Recurve vs longbow

[Buckeye1977]

I was thinking about something the other day and I'm sure it's been discussed but thought I'd ask. Wondering if the longbow limb is less prone to twisting or failure than recurve limbs. I've seen a few recurve limbs get twists in them but haven't been around too many longbows or ever heard of a twist in them. I know if you keep them out of sunlight and all that there should be no problems but reading Ron W's post on the Z4 limb just got me thinking about it.

[David Mitchell]

I think it is generally accepted that longbow limbs, especially on the ASL style longbow, are much less prone to twisting.  In fact, I doubt I could twist a limb on mine if I tried.  The deep, narrow core really resists twisting.  I have never seen a twisted limb on an ASL style longbow and that is probably true even of the hybrid designs.

[Orion]

David X2

[Sam McMichael]

I haven't seen twisted limbs as an issue with longbows. On my heavy longbows, I have always used the step through method for stringing/unstringing. The warranty on my Wesley Special was voided  about 1 minute after I opened the package, because that's how I strung it the very first time. I don't do that with recurves, though.

[David Mitchell]

I string my ASL longbows push/pull.  Don't do that with recurves though.

[KeganM]

As others have said, longbow limbs are far less prone to twisting. I've built some really aggressive hybrids that have taken on twist after some really nasty abuse (soaked for a weekend then left jammed diagonally in the back seat of a hot car under bags), but even then they still shoot straight. Since the string doesn't have to curl back onto the limb, there's less to mess up.

Don't know about durability/failure, though. Pretty sure I can break just about anything! 

[Yooper-traveler]

If you live long enough you'll see twisted, screwed up long bow limbs. I've seen three sets of twisted bear TD limbs within one year though.

[David Mitchell]

Yooper, I recently bought a set of brand new Bear TD limbs and they came out of the box with the lower limb twisted enough that I was afraid to draw them to full draw.  I contacted my dealer and friend and he was great about replacing them with another set he had in stock (Larry at Lost Nation), but I had to wonder if anyone at Bear looks at this stuff before sending it out the door.  The new limbs Larry sent me are fine. I do really like Bear bows but have had more than my share of issues with them.

[Hud]

I bought a used Schulz Trophy Hunter, it had a twist in the lower limb, that could not be corrected. Probably the result of the original owner using the the step thru method over many years. In the early years it was common to find recurve bows with a twist.  If corrected after stringing, it was easy to correct; later with the use of stringers, it became less of a problem.  The best policy is to check every time it is strung and correct it then. I had three longbows from one company that developed twist about an hour after stringing, it was a combination of factors, limbs were off center, poor alignment.

[Hoosierarcher88]

I recently picked up an old browning nomad of a co worker thats limbs were both twisted. I did a trade for a fishing reel i had laying around. I initially planned to just use the bow as a wallhanger as the limbs were twisted but it was the same model as the first recurve i ever bought. I decided to work on correcting the limb twist and altered the string frooves slightly and now the limbs a straight and track good enough to shoot. Ill probably shoot it from time to time for sentimental purposes. I will say though that many old recurves i find have at least slight limb twists where the longbows are still all nice and straight

[pavan]

I straightened the limbs on a metal risered Black Widow in the early 70s with vigorous rubbing strokes wearing very soft deer skin gloves.  I saw that person the other day, we have gotten older, but his bow looks the same.  it is still the only bow he owns.  The thing to watch for with ASLs is if the limbs are tracking true down the center in the first place.  Straight tracking ASLs don't get twists in them.   If you have an ASL that is not tracking down the center, a combination of sandpaper tillering and nock adjustments can usually fix it, with a slight reduction in poundage.

[Yooper-traveler]

David I agree completely. I just sent back a set of Bear TD limbs I had ordered for my son.  Three rivers was great about it as always, but how a set of limbs like that ever made it out the door from Bear blows my mind.