recurve versus long bow

[celtic69]

Hi All,
Just wanted to have some opinions on what would be the best option to have. the re-curve or the long bow.

Cheers
Rich
South west

[Le Mouse]

It depends on what you want out of it. I've not shot in a good long while, but for accuracy I would say recurve - you can fit a sight on a recurve bow. At my old archery club, a lovely man who shot longbow came and did a talk about longbow archery and said categorically that if you think you can be like Robin Hood then you've got another think coming! However, saying that I have known people who shoot longbow who can do so with remarkable accuracy. The same with barebow - which is a recurve bow without sights or counterweights, etc.

For me, I would stick with recurve for accuracy and longbow for the sheer joy of a beautiful piece of kit.

[12mp82]

I like my Compound.

[redskies]

They've recently got around to looking properly at the skeletons they fished up along with the Mary Rose. And they've been able to pick out all the longbow men. It's the RSI on their spines and shoulders - and their height! I've not tried a modern longbow, but from what I've read about the traditional ones, it takes a lot of practice and some serious muscle for the draw.

I've got a friend who is an archer - shoots with one of the oldest clubs, a tiny wee thing she is and very accurate. I'll ask her what she thinks and report back

[Le Mouse]

They've recently got around to looking properly at the skeletons they fished up along with the Mary Rose. And they've been able to pick out all the longbow men. It's the RSI on their spines and shoulders - and their height! I've not tried a modern longbow, but from what I've read about the traditional ones, it takes a lot of practice and some serious muscle for the draw.

Yeah, the shoulders of old-time archers were hyper-developed. It used to be law that every able bodied man spend Sunday practicing archery I think. In fact I think football wasn't allowed at one point because it took time away from archery practice. The draw weight on the bows on the Mary Rose was something insane like 100lbs! Most archers wouldn't manage that now. I think at my club, most male archers were in the 34-40lb bracket. Me being a bit weedy and not very strong only had 24lb limbs on my bow. I tried a longbow once, think it might have been about a 30lb weight. It was tough, but lovely to shoot with and I even hit gold at 40m I know that's not that fancy but I was proud.

[12mp82]

The draw weight on the bows on the Mary Rose was something insane like 100lbs!

Some were even more up to 185lbs, now that is a serious amount of shreaded wheat for breakfast

[Colin KC]

If you're asking which would be easier to shoot straighter with in a short period of time, I'd say a recurve. With the right spine/length arrows & sights, a well setup recurve will be easy to shoot whereas a longbow hasn't the facilities to be adjustable to such an extent & so you're learning to overcome it's inherent problems right off the bat.

That being said, if you'd started with a longbow 10 years ago & practiced regularly, you'd outshoot a novice at recurve everytime.

[Djorn]

Hickory Creek In line Crossbow.....awesome piece of kit...for those who don't know it...it is a crossbow that becomes a compound bow and fires normal arrows if required....NICE !!

[lightningxl]

A modern recurve bow has the advantage of being faster ie returns back to its original shape quicker - giving more arrow speed per pound draw weight allowing lighter faster arrows.

Longbow traditional slower heavier arrows more grew weight

guess it down to what you like.

PS short recurve bows used by Mongolians on horseback with laminated bows

[mitch66]

hi, x-bow or compound 1st recurve 2nd longbow 3rd. dont get me wrong i love the feel of the longbow but you have to warm the longbow up first, so you dont snap it. well everyone at our club does and as far as hunting goes you need a bit target.