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Das bamboo core longbow limbs 3 rivers archery

15K views 39 replies 22 participants last post by  Broncman 
#1 ·
Has anyone tried these ? They look good and only $150.00


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#12 ·
Anyone else have experience with these limbs? I'm looking for something in the 45-50#range @30 on a 19" riser (Hoyt Dorado).

I'm very seriously thinking about buying myself and early holiday present but want to make sure I can hit the weight range. I have recurve limbs now, 51#@30" on that riser, that shoot great but I've always wanted to try long bow limbs.

Anyone with a longer draw tried these on a 19" riser?
 
#13 · (Edited)
I have a Long set of these in 45# on a 21" Junxing F166 riser, 66" bow length. They are excellent.

I recently chrono tested and got 183-192 FPS with a 407 grain arrow, string was a 60x Fast Flight. But that gave me a brace height of almost 9". I tried a few different strings and settled on a 3Rivers Fast Flight Flemish Twist 62" string to get a brace height of 7.25"

I am now trying to tune this set up for a 15 yd fixed crawl. Any advice?
 

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#14 · (Edited)
I have a Long set of these in 45# on a 21" Junxing F166 riser, 66" bow length. They are excellent.

I recently chrono tested and got 183-192 FPS with a 407 grain arrow. I tried a few different strings and settled on a Fast Flight Flemish Twist 62" string to get the proper brace height of 7.25"

I am now trying to tune this set up for a 15 yd fixed crawl. Any advice?
Paul, welcome to tad talk!

I can't quite read the scale in your photo but does it say 48.2pounds? These limbs are rated 45# on a 17" riser at 28" Draw length. Those should be about 41# on your 21"riser. Either I'm not reading your scale right or something is weird there. For consistently comparing with other people and equipment you should generally measure draw length from the back of the riser at the shelf, it looks like your measuring from the rest bump or plunger hole instead, such will technically give you about an inch longer draw than amo standards. Not a big deal for the individual (unless your trying to blindly pick an arrow spine) but it does impact how we can compare different equipment.

If it's easy can you measure what your limbs weight at 28, 30, and 31 inches? More lengths if you want, but I'm really curious how much these limbs gain with longer draws. Seems like these limbs gain a bit more than most at longer draw lengths. The very few mentions I've seen on the net suggest 7-8 pound increase from 28 to 30 inches while most gain 5-6 pounds in those two inches. Now the limb pad angle of those risers seems to scale limbs a bit heavy, at least from the few threads I've seen about them. My draw is about 30.5 and I'm trying to figure out what weight to buy to hit my specific needs with a longer draw.

As for setting up for a fixed crawl, I use a 25yd crawl. I start with arrows that are tuned close for 3 under, then find my crawl that hits vertically correct for 25, in your case 15, and continue tuning bare shafts compared to fletched to dial in the tune and arrow for that exact crawl.
15yd is a long crawl with a heavier bow so once you start tuning for that crawl you will notice your arrows more stiff than at just 3 under. I start up against the arrow as it eliminates some of the bows instability that you'd have at a longer crawl, making it easier to get a tune closer to start.

I personally find a 15 yard crawl a bit long for my use (mostly hunting) and like a 20-25yd crawl. A longer point on also destabilizes the bow a bit less and is a touch more forgiving to shoot. In my experience a 15yd crawl is more than 2x further down the string than a 20 and I find it very "instinctive" to gap closer than 20 but harder at longer yardages.

With a long crawl for short yardages with a heavier bow, long arrows are very much going to be your friend to get a point on that close.

But whatever your needs, I find running a fixed crawl easiest if I start with arrows that are close 3 under, then find my crawl and fine tune further to that specific crawl.
 
#15 ·
Yes, the scale reads 48.2 lbs. But that is at 29.75" draw length.

On closer inspection, this draw board is measuring from the pivot point to the nock, measuring 28". But we need to add 1.75" to get AMO draw length.

My intention on these limbs was to get just under 45 lb draw weight at 29" draw length that my compound is set to. These are rated at 45 lb for a 62" bow, 17" riser. I subtract 1 lb/inch per increase in bow length, so 45 lb on a 17" riser should be 41 lb on a 21" riser at AMO 28" draw length.

But I also get an increase at my 29" draw length, so I should be under 45 lb with this setup. Rough measurements with a luggage scale when I draw the bow show I'm pulling 42-43 lbs. It feels right in terms of draw weight at my 29" draw.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to set nock and crawl distance to get a point on of 15 yds with good arrow flight. Some paper tuning tests last week, using a D-Loop and hinge release, revealed horrible bare shaft nock high at a 20 yd crawl distance. This was after tuning to get a nice round hole with a bare shaft without a crawl.
 

