Why all the heavy bows?

[RayJ]

I've been looking for a set of limbs for my Black Widow MA111 in the low to mid 40# range in all of the classifieds.I'm currently shooting 51#.I just wanted some light weight limbs for tournaments,practice,etc...There are none to be found.They are all 55# and up.Does everyone shoot heavy bows or are they just not wanting to get rid of the lower weight limbs?There are alot of limbs and bows over 65 and 70 pounds.These guys must be extra strong or something.I may just have to order a new set from Black Widow if I can't find any used.
RayJ

[the other DWS]

I suspect that it is somewhat a generational change thing most of us who are serious bow shooters tend to be older and looking at "downsizing " our bows, especially since we have pretty well gotten over the macho strong-bow thing.
We have also learned that well tuned lighter bows and arrows are everybit as effective---and arguably maybe more so---than the heavy bows and arrows of our youth. Since the number of hunters of all kinds is dwindeling we don't have a big bunch of young hunters to unload the heavy bown on. As a result of supply and demand, their value goes down and the value of the better midweight bows and limbs goes up. It may be too that they simply are not making the high end limbs in the higher weights in any quantity

[Viper]

Rayj -

I think you're see a lot of the "heavies" out there because guys bought them, and found out they couldn't shoot them!

:sbrug:

Viper out.

[bowshooter74]

My SA limbs are 53 lbs and are good for hunting and just shooting yes, i really dont have a prob with them. Ill be getting another set for them in the future somtime 60"ers in the mid 40s for the range.

[Desert Archer]

Ray,

I would bet you are going to have a hard time finding used BW limbs in the poundage range you want, largely because of what Viper was saying. Most BWs buyers are going to be following the neo-trad/bowhunter model and order heavy bows (limbs). If they don't give up archery completely (or convert to wheels) they eventually order lighter limbs and so you find lots of heavy limbs for sale. The BW owners who have limbs in the range you want are hanging on to them because they shoot them so much better.

I shot in a Police/Fire Games tourney last fall and there was a retired cop from California there. He was shooting a 40# BW. He said he had a 60# too that he hunted with but his absolute favorite bow EVER was that 40# MA.

I'd say just bite the bullet and order the limbs you want. BW has been around for a long time and they didn't get to where they are without doing something right. They deserve the business (JMHO).

Dave

[swampy]

I guess my thoughts of droping down to the low 50,s isn,t all that low after all.I,ve only got 2 bows a 60# recurve and a 58# longbow.Mostly shoot the longbow and was thinkin of dropping 5#,s for the next one

[RayJ]

Desert Archer,I may have to order a pair from BW but I was trying to save a little cash.New limbs are over 500.00 and the used are going for 250.00-300.00 from what I can tell.I'll wait for a little while though.Something may turn up.
Rayj

[DAS]

Ray,
have you checked the womens archery website?? There is a link to their classifieds in the main menu, and that might be a good place to look!

[Desert Archer]

Ray,

I fully understood why you were looking. Heck, I just bought a pair of Border limbs on eBay. I probably wouldn't have paid full retail for them, not knowing any more about them than I did. Now that I know how good they are, it would be worth it even if I had to pay more. Same kind of thing applies to your BW limbs. If you can find them more power to you!!!

Dave

[RayJ]

The Ma111 that I have now was 55# but I sent it in to BW and they took 4# off the limbs for about 125.00.I had a 46# MA11 that I shot for a while but I sold it after I had the weight reduced in my other bow.I wish now that I would have never sold it.I really didn't shoot it any better than my 51# bow but could shoot it for longer periods of time and overall,it was very enjoyable to shoot.I should have never sold that bow.Oh well,live and learn.
RayJ

[bowshooter74]

Swamy if you decide to do that im sure you will only see benefits from it.

[Pinelander]

I guess it depends on what you're doing with a bow (hunting/target) and what physical stature an archer might be. But there's one glaring thing that has opened my eyes... the lower poundage I go, the more accurately I shoot... plain and simple. Of course, not everyone will agree with this assessment. But like you said, it's more enjoyable if you like shooting more than a few arrows per session.

Good luck finding something RayJ... at those new limb prices, ya might get lucky and find a used low-poundage complete Widow for that. Gonna have to stay sharp on the ads though... commonplace that the mid-40's to 50# bows sell quickly. I sold a 45 @ 27 / 48 @ 28 recurve in just two days.

Seems like the 60#ers and better are becoming white elephants more and more these days. Is it maybe like DWS suggested?... are we (archers/bowhunters) aging as a group in general? Could be...

[swampy]

Ray for 500 bucks for a new set of limbs from bw couln,t ya get a whole bow kinda like ya sold already ?? Checkin out another target type message board those guys shoot real low wieghts 20,s and 30,s

I once tries another guys bow that was 53#,s and I really liked how it/I shot. Shot it for $$$ at a gathering fund raiser winner took a % of the pot.I was the best loser with 84 out of 100 (10 3D targets) the winner was an 87 in the longbow

[RayJ]

Swampy,your right,I could probably get a used BW for the price of the limbs or close to it.I just didn't want to lay out that kind of cash right now.If I got another bow,I really would want it to be another MA,just to keep everything similar in my shooting.I have been checking out the Women's Classifieds.Just haven't found anything yet.I'm in no hurry really.The bow I have is great.I just wanted a lighter bow to play around with.
RayJ

[the other DWS]

I'm assuming you are checking on ebay too. something like bow/recurve/Black widow should get a listing of whatever is available there
Ebay is weird. values can be real erratic depending on who sees something and how bad they want it. one time a given item will go high and a week later an identical item will go beg'n

[SubconsciousShooter]

I like 30 pound limbs for form practice, 35 max for competition, and about 38 pounds for hunting. So far, so good :)

I think that traditional archery and weight lifting have something in common, I was never very good at either!

Best thing I ever did was cut down on weight and think about form and from form accuracy generally follows.

[SubconsciousShooter]

Here is a post from a FITA board that I frequent...

Hello every one i have a question about how much pounds i should be pulling i was shooting with 28pounds but for about 3 to 4 month then i decide to get me a bow for myself and me been a big guy (6'5inches) everybody told me that i was really to storng for that kind of poundage so i decide to go up and got me 36 but my draw is about 30and a half to 31 i am pulling 42pounds in my fingers does anybody thinks that is to much for me

[mjhall]

If you look on ebay, another tip, even though it sounds wierd--try misspellings [or abbreviations] for what you want. some things go relatively unnoticed because people use the search functions, and they don't turn up if the spelling doesn't match.
Mike

[RayJ]

I have checked on ebay but not under any other spellings but that is a good idea.I found a SA that was 49# but I want less weight than that.Anyway,I'd rather stick with the MA.I'll just keep looking.Something may turn up.
RayJ