Hickory Longbow

[beetlebailey1977]

IMHO that bow is what it is and I wouldn't try to do anything else to it. (Especially since you have now bowyering experience)The bow already shows over 3 1/2" of string follow(that's a lot IMO). And who knows how much reflex it started with and how much set it took. By design that bow is already being overdrawn at 26". The string follow proves it. What's been done to that bow cannot be undone. Im sure you can pull it to 28" without it breaking cus the hickory will take the abuse but you'll cause even more set and further degrading the bow more so than it already is. Id let it be and leave it alone. The maker knows this and it is why he told you not to draw it more than 26"   

I see the general consensus from the experienced folks here is to leave it alone. Id suggest you take the many years of advice being spoken to you.

Second that....

[wolfman6]

 The strain on my arm really surprised me, I shoot a 65# compound all day long plus my dads 55# Ben Pearson recurve so this longbow shouldn't  be an issue in terms of draw weight. I'm thinking that because my normal draw on my compound is 28.5 that 26 is just to short for me and my muscle memory is trying to exceed that 26 inches when I draw my longbow.

Anybody have any recommendations for arrows for my longbow?

[blackhawk]

With a compound you have let off at full draw. So your prob only holding around forty pounds at full draw. And if your using a release that makes it easier to draw as well. Im a comfortable 30" draw with a compound but rarely do I ever pull any further than 26" with my selfbows. Your dads bow is recurved which reduces string angle and makes a smoother drawing bow. Your bow is somewhat short for the drawlength and what your feeling is prob stack. A 80" forty pound bow will be much more comfortable compared to a 45" bow pulling the same distance and weight. The short bow will feel heavier than the longer one even tho they are the same.

As far as arrows id get some properly spined arrows(55lb)cut at 26" length so you don't over draw the bow and this way you'll be drawing it the same distance everytime.

[wolfman6]

 So I'm pretty stoked I picked up a nice dacron string from cabelas and I gained over 2" in brace hight, almost 7" when I started with about a fist of brace hight. The nocked it for me and let me shoot about a half dozen arrows and once I get this reflex shooting down it'll be a nice shooter. I managed a couple nice shots once I kinda the hang of it with a couple nice releases. Once I get some arrows cut and a grip put on I'll be right as the mail! Thanx to everyones advice, it helped me out a lot and kept me patient enough to get a new string before I made any stupid mistakes.