Saturday 13 August 2016

New Distance PB :-)

I made up a couple of flight arrows yesterday and tried 'em from the Osage flight bow in the evening, my first shots were a bit tentative, and the best was only 267 yards. I had another go with a much firmer left arm and a crisp loose as I drew the last inch. 307 yards as measured with a laser rangefinder.
I was really chuffed, mind to be fair there was a tail wind, but I think there is more to get from the bow. The arrows were 5/16 diameter cedar shafts of the highest spine I could buy which have been fairly heavily barrelled (266 and 325 grain ) If I can go smaller diameter and say 250 grain with reduced fletchings, I should get a bit more. The nocks where slightly tight too as it was all done in a rush.
The arrow flight was good, but I lost sight of them near the top, there was a hint of porpoising, but no visible waggle. Adjusting the nocking point should cure the porpoising.
Off to a roving marks shoot tomorrow with the Medieval Society, I'll be meeting up with some old friends so it should be fun.

The top pic shows how Osage ages to a darker colour from the bright Yellow when it is first worked. The bow on the right was used as a reference to give me some idea of dimensions. The little shorty was made from an offcut and makes a fun demo bow, showing how much power you can get from an apparently innocuous little stick.
The pic of the tips shows how those of the flight bow are much slimmer. The temporary Hickory nocks got tidied up and have remained.
Bottom pic shows the slight cut away and shelf lined with leather suede side out. The shelf may get enlarged, but it seems to give good arrow flight at the moment.

Update:- The Osage flight bow has since shot 341 yards using a longer (28") draw!

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