I owned the bow bolt for several years. It was a Phenolic riser and a  pretty slick system.  No issues on my end.  Ultimately I sold it because I wanted another bow..

Mine blew up at full draw. The bolt held up fine but the bowyer used an all wood riser and there just wasn't enough wood left in the riser after shaping it to withstand the stress.

Fractured a finger and put a nasty cut across my chest.

I'd recommend that if you use that system insist the bowyer use phenolic in the riser for structural integrity. A bow blowing up at full draw is something I would not wish on an enemy.

77#@29".  A few thousand shots and still going strong.  Shrew Safari built by Gregg Coffey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glad you weren't hurt John.  Most of the bowyers know better than to use wood these days.

It is a great system. We use it. Just needs to be done right.

I love my bow-bolt system. Mine is in my Toelke Whip which has a all micarta riser. I am pretty sure Dan will not build one with a wood riser.

I want pdk's Safari !!!

That's just what I was thinking, Terry. That is a great looking bow.

Thanks Terry and Jim,
I like it so much that I am having Gregg build me a Falcon in a more everday kinda weight,  but still with the bow-bolt.  It is going to look sweet.  Phenolic riser, and figured koa veneers from IdahoCurt.

WOW!

I have a bowbolt whip.  Love the bow and bolt system.  Micarta riser

I have one of the first bow-bolt whips Dan made. It is a wood riser with no micarta. Dan said the problems came with shooting light arrows. As noted, he has since gone to micarta risers. Don't shoot it much because I just don't trust it 100% and have many other Toelke's to shoot. Will get another with the micarta riser soon.

The Bow Bolt system is awesome when built by a competent bowyer.  My favorite 2pc system.

I  had the bow bolt in a bow with a koa riser from a very good bowyer about 7-8 years ago. I never had a problem but I sold the bow to a friend with a 30" draw and it hatched on him. There were a few failures back at that time but none that I've heard of recently.
I prefer the 2 peice system used by Widow, A&H, Cari-bow and probably others for strength but it does limit the riser design.

I have a Shrew Classic Carbon Hunter with all phenolic riser built by Gregg. It's only 53# but has the heavy duty version bow bolt. It's built like a tank and I have never had an issue. I sold a really sharp Classic Hunter that belonged to Ron LaClair to PDK several years ago to raise $$$ to have it built.

The only used bow failure I've had was with a bow bolt take down.  It was the only bad experience I've had buying off the classifieds.