Can You Adjust The Draw Weight On A Compound Bow

Published February 28, 2018 in Archery TipsPast P.J. Reilly

Yes, you can adjust the draw weight on certain recurve bows

Compound bows are well known for their ability to have the draw weight adjusted. Most take a 10-pound adjustment range, just there are some that tin can be adjusted from 5-70 pounds.Did you lot know it's possible to adjust the weight of some recurve bows?In an episode of "Backside the Riser," filmed past Shrewd Archery, which follows U.South. Olympian Brady Ellison during the 2018 Lancaster Archery Classic, Ellison talks about "taking 3 turns out of" his Hoyt recurve bow later the offset twenty-four hours of competition. That action inverse the draw weight from 52 pounds to 47 pounds. (Ellison went on the win his second sequent title at the Classic in the Men's Recurve Division.) Brady Ellison So yes, you can change the draw weight of certain recurve bows. The but bows this volition work on, even so, are those Olympic recurve and Traditional recurve bows that have ILF limbs and fittings.ILF stands for "International Limb Fitting," which is a universal limb zipper organisation that allows ILF limbs and risers from various manufacturers to be mixed and matched. Several Hoyt recurve bows employ a modified ILF connection organization that uses the same hardware as ILF bows, simply the hardware spacing is distinctly different than ILF. This unique limb connectedness system is the Hoyt Formula system. Formula bows adapt in exactly the same fashion as ILF bows. limb bolt32 An ILF or Hoyt Formula riser will take dovetail pockets to capture the dovetail bushings on the limbs. And they'll as well have limb bolts. The limb bolts on these risers are adaptable. Turning the limb bolts clockwise lowers the bolts closer to the riser and increases describe weight. Adjusting counterclockwise raises the bolts and decreases draw weight. Also, nearly all risers with adjustable limb bolts use some type of locking screw to keep a limb commodities in place after adjustments have been made. It is very important to unlock these screws before adjusting limb bolts, and and so lock them again when adjustments are complete.Co-ordinate to John Wert, who heads the TradTech segmentation of Lancaster Archery Supply, which produces ILF and non-ILF recurve risers and limbs, the bolts on ILF recurve bows have a recommended best working range. Starting at a maximum height of 20mm (13/sixteen of an inch) for lowest draw weight and adjusting in to a minimum tiptop of 15mm (5/viii of an inch), for the highest draw weight. Those distances are measured from the underside of the limb commodities to the surface of the limb pocket below it. limb bolt22 limb bolt12 "This is the all-time range for the unabridged sphere of ILF bows," Wert said. "Yous tin take some in or out further, just and then you lot are in a gray area that can lead to problems. If you know what to look for, you can arrange to as depression equally 12 mm and as high as 25 mm on some limb and riser combinations."The chief problem with turning in a limb bolt shorter than 15mm is the leading edge of the limb bolt cap tin offset to dig into the limb surface. Back the limb bolt out more 20mm, and the dovetail limb bushing can demark in the riser hardware– or even worse, the limb could wing out from under the commodities altogether. limbss1 The number of turns an archer can put in or take out of a limb within that xv-20mm frame varies, according to Wert. Some screw patterns on the limb bolts are more ambitious than others, which would touch on the total turns.It's up to each archer to figure out how many turns the limb bolt tin withstand to stay within that fifteen-20mm gap. Too, the amount of weight that can be added or subtracted varies from bow to bow. It'southward up to the archer to figure that out, then he or she knows how many turns are possible, and how much weight each plow gives up or puts back on. Merely generally, a set of limbs has an adjustment range of 8-10% of the limb's draw weight. limb bolt72 During the Lancaster Archery Archetype, Ellison was able to reduce his draw weight by nearly 5 pounds by taking three turns out of his Hoyt limb bolts.It'due south important to notation that equal turns must be put into/ taken out of the top and bottom limbs in gild to maintain the tiller. Diff turns will affect a bow'due south tiller measurements, which can affect the bow's tune and the mode the bow sits in your manus.Bow manufacturers vary on how they decide limb weights. Some, like TradTech archery, stamp their limbs with the low end of their weight range. So a TradTech limb rated at 50 pounds would draw at a minimum of 50 pounds at 28 inches with the limb bolts backed out to xx mm. The weight would increase from there as the bolts are turned in and the limbs would accomplish a maximum weight of approximately 54 pounds. limb bolt10 Other companies, like Hoyt, use the middle of the range for their limb ratings, and some rate their limbs at the top end of the adjustment range.So all of this begs the question, "Why would I modify the draw weight on my recurve?"In the Shrewd video, Brady said he was having trouble holding his bow still at the higher draw weight. So he lowered it to proceeds more control. Other archers might observe more control by increasing the draw weight.Another reason to conform draw weight might exist to go an arrow to tune better. If the melody is close at a set draw weight, changing the weight just a petty could be all that'due south needed to get perfect flight.