Fact checked by Steven Lines, lifelong Hunter and Outdoorsman
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One of the most common pieces of archery advice is that you should never dry fire your bow. It can cause severe damage to the bow or yourself. But why must you never fire a bow without an arrow?
When you dry fire a bow, you could be exposing yourself to several potential risks. For example, you might shake parts loose or have them fall off entirely. It can also cause the limbs to fracture or break. In some cases, these parts can fly into your eyes or body, causing severe injury.
The process of shooting a recurve, compound bow, or longbow without an arrow is called dry firing. Let’s take a closer look at why this is so dangerous and how you can minimize the damage to your bow.
In this post, we'll cover:
Why Is Dry Firing Dangerous?
Let’s start by taking a closer look at the dry firing process and why it can cause so much damage.
Damage To The Bow
When you draw the string back, you are storing potential energy. Typically, this would be transferred into the arrow in kinetic energy, allowing it to fly towards the target. However, when you dry fire the bow, the energy has nowhere to go.
For this reason, it gets sent through the bow. This causes severe vibrations and splinters, which can be very damaging to the bow. This has the potential to shake components loose or even break pieces of the bow off.
Generally, the bigger the bow, the more dangerous dry firing will be, as you will be releasing more energy.
The damage you face can also depend on the type of bow you are using. For example, compound bows tend to be more vulnerable to wreckage than recurve bows when you dry fire them.
This is because these bows use levers, which amplify the power you can place on the string. This increases the amount of energy that will vibrate through the bow. Also, they tend to have tiny components that can shake off.
Causing Injury
However, the problems caused by dry firing aren’t limited to damaging the bow. You also have the potential to have a severe injury. There are a few ways this can happen.
First, when dry firing the bow, small parts can get sheared off and fly through the air. These parts tend to be very sharp. They can scratch you or get embedded in your skin if they hit you.
However, the most significant risk posed is to your eyes. When holding the bow and aiming, you need to keep it close to your face. If small parts come flying off, they can go into your eyes. This can result in blindness.
Will Dry Firing A Bow Once Hurt It?
As we’ve seen, dry firing the bow has the potential to cause a lot of harm to the bow.
Even if it’s the first time you’ve dry-fired the bow, you can still do severe damage. The vibrations will travel through the bow, potentially rendering it unusable.
For this reason, you should be careful every time that you dry fire the bow. This is especially true if you don’t know the history of the bow or the type of condition it was in previously.
How To Prevent Dry Firing A Bow
As we’ve seen, dry firing the bow, even once, can cause severe damage to the bow. For this reason, you should take precautions to prevent the dry firing of a bow.
Build Your Strength
One of the biggest reasons a dry fire might occur is that the person draws back on the string when testing the bow, only to struggle with the force required to hold the line.
When returning the string to the correct position, it can lose control, causing the bow to dry fire. For this reason, you should avoid lending out your bow unless you are sure the person you give it to can control it properly.
The best way to make sure that this doesn’t happen to you is by building your strength and conditioning. This will present other benefits, like allowing you to improve your aim and draw weight.
Inspect The Nocks
Interestingly, some dry fires occur when an arrow is in the bow. Because of a poor nock, the arrow might have fallen out before you could take a shot.
To prevent this, you should ensure that you’ve securely put the arrow into the nock.
You should also make sure to inspect the nock and string regularly. If you spot any fraying or loose hair, you might need to apply wax to the line.
Experts recommend that you replace the string every three years.
You should also check the weight of your arrows. If you’re using too light ones, you could also be damaging the bow, as the excess energy will transfer into vibrations.
Pay Attention
Finally, when handling a bow, you should always pay attention, mainly drawing the string back.
A brief lapse in concentration can cause you to accidentally let go of the string. This can cause the bow to dry fire. For this reason, you should never fire the bow unless you mentally and physically prepare.
This is the most common reason why people dry fire their bows.
What To Do When You Dry A Bow
You should always take precautions against dry firing a bow. However, accidents can happen. What should you do after you dry fire the bow?
Don’t Use It Again
In some cases, you might inspect the bow and not see any visible damage. This doesn’t mean it’s safe to use the bow again.
The most commonplace for the bow to be damaged is the cam. This is the part of the bow where the string ends are attached. When dry fired, the force that ripples through the bow could often cause the cam to bend or twist out of alignment.
The problem is you might not be able to spot these small changes, giving you the impression that the bow is safe to use.
But if you continue using the bow after you dry-fired it, the damage will worsen.
Take It To An Archery Store
After you dry fire a bow, you should take it to an archery store. Their professionals will look over the bow for you and help keep it in good condition.
They will be able to inspect it, helping you spot any damage. If necessary, the professionals will be able to perform the repairs. This will ensure that your bow is safe to take back to the range.
In Summary
You should never draw a bow without an arrow; this is called dry firing. The force placed on the string would generally travel through the arrow. If there is no arrow, it will go through the bow instead. This can cause the components to fall off the bow.
The higher the poundage and draw weight, the more damage it can cause. This can render the bow unusable and has the potential to cause serious injury; in some cases, this has led to shrapnel going into the eye, causing blindness.
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Steven Lines is a hunter and outdoorsman from Safford, Arizona, USA. Since he was a child, he has been hunting and fishing and has over 20 years of outdoor experience. Steven works as a hunting guide in Arizona during his spare time and runs a Youtube channel dedicated to sharing his outdoor adventures with others.