldn't.

Mark R · December 08, 2015, 01:41:00 PM

If you make bows you know this can happen,it can depend on material, epoxy, and alot of variables. The natural materials very from tree to tree,even man made materials can very especially if there not from the same batch, if there duplicated from different times,both organic and man made material can differ, but it should'nt be a drastic difference to where one shoots great and the other terrible

damascusdave · December 08, 2015, 03:56:00 PM

Not clear from your post...did you buy both of those bows new...if not did you measure the draw weight on both of them...I recently bought a bow that seemed particularly smooth for the draw weight and upon talking to the former owner learned he had reduced the draw weight by a "couple of pounds"...now that individual is a bowyer with a great reputation and having bought a couple of used bows from him that he has refinished I would say both of those bows are better than new...the other factor is simply that one can make a big difference in the performance of a bow by building just the right string for it...my stringmaker built about a half dozen strings for his new model Kodiak before he got one he liked...all bows involve at least a certain amount of hand work and that can be a big variable

DDave

December 08, 2015, 04:13:00 PM

I have had same model longbows look way different and shoot the same, I have also had a couple that looked identical and shot completely different. First thing I thought was tiller may be off, not as far as i could measure. I gave the one that I did not like to a friend and he still thinks that he got the better one of the two.

Curvebow05 · December 09, 2015, 07:50:00 AM

I have found with both of my recurves that as little of 1/16 of an inch of brace height can completely change the bow. I'm by no means as experienced as most of the crew here but, on my sage if I take the brace height over 8" which is well within the recommended measurement, I get a ton of hand shock and string slap. That happened with both the stock Dacron string and a custom FF. Plus the bow will not group at all no matter what arrows/arrow setup I send down range. I spent several hours playing with the brace height before I found what was perfect. No one has mentioned that yet so I figured I would throw in my $.02. I bought a buddy the same bow and his is best at a hair over 7.5". Shoots like crap at 7 15/16 where mine is.

Doc Nock · December 10, 2015, 04:31:00 PM

I applaud Bisch's comments.

Adding tip protectors, placement of string silencers, string nock, and type of string can make HUGE difference in "tune" and how a bow shoots.

Every string I've bought has made my bow shoot way different over the years!

That and as has been stated, bows are largely made of natural fiber materials (wood) and that alone varies, let alone the headaches bowyer's go thru to re calibrate every new batch of glass that comes in!

Personally, I don't know why bows that come in at desired weight don't cost a lot MORE! I can't afford that, but it still amazes me working with live fiber materials and man made "stuff."

**DONOTDELETE** · December 11, 2015, 12:29:00 PM

QuoteOriginally posted by threeunder:
This question is for not only the bowyers in the gang, but also those who have shot different samples of the same model.

I'll withhold the name of the bow...

About 3 year ago I bought a bow from a sponsor here (he was not the bowyer). I was completely blown away by that bow. So much so that I started looking for a backup bow of the same model and specs.

After searching, I found my second one. Got it to my house and was very disappointed in it. The smoothness of the draw, the handshock, my ability to hit with it...everything was just very wrong.

Both bows had the same grip, exact same model, exact length and the first was #52 @ 28" and the second was #51 @ 28". To say I was shocked was an understatment.

So, was that a complete lemon? Just me? Or has anyone else noticed something similar?

I often wonder why these kind of threads hit the open archery forums when a simple phone call to the bowyer would most likely answer your question.....

I could think of several reasons why two "Custom" bows of the same make, design, and draw weights would have considerably different shooting characteristics. If a bowyer builds a "Custom" bow draw length specific for a customer to increase performance and enhance the smoothness of the draw. That would do it right there....

I do this quite often with my Sasquatch hybrid long bow for customers with really long or really short draw lengths. That 60" bow can be built for a 26" draw or a 32" draw just my manipulating the tapers and wedges in the limb, and the choice of core woods used. The draw force curve is radically different even though the two bows look almost identical. One is going to stack up tight at 29" and the other will go clear to 32". If you were only drawing 28" the two bows would be night and day different.

The recommended brace height will typically be lower for the bow "custom built" for a shorter draw length too....

I always mark my custom builds at the draw length they were built for myself. Like 47 @ 27, or 52 @ 26"...... A lot of bowyers mark all their bows at 28"....

I have no idea what you have going there, but i suspect this may be what you are experiencing. I recommend contacting the bowyer and ask him.

threeunder · December 11, 2015, 04:24:00 PM

That's great info. Kirk.

It's not an issue I have. It was something I experienced a few years ago and began to wonder about it. Was just a question from someone who shoots, rather than builds bows...LOL

I knew you guys would help explain it to me and give me your experiences.

Thanks for all the responses from everyone.

Mike Mecredy · December 11, 2015, 10:34:00 PM

How do the tiller of the two compare, set side by side, at the same brace ht? It's detrimental, especially if you shoot 3 under.

BHall · December 11, 2015, 11:10:00 PM

I've had the same experience. 3 bows from same bowyer all shoot differently. Not necessarily bad just different. Bows seem to have their own personalities. Lots of variables in the equation.

old_goat2 · December 12, 2015, 06:56:00 AM

Are the limb materials the same? I think if you have different limb materials you could easily see a difference, same limb materials it should be a better chance to have similar characteristics. Even in the other flavors of bows, the types we don't mention or picture on here, you can see a noticeable difference in performance from one to another of the same model and specs!