• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Beside myself right now

Jay_Disarray

Jay_Disarray

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2019
Messages
1,950
Location
MN
So i was showing my bow to my step-son last night, showing off my ezv sight and all the stuff i've done to upgrade it, like getting it restrung and a new whisker biscuit. He pulled it back and was looking down the sight, checking it out, and he dry fired it. The peep sight came off and went went flying like a rocket, I heard it bounce off the kitchen cupboards and down the hallway to god knows where. He has been around bows for a while and knows you should never dry fire a bow, and he said it was an accident, which I do believe.

There doesn't appear to be any damage, i've checked the both the limbs and string for any visible cracks or damage, but didn't see anything obvious. The problem is with all this craziness going on right now, I cant bring it to a pro shop to get checked out, they are all closed, and wouldn't be able to afford to right now anyways because i've been out of work.

I'm just so frustrated right now because archery is pretty much the one thing I have been doing to keep myself occupied during the quarantine period, and now its no longer an option until i can get it checked at a pro shop.
 
Run a qtip over all of the limbs. It will catch on any tiny little fractures.

I had a jackwagon dry fire my bow in a parking lot this year on an out-of-town hunt. We had scouted for 2 days and had are packs on ready to go in. I was not happy.

Also, there might be some members not too far from you with a press that would be willing to help out.
 
You aren't the first nor will you be the last for this to happen to. I was shooting once in the backyard about 10 years ago. Shot an arrow, made an adjustment to my sight, drew back, settled and bam. I never nocked another arrow. I bent both cams and pretty well trashed the string. I haven't drawn back a bow without an arrow in it sence that happened. Don't beat yourself up over it. Run a cotton ball over the limbs and inspect the cams and modules for any deflections/bends.
 
iamcorey said:
my knowledge is limited on this subject, but is it possible to dry fire without doing damage?
Click to expand...

Mine was fine. Just needed to remove a few pieces and then put in a press to get the string back where it needed to be.
 
iamcorey said:
my knowledge is limited on this subject, but is it possible to dry fire without doing damage?
Click to expand...
Yes it is possible to do it without damage. I've seen a Hoyt (2004ish model) dry fired and the only thing that happened was it threw the cable slide.
 
Yes it's possible, depends on lots of factors. Saw a guy dry fire an older cabelas once and it was fine. Had a d loop come apart on my old hemorrhage at full draw and it bent both cams, cracked a limb and destroyed the string.
 
Mengle said:
Run a qtip over all of the limbs. It will catch on any tiny little fractures.
Click to expand...
i did do that as well as use a magnifying glass to get a closer look, but i dont trust myself enough to fire it yet, and with all the shops closed im just gonna have to wait and find something else to keep myself occupied during this social isolation

its just a huge bummer, because archery has been my escape to keep my mental sanity right now
 
Last edited:
I hate to admit I've been there done that. Lesson learned the hard way for me, and I made a promise to myself to NEVER draw my bow again without nocking an arrow first. Even on my draw board I stick an arrow in there just in case. I'd much rather have the bow pointed in a safe direction and suffer a hole in the wall and/or destroy an arrow, than to suffer a dry fire. Luckily that bow only had minor damage to some plastic parts that flew off or broke (peep, cable slide). Limbs, riser, cams, and string/cables were ok.
 
Jay_Disarray said:
i did do that as well as use a magnifying glass to get a closer look, but i dont trust myself enough to fire it yet, and with all the shops closed im just gonna have to wait and find something else to keep myself occupied during this social isolation

its just a huge bummer, because archery has been my escape to keep my mental sanity right now
Click to expand...

I would assume the stings not being broken, will be ok. (someone correct me here if that's not the case) no cracked limbs, no bent cams...

Jay can you reset the strings if you had access to a press? I may have a solution, or 2, for you.
 
Sorry, That's an expensive lesson but handing someone my bow is almost as bad as handing them a handgun, You just don't know what some folks will do with it.
 
iamcorey said:
my knowledge is limited on this subject, but is it possible to dry fire without doing damage?
Click to expand...

