Takedown Recurve Bow Advice Please

I'm going to go with Victory Archery Decimator Arrows with the 500 spines. I was told that due to the length of my arms and that I won't need to cut any off the length of the arrow, I should go with a stiffer spine?

I am also going to practice with the 2 inch plastic vanes at first and see how they perform. If I experience any wobble or flex or whatever you all say I'll experience, I'll consider having a shop de-vein the 2" plastic and redo with 4-5" plastic for weather proof fun. This way if I do go to the 4-5", I'll appreciate them more.

Also, would someone please post a pic or a link of whatever rest that most of you all are recommending?

One more thing, do the Mountain Man Beaver Balls do what they claim? Do they actually silence the string or just make the whole setup look badarse?

Thanks again to all.
 
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If your using a recurve and solid plastic fletching your going to need a rest. Check out the 5 dollar "bear traditional weather rest" cartel makes similar rubber rest for as low as two dollars check out Lancaster archery a website. I'm hesitant to link because I don't want to break the rules but they hve what your looking for.
 
I don't think you need to go stiffer with the arrows. That sounds about right. stiffness really matters with fast compounds, but your bow will be more forgiving to a degree on that I'd think.
 
Do you know your draw length? A 45lb at 28" is generally a handful for a novice shooter while trying to perfect his form. If your draw length is longer than than 28" you can add 2-3 lbs per inch.
Bad idea to shoot vanes off a shelf. A bear weather rest will be more forgiving.
I shoot Al out of an older Bear recurve but shoot carbon for others. I would go carbon but don't bounce them off rocks.
The spine of your arrows also depends on the weight of your point. This years buck was shot with my 56lb Centaur longbow. 400 spine full length arrows. I am 6'2" with a 29.5" draw
 
Dang it. Just when I thought I was there. I too am about 6'2" and my draw is 29. The dude at the shop said for me to shoot the 500's. What should I be shooting and what weight of a broadhead should I use with a 45# bow?
 
47-48 lbs you would be pulling give or take.
Every bow is a little different as to which spine it likes. My 59 Kodiak (45 at 28")likes a 400 full length arrow with a 200-250 grain head. I can shoot that arrow out of my centaur too though. I like that head weight around there for the whitetails I hunt.
 
Kootaga13 said:
Zemapeli - You sound like you've been there and back. I have a few questions. Why aluminum over carbon? Which is more durable if the target is missed and the arrow is recovered? Also, what kind of vintage sight are you talking about?
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Aluminum over carbon for all traditional archery for me. The reasons why are you can put huge heavy 300+ grain broad head on aluminum Easton brand "logs" (arrows), and they hold their trajectory and work better on a traditional set up then carbon.
However carbons will never bend or dent and only are "untrue" (bent) when they break (which is about shattered anyways) Honestly carbon arrows are great gear and there is no reason why you shouldn't shoot them with a traditional setup. (as long as you always use feather or synthetic feather vanes - Remember this. Period.)
I have a few vintage sights for recurves.. They are no longer being made and are almost all vintage or antiques. I have a few and will post pictures of them all later on tomorrow). I snatch them up whenever I find them. Be it at a proshop or flea market or garage sale. They are relatively hard to find, however you probably could find a bunch of the old traditional style sights on ebay for relatively cheap. Be careful that you do not buy a sight that doesn't line up or fit correctly with your bow setup. I have done this many times. I am speaking of those old brass pin machined and milled sight setups that where used by shakespeare and black widow around the 40s-70s. There where many makers. Those are the best for traditional or recurve shooting.
If you want an arrow that is durable and will be fine if it misses a target and will be beat up and banged against equipment, go with Easton carbons or carbon express. Buy yourself a fletching jig and make sure your arrows are fletched with feather or synthetic feathers and not plastic material. The plastic material acts as a ramp on a rest of a bow and elevates the arrow at a different trajectory every time based on torque of the bowstring, how you release your hand, weather you use patch or glove etc. Using plastic vanes just throws in more ballistic variables for you.
Never use them.
 
