The Rev

Is this a job the new man gets? ... I can see them down at the factory saying, "Okay bring Bubba in again, he'll do anything!"

Straightarrow

Maybe not, but it sure sounds like a good reason not to buy one.

Dnk

Exactly Straightarrow! If a bow is so well made that it "typically" would put up with a certain amount of dry firing then it only follows that it probably will be a better built and longer lasting bow that is less likely to "break" or need maintenance under normal circumstances without dry firing. One good example is the Excalibur crossbow. Many an Excalibur has been dry fired by accident with no repercussions, other than having to change the shooter pants. I am considering another bow but after seeing various posts about limb cracking and bows "blowing up" I think I will look for a bow that isn't on the cutting edge of performance but rather a bow with less attitude and constantly reliable.

cutthroat.trout

From an engineering materials standpoint, I would imagine any bow maker could put out a bow with a set of limbs that could be flawed in some way, that said, I don't know what dry firing would do for your reputation as a bow manufacturer, pro or con even if you published that you did it.

Straightarrow

Some of this has to be blamed on the buyer. People looking for fast bows, tend to also want to shoot a light arrow at higher speeds. This is very hard on a bow. Many limb problems would be avoided if the archer would shoot an arrow in the range of 7-8 grains per lb of draw weight.

This type of problem has been occuring for years, and you usually see it connected with the need for speed.

I had a cheap Martin a few years back. This bow was not made with the highest quality components. Yet, it survived about 100,000 draw cycles, one dryfire, and a string breaking at full draw. It is still going strong today (in the hands of a new archer). In my opinion, this is because it's 70 lb limbs were typically set at 60-63 lbs and it always shot an arrow in excess of 410 grains.

I see lots of guys shooting their 70 lb limbs at whatever the bow can be cranked down to, which in some cases can be near 80 lbs. They pop in their wimpy 375 grain arrow, draw the bow with the longest drawlength module they can put on it, and then wonder why it doesn't hold up for more than a year of moderate shooting.