[Amsoillarry]

Hi all!

I'm new to this site...and for all intents and purposes...new to archery and wanted to introduce myself and the bow I've aquired.
I'm looking to learn stuff here and try and become a good enough archer that I can hunt with a bow.

Frankly I stumbled onto archery and the old Wing recurve I have by pure accident...but find that as I've started learning to shoot it over the last month I'm become pretty obsessed with the whole thing.

Where to start??? Well as a teenager, I fiddled with a bow but could never figure out why I couldnt hit anything with it.....flash forward 30 years and I find out that I'm cross-eye dominant...right eyed...and left handed!

About 5 years ago my wife dragged me off to garage sales and while she's looking at her girl stuff...I'm tapping my foot with my arms crossed waiting when I see a rather nice looking bow in the corner of these's peoples garage.
I pick it up and its dirty and has no string but it looks cool and its only $5 bucks so I buy it....but then it sits in my garage for 3 or 4 years because I can't find a string that fits...its a 69" bow which the guys at the sporting goods shop told me was an odd-ball size and they dont have one....

Flash forward to 2 months ago...I'm at a tradeshow in San Antonio Tx and there's this Vintage archery guy there who I start talking to and he tells me he makes custom strings for old bows and if I'll bring it by he'll fix it up so I can shoot it..

The next time I'm in San Antonio I bring him the bow and he says wow! This is a Wing Presentation 1 from probably the early 1960's and its in super condition too....these are really nice , great shooting bows and worth some money (he offered me $400 on the spot if I wanted to selll- I didnt)

So he built a new fllemish twist string and polished it all up and checked it out and said the limbs were strieght with no twist and that I should really enjoy it...and I have!

I got some new carbon fiber arrows with 100 grain field points that the local archery shop said were the correct stiffness and length for my bow and have been shooting the hell out of it the last month and really enjoying it......I've been a gun hunter my whole life and now I find myself absolutely eaten up with the idea of bow hunting.....

I'm having to learn to shoot it right handed since I'm right eye dominant and thats been a bit of a challange but after 2 sessions a week for two weeks I can keep all 6 of my arrows in about a 5" circle at 10 yards....my biggest issue frankly is getting a consistant release...I'm trying both a split finger tab and a glove...I seem to be more accurate with the tab....one finger above and two fingers below with either....one of the archery trainers at the range has also suggested that since I'm brand new to archery that I might try what he called the "apache style" draw with all three fingers below the arrow saying that some guys shooting instinctive without sights do better with that.....I'm going to try that on thursday...my next trip to the range.....

Any imput and help would be appreciated here....thanks.....Larry

 

[kenn1320]

Very nice bow, and welcome to TT. There is lots of help here, a little something for everyone. I personally shoot a tab, and I shoot 3 under. If you go this route, add a second nock point below the arrow(with about 1/16-18" space). I think you will find your accuracy improves, since there is no tendency to pinch the arrow. As for your release, it will get better with time, but understand the lighter draw weight bows tend to be harder to get a clean release. Anybody can get a clean release on a heavy bow, not so with a light bow. I would mention what arrows and length they are, along with your actual draw length to let the guys on here ensure you have the right equipment. Your shop could be top shelf, but then again if they couldnt aquire a string for this bow, then recurves might not be their specialty. Trad is a journey, take it slow and enjoy it.

 

[Zulu]

Welcome, you'll enjoy it here.

Beautiful bow you picked up there. $5!!!!! Why don't they have garage sales like that over this side?

 

[Matt_Potter]

Sweet - great bow and perfect weight for learning.

Welcome

Matt

 

[kestimator]

Welcome!!
You are starting off with style

 

[rsarns]

Welcome, very nice Wing! Try out the 3 under, it will work great for you.

 

[stevelong]

Welcome to the forum, and that is a sweet old bow at ANY price.
Repetitions will help ingrain things for you, ask for a few links to some of the better traditional archery videos, watch them and see what MOST shooters agree is good form.
It's like everything else, different styles and likes/dislikes prevail, but there are certain basic points that everyone agrees on, as far as FORM goes.
Consistency is the key, shot to shot to shot.
Do not get impatient and do too much too soon.

 

[Phil]

Hi Larry and welcome to TT.
As others have already said, that a pretty cool bow to start your archery journey. I won't be of any help in your quest for knowledge because my bow of choice is an English long bow, but there's a whole bunch of guys here who'll answer each and every question you care to ask.
Enjoy the journey

 

[starrider]

Welcome, there is a lot of archery knowledge here.

 

[jerbearyukon]

Welcome...nice rig...jer

 

[Redbone]

Nice bow and kudos to the fellow in San Antonio who got you set up.

 

[Jon Lewis]

Welcome to TT


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hammer08]

That's a fantastic bow, wish I had one just like it!

Good luck in your journey.

 

[Cyrille]

First let me also welcome you to the forum... "Welcome to the forum."
Second You have a winner there in the bow.
Third for future reference your bow is 69" so a string of 65" should fit it there are many vendors that stock that length or you may order one from any good string maker.
Forth see my PM to you.

