Is brace height on long bows just whatever works. Or is it around 7" like most recurves?
2 river bamboo backed 48# @ 28"
Make it so your fletching clears the bow then fine tune that. I use my fistmele to set up brace height on my bows.
NATE aLL OF OUR BOWS ARE based on 6 1/4 brace hieght BUCK [ TWO RIVERS LONG BOW ]
Yes!! I found you :) (buck) thanks for replying. I bought this bow just recently it's definitely a looker bamboo is awesome. So 6.25 " is the ticket then ?
depends on longbow style...class D, slight reflex, hybrid, etc...
my D shaped are around 6.25-6.5....ones with more pronounced reflex in limbs are 6.75-7.0 inches.
in the end it is what clears your fletching...and what flies the best.
If you're not sure about the best brace height you can find it out by doing the following. Lower the brace height approx 1 inch under the recommended brace height. Shoot a few groups of arrows and pay attention how the bow shoots, if there is any handshock and how close the groups are. Then increase the brace height by twisting the string 3 - 5 times and repeat the procedure. At a certain brace height you will feel that the bow gets smoother and the arrows in the groups are getting closer. If you increase the brace height further it will getting worse again. Go back and you got it.
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Andy
I was told by a bowyer (in my opinion he makes the finest quality and shooting D style longbows available). I asked him that same question and he stated that for this style of longbow (D style), you can go as low in the braced height as you desire. His only criteria is that the fletchings are not touching the riser when the bow is strung, but not drawn. It works for me. I use a brace height on all my D style bows at least an inch to 1 1/2" lower than given as the recommended brace height.
Swissbow has it right, you should shoot the bow and find out what the bow likes. Those recommendations for brace height are average to get you close.
X3 Swissbow and Roy