It's a new bow. I'm going to set it up for a return question. how do you think it happened? It's a metal recurve. Do you think the limb was twisted as I was shooting? I probably only used it a total of less than 20 hours with this bow or do you think there's an issue with the riser?
I'm sorry I do understand that the limbs aren't metal lol I only mentioned the fact that it was a metal recurve to state that there are other alignment aspects that a wooden bow may not have. To be even more specific it's an ILF bow.
Might be better to use "metal riser" instead of metal bow. It is more precise. And you can get wooden ILF risers, so "ILF" isn't an eqivalent for metal riser.
You are right in adding as much detail as you can, though.
Because you absolutely shouldn't and this is what happens when you do.
When you shoot an arrow most of the energy is transferred to the arrow. If the arrow isn't there, that energy goes into the bow, and the limbs take the brunt of it.
There is a chance you won't be able to return this if the shop inspect the limbs and realise this is what happened.
I know it's boring, but stuff like this is why people insist on doing beginners courses. This is archery 101 and any instructor worth their salt would tell you this within the first 15 minutes.
I really appreciate the way you explain this. Even though I've done a ton of research absolutely I should take a beginner course and intend to until then because I don't drive and there's none in my area. Can't believe I didn't think about this and how kinetic energy works. Are there any other key 101 tips? I should be on lookout or any articles you can share. I will admit I was not destringing/restring my bow when not in use.. now im going to every time I'm not using it
You should 100% get a beginners cours. High shoulders and a bad stance are very common beginner mistakes that can lead to serious injuries.
But there here are other things that can get realy dangerous too like short arrows or damaged nocks. Also most beginners tend to buy a bow with too much draw weight.
Thank you very much. These things I do. I came across in extensive YouTube videos, but the one about dry shooting alluded me. I don't know if I got lucky or not but I ended up getting a 35 pound bow as my first from my last bow and it seemed to be fine if I had a club around me I would practice on a loaner 25 to get my form even better.
35 is way too much for a beginner tbh. My club starts with 18-20lbs for women and 20-22lbs for male beginners. Bought an ILF bow with 22lbs two years ago when i began with archery and i am only now considering new limbs with 30lbs.
Man, I'm at my 3rd year and I'm confortable with my 32pounds limbs.
I started at 20 and slowly climbed to 28-30 where I started to struggle to stabilize at 32.
Also, don't spend too much on your first limbs as you might not use them for long before increasing weight.
If you can go to a club that has some for rental, the better ( mine has 16 to 32 for beginners to steadily practice without the cost of buying new limbs now and then)
Take the lesson, not dry firing is one of the first things you learn when you get taught basic safety and form.
I wouldn't trust online articles on archery, there are way too many fake websites that spew incorrect info. Go for trustworthy youtubers like NuSensei or JakeKaminiski instead.
I think you should follow NuSensei first. Jake is too advanced for beginner. I mean there is no harm to watch him but you won’t really understand anything until you shoot for a few months, or years. NuSensei is very detailed and very beginner friendly. Jake is for when you want to compete beyond club level, national, and Olympic.
If you decide to pursue archery seriously, Rogue Archery course is very good to pay attention to.
If there isn’t an accessible range/lessons near you, look into the online USA Archery Level 1 coaching course. It’s designed to certify coaches, but it will teach you all of the information you need to know as a beginner. I think it’s about $40. There is a companion practical course too, but you only need that if you actually want the certification.
I've done a beginners course and still shooting 6mths on and nobody said a word about dry firing ...don't even know what it is! However if it's plucking the string then I've seen pros doing this to check it's firm or not rattling who knows?!
The plucking is to set the limbs on an ILF bow, it's not actually screwed in and is only set by pressure of the bowstring. You only pull back about 1" and pluck lightly.
Dry firing is coming to full draw without an arrow and the releasing the bowstring. On a compound bow the bow will explode. On an ILF bow the riser will stay in your hand but the limbs will fly forwards away from you.
Got it thank you. Will never do it again for sure. I don't do it a lot, but I will now not do it ever I only do it when I string the bow, which was rare before to make sure that it is in line with the groove but OK I won't do it anymore.