hunterjrg said:
Do you know your draw length? A 45lb at 28" is generally a handful for a novice shooter while trying to perfect his form. If your draw length is longer than than 28" you can add 2-3 lbs per inch.
Bad idea to shoot vanes off a shelf. A bear weather rest will be more forgiving.
I shoot Al out of an older Bear recurve but shoot carbon for others. I would go carbon but don't bounce them off rocks.
The spine of your arrows also depends on the weight of your point. This years buck was shot with my 56lb Centaur longbow. 400 spine full length arrows. I am 6'2" with a 29.5" draw
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Beautiful deer and setup. :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
You can shoot with whisker biscuits. Just make sure your fletching is straight.

Why not 4 inch vanes to begin with?

Some recurve take downs need no tool at all. The Sage was advertised like these hand tighten able screw were something special. Fooled me back then.

The sage bow I got is too short for me (31" draw length) and it slapped my wrist. With 60 pounds that's some fun. I don't believe in arm guards. Getting my form and equipment right is better in my opinion. Anyways the sage was too small for me. Now with a 66" Summit PSE there's no slap at all. Maybe it's the added brace height as well? It's limbs simply click in and the string holds it in place for good.

Safe money on a stringer. Get some stronger style paracord, make two loops cover them with a cut up rubber piece and your golden.
 
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gadgetgeek said:
Interesting stuff Zemapeli, Just out of curiosity do you shoot your release off the string, or off a loop? Correct me if you are thinking differently, but in my experience aluminum shows damage better than carbon fiber. I think all of the carbons that I've heard of failing, failed off the shot, and caused some...excitement. Wood will fail catastrophically, and fiberglass will give you a warning, and a quick tap test will let you know its cracked. An alloy shaft will fail if its creased, or has a hole in it, (generally from another arrow impact) but its pretty easy to see when one shouldn't be shot. That said I shoot carbon off my bow, and probably wouldnt bother with anything else. Thats me, YMMV

I shoot pretty often with two bows. my own, (stock kit PSE stinger) and the bare recurves I teach kids on. My suggestion to anyone shooting two bows is to use the same sighting system on both. I find that even when my form is good, If I have only been doing demos (I don't really aim for a technique demo) and then actually do all the shooting with my bow, I really loose my instinct for shooting the recurves. I have not shot my bow now for about a month, picked up one of the heavier 30lb recurves and was dropping a two inch group on our 7m range (yeah shooting fish in a barrel) but I think it was because I had the compound out of my mind. I think I took 9 shots today total, and all were pretty well where I wanted them. I could probably do that every day if I didn't shoot my compound with a peep. (but whats the fun in that?)
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Beautiful.
You are right. Carbon fiber is the best arrow material. I just like aluminums because they just feel natural to me with a traditional setup. I love the heavy grain weights I can put on them, and I love the slow solid predictable trajectory of big heavy aluminums. If you shoot at a target with a carbon fiber arrow with a small grain broadhead (either mechanical or non) and it hits a twig, the arrows trajectory will be effected more than if you shot a thick heavy aluminum arrow at that same twig with the same amount of force behind it. The weight of the arrow itself seems to keep the arrows trajectory truer when shooting through brush. (to me) I guess that doesn't make a whole lot of sense when it is said, but I have shot a lot. And have shot through brush with both types of setup. Aluminum has leaped and changed trajectory less times than carbon fiber for me...(I might be wrong about this) But it is just my preference and opinion..
 
Jens Schuetz said:
You can shoot with whisker biscuits. Just make sure your fletching is straight.

Why not 4 inch vanes to begin with?

Some recurve take downs need no tool at all. The Sage was advertised like these hand tighten able screw were something special. Fooled me back then.

The sage bow I got is too short for me and it slapped my wrist. With 60 pounds that's some fun. I don't believe in arm guards. Getting my form and equipment right is better in my opinion. Anyways the sage was too small for me. Now with a 66" Summit PSE there's no slap at all. Maybe it's the added brace height as well? It's limbs click in and the string holds it in place for good.

