Bow Blows up as I release on Monster 5x5

Pwells10

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Feb 26, 2018
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Well not the way i wanted to end my season.

I ended up pulling a monster 5 off his cows into 14 yards, as I was drawing back I had trouble drawing 70 (thought that was weird but it was cold and a complete downpour)

He came in screaming and growling. I stopped him at 14 yards broadside. As i released my arrow, my cables came off my cams and ended up whiplashing my arm. I know my arm wasn't in the way because ive had the same grip since I started bow hunting, and my draw would be too long if so. I'm lucky it didn't blow up as i was drawing.

After looking for my arrow (that went into the next orbit) completely missing the bull. I went back into town to the local pro shop and the guy there was able to put the cables back on but the limbs are off level with eachother and tilting both cams a slight bit that he noticed. He also thinks it mightve been overtorqued from the factory. I'm unsure if it was caused as it blew or if it were like that before. I refuse to pull it back until Prime takes a look.

For reference, this is a prime black 5 70lb limbs I custom ordered.

I'll be calling them today.

I have it on video, we zoomed in on Adobe. Nothing caught in the cams.

What do you think?
 

Gerbdog

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I think that sucks mightily and am glad more damage to your person wasn't caused when the bow went high order, I'm interested to see what comes out as the culprit that caused it
 
OP
Pwells10

Pwells10

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I think that sucks mightily and am glad more damage to your person wasn't caused when the bow went high order, I'm interested to see what comes out as the culprit that caused it
I appreciate it. So am I. Definitely bummed though.
 

Sanchez

Lil-Rokslider
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Apr 23, 2019
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I don't know, but a heavy rain with a big bull at 14 yards, my guess would be the failure is related to the situation rather than a routine bow failure. It would be interesting to see the video.
 

Norm555

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That is absolutely brutal. Hope you get it figured out but unfortunately you can't go back in time to fix that shot.
 
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Guess would be conditions and a big bull you could nearly touch, adrenaline pumping - could be a derail if your nerves were a wreck coupled with the rain makings things slick. Then again, after giving up on Hoyt, it was between Prime and VXR. Went with Mathews mostly because I believe the Prime has 7 strings on it. That's why they give you lifetime free strings. 7 things to go wrong. That giant circle yoke doesn't inspire confidence either. Too bad, that's a tough break. Sometimes if you are yanking harder than you expect at 70, could be a mod issue, loose screw or a bad bearing in the axle.

Does the video show which of the 7 cables created the problem?
 
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Does the Prime have screws on the axles or eclips? There have been some issues with people overtightening the axle screws on Mathews which compresses the limbs too much, preventing the cams from rotating smoothly, leading to bad bearings and/or inconsistent draw cycle.
 

TheGDog

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Well hey man.. it could be worse... at least it wasn't from you being a bow n00b, and you missed with the other two shots... (at close range, because you've now learned just how critical it is to use the right pin! If its 25yds, it's in-between the 20 and 30yd pin, not the 20!) then as you rise to your feet off your ground sit to attempt to knock a 3rd arrow you can't because as he was running away from the first spot he quickly turned in on an opening and turned toward you because he wanted to know what the heck was flinging arrows at him and now you're 7yds nose-to-nose with the best lucking Muley 3x3 buck you've ever seen in your area... and you have to play the freeze game so he won't just bolt. Then... he turns around but then looks back over his shoulder at you... giving you a shot you can't take.. and still... not letting you grab that arrow off your quiver. You see his tail start to look twitchy.. and sure enough... he catches a whiff of you standing motionless in that leafy suit... and finally decides he should bolt. Silently you curse the heavens as you raise both fists to the air as you silently emulate screaming that most primal curse word!

14yds at a 5? Damn... that's brutal man!
 
OP
Pwells10

Pwells10

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Guess would be conditions and a big bull you could nearly touch, adrenaline pumping - could be a derail if your nerves were a wreck coupled with the rain makings things slick. Then again, after giving up on Hoyt, it was between Prime and VXR. Went with Mathews mostly because I believe the Prime has 7 strings on it. That's why they give you lifetime free strings. 7 things to go wrong. That giant circle yoke doesn't inspire confidence either. Too bad, that's a tough break. Sometimes if you are yanking harder than you expect at 70, could be a mod issue, loose screw or a bad bearing in the axle.

Does the video show which of the 7 cables created the problem?
That's what my pro shop said as well, bad bearing is what hes thinking. And I definitely had some adrenaline but watching the video, I was too calm at the shot. Didnt push/pull. I'll get the video up here if I can.

The shop is going to strip it down and take a look. If its on me (which I somewhat hope it is) I'll be ok with everyrhing and keep shooting this bow. If not, I almost want to just sell it and switch which is not a good thought. But I'll have a hard time trusting the bow if it wasnt my fault in some way.
 

