I built the bows at 35# @26" the boy is 13 years old 5'2" and his grandmother says he is "pretty strong" My guess is he will draw the bow about 23". Do you guys think this should be about the right weight?.

When I was that age I was shooting a 35@28 Shakespeare recurve. And I was a skinny kid.

MP

It should make a good starter bow for him and he will grow into its full potential before you know it. bvd

It should make a good starter bow for him and he will grow into its full potential before you know it. bvd

Both bows will safely draw to 28 but I made his arrows 26". His granny would kick my butt if the bow broke and put a knot on his head.

13 is a "growth spurt" age for boys. I would be more concerned that he will blow by that bow too quickly than I would if it`s right for him now. I would error on the side of being too much and give him room to grow.

I have over a hundred bows in storage when he grows so not too worried about that. I just want to make sure he can handle this one.

Never hurts to have arrows a little long to start. Kids grow quickly and gain strength as well. I would just play it by ear for awhile..starting lighter weight and letting them get used to shooting.

The chances of a 5' 2" person pulling over 23-24" is incredibly slim, unless they yank it back to their ear or have uncommonly loooong arms.

35# was too much for my kid at that point. I would not say my kid is strong for his age, skinny and thin. For an athletic or strong kid might might work......I ended up with a bow that was 28 @ 29 and he handled that fine.

I always sat,when starting new shooters,its better to err on the side of too light,than too heavy...

I agree Traxx, I f he can get it to full draw without too much difficulty he should be able to build up enough strength pretty quickly to do it easily but I do want him to be able to get it to full draw right from the start.

Never cut arrows short.

Depends on how strong his muscle group is for pulling bows.I have built bows for boy scouts, and cub scouts, and they all differ to the point that some will surprise you either way.Point is the way you build bows let him try it out. If it to strong for him whip him out one that is less weight that he can handle easily.Make his experience a pleasant one at first. That will keep him in the game.JMHO

23 inch draw? He's a teenage boy, he'll be drawing that bow just as far as he can. Count on it.

My 12 YO is 5"4" and draws 24". 50# @ 28" bows fit him great at the moment (maybe 36# - 38#). He's set with the same bow forever if he wants.

Guys it so much depends on the kid. Using a poundage we used as kids is much different than the kids use today. I teach lots of kids and it’s amazing how weak they are nowadays.

I think your probably about right Badger. I'm 5'5" and I draw just under 25". I'm guessing your right estimating his draw at around 23 if he has a normal anchor. Do you know if he shoots bow at all? Hopefully someone can give him a few quick lessons at least on how to string and draw his bow. Like said if he does feel like it's light he will probably overdraw it but it sounds like you have it built to handle a good amount of that. If he grows into a 28" draw it'd probably be around 41lbs? Should still be a fun bow. Does his grandmother shoot?

Bjrogg

It looks like I will be giving it to him in person instead of a 3rd party so I will be able to walk him through everything.

I hope is fingers are not too soft, I didn't have an extra tab to give him. I will bring some leather along maybe I can improvise

That was another thing I was going to say. Everyone has soft fingers nowadays. Funny how they don't want to use that tab, but the string is cutting into their fingers. Lots of things we take for granted that they don't have any idea about. I gave one of my uncles that's only two years older than me a Osage bow. He's hunted with wheelie bows forever. I've showed him how to string his bow several times. He came over a couple days ago and I watched him. He found his bow on the rack. He picked it up and held it backwards. It's not completely finished yet so the handle looks like you could hold it either way. You might get away with that with FG but not a stick. Ones I give to friends I know will shoot em, I like leaving them at my shop and having them come over and get comfortable with them. I know sometimes selfbows get a bad reputation and they can be poorly tillered or even just give up. But there's a bunch of ways to break them if you do something you shouldn't be doing.

Bjrogg

My 13yo grandson draws 26", when he doesn't short draw his bow. He is 5'4".

that's about 40- 43 at 28" watch him draw it, that will tell the tale. if he struggles even a little ?? if he is into it will most likely build into it ok.

Duct tape works fine for a temporary finger protection.

No way a kid 5'-2" is gonna draw 26" or 27". He'll probably draw about 30# on the bow you built so he'll be fine.

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