Hi fellow flight shooters!
Im recently found my self interested in flight shooting and building shorties under 52" with 20-23" draw length. I happen to have plenty of this "superwood" as we tend to call it, syringa vulgaris (also "lilac"?"). Sg rating of about .80 and really elastic. I have made couple of shorties from not-so-perfect staves and the wood really is capable of amazing compression and high pound bows.
For example, 51" selfbow recurve of syringa, 20" draw 48#, and holds 2" reflex immediately after taken off brace.
And the bow i shot my own rookie record (231 yards) on my second flyshoot meeting, 50" selfbow syringa, 22" draw 68# and holds 3/4" reflex immediately after taken of brace. And this stave was on 1" natural deflex!!
What i have found out has been that, even though the wood is really dense, it really benefits from heat treating. I would estimate 10-15 pounds difference in these shortbows for example.
Those two bows that i introduced were about 1 5/8" wide, with circular tiller.
I am by no means that experienced bowyer yet, but interested in learning, so im planning to make some really heavy shorties from syringa. Its really gnarly and knotty wood so you tend to get really short pieces out of it. But i also happen to have one about 70" piece of it.
That 231 yards with 68# syringa, was by no means good result, cause my whole flight shooting equipment (bow and arrows) were made on the same week of the competition. Which included panic with arrow spine and last resort cutting arrows shorter with pocket knife near the starting line.
Is it so that this kind of 45-50" bow would be capable to compete at really those long distances? Why dont you see these 70++ pound bows as shorties then more often?
If its true, im really looking forward at letting loose of arrows from my future ~100 pound syringa shorties
!!
