Distance Shooting with an English Warbow - Video 6

A short "how-to" guide to drawing and shooting the English Warbow.

Music is "Electronical Firefly", written and performed by Stefan Hansson of Sweden. It is a piece of shareware that he kindly let me use from his Soundclick.com website.

Bows are around 90 - 100lbs draw weight and made by Pip Bickerstaffe.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• longbow
• warbow
• longbows
• warbows
• bows
• archery
• arrows
• holyrood

[hackamore]

It's disappointing that these bows will only shoot about 250 yards. Is it because they're optimized for shooting heavy, armor piercing arrows? Didn't some of the Turkish bows shoot 800 yards?

[bigbowbrum]

@hackamore Good question. 272 yards is the current modern record with a 63.5g "livery" arrow with large 7 3/8" fletchings. 350 - 400 yards can be obtained with a lighter "flight" arrow but yes you are correct, the bow's purpose was simply to deliver heavy "war" arrows (around 60g each) designed to kill men wearing some form of armour. Turkish bows and other composite bows have lighter limbs and their construction gives them a faster cast and much further range with a light arrow.

[thomasnbishop]

they used to use the french as targets for this

[bigbowbrum]

@thomasnbishop Ha, ha. Yes the French were often on the receiving end of this bow, but then so were the Scots, the Italians (Genoese), the Spanish (Castilians), the Bretons and the Burgundians and at times even the Welsh and the English (Wars of the Roses). It took a very brave man to walk towards archers shooting these bows and I have the greatest respect for them all, regardless of their nationality. Best wishes.

[spaceaholic11]

How far did those arrows go?

[bigbowbrum]

@spaceaholic11 Only about 180 - 200 yards max. The bows we were shooting back then were quite underpowered in those days.

[bigbowbrum]

@wigster600 Perhaps they could also teach you a little respect for you betters while you are there, you insolent little pup!

[bigbowbrum]

@lobzdik The term "warbow" simply refers to a shape of bow. It's a modern term used to describe the old military-style longbow which has many differences from the modern Victorian-style target longbows. Warbows bend through the handle (full compass), have a certain width to depth ratio and a gradual and even taper. While we believe the average draw weight may well have been 120 - 140lbs, draw weight is not the only defining characteristic. Good question though.

[paulalford100]

@bigbowbrum Turkish arrows were also barrel shaped and a lot shorter and lighter than English longbow arrows at around 25.5" and 190gn respectively. At their thickest diameter they we 5/16th and at their thinnest 1/8th. The balance point was also set for achieving distance rather than accuracy at around 47% of the arrow length. Longbow arrows have a balance point somewhere between 58-62% of the arrow length. As you rightly say, they could make 1/2 a mile...

[spaceaholic11]

@bigbowbrum Ah, I see. Thank you! :)

[bigbowbrum]

@crashpilot2 It depends what you call authentic. There are 2 styles of longbow in use today - the laminated Victorian-style and the medieval-style full compass self bows, also known as warbows. Neither is maintenance heavy. All they need is a good wax twice a year with something like beeswax, linseed oil etc. To ensure you buy a good one your best bet is to go to a reputable bowyer. That's the easiest way. I will send you a list.

[shinbhei]

you'll hit a plane if you continue that. lol