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I Forge Iron

Metal Long Bow


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You FIEND!  I'm a tea drinker...I've always liked talking with folks who were interested in their field and with historians I can sometimes contribute some "hands on" knowledge.  (I was talking with someone at the 37th Annual Medieval Studies Conference once on the casting of a celtic brooch and I pointed out that a lot of the lines on it could have easily been made by using a compass and "scribing" them into the surface of the mold---works for soapstone as well as clay molds...and what you would look for would be the set points---or evidence that they had been removed from the final piece and yup they were there!) 

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On 2/16/2017 at 2:34 PM, Will W. said:

 

Frosty

That is all very interesting. I can definitely see the rebound being dead from an aluminum bow. How was the hand shock? You say " pleasurable to shoot" so I imagine it wasn't so bad? And did the metal bows take a set badly? I expect it to be much worse than wood, not certain though. 

By more pleasurable the steel bow is a better draw, the weight increasing smoothly to full draw. On release it didn't just snap forward like the al bows. You knew you'd released it but it didn't have the sharp shock like the al bows. IIRC it was like firing equal weights long and short bows. The shock of the short bow is much sharper than a long bow.

Does that make sense? I'm pulling memories from my high school years, I can still "feel" the differences but describing it may be lacking.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Fiend might be as accurate a description as any, lol. Atleast if given cause. I am an equal opertunity hot caffeinated beverage consumer. 

Being I have always packed  a bow over rough terrain, and now have an old mare that I can fire from, I prefer short bows. But at 6'2" I need a reflexed/recurved bow. Tho I can shoot plains Indian bows from the funky infront of your chin anchor I much prefer to anchor beside my jaw. I have a 45# old style fiberglass bow I still shoot, much preferred to the 75# fast cam compound I used to have. I lost lots of arrows in grass courses in Germany to her. But as I was taught to hunt from the snap, the reduced draw weight at the hold is wasted on me.

back to having my hypothesis debunked, I still think from a military point of veiw, a yoeman class that produces its own archery tackle and subsistence hunts, isn't as desirable as simple to operate, and fast to learn missile weapon such as the cross bow. Not only it be stored, broken down in barrels. You do not have a group of dissatisfied pesants armed with assault weapons... 

 

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Frosty 

I know exactly what you mean. I have 0 experience with metal bows, but I definitely know the longbow/ short bow comparison. I tend to make longbows (almost always over 60") just because I hate the hand shock that short bows give you. I found, with myself and others, that the anticipation of the hand shock from short bows ends up causing a flinch and throwing shots off. That, and perfectly tillering a short bow is far more difficult. It needs to be PERFECT. Recurves are kind of in the middle, I think. 

4 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

I'm a tea drinker

Ahem to that.

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Slag; I don't think CRS was offended by my word choice; I have a slew of relatives in Oklahoma and have lived their myself; they are tough folks.  (When my High School in New Jersey had a talent show; my Chemistry teacher sang "I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogie" as I had once admitted to having kinfolk there....)  BUT I'm off coffee these days; just can't seem to give up sweet tea but with the diabetes it's now overly full of splenda... When I was a kid I remember my Mother telling "gory stories" about growing up on the farm near Altus.  They pretty much did most of their own Doctoring back then and she has the scars to prove it!  She doesn't have a Birth Certificate as she was born on the kitchen table and nobody filed one...)

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Charles

I agree. When you hold, I find, you end up overcompensating and making a bad shot. On top of that, muscle fatigue can cause shaking, and the pressure on your fingers for too long can cause a poor release. It's far better IMO to draw, line up, and just release. It's amazing just how accurate your instincts can be. 

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Best field shot I ever saw was Fred Bear.  He shot pure instinctive and even from various draw anchors... though with Fred "anchor point" is kind of a misleading term!  He could hit his mark though!  I don't think Fred was as good as Lars Andersen though.  Check out some of his videos on YouTube.  As a victim of "freezing" aka "target panic" and by several other names... I have greater respect for pure instinctive style than most.  

For all modern archers the story of Ishi is quite interesting and leads right into the development of modern western archery by Saxton Pope and Arthur Young.  

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Be warned: This is about to get off topic

 

Bigfootnampa

I have mixed feelings about Lars Anderson. Sure he is skilled. No question. But much of what he propagates is not historic fact. He does a lot of interesting trick shots with his bows, but I'm pretty sure archers did not jump around like that, besides in Hollywood and video games maybe. His whole point about how archers held their arrows as well... Don't get me started haha. Historically, I think archers typically stood still, well behind the foot soldiers, or atop the walls of a city, and their strength was their numbers. 

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On 3/11/2016 at 1:26 PM, Austin Ferraiuolo said:

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to make a long Bow out if metal I'm thinking of taking a leaf spring and filing it down into a bow. What are your thoughts?

Hey could i see the bow i might want to buy it from you if its available and ur willing to sell

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