dryfire

Kyle3 · 11-14-2003, 09:14 PM

Hey I have a question. I left my bow out tonight in my room, and we had family over. My younger brother showed my cousin my bow and when I came in he had it pulled back. I was like hey what are you doing? And he was lettin it like a 1/4 of the way down from the full draw position when i said it and I must have scared him and he let go. The hoyt snapped back, pretty much dry-firing. I looked over the bow and nothign appeared to be wrong with it. What should I look for? I drew it back and everything seemed fine. I am really concerned though, is there any tell tale signs of a problem I should look for?

AKDoug · 11-15-2003, 12:31 AM

It' s probably fine. If you are really concerned take it to a good dealer and have them look it over. I let a brand new bow slip last year and I' ve never had an issue with it after several thousand shots.

Raymond van Halm · 11-15-2003, 07:19 AM

I have been told bows are dry-fired to test them.
This is done in the factory and i dont think they will do it with every one bow that go' s out.
Bows should be able to be dry-fired although i would not like it to be one of mine.

In my friends shop we test limbs for cracks due to dry-fired shot or anything.
We use a very thin oil that sucks in the possible crack and after wiping the limb dry, the limb should not ' swet' oil.
I know there is something to test for hair cracks in alu and iron constructions.

This is it.
http://www.magnaflux.com/spotcheck.stm

I dont know if it would effect the material where limbs are made of.
Mabe someone else know?
Let me know.

Sagittarius · 11-15-2003, 06:59 PM

K3,

You might want to have the axles pulled and checked to make sure they' re still straight.
If they are bent and you continue to shoot the bow, your limbs and cam bushings can wallow out.
Check the cams to make sure they' re straight also.
Looks like Raymond covered the limbs.

Sag.

Kyle3 · 11-15-2003, 11:32 PM

Thanks guys I am gonna take it to my shop and have them restring it anyways and when it is there they can look over it. Nothing seems to be wrong with it that I can notice. I just wish it hadn' t happened. Thanks for your help.

NC_archer · 11-18-2003, 12:17 PM

i got my brand new PSE a while back and broke it out and of course wanted to draw it back. well...i had no release on and it slip right from my fingers. a complete dryfire!!! i was stunned, but i looked it over and have shot at least 500 times since then and it shoots awesome. nothign is wrong with it as far as i can tell. hope youres turns out ok.

Danny45 · 11-18-2003, 01:00 PM

Quote:

We use a very thin oil that sucks in the possible crack and after wiping the limb dry, the limb should not ' swet' oil.

A word of caution, don' t ever do that with wood core limbs like on older bows!!! It will deteriate the glue, and cause the limb to delaminate. Sometimes at the worst possible moment, like full draw.

Raymond van Halm · 11-18-2003, 02:49 PM

Thats true Danny. You are right. I should have mentioned that.

da hunting ace · 11-20-2003, 04:50 AM

what happens to a bow when it' s dry fired? I remember that werent able to dry fire rifles a while ago but now they' re making them so you can.

Danny45 · 11-20-2003, 12:32 PM

Quote:

what happens to a bow when it' s dry fired?

On alot of the newer bows, nothing. But don' t make a habit of it.

Things I' ve seen over the years when a bow is dry fired are:

Limbs breaking
limbs cracking
Riser breaking or warping
Strings and cables breaking

Most of these will result in some sort of owie to the dry firer!