Crossbow draw weight

New Players
#1

Hi there! Hope you are all keeping well.

I have just come back from my local LARP shop and found a beautiful crossbow, an absolute beauty which I would love to own. Unfortunately it’s draw weight is 42lbs. Is it possible to reduce the draw weight on it easily, or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer.
Cheerio!

#2

Short answer: no, it isn’t.

Adjusting the draw weight on a bow requires reshaping the limbs to reduce their pressure, while maintaining a proper bending shape and not introducing any structural weaknesses. This is a complicated process to get right.

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#3

So it would involve buying a new fiberglass bow to fit the crossbow? Which is difficult to evaluate the strength of because of the particular draw distance of the crossbow?

#5

Basically, yes - you’d need to fit a new bow, and very few people make bows for lrp crossbows.

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#6

hi, this is actually something ive done for several buyers of crossbows around that draw weight, which are usually the mytholon ones though ive done it for others. if its a steel prod type, i can refit them to a fibreglass bar one, and if its already a fibreglass prod, they can be taken out of the stock, thickness shaved, retillered to 30lbs and recovered.
usually people drop them off at my stall at empire, and i bring them back the next event…of course this year has so far prohibited that.
The cost depends on the type, but i’ve never charged anywhere near as much as a larp bow (which i also make and sell at empire along with arrows) as its usually about 3 hours work at most.

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#7

Yeah, my local shop is indeed mytholon. I think I might shop around when I get to the event, it will make things easier.

#8

yep, I do occasionally sell crossbows at my stall at empire, and i know graham at craeftigan probably has a couple of very nice fairbow ones still in stock, which are 30lb or just under. not many sellers have them in general, i think gems carries bungee ones, and there was a chap in the orcs making cheap active prod ones ( maybe someone can link, im useless with computers)- good hunting!

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