Bickerstaffe bows - some questions

[NobleKnight]

Hi everybody! I am a traditional longbow shooter from Moscow, my friends and i are going to bye several Bickerstaffe bows so

Here are the questions for the Bickerstaffe clients:

What is the max reach of the 55# hickory\osage?
What is the best spine for poc shafts for this bow?
What is the tournament lifetime of such a bow?

Thanks...

This is the site of our Company (in russian)
www.archers.medieval.ru

And some fotos of the last fest and clout in May
http://tforum.zokov.net/cgi-bin/ikon...=ST;f=9;t=6686

[TimS]

I'm not sure it is possible to answer all of your questions ...

Distance will depend to a great extent on the arrows you use - I use a 55lb@28" Bickerstaffe Classic Bow and normally shoot (for clout) some Bickerstaff arrows with 2" fletchings, 11/32 shafts and 125 gm tips. I can get a comfortable 200 - 210 yds with these and not overdrawing the bow.

If I use some previous clout arrows with smallest fletchings (1 3/8") fletchings, 5/8 shafts and 100 gm tips I can add 20 yds to this - but I normally only use these if very windy (less affected by wind).

I am just about to get some footed/barrelled clout arrows (more because they look nice than I need the distance) and would hope to squeeze another 10 - 20 yds out of these - I will be interest to see.

Obviously technique and the actual bow have a considerable impact - but I would be confident that you will have no problem with 180 yd standard clout distances.

My standard spining calculation (but I am no expert) would be 40/45 for 28", 45/50 for 30" or 50/55 for 32" arrows.

For questions 2 and 3 have a word direct with Pip - he is always helpful (particularly if you are buying "several bows"). He also makes nice and reasonably priced arrows which he will match to your bow(s).

Based on our club's experience to date - you can expect many years of use from Pip's bows if propery cared for.

The main reason for posting though is to congratulate you on an excellent website - I was surprised to see this interest in Russia (I would not have thought of Russia as a tradional archery enthusiasts haven - I have taken the opportunity to add a link from our own site (www.cloutabout.com) to yours, as I am sure our members and visitirs will be interested).

[NobleKnight]

Thank You very much for posting a link - we will do the same to Your site - we like to shoot clouts more than other games too!

More info about us - in august we will have very nice living history festival in Ivangorod (15 cen castle on the Russian\Estonian bourder) - we eхpect about 150 people in historically correct 14-15 century european period clothing and linen tents and almost everything.

And during this we will have the very big longbow shoot - The Welsh Silver Arrow

Clout
Speed Clout (2 minutes)
Flight
Windsor

We will post fotos afterwards

We use local longbows, but not long ago we ordered 7 Bickerstaffe bows for our company, so we will use the same equipment very soon.

All the best

[gwynn]

hi there, we also tend to use bickerstaffe bows at our displays, good bows and should last years and years with the proper care.
rule of thumb is spine your arrows about 10 pound less than the draw weight.
impressed with your web site! this is ours http://homepage.ntlworld.com/purbrookbowmen/index.htm

[NobleKnight]

Thanks, very nice site...

[hooktonboy]

Hi Noble Knight,

Think your website loooks terrific and wish I could read it too. Is there a modern Welsh connection as well as the medieval one?

Steve

[Little Miss Purple]

welcome aboard noble knight

[NobleKnight]

Thank You for the Warm Welcome

There is only the romantic connection with Wales for now, but i've been there a few years ago, during my trip to England.

Fellows, what is the wright way to shoot imperial rounds - to shoot long distance or the short first?

[Kellog]

The long distance is always shot first Noble Knight. And normally with 1 end of sighter arrows. Tho the British Longbow Society does NOT have sighters.