Draw Weight Ques.
 

would it be better to buy a 60-70 bow and krank it down or a 50-60 bow and krank it up if im trying to get to the 58-62 range. Is ther any functionability or efficiency changes by bottoming or topping a bow out.

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

Bows perform best at their peak draw weight.
Their limbs have less vibration, more efficiency, bettercast, and arequietestwhen at peak weight.
Therefore it's better to get a 50 to 60 lb bow maxed to 60 lbs than the 60 to 70 lb bow backed down to 60 lbs.


Sag.

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

Most likley would depend on a lot of things starting with the bow. If your buying a new one having the place your buying it from crank it up or down and then shooting it would be a start. It's so hard to say. When your dialing the thing in little things mean a lot. I have had mine cranked down to 60 and shot it, but I wasn't looking for everything at the time. I'd say it would take weeks to know for sure what the results were.

I've heard Sag's advise before, but having never done it couldn't say if I believed it or how much of a change there was and it would depend on other things. I don't believe many guys have done it either, I could be wrong because the question does come up often enough.

Come to think of it though I have on the kids bow used the full range and although I don't shoot it I have watched it and never thought to myself "that's not good".

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

thanx for the help guys :D

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

I have tried and can never verify that a bow performs better at peak weight. Maybe the older ones did, but the newer ones it doesn't seem to make that big of a difference. There may be a very small difference in performance, like you may loose a few FPS, but it certainly will not be enough to notice. As far as noise, if you get a bow that makes more noise with the limbs backed off compared to one that is bottomed out, take it back! There is either something wrong or you need to get a different brand of bow.

That being said, there is nothing short of african game that a newer bow set at 60 lbs with a normal draw length (28-30 inches) will not take down. So I would opt for the 50 to 60 lb bow and bottom the limbs out. Then if you ever wanted to shoot less weight, like if you got hurt or wanted to target shoot you would have that flexibility. The only down side is I bet the bow would be easier to re-sell with a 70 lb peak weight since this is what every one wants. Too bad most of them are over bowed because they are too macho to turn the bow down a few lbs.;).

That is another advantage to getting the 60 lb peak weight bow. You will not be inticed to turn the bow up, which will ultimately be better for you.

Another advantage is that one of the reasons bows have adjustable weight is so you can tune the bow to the arrows. If you get arrows and they are under spined for your bow and it is a 70 lb bow turned down to 60 you can't lower the weight any to make it match your arrows. (you could cut the arrows down though if they were not too short already). If you had a 60 lb bow bottomed out you would have more range to adjust the bow down to match your arrows. This is much easier than getting new arrows or messing around having them cut and hoping it works better.

Paul

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

I think there is an untapped market for 55 - 65 pound bows. I think bow companies should sell "half sizes" if you know what i mean. Like 50-60, 55-65, 60-70, 65-75, etc.

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

thanx for all the info...since ive heard that any north american game animal can be efficiently taken w/ a 50 lbs draw weight that seem to be the bettr choice...i also used to hav a 60-70 bow but i did not feel comfortable or accurate w/ it if i fever had to hold a draw for a long time so 50-60 seems more practical

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

What sag said , plus , most bows rated 60 will max between 62-64 lbs , not so much on the newer bows , but in years past this was the norm , mathews especialy , most of them I put on a scale pulled arround 4 lbs over max when cranked down , this is new , not after cabel slip .

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

I have a custom Accu-Riser with a set of 55-65 lb Barnsdale limbs and thinkthey're great. [8D]
Dave Barnsdale is the only guy who makes limbs in that range that I know of.


Sag.

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

Just to add one more note of confusion to the process. Good points stated above. Depending on what bow you're coming from, you may find that a higher draw weight feels pretty similar to your old bow's lower weight. I upgraded 2 years ago from a High Country Split Force that maxed out at 58lbs to a Bowtech Liberty that maxes out at 71 pounds. Due to the great difference in draw cycles and the smoothness of the newer bow, I found that right around 65 lb draw weight I was expending about the same level of effort as with the older bow maxed out. This isn't to say that you need that extra poundage, but it also doesn't hurt to get the additional speed with the same perceived level of effort.

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

Just a thought. Maybe you should get a bow that will shoot higher poundage than your used to that way after a couple years of shooting if you feel like you can pull back a heavier weight it can be adjusted up.

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

river otter i was considering a liberty as well and setting it at about 62-64# i used to shoot 65-70 on an old Pse bow so in your experience i gues i should notice a huge difference stil w/o out having to drop weight

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

I can't guarantee it since I haven't drawn your PSE bow, but I would suspect that you will still find the Liberty to be much smoother and easier to draw. The cycle is a lot less linear than the old styles, and I guess the valley just gives the momentum to get the pull done smoothly so the peak isn't as apparent (at least to me). I initially had mine set at 64# when I bought it, and after practicing for a month or so maxed it out. When it's maxed out I can definitely tell it's more than the 58# that I was pulling on the old bow, but it doesn't seem like a 12# increment. Your mileage may vary, but I was merely suggesting in my prior post that you may not want to rule out the 60-70# bow if you're looking for something that pulls like your current bow does at ~62#. I don't know the speed on your old bow, but I would be fairly confident that the Liberty at 60# shoots a similar speed to what your PSE was shooting at 70#...meaning that you would be adequately armed with the 50-60# bow near it's max.

I forgot to address one of your other concerns in my prior post...you stated that you don't feel comfortable with your current bow if you have to hold your draw for an extended amount of time. Again without knowing what bow you have I can't tell you for certain, but it's likely that if it's older your bow has about a 65% letoff. Many of the newer bows (including the Liberty) have an adjustable letoff and come set at 80%. While many are happier witha 65% letoff when target shooting, I've found that the 80% letoff in the deer stand to be a great asset. It's far easier to hold it for an extended time if circumstances dictate (I held for ~2 minutes and made the shot needed last fall). If you can, try pulling them both at the shop and have them check the poundage on a scale so you aren't guessing what they're set at.

Lastly, whatever you choose, walk out of the shop confident that you've gotten what suits your needs and desires, and then don't read any more posts about new bows lest you absorb the new bow hype of next years models and startthe vicious cycle that many of the members on this forum subscribe to.:eek: I've tempted fate a few times by reading here, but I'm still happy with my bow and have resisted any temptation to "upgrade."

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

Sag, jsut for informational; purposes you can order Martin bows with different limb deflections that allow for as little as 3# difference, similar to Barnsdale. For instance I ordered a bow this year that comes standard at 2L limbs (35-50 #). The next range up is 4L limbs (45-60 #). Well, I wanted to peak at 55 # so I ordered it with 3L limbs for a 40-55 # range. If I wanted to go a little higher I could get 3M limbs and it would peak at 57-58#, Get the picture?

You just won't find them on the shelf that way, though.

RE: Draw Weight Ques.
 

BGf,

Thanks for the information on Martin limbs.
I remember reading a few years ago about their 15 lb range but didn't know about the 3 lb difference in peak weight.
If I wasn't so taken by Stewart's bows, I wouldn't mind having a Martin Razor X with Nitrous X cams. ;)


Sag.