Draw weights of Horn Bows

[HoorayHorace]

Since they were a weapon of war, what kind of draw weights did these bows have?

I read somewhere that Turkish bows went pretty high in lbs.

[Tc]

I am sure that the average draw weight for war bows was around 100# which is hard to believe today. But after 3-4 months of training a healthy man can draw a 100# bow with no problem, so just imagine what a man can do with a lifetime training...

[mikekeswick]

From reading Adam Karpowzi's book I think it was higher average than 100#. Maybe more like 120 -130#. There are significantly heavier bows in the palace museum.
I could shoot 100# after a couple of weeks of trying......but on horseback at full gallop, shooting 10+ arrows a minute at likely moving targets.....you can see why you had to train this sort of thing.

[HoorayHorace]

Thanks for the replies.


Seems like 120lb sounds about right.


My horse bow is 95@30, and still training to get on top of it.

[PatM]

A person does not keep getting stronger throughout their lifetime.

[mikekeswick]

It depends how you spent your youth!
It's possible to increase strength out to about 40 then it starts getting harder and risky to your health
I love this saying 'use it or lose it...but don't ever abuse it'.

[Tc]

You do not need to keep getting stronger as an archer, once you can draw a 130-140# bow....but you will use it better and better after a long time (lifetime) training...

[PatM]

You actually won't. That's why people who do strength/skill events are still in a prime years age group.

[medicinewheel]

My normal draw weight at full draw is 65#@29.5" for target practice.
On several occasions last year I borrowed a  yew warbow from an English friend that was 90#@32" which felt pretty much the same  resistance as my target bow, simply the pull was some longer. When trying a 110#@32" the resistance was remarkably higher, but something in my brain saying "dang, that stick will break..." seemed more of a problem than  the acctual draw weight. But 110#  was my borderline, 120# my whole body said "No!"
I believe a decent shooting technique would be the key, evenmore for the thumb draw.