Home > Bow Reviews > Bickerstaff Re Enactment Longbow
Bickerstaff Re Enactment Longbow
Reviewed By Steve , 17 November 2009
Bickerstaff Bows are probably the most prolific of English Longbow makers and offer several styles and “levels” of Longbow.
From a re enactment bow, through a basic Longbow to Medieval Longbows right up to War bows designed as fully working museum quality authentic bows, Pip Bickerstaff is a world authority on Longbows and is in the forefront of those seeking to re discover the secrets of the English Warbow.
This specimen is from the re-enactment range and is marked up at 46#@28”, from nock to nock it measures 79” and is made from Lemon Wood backed with hickory with a bound leather handle – there is no strike plate but the bow can be shot left or right handed. Generally these Re-enactor bows are made in weights up to 35#, that's because most re-enactment societies don't allow anything heavier to be shot ( and then only at half draw) at their battles - this then is somewhat of a special being 46# draw.
As the most basic of the Bickerstaff bows and the fact that it is specifically aimed at the re-enator market you could be forgiven for thinking that the bow is more of a prop than a proper bow, however within a short while of shooting it you will be disabused of this notion – this bow is a shooter. The folks at Bickerstaff have no qualms about stating that this bow is for beginners or Re-enactors, because a re-enactor will most probably be more interested in how the bow looks rather than how it shoots, this means the design may not be the most efficient for shooting.
The bow is self nocked and supplied with a very nice Dacron single loop Flemish string, the other being tied with a Bowyers knot. It draws very smoothly with no evidence of stacking, but you wouldn't expect any given it's length which also helps with the ease of the bow to draw. There is some shock and on the kicked by a horse scale it would rate as 5.5/10 - not so terrible as it sounds because it is after all a bow designed to look the part first and formost.
Having said all that when you get to shoot it, it is a nice surprise to find it feels good, over the chrono this is what I got
445gn 9.67gn/# 143fps500gn 10.87gn/# 140fps530gn 11.52gn/# 135ps565gn 12.28gn/# 131fps I have used the same standard arrow weights as used in all the bow tests so that comparisons can be made.
All the arrows were shot at 28" draw. The test was conducted with 12 shots with each arrow, the 2 highest and 2 lowest readings were discarded and the rest averaged. The arrows themselves were all fitted with 3 X 5" shield feathers.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Features & Design |    |
| A simple Hickory and Lemon wood bow, right from the off it declares itself a re-enactors bow, it fulfils that brief very well but it is reviewed here as a shooting bow. | |
| Performance | |
| Again, the marks sound cruel for a bow that never aspires to anything more than looking the part, however, it does perform spitting out a variety of weight arrows at consistent arrow speeds, despite being 6'7". | |
| Value for Money | |
| Excellent value for money | |
| Overall | |
| Right at the start I told you the bow was advertised as for re-enactors or beginners and that is bang on the money, not only does the bow look good enough for the battlefield it also shoots well enough and with few enough vices so that the beginner can get to grips with shooting a Longbow, the nice price will have re-enactors clamouring for one of these good looking bows. | |
Steve Nicholson and Andy Gilfrin, are real archers interested in the best archery suppliers have to offer. In our search for the very best bow, arrows and equipment we have shot, used and worn pretty much everything on offer.
We value feedback from users and suppliers and are keen to hear from you if you wish to contact us about anything on the website.
Contact Steve .. steve@archers-review.com
Contact Andy .. andy@archers-review.com
We are now offering the opportunity for suppliers, manufacturers and bowyers to get involved. Check out the sponsors page for more information.
| Essential Details | |
|---|---|
|
What : Bickerstaff Re Enactment Longbow Price : £160 |
|
Clear enough instructions..
A simple self nocked bow with a bowyers knot.
A nice leather handle.
A nice profile when strung.
At rest.
 |
Latest |
Magazine
We were very pleased to give our support to the James Whale Kidney Foundation shoot which we cover in this months magazine. We were also contacted by Lars Pilø with news on the archery related finds on Jovfonna, and while we couldn't get out there ourselves Lars kindly filled in some background information for us.
A mixed bag this month, me in the South West, Geoff putting the record straight, a chat with Keith Stay and the wisdom comes from South Cox of Stalker bows.
We take a tour the length and breadth of the British mainland to visit Scotland with Border Bows, Yorkshire with Aidy Hayes, the Wirral with Jason from thelongbowshop.com, down South with the Company of Canterbury Longbowman, and Geoff is in Spain.
|
Quick Links |
A list of other Bow Reviews
Heritage Longbow Group testMartin X200
Istvan Toth Mongolian Horse Bow 53" 35#@28"
Rivers Edge Arroyo 57# @ 26"
Black Widow PCH 3 47#@28"
Decabow Klassic 72" 48#@28"
Qarbon Nano Grizzly Stik 51#@28"
Centaur 2pc 62" 45@26"
Beiter Workstation 100
Hoyt Gamemaster 2 45#@28"
Chris Boyton High Performance Longbow
Heritage English Longbow Workshop
Bearpaw Scythian Style Horsebow
A&H ACS 12" Short Riser 62" 47#@28"
Aidy Hayes Longbow
Falco Legend Flatbow 50#@28"
Anneewakee Addiction 56" 48#@28"
Neil Harrington Longbow 72" 50#@28"
Heritage Longbows 56#@28" Target Bow
Heritage Longbows 80#@32" Warbow
Your Comments
Tell us what you think, do you agree with the review or have something to add?
Posted by: Patrick on Jun 20, 18:07
Hey, I want to get a longbow, but have never owned one before. I have used a normal recurve bow though. I am trying to decide wether to get a bickerstaffe bow, or one made by Aidy Hayes. Any comments?
Posted by: Steve@archers-review on Jun 20, 18:36
Hi Patrick, as yet we have not had the opportunity to review a bow by Adrian so I can’t comment on his bows. I will endeavour to get hold of one and see what we come up with. I can tell you that Bickerstaff bows are very well respected and you won’t make a mistake if you decide to take that route… keep checking back as we are adding Longbow reviews all the time.
Posted by: Andy@archers-reviev.com on Aug 26, 22:41
Patrick, you ask Archers Review delivers, we tracked Aidy down and you can read the review…
http://www.archers-review.com/bowyer/aidy-hayes-longbows
Posted by: Paul on Nov 28, 19:49
I have had one of these re-enactor bows from Mr. Bickerstaffe for almost a year now and as a novice bowman I have been well-satisfied by the sweetness of the draw and the consistency with which it shoots. At the price, you could do a lot worse both for product and for service.