80" White Elm Warbow Build-along

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Cam forgot to add... he shot one of my heavier arrows, a 95 gram oak with a heavy plate cutter type head, and he got 190 yards with it. That is very impressive too.

Now, if I can just get this boy shooting in the bow a bit more, I think he'll be able to shoot it more than a half dozen times!

[Marc St Louis]

Why do you have the front end of the shaft bigger than the tail?  That would tend to make it front heavy.  Your 77 gram arrow comes out to roughly 1050 grains, which is pretty well 10 GPP.

Because the arrows we're shooting are made to EWBS and CWBS specs. That particular arrow is over weight for a livery arrow 63g), but it's made to meet the specs for this type of shooting. If you're interested, go to either of their websites and check the details for yourself. And yes, they're front heavy... on purpose.

You are more involved with and have more interaction with the warbow crowd so I will take your word for it

[WillS]

There are a couple of arrow "types" that the warbow community have got under their name so to speak.  By using the same type of arrow all over the world it's a really neat, efficient way of bringing people together globally to compare flight results and bow performance results as we know we're all shooting the same thing, so it's only the bow and the archer that change.

I don't think Cam is shooting any specific Warbow arrow here, but if he made one up to a Livery spec for instance (30.5" long, hand forged small Tudor bodkin, 7.5" x 5/8" fletchings, and weighing 63.5g) and recorded a flight distance with it, everybody all over the world would know instantly how good his bow and his release is.

I would guess, judging by this first testing of the bow Cam would be able to record some exceptional distances using some EWBS spec arrows.  It seems to be spitting them out really nicely!!

As an example, Aaron Williams a really talented bowyer and archer over in New Zealand recently posted some flight results up on Facebook and with a 120lb Elm warbow he was getting 249 yards with a 63 gram Livery arrow.   If Cam is hitting 230 yards with a heavier shaft from a 116lb Elm bow, he must be in with a shot of getting right up there with the lighter arrow.

[Ian.]

               'The best shot of the day was from a 31.5" arrow, weighing 77 grams, that flew over 230 yards (our target pin was set at 204 yards with a rangefinder, and I paced the arrow off at 28 paces past the pin).'


That seems a bit far to be honest but if you measured it with a LRF then fair play to you. I would never expect someone to get that distance with that particular arrow/bow combination.

[Cameroo]

Ian, the distance to the pin was actually confirmed with a second rangefinder, so the only margin for error in the measurement would have been in my 28 paces, which I would suspect would be only +/- 5 yards.  I took fairly long strides and I have long legs.  But I'm not out to prove anything.  I am just following up for those that were interested in the bow's performance.  If the cast is surprising, then I suppose I did my part in tillering and shooting the bow. 

As I mentioned, my arrows do not meet any standard specs.  For the most part they do, but they came out heavy.  I was shooting for 65 grams finished weight, but they all turned out 71-83g.  Two coats of polyurethane added more weight than I anticipated.  But the piles are conical, so maybe the arrows are slightly more aerodynamic than a shaft tipped with a bodkin?

Will - I would like to launch a few livery arrows to make some standardized comparisons, but at the moment I don't have any.  If I do get the chance to shoot some I will update my results.

[Ian.]

I'm not questioning your integrity, take my scepticism as compliment. With a second LRF you can't argue and I don't think you'd get much wrong in a few paces. Well done!

[Cameroo]

Here are a couple frames from the video.  At some point I would like to get some high resolution full draw pics, but for now this is the best I've got.

[leehongyi]

great work!
what's the thickness taper of this bow? and the mass?

[Cameroo]

Thanks Leehongyi.

The starting dimensions are listed in the first post.  After tillering, it ended up 1.09" thick and 1.55" wide at the center, and the tips are approximately 0.65" round.  The front profile has a 4 in parallel section in the handle, and then straight taper to the tips.  The cross section is more rectangular than most ELBs.

If I remember right, it was around 780 grams right off the tiller tree, but the finished mass is 804 grams, after the horn nocks and finish were applied.

[leehongyi]

have you tested the speed？

[Cameroo]

Sorry, I don't have access to a chrono.

[Cameroo]

Just a little update on this bow - A few of us were out for a shoot yesterday with some EWBS spec arrows.  We were shooting for records, so I only got to shoot two arrows of each type, but this bow managed to cast a standard arrow 244 yards.  I think with a little more practice on my part, this bow could do even better.  But that beat my personal best by about 14 yards, so I was happy

 

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Cast of characters: L to R... Grant Mitchell, Grande Prairie, Alberta. Adam Beck, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Matt Mercier, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Cam Bergerman, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Results:

Grant Mitchell, shooting 120# maple backed yew bow (Bowyer: Adam Beck)

Standard Arrow (52 grams) 239 yards (ties CWBS record)
Livery Arrow (64 grams) 220 yards (new CWBS record)
Bearing Arrow (60 grams) 239 yards (new CWBS record)
Quarter Pound Arrow (114 grams) 192 yards (new CWBS record)

Adam Beck, shooting 100# maple backed yew bow (Bowyer: Adam Beck)

Standard Arrow (52 grams) 217 yards
Livery Arrow (64 grams) 196 yards
Bearing Arrow (60 grams) 197 yards

Matt Mercier, shooting 92# maple backed yew bow (Bowyer: Adam Beck)

Standard Arrow (52 grams) 211 yards
Livery Arrow (64 grams) 179 yards
Bearing Arrow (60 grams) 197 yards
Quarter Pound Arrow (114 grams) 141 yards

Cam Bergerman, shooting 116# elm selfbow (Bowyer: Cam Bergerman)

Standard Arrow (52 grams) 244 yards (new CWBS record)
Livery Arrow (64 grams) 204 yards (new CWBS record)
Bearing Arrow (60 grams) 229 yards (new CWBS record)
Quarter Pound Arrow (114 grams) 178 yards (new CWBS record)


Congratulations to Grant and Cam on their amazing achievments!! And to Matt on his first warbow shoot!