Reinactment longbow Vs "Proper" longbow

[Ffish]

Aside from the price, what are the main differences between a reinactment bow and a proper longbow?

Could you use a reinactment bow for shooting on a regular basis, for target archery?

[Kae]

Normally, the cheaper longbows are roughly shaped and don't have horn nocks.
They won't be as well tillered, if at all, like a "real" longbow, so won't last long and won't have as long a shooting life. This isn't the same as the actual life of the bow, which may be much longer, but it won't shoot for toffee. Also, because they are self nocked (no horn) the bow ends are prone to splitting and damage from normal abuse (banging on ground or ceiling).

In the long run, and if your serious about longbow you'd be much better buying a properly made bow, and it would probably cost you less in the years to come. If you just want one for the odd clout, then the reenactment ones will be fine.

Kae.

[smog]

Somewhere in the grey matter, when I put it in, seems to remember that re-enactment bows must be limited to 30 lb or less. I may be wrong on this or out be a few pounds. The low poundage is so that the arrows can been seen by the watching public, and as the arrows are blunt they won't do too much damage.

smog

[gino]

You're correct, reenactment bows are no more than 30lbs (40 if shot at half draw on the field) They are low poundage because we shoot blunt arrows at armoured men on the field.

Some reenactment bows are horn-nocked but not all of them. You can use a reenactment bow for normal shooting but you'll be limited by your poundage. If you only want something 30lbs or less then it'll be fine, however you won't get low trajectories at long distances with a 30lb longbow!