After owning 5 recurves and 6 longbows I decided to not buy any more bows. After seeing references to Rudderbows I went to their site and ended up ordering the 60 in. 50-55# Modoc indian type bow. I have never shot a self-bow especially off my knuckles. The limbs at their widest are 2 1/4 in. I realize the Archers Paradox is going to be greater than a shelved bow. The lady suggested a 50-55# spine weight at my 28" draw length. I forgot to mention to her that I plan on footing Surewood Douglas Fir shafts with walnut Reparrows and using 130 grn. steel trade points and 125 grn. brass bullet points with hardwood reinforced self nocks. I suspect this will effect the spine weight of the shafts I need. For those of you that shoot unshaved self-bows I would like some suggestions. Note: the walnut Reparrows weigh 40 grns. prior to tapering. Thanks for your input in advance. Ron Forbes

not unshaved, should be unshelved self-bow.......

Since I have never shot a unshelved bow, I am wondering if there will be much of a learning curve compared to glass backed recurves and longbows.

I'd listen to the lady. Depends a lot on how much the grip area is narrowed, but her recommendation seems very close to me.

I just used the Dynamic Spine calculator and unless I entered something wrong, it suggests that I use a 145 grn. point for bow-arrow balance. Live and learn.

Who knows? Sounds heavy to me. I shoot a 47# at 26" bow. My arrows are 40-45# cut to 29 in. to the back of the point. Jawge

Is the bow backed? That's a large draw for a 60" bow. Jawge

No, Jawge it's not backed. It's a hickory self-bow and the bowyer, Jim Boswell states that it should not be drawn more than 28". My actual draw is probably 27 7/8" and no more than 28".

You may need even lighter spine! Or you will be wondering why it always shoots to the left! I shoot about 10# UNDER my bows weight at my draw

Thanks for the suggestion, Steven. I believe I have some 45-50# arrows made up for a 45# bow. I'll find out soon since Beverly? said that it would be shipped today via USPS. They make their own boxes for shipping and I hope they're sturdy although I've never hade a problem with items shipped through USPS.

ok, apachearrow. Jawge

Jawge, I'm hoping with the walnut footing and a 145 grn. point it will help. If not, I do have some 45-50# shafts with walnut footings made up for a lighter bow.

You may experience a decrease in cast vs those other glass bows you've owned.

some bows are more spine tolerant to spine of the arrow,,you will not know till you get to shoot it,,, I have some self bows that will shoot a wide range and some that are more picky,,,, if your grip is loose,,, you can shoot slightly heavier spine,, a self bow will shoot a little to the left of a center cut bow,,, but you can adjust to that as you shoot the bow more,, it just takes practice shooting a self bow,,, they have a different feel,,

how tall are you. 60 inch is a mite short, stand at your shooting point and hold your left fist{ assuming you are right handed} as you would with a shelved bow. now look down the arrow it will point off to a left angle, if it is a touch too stiff it will go more to the left when you shoot it. now Cant the bow in the same aiming position. watch the arrow come to the target, this is how you modify the paradox. shoot a variety of arrows, I have made roughly 60 hickory and other bows, some are demanding on the spine and weight and length. some are not. each bow will be different.

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