Since being new at thumbrings, I have always heard that the thumbring gave better arrow speed so I decided to do a test and here are my results.

Equipment: Prochronie Damascus glove elongated sheild thumbring, Being one that I made.

The glove draw was three fingers, two under. shooting 28", anchoring at the corner of my mouth.

The thumbring shooting with my style off the left handside of the bow. Pulling to under my chin, at 28".

I used the same arrow for all 22 shots, 11 shots each. It being of douglous fir weighting 620 gn, 11/32 parralell shaft. Balance point 13.5" from tip of point, point weighting 125 gn. Flecthings 3 at 120 deg. 3.5" long sheild cut 3/4" high, right helical.

Bow being a Saxon Hawk 65# @ 28", String is endless loop, made of dyneema 12 strand.

3 finger results:

High velocity - 179

Low velocity - 175

Avg. velocity - 177

Extrem spread - 4

Deviation - 1

Thumbring results:

High velocity - 182

Low velocity - 176

Avg. velocity - 178

Extrem spread - 6

Deviation - 1

yeah, i think just gives a more consitent release. i dont buy into all the hype horn bows get from some folks. they are neat but no better performing than modern bows.

tahnks for sharing.

chris.

It is a pleasure to see someone testing for himself. Do you think it is possible that after you are more practiced with the thumbring, the spread would decrease?

Rio

I do believe that with more practice, and a smooth snap of release, the extrem spread will decrease. and that the speed may increase 2 to 5 FPS. But I was actually pleased by the extrem spread of the thumbring, being that I am new to it. But this shows that I do have some consistancy.

Etzel

NO it doesn't make any noise, But I believe your right about it being to bulky I have been shaving it down some. The riser is not low mass but this bow was not intended for thumbring use. I am working on that, so for now that is all I have to work with. Although I have noticed a much better group on this bow with using the thumbring.

Yes you have helped "pushed" me into thumbrings. And I don't think I'm old. I'm 36, But to a 20 year old thats over the hill.

Matt

Chris: I had the horsebow at the lanes this weekend. It took some practice after most left before I was able to get back on target, but like riding a bycicle, once you learn you never forget, but you sure get wobbly.LOL I have to keep up the practice.It was fun to shoot off the wrong side again.

Pete

I find the nicest part of shooting with the thumbring is getting a few extra inches of draw.

Thx for sharing Busted.

Bustedarrow,

It's good that you measured both at the same draw length for comparative reasons. Still, the extra 3" or so you can get with a thumb ring will increase arrow speed. So, you might like to see how it chronos that way too.

T

I've only shot a horsebow and thumbring a couple of times and I thought the bow seemed especially fast. I liked the ring also. I was able to shoot groups easily and quickly with that bow and ring. I really enjoyed shooting that bow the couple of times I got to. I will probably someday buy a horsebow and ring but I doubt I'll ever have a horse but I bet shooting a bow accurateky from a horse is a real blast.

Etzel

I am vey pleased with my grouping, off that bow. My are very good to 20 yrds, I went out to 30 yrds and had trouble mostly my range, I tend to shoot high, but I am relearning that. Also I noticed tht I am working different muscles then in 3 finger, and get tired easier, I believe this is a factor at 30 yrds, by the time I work out to it, I,m worn out.

Bluelake

I did want to use the same draw lenght in the test, It would be unfare to have but a 29' arrow against a 31", But these leaves more...........Wait! their a flock of birds in the yard, I'm going to try and thumbring one.

I'm looking...I'm looking!!!

Etzel,

Busted is shooting off of the same side as a finger shooter. I think he would get better numbers if he was shooting off of the right side of the bow (which would be very tough, I know, because of the riser). There would be less interference with a proper thumbring release (and of course a bow that is made for this style). Thanks for sharing Busted!!!

Bill

He would probably end up better than me seeing as how my genes are more suited for swinging a large axe or sword...Ha! My son must have some Hunnic blood flowing through his veins!!!

Etzel, how hard would it be for me to learn to shoot a horsebow well enough to hunt? I am an excellent shot with a recurve and very good with a longbow. I shoot instinctively. But, I wonder if I could learn such a radically different way? I think your bows are spectacular. I could see a red and gold Sokol painted on one. "Sokol" is Polish for "falcon". I also see red fletching buried in a big, black bear with a smiling Rio.

"Bluelake says his boy is biult like him and has the same shooting style, well T is a good guy so I do not want to burst his bubble, but lets go back and compare that 100 year old Korean and look at his shooting hand, your sons shooting hand, Bluelake's son shooting hand and my shooting hand. What do we share in common? Is it perhaps an Asiatic gene or two."

