Arrows for longbows shot with thumb ring release

Daniel J. Winheld · Post by **Daniel J. Winheld** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:01 pm

Lately I've been revisiting my old Howard Hill longbows- but I shoot them using the exact same style of West Asian thumb release with a hard, teardrop shaped typical generic ring that I use for my Mariner & Saluki Asiatic static tip recurve bows. And the same arrows- GT Trad 7595, at 31" for a 30" draw, mass wt. over 500 grains out of 70", 63#@30".

But these arrows do not always land in the target straight, a little sideways in the stiff direction- so they might be a touch stiff? These arrows fly straight from both my 45# Saluki Damascus & my 59# Mariner Ming 4.

Any recommendations/observation or theories welcomed. Especially if anyone else has played with this configuration. Maybe barrel tapered shafts at 65# spine?

Thanks!

Dan

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:37 am

Do the long bows have arrow shelves?

Daniel J. Winheld · Post by **Daniel J. Winheld** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:31 am

Absolutely not! Never liked the shelf, even when shooting fingers. The only personal bow I own that has been allowed to keep its shelves is my near mint condition 1956 Bear Kodiak, and that's only because of its overall fine condition and quality. The dual shelves are narrow enough that I don't get shelf interference, which caused me to eliminate from consideration any bow with a cut-out riser (that alone makes me shoot off to the side- could never get used to it) and even many of the early dual shelf bows. I have 2 Bear Alaskans, 3 Cubs, 1 Grizzly and 1 Polar that I filed off the shelves. They all now shoot very well with the thumb release.

Daniel J. Winheld · Post by **Daniel J. Winheld** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:32 am

Oh yes, the Hill longbows were built from blanks, no shelves!

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:13 pm

I must admit I find them a bit strange too. The reason for my question was that most recurves like Korean traditional bows had very narrow arrow passes because the grip was made stronger by making it deeper. You might look at how much width from the centre line of the bows is in each bow and whether the deflection follows the width.