Yes. A very common dryfire mishap is a simply the string derailing off the cams, which is generally not damaging to the bow, hardware, or strings, but you will need a press most likely to put the strings back on the tracks of the cams.

In severe cases there can be damage to the cams and limbs. Cams and cam hardware can get bent, and limbs can fracture completely or develop microfractures which are very dangerous.

I would inspect the strings for any nicks, cuts, or severe fraying. Visually inspect the cams to make sure they didn't bend or warp. Visually inspect the limbs for fracturing/splintering. Then run a q-tip over the limbs on both sides on top and bottom. The cotton from a q-tip will catch and leave little strings on any splinters in the limbs.
 
Pooh said:
I would assume the stings not being broken, will be ok. (someone correct me here if that's not the case) no cracked limbs, no bent cams...

Jay can you reset the strings if you had access to a press? I may have a solution, or 2, for you.
Click to expand...
the string is still tight, and i can pull it back, i just haven't fired it.

I figured if there was an issue it wouldn't be when i pulled it back, but from the shock of releasing an arrow. I cant see any visible damage, but I don't trust myself to say that definitively there is no damage because i'm not experienced enough to know what exactly to look for. feel free to message me your possible solutions
 
The most important thing is nobody got hurt.
I know it sux but a bow can be fixed or replaced when things get better and shops open back up.
If you aren’t confident the bow isn’t 100% fine I would just put it in a bow case and not mess with it until you can get to a shop that has the tools and skills to check it over.
Many things can go wrong with a dry fired bow that you can not visually see and don’t show up until it’s to late.
The bow may be perfectly fine but
this is not a good time to find out it was heavily damaged and it comes apart and sends you to the Hospital .

Good luck and I hope you get it fixed and back to shooting and having fun ASAP

Be safe!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Damn, got lucky there. I was reading the other day about some jackass dry firing a bow in a bow shop. One of the brass speed nocks flew off, ricocheted off something and flew back and hit him in the eye causing him to lose sight in it.

Edit: grammar
 
Last edited:
i was playing around with my brand new sr6 a few months ago and derailed it holding it out away from me to look at the nock point. whole thing went kaboom!!!! at first i thought just the string popped but the cams were bent all kinds of wacky after i looked closer. felt like a true dumbass walking back into the proshop a few weeks after i bought it. bowtech sent me a new one even after i admitted it was my fault. good on them. got my new one just in time to shoot a doe on the last day of the season
 
PEEJAY said:
i was playing around with my brand new sr6 a few months ago and derailed it holding it out away from me to look at the nock point. whole thing went kaboom!!!! at first i thought just the string popped but the cams were bent all kinds of wacky after i looked closer. felt like a true dumbass walking back into the proshop a few weeks after i bought it. bowtech sent me a new one even after i admitted it was my fault. good on them. got my new one just in time to shoot a doe on the last day of the season
Click to expand...

Damn that’s some customer service now. Makes me want to by another Bowtech just to help support the company when they offer CS like that.
 
the shop i bought it from said that is the norm with bowtech in their experience. i thought i for sure was buying another bow.
 
Bows are weird. One dry fire can end a bow but then you have bows like my cousins that won't seem to quit. His friend dry fired it once, it fell almost from hunting height once from a pull up rope ordeal, and has been beat to crap and it's still fine. The first thing I'd do is run a cotton ball over the he limbs. Others may have suggested that already. That will reveal any cracks in the limbs that you can't see. I don't know where your located but if you happen to be close to Fort Bragg by any chance I will fix your bow for you and check it out. All free of course. It wouldn't take me long. Whatever you choose to do I hope it works out. Don't let anyone touch your bow!!!!
 
Murph4028 said:
I don't know where your located but if you happen to be close to Fort Bragg by any chance I will fix your bow for you and check it out. All free of course. It wouldn't take me long. Whatever you choose to do I hope it works out. Don't let anyone touch your bow!!!!
Click to expand...

that is a very generous offer, thank you. I live in Minnesota, so that is quite a ways away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top