OK, my BOW BLEW UP- well, technically it delamintated at full draw.

[Sliverslinger]

Well, Friday night I was shooting my beloved Bowtech Destroyer 340 which I've had for a year and have about 4,000 shots through. I absolutely love this bow and have babied it like crazy- except for when I've been out hunting with it. I've bragged before about how I've put it through hell at elk camp in the snow last year and it still performed like a champ. Of course I completely took it apart last December and cleaned every bit with a q-tip afterwards just to be sure. Reassembled (correctly if anyone is going to bring that up), tuned, and shot all spring and so far this summer. A couple weeks ago I decided to try new arrow that are a bit heavier (500 gns vs 425) and had it tuned and shooting absolutely perfect. Anyway, I had shot about 12 arrows friday at 20,30,40 and 50 yards to confirm zero getting ready for the 3d shoot at Lucky Shot this last two days. I stepped back to 60 and let one arrow fly. Dead center. Drew back the second arrow and I heard the very slightest popping noise no louder than a Rice Krispie. It was enough to notice but I had no idea where it came from or what it was. I though maybe a pine cone had fallen or something. After settling in I floated the pin and gently tightened my back. Dead center about two inches lower than the first shot. On the third shot I drew back slowly, started to settle in and I heard the same miniscule sound. I vivdly recall thinking, "Now what the hell is that, it can't be my bow. I must have shifted my weight on a stick or something (standing under a fir tree). Just to be safe I'll take a look after this shot." I found my anchor, checked my breathing, and started floating the pin.  WHAM!!! I also vividly recall what my thoughts were right then but some things are best left unsaid. You wouldn't believe how loud that was. I can't wait to see the look on my wife's face when she does the laundry I was wearing right then (j/k) . Well, fortunately I was wearing a hat pulled low shielding my eyes from the top limb. I'm also very lucky the limb stayed attached to the bow. In fact, my arrow stayed nocked and there was still some tension on the draw. The drawcord for my rest ripped out of the cable though. I slowly lifted my head and saw the top limb and realized that I was not in a good situation. I ended up just burying my head in my chest as much as I could and trying to let down as slowly as I could, all the while praying the limb stayed attached. I finally got it down and just set it on the ground and let out a crazy sigh followed by some sort of verbage regarding a maternal parent, the actions of a woman of ill repute, a rooster, the action performed by a vacuum, a person of low intellect, and the male offspring off my dog Kimber. I don't recall what it was I was actually saying After that I walked in the house and my wife thought the dog had just got hit by the car and we were going to the doggy ER. I told her 2 minutes, be in the car, we gotta go. I drove over to Lucky Shot like we were driving to a hospital and it was 8:45 pm when I got there. Now, I've known Ted for a long time and he's always been absolutely top notch when it comes to every aspect of custome service and this time was no exception. Knowing I wanted to shoot in the tourney the following morning he kept offering to let me use his personal bow or a new bow just so I could go. I opted to help out a bit with the shoot and just wait for my bow to be fixed. Now Lucky Shot is closed on Mondays, but I got a call from Ted first thing this morning letting me know that he had come in and called Bowtech and my new limbs would be here tomorrow or Wednesday. I was tickled by that as I thought it was going to take quite a while. I've decided to look at the bright side; if it had to happen I wouldn't have chosen the night before a shoot, but it's a lot better than in September or while drawing on an animal. Bowtech said that likely at some point in the manufacture process a small air bubble got in the laminated limbs and caused a weak spot. Apparently this has happened on very rare occasions before and they have changed the manufacture process on the new limbs they are sending me to resolve the issue. We'll see I guess. I just hope they send me some new underwear to compensate for the damage caused by the defective limb snapping at full draw.

[NWBREW]

Well that sucks but I guess your luck it happened when it did. Good luck at  the shoot.

[jackmaster]

no kidn that had to suck, better now than when you were drawing down on a big ole buck or bull

[D-Rock425]

Bowwreck strikes again.

[Jerbear]

Now you know why the Indians just used plain wood bows.
Glad it worked out for you.

[D-Rock425]

Its a good thing bowtech has one of the best warrantys in the business .  Oh yeah its probably the most used too.
I hope everything works out for you and you're up and shooting again before hunting season.

[Sliverslinger]

Its a good thing bowtech has one of the best warrantys in the business .  Oh yeah its probably the most used too.
I hope everything works out for you and you're up and shooting again before hunting season.

I'm very impressed with how they are handling it. Told me it is a lifetime guarantee on anything that goes wrong with the bow as long as I own it. Next day shipping of the new limbs. Should be back to shooting within 3-4 days of reporting it to them.

[Button Nubbs]

  yeah uh i dont think the arrow should be sitting like that when the bow is at rest!

[BallisticsNut]

Just out of curiousity, how was this bow stored in the off season?  Seems to me that this type of delamination is caused by heat and dry conditions.  Just want to make sure that I dont duplicate the same conditions with my Bowtech Sniper.   

[sebek556]

just a good thing it didnt go boom, had a friend with a old bow that went boom knocked him out and really messed up his next week..

[buckhorn2]

I had a new matthews drenaline blow up but it was because I set my bow down because the peep was;nt lined up and decided to shot just with the pins and forgot to put the arrow back on. Dryfire and parts all over it was the first shot with the bow went back over to lucky shot and they replaced everything it was all my fault but they stood by the warrenty.

[Sliverslinger]

Just out of curiousity, how was this bow stored in the off season?  Seems to me that this type of delamination is caused by heat and dry conditions.  Just want to make sure that I dont duplicate the same conditions with my Bowtech Sniper.   