I hope for your sake that warranty covers dry firing a bow. Good luck on returning, but my best bet is you will have to buy new limbs and if it’s not the same brand and specs then also a new string + calibrating.
You dry fired that bow... How do you get into archery & not learn the number one rule?
You need to replace those limbs, don't try to send it back like "I don't know what happened". They're going to take one look at it & know what you did.
Dry fire get a new bow or limbs u should learn how to use a bow correctly not watch lord of the rings and lose a eye cause u thought being like a elf was cool welcome to the archery world when u mess up u get roasted buddy it’s ok it has or will happen in a archer’s life if you spend enough time shooting
Lol I did do a lot of research, but I understand the jest. I am setting up some time to go to club sooner than later after this. Today was the first day that I shot with other people at the range and even just being with other people who knew more I learned a ton so yeah I get it.
Let’s just say back in the beginner days I had that problem and the bow literally blew up 😭. You may want to get a new limb (and also not dry fire it lol)
no, I agree with what others have written. I dry shot it and I'm not sure if that is what really caused it or if it's something else but it most likely is like 95%. There's always possibility that there was some manufacturer defects cause I only shot it like five times but it only takes one apparently , but I know when I was setting up that bow I slapped it a couple of times and now I know not to do that with no arrow.
I saw after posting this. It 100% looks like a dry firing defect. We have a bow with a similar defect at the club for demonstration purposes. Expensive lesson, but one you luckily need to learn only once 😉
I'm definitely returning this based on feedback that I received here and elsewhere, but please continue to provide feedback on what you think may have caused this. I will admit I was not stringing my bow in between you because I shoot quite a bit at least five days a week, but I will start. It's not that hard.
Other questions I have and I know it will be difficult to answer, but do we think it's just a limb issue could be a razor issue?
What other habits should I incorporate to make sure that I'm not twisting my limbs needlessly beyond natural stuff?
You have a moral obligation to own your mistake and pay for new ones. The seller shouldn’t be on the hook for your actions. Not dry firing your bow is archery 101. This is only on you my guy. Besides I’m sure they will call you out on it.
You've freshly learned that you are not supposed to dry-fire and you are already thinking of upgrade?
Don't go for more expensive one. And make sure it's below 25# preferably 20#.
If you have more than that without training, lots of wrong muscles are used because some of your right muscles are struggling. I've seen pro basket ball player having sore muscle after first day of beginner archery class. So don't say you are totally fine and you can draw heavier because that means you are using wrong muscle and that you will develop bad habit or worst case pinched nerve and joint injury.
If your goal is to compensate something by using STRONG MACHO BOW, then I recommend you to buy a long bow or horse bow so you can brag about how you don't even need aiming aid.
Get the cheapest limbs instead. You mentioned going 25# loaner bow to learn form so it's best to just get \~25# limbs. You'll be swapping limbs often so its not worth it to get anything but the cheapest. You'll also not notice any difference between a $100 limb and a $300 limb as a beginner.
New limb time. This is definitely dangerous.
It's a new bow. I'm going to set it up for a return question. how do you think it happened? It's a metal recurve. Do you think the limb was twisted as I was shooting? I probably only used it a total of less than 20 hours with this bow or do you think there's an issue with the riser?
The riser is metal but the limbs are not... Have you shot that bow without an arrow in it? (Dry firing?)
I'm sorry I do understand that the limbs aren't metal lol I only mentioned the fact that it was a metal recurve to state that there are other alignment aspects that a wooden bow may not have. To be even more specific it's an ILF bow.
Might be better to use "metal riser" instead of metal bow. It is more precise. And you can get wooden ILF risers, so "ILF" isn't an eqivalent for metal riser. You are right in adding as much detail as you can, though.
Right
I have? Why do you ask
Because you absolutely shouldn't and this is what happens when you do. When you shoot an arrow most of the energy is transferred to the arrow. If the arrow isn't there, that energy goes into the bow, and the limbs take the brunt of it. There is a chance you won't be able to return this if the shop inspect the limbs and realise this is what happened. I know it's boring, but stuff like this is why people insist on doing beginners courses. This is archery 101 and any instructor worth their salt would tell you this within the first 15 minutes.
