I have a chance to buy a used Lofton Hill style longbow for $150 in good condition. I have just recently got back into archery with my old recurve and have been anxious to try a longbow. The sporting goods store around here only caters to compound shooters and have 1 longbow and it's a Bear Montana for $279. I guess the traditional archery bug hasn't caught on around here yet. Has anyone had any experience with a Lofton bow?Also, I am having trouble finding the right aluminum arrow for my Howatt Hunter recurve. I check the Easton arrow chart and buy a couple of the recommended sizes and shoot them and they don't fly right. My bow is 60# @ 28" and my draw length is 28 1/2". I have some old Howard Hill wood arrows I bought 10+ years ago and they fly OK even though they came with straight 5" fletching. I want to go aluminum because the finish on the woods doesn't stand up to the hay bale butts at the range. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Lofton makes a decent bow. Sometimes the quality of the finish isn't so great, sometimes you are hard pressed to find any bow that's finished better. For $150 though, I'd be able to live with a few sanding marks.

For arrows, don't go by the standard Easton chart. It shows arrows way too stiff for traditional bows. Use Easton's Legacy chart instead. It's much more reasonable. Or, maybe even better, use Kelly's spine chart. http://www.arrowsbykelly.com/Spine_Charts.html

Thanks for the information and the link. Out archery shop sold me some 2216, 2219, and 2512 arrows according to the chart and I have been frustrated ever since. But, like I said, they cater to compound shooters. Based on your assessmentI may have to jump on the Lofton for my first longbow.

I'm not too slick on aluminums--been too long since I shot them, and have forgotten most of what I knew--but my guess is all three of the ones you have are overspined, at least with 125 grain or lighter points.

Kelly's spine chart seems to be a good one.

Chad

IHAVE A FEW 2216 EASTONS AND I SHOOT THEM WITH MY HOWAT #50 @ 28 THEY DIDN'T FLY RIGHT SOMETIMES THEY DID, SO WHEN THE FLESHINGS WENT BAD,I REPLACED THEM WITH TRUEFLIGHT 41/2" AND NOW THEY ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY.
sO IT MIGHT BE THE WRONG SIZE VANES WIH THAT RECURVE.

I RATHER SHOOT WOOD ARROWS ANY DAY.