Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: jameswoodmot on August 23, 2025, 08:37:49 am
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I went to the Pitt Rivers museum and saw the pellet bows there, didn’t take long! I didn’t get any photos of them but there is a post on here with some good photos that’ll I’ll link later.
I converted this 18lb elm bow by making a string from brick layers line. Partially because I didn’t want to waste fast flight on it and also because I thought the stretch in the poly line would be more forgiving on the bow. The heaviest pellet is going to be a lot lighter than an arrow so it’s somewhat like a dry fire.
There are quite a few videos of people shooting them, particularly in east asia but I can find very little on making them.
I’ve been shooting a catapult/ slingshot a fair bit recently, and it seem unrealistic to expect a pellet bow to match the efficiency of a modern slingshot but i can’t help but want to make one as well as I can. Hunting with one in the U.K. is a bit of a grey area, you can’t hunt with a bow and arrow but you can with a slingshot, I doubt I will ever hunt with one but it’s a nice challenge to try and make a pellet bow capable of birds and small game.
Here is what I have so far-
The bow is basically being dry fired, so the shorter the limbs the better, less weight out at the tips. Light tips are a given I think.
A full length draw seems necessary for speed and accuracy.
A high brace height is good for clearance, I’m also getting a good bit of wrist slap with this one so higher brace would be good for that too.
A sight window on the off side of the handle would be good to help avoid the accidental shooting of the bow. It may also also for less khatra and therefore more repeatable shot.
The pouch is above the hand, higher than an arrow would be knocked so an asymmetric design may be beneficial.
I think the draw weight limiting factor will be the shock through the bow and string more than the gripping of the projectile. There is a limit to the projectile size as you need to grip it so
It won’t be very easy to increase projectile with along side draw weight.
I think some give in the string will be good for longevity, but maybe just b55 and not fast flight, I don’t think poly string is necessary.
What I have come to is a 55-58” bow, deflexed to allow for draw length, recurved tips (cos it looks cool) mostly working in the inner thirds with long narrow light tips.
Would love to know what you all think?
Here’s it is being shot https://youtube.com/shorts/o1HjrEejIm0?si=Zuf9tStdwpozN4FS
I’m writing this on my phone but I’ll link some videos and stuff later.
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Cool. I guess the bridge on the upper string is to separate the string for the pouch that holds the stone? Have you shot your hand yet? ;D
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Yeah some have two, some have one, otherwise the two string basically shut the pouch closed around the pellet!
Just grazed the top of my them when experimenting with pouch position, I found the limit 😂