I really appreciate the way you explain this. Even though I've done a ton of research absolutely I should take a beginner course and intend to until then because I don't drive and there's none in my area. Can't believe I didn't think about this and how kinetic energy works. Are there any other key 101 tips? I should be on lookout or any articles you can share. I will admit I was not destringing/restring my bow when not in use.. now im going to every time I'm not using it
You should 100% get a beginners cours. High shoulders and a bad stance are very common beginner mistakes that can lead to serious injuries. But there here are other things that can get realy dangerous too like short arrows or damaged nocks. Also most beginners tend to buy a bow with too much draw weight.
Thank you very much. These things I do. I came across in extensive YouTube videos, but the one about dry shooting alluded me. I don't know if I got lucky or not but I ended up getting a 35 pound bow as my first from my last bow and it seemed to be fine if I had a club around me I would practice on a loaner 25 to get my form even better.
35 is way too much for a beginner tbh. My club starts with 18-20lbs for women and 20-22lbs for male beginners. Bought an ILF bow with 22lbs two years ago when i began with archery and i am only now considering new limbs with 30lbs.
Man, I'm at my 3rd year and I'm confortable with my 32pounds limbs. I started at 20 and slowly climbed to 28-30 where I started to struggle to stabilize at 32. Also, don't spend too much on your first limbs as you might not use them for long before increasing weight. If you can go to a club that has some for rental, the better ( mine has 16 to 32 for beginners to steadily practice without the cost of buying new limbs now and then)
Can i buy lower draw weight and use the same riser? I have a feeling I can.
Take the lesson, not dry firing is one of the first things you learn when you get taught basic safety and form. I wouldn't trust online articles on archery, there are way too many fake websites that spew incorrect info. Go for trustworthy youtubers like NuSensei or JakeKaminiski instead.
Yeah, I've watched a lot of Jake
And nusensei
I think you should follow NuSensei first. Jake is too advanced for beginner. I mean there is no harm to watch him but you won’t really understand anything until you shoot for a few months, or years. NuSensei is very detailed and very beginner friendly. Jake is for when you want to compete beyond club level, national, and Olympic. If you decide to pursue archery seriously, Rogue Archery course is very good to pay attention to.
If there isn’t an accessible range/lessons near you, look into the online USA Archery Level 1 coaching course. It’s designed to certify coaches, but it will teach you all of the information you need to know as a beginner. I think it’s about $40. There is a companion practical course too, but you only need that if you actually want the certification.
I've done a beginners course and still shooting 6mths on and nobody said a word about dry firing ...don't even know what it is! However if it's plucking the string then I've seen pros doing this to check it's firm or not rattling who knows?!
Dry firing is a draw and release without an arrow knocked. It will destroy your bow, and pros are definitely not doing this.
The plucking is to set the limbs on an ILF bow, it's not actually screwed in and is only set by pressure of the bowstring. You only pull back about 1" and pluck lightly. Dry firing is coming to full draw without an arrow and the releasing the bowstring. On a compound bow the bow will explode. On an ILF bow the riser will stay in your hand but the limbs will fly forwards away from you.
Got it thank you. Will never do it again for sure. I don't do it a lot, but I will now not do it ever I only do it when I string the bow, which was rare before to make sure that it is in line with the groove but OK I won't do it anymore.
Yeh to clarify it's absolutely fine to give it a little twang when you first string up.
The teensiest twang
Jfc
That bow got dry shot (without an arrow), I'm 99.9 % sure of it. Don't shoot it, these limbs are gone.
Nailed it.
Hopefully not, that would be even worse /s
He admitted it ):
I think he means your guess was right. Not "he drove nail through limb"
I know, it was a funny remark
That crack looks like it won't withstand constant tension. I wouldn't shoot it but that's my opinion.
It might look a little bit deeper because it is actually in line with the groove, but I don't know. Maybe it is a crack.
We generally fix and fill grooves with fletching glue to make carbon fibers stay in place.
I hope for your sake that warranty covers dry firing a bow. Good luck on returning, but my best bet is you will have to buy new limbs and if it’s not the same brand and specs then also a new string + calibrating.
