It is often said that Longbows don't need silencers. My bows are very quiet but there is the 'note' of the string. (Even when my nocks are very loose on the string) Just sounds like you are shooting a rubber band

The lower the brace height, the lower the pitch and that can actually make it more audible. Raising the brace height until it goes away or is reduced does work...but that seems like a bad reason to raise the brace isn't it? (assuming that the bow is shooting well otherwise).

I know that a small yarn silencer would get rid of it but trying to learn a bit along the way.

The bows are a 66# Wesley Special and a 69" McBroom Stringfollow

PS The Wesley String is BCY-X and the McBroom is D97

To me, the sound of a longbow is music to my ears.

So I should embrace it? :) If I shoot inside, I hear the whoosh of the string followed by the light pop of the nock and then a pure pitch of the string. If I pluck the bow lightly like a guitar it's the same note.

And yes it is nice, but my first instinct is to dampen it

Hmmm. I wonder what pitch (or frequency) the animals like deer hear best. Anyone know the answer to that?

2 tiny yarn puffs gets rid of it. Still trimming these down

I know that if a FF type string is not requested, Craig will send HH bows with B50. When I got my Wesley, first thing I did was put a 450+ string on it and tossed the B50 aside. The bow shot good with the 450+ string but was louder than I wanted. I played with the brace from 5.75" all the way to 6.75" and still was louder than I wanted. But the B50 string back on and braced it at 6 1/8" and quiet as a church mouse and shot beautifully. I think there is a reason why Craig prefers B50 on the HH longbows.

Steve

I haven't tried going down that low on the brace. Will try that on the Wesley

Lol that's one of two things. Either the thing I hate about non stretch strings, that ff "thunk". The other possibity is you got a bad release and pluck the string. A longbow that doesn't have the string laying on the limbs should make no noise other than the sound of your strung slicing thru air. "SWISHHHH" If you pluck the string use silencers, if it's the ff thunk it's there to stay on most bows.

2X what meatCKR said.

I shoot mostly recurve and R/D longbows. I have some that are really quiet but all are quieter with some tiny yarn puffs. I cant find a reason not to have them.

The string vibrates on all bows and so will make some noise. Because the string doesn't touch the limb at release on longbows, they make less noise than recurves, but they still make some noise.

Adjusting the brace height to reduce the noise is legit. In fact, the noise is probably telling you where your sweet spot is. the less noise, the closer you are to your sweet spot. A brace height that's too low can be quite noisy.

All that being said, silencers will quiet the string even more. I've always used string silencers on my longbows.

Get a proper string made with small loops just big enough. Schulz said, "a heavy hunting string well waxed will have no need for silencers"

I used a 18 strand dacron and i soak my string in melted beezwax when first strung.

The result is a low hummm. That animals do not seem to notice. Have had mutiple shots when my shooting was not as good.

I like to leep it simple.

Look at these silencers. You're trying to get rid of oscillation. Three up, three down, followed by a lot of downed animals.

one beaver ball top and bottom.

I would adjust brace height till you have found that sweet spot where the bow shoots with good manners and then add silencers. The best silencers I have found is cheap synthetic yarn. I wrap twenty times around the widest part of my hand - it's a pretty good gauge for the size puff that I use. FF does have a different ring to it. I find no difference in the amount of noise between it and B-50 - FF just makes a higher pitched sound to me.

Adjust brace first...if it's a little higher than you think it should be, it's still probably fine. Don't get hung up on those silly numbers. You may need a bit of silencing material, but it shouldn't be much. You sure don't need half a raccoon like the one above. I have golfball size silencers on mine...just acrylic yarn and it's dead quiet with 450+ skinny string.

Half a racoon LOL!

I NEVER HAD ONE THAT I DIDN'T SILENCE NO MATTER WHAT STRING.

The Wesley Special is low enough pitch where it doesn't bother me. The McBroom at a higher pitch just plays a note that rings for a second or so.

The two small yarn puffs I put on it pretty much eliminated it and they are only about "superball" sized. I wrapped yarn around just 2 fingers 5 times and then trimmed it after shooting.

"Dare to go bare" LOL

"I used a 18 strand dacron and i soak my string in melted beezwax when first strung."

That's a recipe for losing at least 10 fps - probably more.. Which is equal to at least 5 lbs of draw weight.

Yeah maybe so but my pile of dead animals do not care about that. ??

So then there's the question....is weighing down the string with silencers any better or worse than cranking up the brace or dampening with wax?

Yes - A couple little yarn puffs placed correctly is far better than soaking an overbuilt B50 string in beeswax. Unless you prefer to shoot a bow at least 5 lbs heavier than one with a decent string.

I shoot 14 strands with only the usual amount of wax and don't need silencers. Mine has em on it right now but only because I didn't like the string that came on it n put one of mine on it that already had silencers from the recurve I took it from.

How many strands of bcy x is in your string. I find that 20 to 22 with .018 serving is for gold tip knock is quietly. And maybe add a couple small beaver balls. JF

The sound you hear is not always the sound that is there. Many of us have done a good deal of gunnery, naval, army, shotgun, pistol, rifles. That can reduce hearing at certain pitches and not at others. So when you are working on these matters you might get a second opinion, and a third.

I use original Fast Flight in my longbows and tune for quiet brace height. And I use fairly heavy arrow, 11 - 12 grains per pound of draw weight. Several recurvers have commented on the quietness of my bows.

I too enjoy the hum of the string after the shot. The longbow is the oldest musical instrument, ancestor to the harp, the guitar, the fiddle and all stringed instruments. Maybe not the banjo, which I regard as more in the drum family, played more for rhythm than melody. - lbg

"Yes - A couple little yarn puffs placed correctly is far better than soaking an overbuilt B50 string in beeswax."

Sorry, I don't agree.

The less you have on, or hanging off, your bow or string the better IMO. and yes I am talking about a hunting weight bow for killing stuff.

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