Hey guys,I was wondering if some of you Howard Hill Longbow fans out there can post pics and maybe a discription of the dished grip versus the pistol grip.What is the difference?I'm thinking of ordering a HH Bow and trying to make a decsion on grip.I know I don't like the straight grip.Any help would be appreciated.tradrick

I don't believe HHA has photos on their web site but if you look at Dick Wightmans (Howard Hill Longbowmen) you can see lots of photos of risers and grips.


Steve

Rick,
Try  www.howardhillarchery.com.   There are photos there of the various grip styles.  I have a Big Five with the striaght grip.  I didn't think I'd like it but it actually feels good.  The dished grip is just that.  The belly side of the grip is dished out in a slight arc.  I don't care for the way it feels.  The locator grip has a shallow cut-out area that acts to give you a reference for hand placement.  All of them require a low wrist position.

Hope this helps,
John

Thanks guys I've been to both websites and did not see any pics that I could tell much of a difference on.tradrick

http://www.howardhillshooters.com/

Yep, I was wrong about the HH website showing grip styles. But the Wightman site listed above does have shots of all three styles.  Look in the gallery.  The dished grip is so slight that you might take it for straight.

John

I think either the straight or dished grip offers what a Hill grip is intended to do...Give the most positive torque free environment possible...Any variation begins to add varying degrees of potential torque...

if you look at all the top level compound shooters they are all shooting a straight "Hill Style" grip!

I'm no expert on Hill grips but I have owned a couple (straight and dished).  I found little difference in shootability between the grip styles.  Its mostly a minor comfort preference/aesthetic issue...and thats up to the individual.

Regardless of the grip style, much more important to how they shoot is how you place your hand on the grip itself.  The 'suitcase hold' seems the best...solid and consistent, not to mention it reduces the perceived handshock in the bow hand.  Handshock can either be just a thump with the proper grip or a 'teeth rattler" with the wrong grip.  Once you get the right feel (with some practice) they really are neat, fun bows.

I stupidly sold both my Hills several years ago but recently purchased another from a fellow TradGang member (it'll be coming next week...thanks, Jim!).  After playing with recurves and hybrids for some years I thought I'd ended my Hill-style mood.  Nope!  A Liberty Contender longbow just changed my mind (mild R/D, D-profile bow not far from a Hill style...another TradGang purchase...thanks, Rick!).  They are great fun to shoot once you dial your style with them and work out that grip thing.  And as far as accuracy at normal ranges, these bows give up nothing to other bows.  My groups with the Liberty, at regular hunting ranges with fairly heavy wood arrows, are as good as with my recurves and aluminum arrows.  I expect the soon-to-arrive Hill to be similar.  The recurves with  aluminums are still (for me) a better choice for the 3-D range where shots are longer, but there's room for both on my bowrack for sure.

Interesting bows, those Hills.  Have fun with yours!

Thanks for everyones input.The Hill style bows are somewhat similar to my selfbow.It has a similar grip(somewhat dished).When I first started shooting the selfbow I could'nt get used to it.I was used to recurve pistol grips.But after some practice I noticed I was really starting to stack'em in there.I'm wanting a Hill style bow because well I like'em and I would like to have a bow similar to my selfbow that would allow me to shoot in selfbow and longbow classes at 3D shoots.I think the Hill style fits the bill.tradrick

Look in the "Longbow help" thread, this section (Shooter's Forum), started by "LocDoc". I posted a couple pictures showing the wrist break with a longbow...

Hope it helps.

I always liked the straight HH grips best.

Artur,thats exactly the way I hold and shoot my selfbow.It took a little getting used to but once comfortable with this hold I seem to be very consistant.I immediatly noticed tighter grips.Thanks for everyones input.tradrick

My Hill bow has a dished grip, butt only slightly dushed 1/8 to the deep part of the dish....

This is a pistol:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v166/BobCo/?action=view¤t=000_0016.jpg
Locator:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v166/BobCo/More%20Stuff/?action=view¤t=HH2.jpg
Dished (this is a Schulz)(my favorite grip):
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v166/BobCo/Stuff/?action=view¤t=101_0241.jpg

Does anyone happen to know what style of grip Howard Hill favored personally?

Pretty sure Hill used a straight grip.  There's actually very little difference between a dished grip and a straight grip.  Switching from one to the other, most folks wouldn't know the difference after a few shots.  The indexed grip is also very modest on a Hill bow.  As others have already said, regardless of the grip style, they need to be shot low wrist.