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#16 ·
Yes, the scale reads 48.2 lbs. But that is at 29.75" draw length.

On closer inspection, this draw board is measuring from the pivot point to the nock, measuring 28". But we need to add 1.75" to get AMO draw length.
My intention on these limbs was to get just under 45 lb draw weight at 29" draw length that my compound is set to. These are rated at 45 lb for a 62" bow, 17" riser. I subtract 1 lb/inch per increase in bow length, so 45 lb on a 17" riser should be 41 lb on a 21" riser at AMO 28" draw length.

But I also get an increase at my 29" draw length, so I should be under 45 lb with this setup. Rough measurements with a luggage scale when I draw the bow show I'm pulling 42-43 lbs. It feels right in terms of draw weight at my 29" draw. [/QUOTE]

I agree about losing 4 pounds for the 4" longer riser. But, all other internet info I've read about these limbs suggests about 4# an inch over a 29" draw, so adding 7# to the 41#@28 is right on the money for what your scale says.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to set nock and crawl distance to get a point on of 15 yds with good arrow flight. Some paper tuning tests last week, using a D-Loop and hinge release, revealed horrible bare shaft nock high at a 20 yd crawl distance. This was after tuning to get a nice round hole with a bare shaft without a crawl.
I've never shot a trad bow with a mechanical release so can't help there but I suspect that makes it a bit harder to relate directly to a fixed crawl with fingers. I suspect, but have no idea, that the mechanical release actually destabilizes the tune more with a long crawl as your drawing back from a much narrower point than with 3 fingers. It seems like that would reduce the distance the arrow travels as the d loop and string angle don't draw the arrow back as far as the same crawl with fingers. I could be thinking about it wrong though.

But either way, looking at the photo of your draw you can see how far down the string you are compared to the arrow. This is going to affect the initial tune. I'm assuming your arrows are showing weak at that crawl. This is normal since your essentially shortening your draw in relation to the distance the arrow travels in contact with the string. Shorter travel equals lower poundage which should make your arrows behave more stiffly.

Id personally stop using paper to tune and use bareshafts compared to fetched at your crawl. Determine the crawl where your fetched arrows are point on at 15 yards, then start comparing bare to fetched and adjust accordingly. You'll likely need to raise the nock as the long crawl makes the lower limb work harder essentially pulling down on the nock a touch as the string travels forward. Raise the nock to compensate. Then tune to bring the bareshafts back to the right to match your fetched.

Id set my nock height first, sounds like the arrows' nock end might be hitting the riser on the way by.

May I ask why a 15 crawl? Is this a specific needed distance for target shooting?

What are your arrow specs and where is the center shot in the bow. Longer arrows will help with the short point on and using a mechanical release should put you close to center shot.... But again I'm not very versed in mechanical release tuning.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I was able to play around a bit at lunchtime shooting 3 under with a Bateman tab. This feels and sounds much better than with the hinge release. But I need a lot more practice with this before I'll take a shot at a deer with it. In the meantime, I'll use the compound, already bagged 5 deer with it this year.

Picture shows dimensions of what I ended up with to get a 15 yard crawl. I lowered the nock a bit to get straighter bareshafts into the target. 1/4" high nock center and 5/8" fixed crawl under the bottom nock. Brace height is 8".

Arrows are 31" 500 spine Beman ICS Bowhunter, 455 g total weight with 175 g tips. FOC is 19%. Shots last week with 125 g tips showed fletched and bare shafts left of target, too stiff. Shots today with the heavier tips looked much better.

I'm after the short crawl distance because our deer are so numerous and totally unafraid of people. While practicing in the back yard, a nice fat 8 point buck walked by, I was able to get within 10 yards before he casually strolled away.
 

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#21 ·
I gots no 'sperience with these, but I've read on several of the guys that have 'em.
Noodling is so obnoxious I think if they were noodlers they would have mentioned it.
Ren they are so inexpensive, I think you should try their XLs and tell us about it.
 
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#22 ·
I had a set of DAS XL bamboo $150 LB limbs on a 17" DAS riser. Very smooth draw, but felt slow compared to the DAS carbon/foam longs on same riser. Didn't notice any noodling on the 17" riser with Brace about 7.25".
 
#24 ·
I have a set of 50# longs on a 19” tracker, braced around 7.5”?? Can’t remember for sure, but less than 8”.. They pull 48# bolts in.. no noodling on my rig, super quiet, I’m happy with speed, but they are slower that TT2.0 glass/wood recurve limbs.. all in all I’m happy with them
 
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