TheGDog

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The excellent news is that you still have both eyes.

Bummer about the derailing, that *really* sucks.

Be grateful every day for your eyes not getting string-whipped.

JL
Ooh man! I feel you on that comment!

I'm older now, so I have to wear glasses now all the time. And that's saved me more than a few.

Before needing to wear glasses... I used to sometimes be all involved focused in a project and forgetful of throwing on safety glasses when the situation calls for it. Y'ever been holding something up to a Wire-Wheel on your Bench-Grinder and then get whacked on the cheek just below your eyeball from a piece of the wire coming off that thing at high speed? Same deal man. When that happens you realize just how close you came to something life-changing happening!
 
OP
Pwells10

Pwells10

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Messages
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Well hey man.. it could be worse... at least it wasn't from you being a bow n00b, and you missed with the other two shots... (at close range, because you've now learned just how critical it is to use the right pin! If its 25yds, it's in-between the 20 and 30yd pin, not the 20!) then as you rise to your feet off your ground sit to attempt to knock a 3rd arrow you can't because as he was running away from the first spot he quickly turned in on an opening and turned toward you because he wanted to know what the heck was flinging arrows at him and now you're 7yds nose-to-nose with the best lucking Muley 3x3 buck you've ever seen in your area... and you have to play the freeze game so he won't just bolt. Then... he turns around but then looks back over his shoulder at you... giving you a shot you can't take.. and still... not letting you grab that arrow off your quiver. You see his tail start to look twitchy.. and sure enough... he catches a whiff of you standing motionless in that leafy suit... and finally decides he should bolt. Silently you curse the heavens as you raise both fists to the air as you silently emulate screaming that most primal curse word!

14yds at a 5? Damn... that's brutal man!
That's rough man!
 
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Ooh man! I feel you on that comment!

I'm older now, so I have to wear glasses now all the time. And that's saved me more than a few.

Before needing to wear glasses... I used to sometimes be all involved focused in a project and forgetful of throwing on safety glasses when the situation calls for it. Y'ever been holding something up to a Wire-Wheel on your Bench-Grinder and then get whacked on the cheek just below your eyeball from a piece of the wire coming off that thing at high speed? Same deal man. When that happens you realize just how close you came to something life-changing happening!

Yeah, some years ago I had a ‘pro’ shop reinstall the cable roller bearing retainer backwards. After about 20 shots it popped off and took out half of my front tooth. After the dental bill, I bought everything to have my own archery shop and learned to do everything on my own. If I get a new bow I buy it out of the box at the shop and do all the work myself.

To the OP, its going to take you A LOT of shots through that bow to rebuild confidence in it. The last thing you need is to get on another animal, handle to moment and not worry about the bow blowing up again. Good luck with getting it sorted out and the redemption that awaits next year.
 
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TheGDog

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Yeah, some years ago I had a shop reinstall the cable roller with the bearing retainer backwards. After about 20 shots it popped off and took out half of my front tooth. After the dental bill, I bought everything to have my own archery shop and learned to do everything on my own. If I get a new bow I buy it out of the box at the shop and do all the work myself.

To the OP, its going to take you A LOT of shots through that bow to rebuild confidence in it. The last thing you need is to get on another animal, handle to moment and not worry about the bow blowing up again. Good luck with getting it sorted out and the redemption that awaits next year.
Aw man...yeah... I know the feeling of jacking up an adult permanent tooth. You remember you were a kid and they had those Saturn looking Jungle Gyms in neighborhood parks? Well... was with My Dad and his new Mrs... they were doing something else at this like shopping center place, so I busied myself with this little park they had. Well... these idiots put the Saturn thing directly in front of the slide. Mind you... if I'd have only been sliding down on my butt.. I'd have been fine. But... as kids do... I had decided to run down the slide. And... it was dusk and a little darker. I ran down that slide... and some number of steps out in front of it scrubbing back off the speed.... WHAM!!!! I clock the ring of Saturn right across the front of my mouth! And yeah... it chipped my front tooth. All across the bottom. And that was the permanent adult one. They put on little adhered pieces onto it for a lengthy bit. And you'd screw up and bite down on something hard and it'd pop back off and you'd have to go get another one put on. They needed me to grow to full adult size before they could do like a permanent crown. :/ I remember I was soo distraught about that happening! It's part of your face! Ya know? And just like you're thing.... it's something I could have chose not to do. That's what really burns inside.
 

COOPDUCK

FNG
Joined
Apr 4, 2020
Messages
58
I had a similar thing happen two years ago. Drew back on a cow, released. Horrible noise and shock, shrapnel flying everywhere. Took me several hours and a trip to shop to have strings put back on cams to realize I’d sucked a cow call on a lanyard into the string. Horrible luck. Just when you think everything has come together for you to get a layup shot on an elk, and the archery gods throw another wrinkle in.
 
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