 

[Amsoillarry]

Wow...thanks everyone for the big welcome!

The more I research the history of Wing Archery the more I'm finding that by pure luck I've started out with an exceptional bow....I gotta say that when you pick it up the grip just falls into your hand like it was made for me and when you bring it to position to shoot the Wing has a sense of balance and a natural feel to that makes it easy to find a groove with.....I tried another guys brand new PSE recurve at the range and it was nice but the Wing has a better feel to it...just smooth and balanced.

At the archery shop slash indoor range I've been going to I'm 1 of only 2 or 3 other recurve shooters...everyone else...and there's a ton of locals that go there... are all shooting compounds, some of which look like very sophisticated machines with long arms coming off the front and multiple cams and wheels and gears and stabiliser doohickys and what look like laser sites and rangefinders and just stuff all over....holy crap!
....I'm absolutely not interested in that kind of archery!.... I can appreciate the performance I see they have though.....when i shoot an arrow from my Wing to the 20 yard line...the arrow takes an instant to get there and you can see its arc in flight...some of the high performance compound bows though seem so fast that there is no perceptable lag between release and the arrow slamming into the target down range and burying itself fletching deep in the backstop...you cant really even follow it in flight like from the recurve shooters like me....just FAST!

The guys at the shop seem very knowledgable but are honest enough to admit they dont do alot of traditional archery stuff because 99% of the shooting public that goes there are compound shooters and I guess thats where the money is for there archery shop...cant blame them for that....and they told me right off the bat they dont do strings for recurves but knew where I could order one if i needed it...

 

[Amsoillarry]

Down to my stats and maybe ya'll can give me some advice.....first I'm not a big guy. I'm 5'5" tall and about 175lbs.....I am however a wieghtlifter and drawing my Wing seems like nothing...I could handle a far heavier bow easily.

My draw leagth if I'm measuring right seems to be about 25..maybe 26 inches if I really get it back almost to the front of my ear...my arms are not that long so I'm not getting all the performance from the bow which I understand reaches its rated draw at 28"

The guy at the archery shop told me to deduct 1 to 1.5 pounds per inch of draw less than 28" so on my 37lb Wing I'm getting about 32 or 33 lbs from it.

The arrows they made up for me are 31.5 inches from the tip of the 100grain field point to the end of the nock they are gold tip XT Hunter arrows and the numbers on them are 3555/500, 7.4 grains per inch. Straightness is +/- .003
The fletchings are 4" long and slightly helical

 

[Amsoillarry]

First let me also welcome you to the forum... "Welcome to the forum."
Second You have a winner there in the bow.
Third for future reference your bow is 69" so a string of 65" should fit it there are many vendors that stock that length or you may order one from any good string maker.
Forth see my PM to you.

Thanks for the tip on the string...I was going to go back to the guy in San Antonio and get a spare...but thats a 2.5 drive so if I can order one that would be easier....The string the guy in San Antonio made me is 16 strands of dacron...8 strands of cream color and 8 strands of dark brown....he is into the aesthetics of old bows and wanted to make a string that matches the bow which it does so that was nice

 

[Amsoillarry]

First let me also welcome you to the forum... "Welcome to the forum."
Second You have a winner there in the bow.
Third for future reference your bow is 69" so a string of 65" should fit it there are many vendors that stock that length or you may order one from any good string maker.
Forth see my PM to you.

Cyrille...I've tried to reply to your PM....dosent seem to go through and I'm not sure why.....so I sent you an e-mail

 

[Grantmac]

Chances are your draw length will grow a little bit with time, 27" wouldn't be unusual for someone your height.

Those arrows will work for now but when the time comes to get some new ones there are better choices available. Those are a bit stiff and if your are right handed will tend to fly to the left, especially as you move further back.

That bow is definitely head and shoulders above any of the modern beginner bows available.

-Grant

 

[Cyrille]

Thanks for the tip on the string...I was going to go back to the guy in San Antonio and get a spare...but thats a 2.5 drive so if I can order one that would be easier....The string the guy in San Antonio made me is 16 strands of dacron...8 strands of cream color and 8 strands of dark brown....he is into the aesthetics of old bows and wanted to make a string that matches the bow which it does so that was nice

Amsoillsary

I received your email this morning. I use a 15 strand string B-50 Dacron from 3 Rivers on my Long Bows and am happy with it. Not saying that my string is superior just saying that it is 15 instead of 16 strands is all. Oh a word of caution... If you plan on using any type of Fast Flight string make absolutely sure that your bow can handle it! Vintage bows are usually safe when using Dacron but a Fast Flight string will eventually cut through the nock tip(s) of the bow.
When you do reach your draw length of 27 or 27+ inches you may need to shorten your arrows to get better flight... That seems to be the norm and it is traditional wisdom that dictates it so. The usual length for an arrow regardless of DL is 1/2 to 1" longer than DL. However there are exceptions as each bow like each person is individual. For instance my DL is 27" yet my arrows are 30" from back of point to throat of nock. I use strictly woodies so if you're using any other type of material for your arrows your mileage may well vary.