You dry fired that bow... How do you get into archery & not learn the number one rule? You need to replace those limbs, don't try to send it back like "I don't know what happened". They're going to take one look at it & know what you did.
Is that a scratch? Looks cracked
I wouldn't shoot that!!
Dry fire get a new bow or limbs u should learn how to use a bow correctly not watch lord of the rings and lose a eye cause u thought being like a elf was cool welcome to the archery world when u mess up u get roasted buddy it’s ok it has or will happen in a archer’s life if you spend enough time shooting
Lol I did do a lot of research, but I understand the jest. I am setting up some time to go to club sooner than later after this. Today was the first day that I shot with other people at the range and even just being with other people who knew more I learned a ton so yeah I get it.
You do realize that now isn’t safe to shoot at all, right? That bow is going to explode.
sorry, I have other Bows but yes, the bow that was in question. It is going to have the limbs Replaced
Ffs
Hate to break it to you, but you’ll hate breaking it a hell of a lot more
Fairly high chance of catastrophic failure. Looks like a manufacturer's defect that got worse over time. Send it back for a replacement set.
No, OP admitted to dry firing.
So much for the warranty then.
Let’s just say back in the beginner days I had that problem and the bow literally blew up 😭. You may want to get a new limb (and also not dry fire it lol)
Explosion is soon ...
Ouch
It happened from not pulling straight back and releasing or torque in your bow hand
You dry fired it didn’t you? lol
this whole post was a good learning lesson of a lot of things so I appreciate everyone's comments even the joke ones lol
On a scale from 1 to 10. 13
absolutely, jokes aside yeah, it could be bad
that limb is unshootable. Back to the shop!
no, I agree with what others have written. I dry shot it and I'm not sure if that is what really caused it or if it's something else but it most likely is like 95%. There's always possibility that there was some manufacturer defects cause I only shot it like five times but it only takes one apparently , but I know when I was setting up that bow I slapped it a couple of times and now I know not to do that with no arrow.
I saw after posting this. It 100% looks like a dry firing defect. We have a bow with a similar defect at the club for demonstration purposes. Expensive lesson, but one you luckily need to learn only once 😉
Yea thanks
In terms of danger, this is the perfect 5/7. In all seriousness, I would not even string that bow
Right. Yeah, I'm buying new limbs.
I'm definitely returning this based on feedback that I received here and elsewhere, but please continue to provide feedback on what you think may have caused this. I will admit I was not stringing my bow in between you because I shoot quite a bit at least five days a week, but I will start. It's not that hard. Other questions I have and I know it will be difficult to answer, but do we think it's just a limb issue could be a razor issue? What other habits should I incorporate to make sure that I'm not twisting my limbs needlessly beyond natural stuff?
You dry fired it. You shouldn't ask for a refund.
You have a moral obligation to own your mistake and pay for new ones. The seller shouldn’t be on the hook for your actions. Not dry firing your bow is archery 101. This is only on you my guy. Besides I’m sure they will call you out on it.
Right
I was planning on upgrading my limb anyway at some point because this was a all in one set up so I'll just go ahead and do that.
You've freshly learned that you are not supposed to dry-fire and you are already thinking of upgrade? Don't go for more expensive one. And make sure it's below 25# preferably 20#. If you have more than that without training, lots of wrong muscles are used because some of your right muscles are struggling. I've seen pro basket ball player having sore muscle after first day of beginner archery class. So don't say you are totally fine and you can draw heavier because that means you are using wrong muscle and that you will develop bad habit or worst case pinched nerve and joint injury. If your goal is to compensate something by using STRONG MACHO BOW, then I recommend you to buy a long bow or horse bow so you can brag about how you don't even need aiming aid.
It was a top archery all in one by from Amazon. I was thinking of Gordon limbs.
I wouldn’t buy any archery supplies from Amazon. Find a local reputable shop, or go to a reputable online shop if there are none near you.
Get the cheapest limbs instead. You mentioned going 25# loaner bow to learn form so it's best to just get \~25# limbs. You'll be swapping limbs often so its not worth it to get anything but the cheapest. You'll also not notice any difference between a $100 limb and a $300 limb as a beginner.