How quiet can I expect an ILF bow to be? I have been shooting longbows mostly for years and I think I got used to them being almost silent with a heavy arrow. I recently got a Samick 17 in. machined aluminum riser with long carbon and wood limbs. I moved the brace height around from 7 3/4 to 8 1/2 and it's not really loud but noticeable. I padded the string groove and put a little Velcro in the limb pocket. Is it just the nature of ILF to hum on release or should I try limbsavers? Thanks

Check your tiller

It was 1/4 in positive shooting split finger.

Norm -

Odds are it's not tiller.

Besides brace height, you might want to give full specs and what formal tuning you've done.

BTW - is is a hum or a buzz? Never heard a "hum" from a bow, any bow, but a buzz usually means something is loose.

Viper out.

Are your limb bolts backed out? For a test, tighten them down and see what happens.

Apples and oranges my friend. Your always going to get more noise out of the recurve than the longbow

It's a new bow from Samick called a Discovery. 17 in. aluminum riser, 45@28 long limbs carbon and wood. I am using NAP center rest and I draw 29.5 in. Arrow flight is good with 400 Axis Full Metal Jacket and 125 gr. point and 2 in. Vanes cut 31 3/4 bop.Bare shafts group with fletched. The bow didn't come with a manual. The only tuning I did was brace height. May be hum was the wrong word. I will try the limb bolts. Thanks

Oldbowyer hit the nail on the head. Everytime i shoot my recurve limbs i shake my head and go back to my longbow limbs. Guess im just a ilf longbow guy these days. My recurve was quite, but my longbow limbs are silent.

So is the hum you are describing audible after the shot, or is it something that you hear during the shot?

After the shot. I don't feel the vibration but that's probably the cause.

I will take some work.

I screwed the limb bolts in 3 turns and that seemed to help. The draw weight went up 4 lb. so I'll have to tune the arrows again. I suppose if I want to shoot a recurve I'll have to get used to some noise. Thanks to all.

If your a hunter you might want to look at Lancaster wood/glass limbs. I've been finding that if there is carbon in the limbs there is that hum you described, its a unique sound to my ears that comes from a carbon limb. I put limbsavers on all my ILF limbs and they do help. I also end up on the high end of the brace height. I dont think its one thing that makes em quiet but a combination of things. Even silencer placement can effect things. I shot with a buddy a couple weeks ago who shot a Titan III with wood/glass limbs and couldnt get over how quiet it was.

You do not want to tighten those limbs all the way down you will damage them they must be turn out a least 2-3 turns depending on the threads. Call John at Lancaster archery this guy knows his stuff

I've had good luck with limb savers, farther out from the fades the better. Good hardware helps too!!! Dryad makes a machined brass piece that screws onto the limb bolt, can't remember what that piece is called, but it's tolerances are a lot tighter, so it doesn't vibrate on the shot like a lot of the cheaper ones do! But don't expect it to be as quiet as your longbows. I played with the ilf for a while and still own a couple, but basically just use them for loaner and lesson bows. I think they really shine if you're going to string walk etc, but if you're just going to shoot them split and standard tiller, why bother!

Nearly everyone who replaces the stock Sage string with a good "FF" notes a big difference in shooting characteristics.

Norm -

Even full length, I have a hard time believing that 400s tune from a 45# bow. If turning the limb bolts in helped, that supports my theory. And when I said something is loose, that meant anything that can be tightened has to be checked.

Viper out.

mechanical things that buzz are badly adjusted, likely to bust

Viper : At the previous settings the 400 shaft at 31.75 bare shaft was nock end left a little in flight but grouped with vane shafts (right hand shot). I have my Center Rest all the way in against the riser. If I hold the bow at arms length and sight down the string the shafts tip is just a hair to the outside. With the limb bolts turned in I'm now drawing 54.5 at 29.5. so I'll see what happens with the shaft. BTW fast flight string. Love your book!

Pretty hard to get a recurve, any recurve to be as quiet as a longbow.

BUT I'm betting this one is. If everything is normal on your bow, the noise is created by oscillations. These silencers make the osscillations much smaller. Costs about 3 to 5 FPS.

By the way I have a couple of ILF risers that say one turn out is the maxium to turn down. In other words, turn the bolts all the way down and then one turn out for maximum poundage.

Bowmania

Pretty hard to get a recurve, any recurve to be as quiet as a longbow.

BUT I'm betting this one is. If everything is normal on your bow, the noise is created by oscillations. These silencers make the osscillations much smaller. Costs about 3 to 5 FPS.

By the way I have a couple of ILF risers that say one turn out is the maxium to turn down. In other words, turn the bolts all the way down and then one turn out for maximum poundage.

Bowmania

Norm -

Thanks buddy.

OK, at 54#, with an arrow that long, your getting in a better neighborhood, spine wise.

Just for giggles, since sound is an issue, if you have a Dacron string, I'd give it a go. At 20 yards you won't notice much of change in flight with fletched arrows, but yes, bare shafts will act weak.

Viper out.

My Jennings Black Lightning warfed (ILF) riser with TradTech 2.0 wood/glass limbs, 44#, shooting a FF Plus string with one set of cat whiskers, shooting a 9.7 gpp arrow, is the quietest recurve I've ever owned or shot. I set the brace at just where the string lifts off the very ends of the string grooves of the limbs while strung. Amazingly quiet. And excellent speed/cast too.

Rattles and buzzes are usually caused by loose screws on metal ILF bows. I normally wrap plumbers tape on bolts or use the light thread sealant on small screws.

Some limbs perform and sound best at a certain preload or tiller. I have a set of limbs that buzzes when set at max preload, no buzz two turns out. For a competition bow the buzz doesn't matter but for hunting it can. Tuning ILF adds the variable of fine- tuning the limbs as well as the arrows. I tune the bow first, arrows second.

And arrow spine can be very individual, especially with different limbs. I shoot 31" .400 spine with 120 gr. tips and my rig is about 41-42# at 27". Another ILF setup I own, same draw weight shoots a 30" .600 spine with the same tips.

But, when tuned well an ILF bow should be quiet and well behaved. Probably won't be as quiet as a long bow (What recurve actually is?) but quiet enough for hunting.

You might want to try a different string. My ILFs are dead quiet.

I think my ILF recurve is quieter then my friends BW longbow side by side.

Everything tight (bow quiver, dovetail screws & springs) but most important heavy arrows and Mountain Muffler string.

You may have made those ilf bows as quiet by adding things to it ,but inherently selfbow then longbows then vintage recurves then ilf,s when it comes to quiet. IMHO

All good advise. It takes more care to get a metal riser,takedown,recurve acceptably quiet. It is probably impossible to get it as quiet as a tuned longbow.>>>---->Ken

I've had the same issue with most recurves compared to my Longbows. I've got two ILF set ups now and one is whisper quiet and the other had quite a hum. I had padded both limb pockets, both were carbon TT limbs, but my quiet one had a set of limb-savers on. I bought a second set and now I have two Whisper quiet ILF bows. They work really well on recurves , just a couple inches above the fade-outs.

Yes, you are right. I bought one used set up that way. Limb savers padded string loops mole skin at the end of the inner limbs and puffs on the string.It is a quiet bow, and fast ,and smooth.

Any body got a pic of a padded limb pocket?

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