I have a older Ben Pearson Apex #13 recurve bow with a busted string. I would like to start shooting it but I am not sure what string length to get. In its relaxed state, it measures 59" tip to tip. would that mean I would need a string that is 55" loop to loop? It also says it is #45 @28"; i am a 31" draw. would a longer string allow for my longer draw without loosing any poundage>? Any Info would be helpful.
Thanks

I had a problem similar to yours a couple weeks ago when I got my grandpa's 50+ year old longbow. It didn't say the string length on the bow. What I did was just took it in to my local shop and had them help me try out a few different strings to get it so it had a decent brace height.

For all practical purposes, the Apex #13 is the exact same bow as the Pearson Colt. It is 62" AMO (with recurves, bow length is measured by following the contours of the limbs, not straight line between the tips), so buy a string that says it is62" AMO.Brace height should be 7 1/2 - 8 1/4".

Recurves have an unlimited draw length, not a specific draw length like compounds do. The manufacturersset 28" as the standard draw length for rating a bow's draw length. If your draw length is shorter than 28, you'll draw less poundage. If it's longer than 28, you'll draw more. The old formula for estimating how many pounds per inch you'll gain or lose per inch of draw length is: Draw weightdivided by 20. So, your 45 pounder will gain about 2 1/4 pounds per inch, meaning you'll be pullingabout 52 pounds @ 31".

At 31", you're likely torun into a bit of 'stack'. Stack is the point in the draw length where the bow starts gaining significantly more pounds per inch than itdoes before. Your bow might gain 2 1/2 pounds an inch until it hits 30", then suddenly start gaining 4 pounds per inch. So your actual draw weight might wind up closer to 54-55 pounds.

The problem with stack is the bow won't shoot any harder at 55 pounds than it does at 50 pounds. So you draw morepounds more without getting any benefit at all from the extra draw weight. That's why custom bows are so nice. They are made to draw without stack to the customer's draw length. That's not saying your bow won't shoot well for you. It will. It's just something you need to be aware of.

Don't put a longer string on the bow. That will brace the bow too low, make the arrows fly crummy,you won't be able to shoot it accuratelyand it'll make a whole lot of noise. Bracing a bow too low can also damage the limbs.

String that sucker up and have fun with it!

Thanks for the info.

For recurves I use 4" less than the length of the bow and Longbows 3", That should give you a 7 to 8" brace.

The rule of thumb that I was told many time before is to take your bow length( tip to tip) and nock off 3 inches and there is your AMO length. I first found this out when trying to find a string for my old Ben Pearson long bow. (It measured at 55" if I remember correctly) When I went to my local archery store I was told take off 3" and you will get your AMO, And my old Ben can still knock a flea off a dogs a$$

Cabela's on line archery store says it's 4 inches, but it must have to vary based on the length of the recurve, and its extent, I would think.

Gerry

For what it's worth, the string on my Pearson Cougar, also a62" bow, is 58".