THe Horse Bow

[Cyrille]

Once again I decided to pick up my Kassai horse bow that I purchased a few years ago. I had shot it off and on in sporadic spurts but since it has no shelf I usually ignored it and usually went back to shooting the long bow.
 Well lo & behold! for some reason unbeknownst to me I found that this bow is one of the most accurate bows that I have had the pleasure to own and shoot @ twenty yards.
 I shoot 3 under using 2016 Easton Platinum aluminum arrows with 125 field points and up until now I always thought I'd have to aim off to either the right or left of the spot I wanted to hit because I actually didn't believe that I would ever find an arrow that I could aim dead on with. Of course with distance I realize that one has to aim either high for longer shots and lower for closer shots. Thanks for reading!

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Shelves are for books, not bows

[loon]

Interesting. Maybe if it's a longer static recurve, and since maybe it happened to be well tuned to your arrows, it was more accurate?

Cool that it works for you.

I find the Toth and Kassai bows rather expensive for just having solid glass limbs covered in leather. But I shot one and it shot pretty good...
I have one of Dave Mead's bows. Still primitive, wide handled, far from centershot, yet pretty fast and quiet. The handle seems wider than the usual in 'horsebows'.. I've had trouble doing what you've got with mine (can you intersect the arrow with the string blur and it goes dead on straight?), but I think if spine tuned and with a good release it should work.

I don't think I'll be as accurate with my Korean bows (short! and long draw..) shooting Korean style with the same ease as shooting a nice longbow or recurve in western style...

[Cyrille]

Shelves are for books, not bows

Using the horse bow and finding how accurate it is I have a tendency to agree. However I recently ordered a long bow (been a week seems much longer) with no shelf when it arrives I'll test it out for a while and see how accurate it turns out to be.http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/Smileys/default/undecided.gif

[PNewton]

Cyrille, what model of the Kassai horse bows do you have? I've recently been doing some research on them and some feedback would be great. Thanks.

[Cyrille]

 I have two "Ravens" one 50#@30" and the other 58#@30" The blurb says it takes a 50.3 string but I am using a 50" string and have found that it has made the bow a wee bit more accurate. @ my DL of 28" I am shooting around 50 or 52#s with the 58#@ 30 bow and about 42#s @ my draw length with the 50#s @ 30" bow I find that I am a tad more accurate with the 58#bow than with the 50# bow. I shoot three fingers under @! 20 or 25 yds.

"The Raven*
In 2002 Kassai designed the Raven as a general purpose bow. It is a refinement of the general purpose bow that started his business, the Magyar Sport. The Magyar Sport has been Kassai’s and my best selling bow for several years, but the Raven’s performance is such an improvement that I no longer stock the Magyar Sport. The Raven’s syhas are longer and the belly shorter and broader. The tips of the bow come to a rugged point. Unstrung 57.5 inches long, strung 54 inches tall. It takes a 50.3 inch string (same as the Magyar Sport). The syhas are 14 inches long, the belly 34 inches long and 1.9 inches wide. Available from 25# to 60#."

*Quote from the "Horse Bow" site

[PNewton]

Thanks for the information Cyrille. The Raven is the one I have been thinking about.

[Cyrille]

It truly and pleasantly surprised me at how accurate the "Raven" is with my set-up. Here's hoping you find that if you purchase one it is as pleasant to shoot and as accurate as mine. Good luck and may Artemis smile upon you.

[loon]

The siyahs look a bit overbuilt, though... might help to replace the stitched leather wrap with something else too.

A refurbishing of one of those may make an interesting thread.

[Cyrille]

 
 @loon
Well why not take your Mead bow and do a refurbishing job? Then let us know how it turns out.

[loon]

lol sorry... yeah, what matters is that it shoots good for you...

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

I have to agree with the price point being a bit high for an all FG bow, but they are very well finished. For anyone looking for a cheaper option Alibow has an all fiberglass turkish bow for around $70 and it's been chrono'd and it's just as fast as the laminated bows and as fast as a Grozier bow. I find the laminates from Af Archery and Alibow to be more attractive than any of the all FG limbed bows though.

[Pat B]

Have you checked with James Parker? He has Huntworthy Productions, a sponsor for PA. (www.huntworthyproductions.com) James makes most varieties of Asiatic horn bows the way they were originally built but also a partial FG one and one with tempered bamboo belly instead of horn.
James is the Moderator for the Horn Bow thread here on PA.

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

Any idea when the website will have more than "Coming Soon"? I'd love to check out more of his stuff.

[Pat B]

Contact James.