Thanks, Chris--I only have so many bubbles to go around...

The pics you saw of my son shooting were taken more than a couple years ago and, like most kids, he grew since that time (he'll be twenty this year). He's a good couple inches taller than I am now and his hands are pretty much the same size as mine. Still, his shooting is right on the money.

Quite a number of top Korean archers I know have somewhat ham-fisted hands, but they still do quite well. Sometime, I'll see if I can get a pic of several of them. Korean physique has changed quite a bit in not only the past century, but even in the past ten to twenty years; they tend to be taller and, in many cases, a bit overweight (thank Western fast food for those things).

T

Matt (busted),

I did some similar chrono tests last summer. I was using my little 25# Red Bear fiberglass bow and basically got the same results. NO NOT 182 FPS! :) But I did get slightly faster speeds, by an average of about 2-4fps with the ring. Not alot but noticible. I can't remember the numbers, but they were in the 90-100fps range I think.

What I was looking for though was the differnce in speed between the ring and the tab. I'm sure Etzel is correct when he mentioned the corrolation between having more experience with the ring and increasing arrow speed at the same draw length.

Cool test! Thanks for posting!

Later,

CR

Etzel,

I was just posting about my worries concerning loosing a ring. Doen't matter if it was paid for or made by me, it is a MUCH bigger loss than a simple leather tab! I've got a system worked out so that if it is not on my thumb, it is either in my left pocket, my hip quiver pocket or my archery tack box in the house. The key is not to put it down somewhere not thinking! I keep looing in my mailbox every day! but no ring yet... :(

I feel your pain (shoulder) brother! My right bow arm shoulder is doing better, but I'm only 41. What will become of me when I've reached your ripe old age!?!?!?!? ;> Hopefully I will have attained some new wisdom and can find ways to cope with it.

Thanks again for that ring!

CR

MATT!!!

I JUST NOTICED YOUR CHRONO TRIPOD!!!

Throughtout the sixth grade, back in 1977, I saved my paper route money for 1 year to buy a telescope. Now the scope lenses are no good, but the tripod was still good, so 2 years ago, I put my CHRONOGRAPH on it. MINE LOOKS JUST LIKE YOURS! My lens tray is even dangling from one leg! HA! That's great!

CR

Etzel,

Alright, we'll just call your age 'ripe'. How's that? :)

I shoot with MUCH less shoulder pain righty and might switch back because of that.

That's fascinating about the horses scenting deer! I'd be interested to know the process, but alas, the land I hunt in Massachusetts is DENSELY forested and no deer would come within 300 yards of a horse crashing through the woods here! I only still hunt when everything is WET and silent, otherwise it's the ground blind or tree stand.

CR

"The arrow hit him just below his jaw and through his neck. He did not run too well after that. That kind of shot can never be done with fingers and a western bow."

This is a joke right?

cleenrelease

Thats some good observation, Not much gets by you does it. My son, busted he's telescope, and I was going to burn it one day , when I realized i needed it.

Etzle / Bluelake

I've been doing some thinking and a some reading, And I was wondering what really is the benifit of drawing say a 34" draw over a 28" draw. The bow being built for each draw of course. Other then the anchor point. I am wondering, after I believe Bluelake said, that I would get more speed with a longer draw. But a shorter arrow would be lighter, so shouldn't the shortest draw be the most efficient.

Bustedarrow,

With a longer draw, the arrow is in contact with the string longer. As for a shorter arrow, if you use a type of overdraw device, together with a longer draw, the effects are amazing; I once chronoed a 200gr. carbon (1/2 length) arrow shot from a 53# @31" Korean bow, using a bamboo overdraw, at 286fps. Using the same device and bow, I launched a similar arrow over 1,700 feet (from the bottom of a ski hill up over the crest); that one amazed me.

T

Matt,

What bluelake said. If you have two bows one that draws 50#s at 28" and one that draws 50# at 30" the lighter bow that is drawn to 30" will shoot faster. It may even shoot faster than the same style bow that is over 50# @ 28". You might already know this though...

This pic look familiar?

CR

Busted, With today's carbon arrows, you can get the best of both worlds...long draw and light arrow. I understand that a longer arrow will be heavier, but I think the longer draw will make up for the extra weight and then some. You should get much more speed with the longer draw.

I will say that when practicing shooting at moving targets, I only draw to approx the corner of my mouth. So for me it depends on the shot.

Thomas,

Do you have a picture of the bamboo overdraw device? If so, would you mind posting? Thanks

Bill

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