Stored in a soft case on a shelf in the house. Taken outside every other day or so. I had actually wondered if that could have been a factor because the day it happened it was nice and cool in the house and quite warm outside. But I've done that many times where it was way hotter outside. Shouldn't have been a problem.

[carpsniperg2]

Bowtech doing what they do best. That's the 5th one I have seen blown up. They should call them the self destroyer lol

On a serious note glad you did not get hurt.

[jechicdr]

That happen at Evergreen Archery?  If not, then that's the second bow I've heard of that delaminated past few weeks.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Man I really feel for ya...please buy a MATHEWS next time 

[BOWHUNTER45]

Its a good thing bowtech has one of the best warrantys in the business .  Oh yeah its probably the most used too.
I hope everything works out for you and you're up and shooting again before hunting season.

  yeah I definately agree 

[hughjorgan]

Its a good thing bowtech has one of the best warrantys in the business .  Oh yeah its probably the most used too.
I hope everything works out for you and you're up and shooting again before hunting season.

  yeah I definately agree 

Too true, though they will only stand behind the warranty if you have a dealer that is willing to make it right for you. If not you are sh*t out of luck. I will never shoot a bowtech again. Hope everything works out of you sliverslinger.

[MLBowhunting]

sorry to hear that

[JPhelps]

I joined the club tonight.  My '08 Guardian bottom limb delaminated at the bottom cam and the cam flew into my forearm.  I'm just glad I didn't get hurt.

I'm still thinking it might have been foul play.  I was outshooting Tyson (Prime Time) and I think he wanted the nights practice to be over.   

[Prime Time]

Ah! No foul play here! The Martin Firecat has held up to ya all year until tonight, plus I'll blame it on being tired from shooting with the ol' man earlier.  Better keep an eye on that bow of yours once you get it fixed til bow season is over, would hate to see your wife filing away on the new limbs to keep you outta the woods. She did good work on these ones. 

[beagledog]

I think you might want to change that R to a D on that bow
at least you are not picking fiber glass out of your head

[blackveltbowhunter]

Sorry to hear about it. Glad your getting it resolved quick. 

[sebek556]

you guys are making me happier to be a mathews owner  seriously sorry to hear about the bows, just really freaky 2 in a few days..

[Prime Time]

you guys are making me happier to be a mathews owner  seriously sorry to hear about the bows, just really freaky 2 in a few days..

Freakiest part was Jason and I were just talking about the original post of this topic when we started shooting and not 15 minutes later, his blew up..

[Boss .300 winmag]

Dude its man made, all things of thus nature fail eventually. Glad you are ok.

[carpsniperg2]

Glad you didn't get hurt either jason. I am sure that cam didnt feel nice either. Got to get you guys some pse bows

[kbyers]

Silverslinger- glad to see that the local shop is taking care of you.  Just one more reason to shop locally instead of the internet. 

Glad to hear that both of you were not hurt

[pianoman9701]

I had a Reflex for 7 years and that happened to me last year. Hoyt replaced it, no questions asked with a new Turbo Hawk. I imagine Bow Tech'll do the same

[FC]

Glad to hear you are ok, that would scare the hell out of me!

[bloodhound]

my dads bow is at hoyt right now because it wont tune no matter what 2 shops did to it. hoyt got it said they couldnt tune it either, they were going to try and put different cams on it and try again. im hoping that doesnt work and they will replace it with a new bow as well. nothin like a free upgrade. only downside is he hasnt been able to practice because it took the shop 3 weeks to send it to hoyt and now hoyt has had it for 2. hoyt said they would call me first thing this morning but no call from them. the shop said they would call me tomorrow with an answer from hoyt. so lets just say this has been a complete nightmare and a new bow for pops would be a nice way of smoothing over the frustration and keeping my faith with hoyt.

[Sliverslinger]

Well, I'm very pleased. Bowtech was notified of the delaminated limb on Monday and last night my bow was fully tuned and  resighted in and I was whacking the targets again. A four day turn around from notification of failure to shooting again makes me a pretty happy customer. From time to time freak occurrences like this happen with every bow, how it's handled makes a world of difference. I was also very happy with Ted and Kevin at Lucky Shot for getting it ready for me so fast after the limbs got there. It was ready to go when I got off work and they made it a priority to help me get it tuned perfectly again and back to exactly where it was. A big thanks to them as well.

[halflife65]

Glad you didn't get hurt.  Impressive customer service, though.

[GreatWhiteHunter]

Well, I'm very pleased. Bowtech was notified of the delaminated limb on Monday and last night my bow was fully tuned and  resighted in and I was whacking the targets again. A four day turn around from notification of failure to shooting again makes me a pretty happy customer. From time to time freak occurrences like this happen with every bow, how it's handled makes a world of difference. I was also very happy with Ted and Kevin at Lucky Shot for getting it ready for me so fast after the limbs got there. It was ready to go when I got off work and they made it a priority to help me get it tuned perfectly again and back to exactly where it was. A big thanks to them as well.

Wonder if Mathews would have done that for ya? My guess....no. Just cause Im not a Mathews fan though! lol

[hillbilli]

I had a cable break at full draw last year on my old high country.. the only thing I got out of it was a purple mark on my chin, and had to get a new string/cable. I guess my lesson out of that was INSPECT everything more often. The bow is still serviceable and still killin deer...it aint the fastest thing, it was rated at 290 when it was new... but the deer cant seem to tell the difference..