Safe money on a stringer. Get some stronger style paracord, make two loops cover them with a cut up rubber piece and your golden.
Click to expand...

This is the only exception. You can use a whisker buiscuit rest on a recurve or stick and shoot synthetic/plastic vanes with no problem, but you need to use a sight for a compound bow and a peep to shoot it properly,,,
You also should keep in mind that you are changing the dynamics of your bow entirely and there will be a torque on your string from the change. (The sight and rest will be dialed in and you will get a true grouping, but the trueness of your string to your sight might be changed.. This will really show up at long ranges and you should keep this in mind) ...Not sure if I should get too in depth with this or not... But it is best to have your string and rest and sight in the same exact direction for the best trajectory... As little torque as possible on the string is best. Keep in mind how an arrow/bow works.:confused::foot:
 
Zemapeli said:
This is the only exception. You can use a whisker buiscuit rest on a recurve or stick and shoot synthetic/plastic vanes with no problem, but you need to use a sight for a compound bow and a peep to shoot it properly,,,
You also should keep in mind that you are changing the dynamics of your bow entirely and there will be a torque on your string from the change. (The sight and rest will be dialed in and you will get a true grouping, but the trueness of your string to your sight might be changed.. This will really show up at long ranges and you should keep this in mind) ...Not sure if I should get too in depth with this or not... But it is best to have your string and rest and sight in the same exact direction for the best trajectory... As little torque as possible on the string is best. Keep in mind how an arrow/bow works.:confused::foot:
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Yes of course if you can't see the tip of the arrow due to the whiskers you need another sight.
You could still use recurve bow sights. Like the ones at the Olympics but compound bow / hunting sights work too.
I don't see why you couldn't place the hole of the biscuit in a line with where the arrow rest would normally be. How would that effect much?

I only shoot at 20-30 yards so maybe it doesn't work beyond that?
 
Safe money on a stringer. Get some stronger style paracord, make two loops cover them with a cut up rubber piece and your golden.

I couldn't talk you into a pic of this setup...could I? Regular 550 cord?

Also, what harm will my using the 500's be?
 
Kootaga13 said:
Safe money on a stringer. Get some stronger style paracord, make two loops cover them with a cut up rubber piece and your golden.

I couldn't talk you into a pic of this setup...could I? Regular 550 cord?

Also, what harm will my using the 500's be?
Click to expand...
Will take picture right right now and then upload later.






Here they are. Taking the pics and typing took longer than building this and it looks like that too. :-P Still, it works.
One rubber piece covers the tip and the other one goes over a limb. The string is double but knotted together in small intervals in the middle section only to prevent entanglement. The ends are left open, forming the loops.
I believe the rubber was some pipe seal I had lying around but anything flat and rubbery should work. Old plunger for example or leather.
The string I recall was something from Harbor Freight with a high pound rating. But anything less might work too, especially since its double and the force at the limb and where you are standing on is distributed over some area.
 
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Everything I've learned here gets me that much further down the road. You all have helped me with the trial and error part that I can eliminate.

The only question I still have is the stoutness of the shaft or spine of the arrow. The dude at the shop said for me to shoot the 500's or the "youth" arrows. If I'm shooting a 45#, 62", Sage, and my draw is 29", what spine should I be using?
 
I'd just look it up in a table. Feeling would say 400 to 500 if you have 100 grain points.
If you give me your arrow length I could check it for you.

edit:
Here is a table.
On the left side are the recurves. There you find your point weight and pounds of the bow. From that square you move right until you find a row which has your arrow length. In that square will be your suggested spine.
http://forum.gon.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=650207&d=1329008741

Oh and a little advice. Once you find a good arrow get a lot of them. It might be hard to buy exactly the same one later. You don't want to end up with a mixture of even slightly differently flying arrows. Don't ask how I know. :-))
 
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Dang. My pull is 29" so the dude said I wouldn't have to cut anything off the shaft if I didn't want to? So they come 31"...right? Does that mean I'd have 2" sticking out PLUS the broadhead? Is that cool?
 
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