I bought a used Indian longbow on e-bay the other week it arrived Yesterday. looked OK for the money I paid for it. Strung it up, flexed it a few times all looked and sounded OK so I gave her a pull. WOW was that loud in a closed room sounded like a 22LR going off.

I bet that scared you to death.  I know it would have scared me.  Did anybody get hurt?

Na no injuries But I think it used up 4 or 5 of the cats lives not such a bad thing  

All wood bows are subject to how they were stored over the years, they can dry out rather easily.

Dang Earl, sorry to hear about that..But I am glad you are ok...Merry Christmas

I'd have to check my pants after something like that!!!!!

Do you need to ask for new underwear for Christmas?

Heck it scares me just looking at the pictures let alone being there

Glad you are ok.


Stumpsniper - funny stuff right there.

No new Underwear for Christmas. I don't wear them.  :p  


Just Kiddin

Hope you can get your money back??

I had the same thing happen to me, a guy at work gave me a Sears made Bear recurve, it looked good had no visible cracks shot it a few times all seemed good!  then one day drew her back and Kapow limb shattered and just missed my eye! Scares the crap out of you I know that!

Sheesh that is terrible. It's my biggest fear whenever I buy a bow.

Wood bows need to be gently brought back into service.  Its a process that can take days.

Awww man........rats  :mad:

What kind of treatment do you guys suggest for breaking in a older all wood bow? I am just trying to prevent what happened to Earl if I can help it.

Glad for the no injuries! Sorry about bow. Sometimes the old wood ones are so dried out that they become more brittle than bendable. Here in the South with the Humidity you would think old bows would not lose all their moisture. I had one(lemonwood) "explode" into 5 pieces when I was at full draw. I was amazed that nothing was punctured. And that was after working it up slowly too. Try and stick to Laminated limb bows now!

The seller wouldn't be responsible for such a thing.  That bow is over fifty years old and all wood.  Stuff happens, and it may have broken even if you took days to break it in.  Lemonwood is pretty tough, but it was probably dried out and needed some moisture.

Those old bows usually lack a good finish and can lose moisture.  Sometimes it's best to keep them in a humidified room for a week or more before putting a new finish on them.  You just never know, however, so you just go on.

Talk about bad luck, hopefully no one caught any splinters from it.