What kind of havoc would cause the limbs to a crossbow be it a compound or a recurve I have read post where a dryfire had cracked and split limbs,, would think a string breaking would do more damage, becaus of their being nogthing to slow down the forward limb momentum..

Depends on whether or not the limbs were at full draw or not. I guess if you are retarded enough to not be carefull of the broadhead and you cut it, first of all it would probably be the serving, big deal you'll survive until you get to some serving material unless you crank a blade into it. If you get so far as to be at full draw and it snaps then no mater what you're shooting, the hunt is over until the proshop checks it out. I personally would rather replace my limbs no mater what. I don't want to put a load into my pants if I don't have to if a limb breaks. If my string broke at rest I would have no problem replacing the string and getting back to work. I probabaly would run some cloth along the limbs to check for cracks, maybe.
Don

Bad things happen to dumb people. Lemme give you a little example of one of my dumber moves. A buddy and me saw these huge fish in a pond, from an overhang up above it. We tried and tried to catch one. Threw everything under the sun in front of them, nada. This was over a two-three day period. Finally, I got the bright idea to bow hunt them. I had a compound vericle, got the bow reel, the special arrow, the line, yadyada. We get out there, all set up. I take real careful aim, cause you gotta aim a little low on fish in the water, and let one fly. Really looked like a good shot, however the law of stupidity caught up w/ me because the nylon braided line was not long enough for the arrow to hit the water, which caused a severe jolt when it hit the end of the line. My troubles weren't quite over yet however, because after the line quit stretching downward, it reversed the direction of the arrow which headed back at me at what seemed like an incredible speed. And believe it or not, it bottomed out again way up there, and headed back down again. This was not the dumbest thing I've ever done, but it's up there.

Moral of the story: Check you string before ya pull the trigger!!

Ok, I can't wait for Squirrel. Now there's a real risk taker! Bet he's got some good ones and more/better in the future. Gawwwd Dan thats funny! Bet you guys were laughing pretty bad afterwards.
Reminds me of the night I dropped by to replace some u joints on a Blazer. Real easy! Well normally.. it is. Well an empty stomach, four real beers later and three hours later we decided to meet up the next day and do it in an hour. Other than the lack of coordination(from the beer) everytime some one did something wrong we would look at each other and start laughing. Eventually we gave up mostly because our sides were hurting too bad to work safely LOL!!! Ok guys next stupid story please.
Don

man Dan I almost fell out of my chair reading that one and you want all of us to meet up and shoot togather,, just imagine what might happen,, lol,, that was definately a funny one I can just see you dodging the arrow.. that would be a hard one to top..

That is easy to beat, although I did not do it myself. We had a guy call in and he was very upset because he had shot his thumb with the string. Now most crossbow shooters have done that to some degree or another in there lifetime. Apparently this guy was going to sue us or so he thought, even though he had read the owners manual and sent in the warranty card. Well, as we talked with him, it turns out he had shot the stiches out of his thumb! He had done the SAME THING one weeek prior!. Now I don't know about you guys, but if I had blown off the end of my thumb, I would at least remember that until the stiches came out.
Darwin award winner?
Randy

Henry,
In answer to your question, at least on a compound crossbow, several things could happen.
1. Nothing, the cables can hold the bow strung.
2. This can cause the cables to break also
3. If both go, you can bet you need new axles.
4. You can break your limbs an/or all of the above.
It really depends on when and how the string breaks and what bow it is.
Why,are you thinking about trying it?
Randy