Archery newbie

[jasnt]

I’ve decided to take up archery. So far it has been bitter sweet.   
Went to a local shop, great guys and helpful.  Gave them my budget and got a bow setup up for me.  Shot it about 25 times at the shop, go home and get setup for site in, shot one arrow then second attempt I get to 3/4 draw and boom, limbs fly off and arrow snaps in half.  Limbs land behind me string still attached to my release.  Shop is taking care of the bow but I’m not sure if I did something wrong or just got a lemon.  Not sure if I can trust the bow anymore and hoping it doesn’t affect my shooting after this incident.   I really don’t want this to leave a sour taste in my mouth. 
The shop is well known and I want to trust that the bow will be gtg but I’m reluctant. 

Any advice is appreciated

[Lucky1]

Maybe someone dry fired the bow before you bought it? 
I think I would probably have a hard time not flinching the next time I shot the bow if that happened to me.  Good luck.

[jasnt]

Maybe someone dry fired the bow before you bought it? 
I think I would probably have a hard time not flinching the next time I shot the bow if that happened to me.  Good luck.

was brand new out of the box.  Idk what to think

[vandeman17]

First, glad you are ok!

Second, I would say to try shooting again at a very close range as in, like a couple feet away where you don't have to aim. Draw, anchor, hold, and release. Keep doing that until everything is consistent and you are comfortable, then move out again to start sighting in.

Good luck

[Mfowl]

Glad you are OK!

Did the limbs break or come off the riser? If broken they should be warranty replaced and the bow restored to new condition. If they came off the riser it might be the limb bolts weren't fully seated or were backed off too far to lighten your draw weight? That could be a factory issue or a set up issue. Limbs coming off does not sound like you derailed it on the draw, if the cams came off that could be a derail. For shooting the bow again I would maybe turn the draw weight down if possible and build some confidence back that way. And as stated, close range, no difficult aiming, just get reps in. Glad to hear you are still wanting to give it a go!

[jason stevens]

Don't let this experience deture you from bow hunting. Something went wrong on set up. Archery is fun keep at it. An like others have said glad your ok.

[OltHunter]

Very surprised to hear this happened. Curious what all they did in those 25 shots. Did they turn out the limb bolts? Did the limbs actually break in half?

Did you take any pictures?

Glad you didn't get hurt, but I'm also very suspect that any new bow would do that after 25 shots without something manually done to the bow that was not correct and even negligent.

With anything bad that happened, just got to get reps and will go away. I've done a few accidental hit the thumb release when I was just learning and that was enough to shake me a bit, but I learned and muscle memory to not let it happen again.

Bows should never do what happened to you.

[jasnt]

Limbs didn’t break. Just came out the riser.  Bow was set at 40lbs at purchase and drop down rest mounted.  Maybe the bolts did shake loose but this bow should be able to go down to 7 lbs I read. 7-70lbs.   It’s a diamond edge 320.   Hopefully it’s back in my hands soon.  I’ll do as recommendations say and do a bunch of close reps before I finish site in.  Thanks everyone.   

[blackveltbowhunter]

The 7 to 70 pounds also factors DL, so dont use that as a guide. However 40 pounds should have no problems at all. If all is as described, it sounds like a factory error. Possibly missing a bushing, or the wrong length limb bolts. It can happen with any bow, but does occur more in budget models where QC tends to not be as tight. However once resolved  be confident moving forward. Enjoy the journey 

[buckfvr]

Sounds like whoever set you up wasnt qualified.....Id be about getting a refund and moving on to the next shop, and tooling up and taking care of myself.

[jasnt]

Sounds like whoever set you up wasnt qualified.....Id be about getting a refund and moving on to the next shop, and tooling up and taking care of myself.

I’ll definitely be tooling up and doing my own work soon!

[dilleytech]

Most likely you derailed the bow, or dry fired it. Sounds like you dry fired it. Based on the broken arrow. It can happen by accident easily if your not paying attention. Like you drew back and the arrow came off the string and then you shot. Or if it happened when drawing back you derailed it and from their all kinds of stuff can break. Where the limbs back way off to make the poundage low enough for you to be able to pull it back?

[dilleytech]

Limbs didn’t break. Just came out the riser.  Bow was set at 40lbs at purchase and drop down rest mounted.  Maybe the bolts did shake loose but this bow should be able to go down to 7 lbs I read. 7-70lbs.   It’s a diamond edge 320.   Hopefully it’s back in my hands soon.  I’ll do as recommendations say and do a bunch of close reps before I finish site in.  Thanks everyone.

It’s very important when you draw a bow back you do not twist or torque the bow. Your left hand should be limp and not squeezing the bow. If you twist the bow enough it will derail and broken limbs, bent cams, broken string is all common. It’s very rare for a bow to fail. It’s 99% of the time user error.

[jasnt]

Most likely you derailed the bow, or dry fired it. Sounds like you dry fired it. Based on the broken arrow. It can happen by accident easily if your not paying attention. Like you drew back and the arrow came off the string and then you shot. Or if it happened when drawing back you derailed it and from their all kinds of stuff can break. Where the limbs back way off to make the poundage low enough for you to be able to pull it back?

Yes it’s very light.   I bring bow up to target, relax grip and draw, find anchor, touch nose to string, then sight target.  This happened with grip fingers relaxed not touching the grip and 3/4 the way through the draw.   When limbs came off and landed behind me my release was still attached to the D loop.

[jrebel]

Not sure with that specific bow, but bowtech bows used to have very shallow valleys in the cams…..to shallow in my opinion…..and if you torqued while in the draw motion you could derail the string.  Saw it happen on a buddies bow twice, he was a new archer.   

Again, not sure that is the problem but would explain a bow completely blowing up, especially if you released at draw after a derail.   

Glad your ok.   Keep at it and, it is a super rewarding way to hunt. 

[KFhunter]

The edge 320 has the easy adjust limb pockets, if the limbs came out of the pockets hmm 

I'm not sure how they retain the limbs within the pockets because I don't think the bolt goes through the limb itself like a normal bow, it's just shoved into the pocket and clipped in somehow.  What has me wondering is you say both limbs came out at the same time, so if the string came off the cam during the draw the limbs would slap back past their resting position within the pockets, and due to the design, may have popped out simultaneously.   

[jasnt]

Yes both limbs came out of the pockets at the same time.   I’m just not sure how I could torque the bow with fingers open and bubble centered.  Draw weight is at 40 lbs. almost effortless.   There is a bolt that runs horizontally through the limb pocket.  Supposed to lock limbs in place.  I’m wondering if those were not tightened down
At the shop they guy just slipped the limbs back in the pockets like nothing.  No resistance at all

[jasnt]

I believe I’ve figured out the issue.  Been reading the manual and watching videos.  For my draw length the cables need to be in position a.  For that position the min draw weight should not go below 45lbs.  My bow was set at 40 lbs. in the review video I watched when the bow was lowered below 45lbs in position A the string was very easy to derail. Guy was actually able to remove string by hand and was able to put it back on by hand. 

[dilleytech]

I believe I’ve figured out the issue.  Been reading the manual and watching videos.  For my draw length the cables need to be in position a.  For that position the min draw weight should not go below 45lbs.  My bow was set at 40 lbs. in the review video I watched when the bow was lowered below 45lbs in position A the string was very easy to derail. Guy was actually able to remove string by hand and was able to put it back on by hand.

Interesting. Keep in mind what your fingers are doing has nothing to do with the torque you are putting into the bow. Yes a relaxed grip is good but I could derail a bow with a loose grip if I twisted my wrist enough. Specially at really lite poundage.