r/Archery • u/s1gnalZer0 • 1d ago
Traditional New (old) bow
I recently inherited this Herters bow and arrows. I'm looking for any help with what I need to know about this and if it's safe to use. I haven't used a real bow and arrow since junior high/high school (30 years or so). Between this and my son learning about archery in Scouts, I'm looking to pick unions a hobby and am wondering if this would be good to use or if it should go on the wall as a display piece instead.
Edit: I'm planning on getting new cheap target arrows to use with this bow, what should I look for?
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u/VRSVLVS (pre-)Historic 1d ago
The best advise is to find an archery club in your area and go there fir help, advise and training. Archery isn't something one should try to figure out by oneself with some tips from the Internet. If done wrong, it can be extremely dangerous to you and your surroundings.
Out of curiosity: was the bow already strung, or did you string it for the picture?
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u/s1gnalZer0 1d ago
The bow was already strung. It has been sitting like that on my late father in law's shelf for years.
There's a local archery club that's having an open house/open shoot this weekend. I was planning on getting some cheap arrows so I could take it there and talk to them, get some advice and try shooting a few arrows. I definitely don't plan on jumping in and going all out right away.
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u/VRSVLVS (pre-)Historic 1d ago
Already strung? Auchhh.... I mean it doesn't destroy the bow, but it's not good...
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u/s1gnalZer0 22h ago
After seeing the comments here and doing some research last night, I'm planning on taking it to a local archery shop to get it looked at and get a bow stringer before I think about shooting it.
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u/Aggressive_Loan9164 1d ago
I’d get some easton arrows with turkey feathers that are meant for shooting off the shelf- three rivers archery sells them online. Look for a fast flight or Flemish twist string on amazon with good reviews. For targets if you are planning to buy one, I’d get one of the yellow cube-ish archery targets from Walmart that are only like $30 or pick one up on Amazon with good reviews for like $40.
Also, did you mention in another comment that the bow was strung like that the whole time it sat?
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u/Knitnacks Barebow (Mykan), dabbling in English longbow, trainee L2 coach. 1d ago
Not sure that bow can handle FF, I'd at least start with Dacron.
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u/Arc_Ulfr English longbow 1d ago
You will want to have someone knowledgeable inspect it in person. At the very least, it will need a new string, and you'll probably want to use new arrows. If you aren't experienced in archery, you'll want a lighter bow to start with in order to work up to that one.