I recently bought a used (2005) Hoyt Ultramag. It's an awesome shooting bow! Anyway..I was messing around with it, and pulled it back without my release, and my fingers slipped off the string (very humid day and my fingers were sweaty), and it dry fired. The only thing I noticed so far, was that the peep site came off. I put it back on and shot a couple of times after I inspected the bow, and it seems to work fine. Just curious if anyone knows if a single dry fire is a terrible thing...not that it is a good thing...but are there any problems that may result that aren't apparent from visual inspection? Any comments would be appreciated.

I recently bought a used (2005) Hoyt Ultramag. It's an awesome shooting bow! Anyway..I was messing around with it, and pulled it back without my release, and my fingers slipped off the string (very humid day and my fingers were sweaty), and it dry fired. The only thing I noticed so far, was that the peep site came off. I put it back on and shot a couple of times after I inspected the bow, and it seems to work fine. Just curious if anyone knows if a single dry fire is a terrible thing...not that it is a good thing...but are there any problems that may result that aren't apparent from visual inspection? Any comments would be appreciated.

It SHOULD be okay (not saying it is!) - The new hoyt's are designed with split limbs to signifigantly reduce the destruction caused by dry-fires.

I have seen many different brand bows dry fired and most of the time everything was just fine. But I would take it to the shop and have them check it out just to make sure. The least little thing you miss could very well get you or a bystander seriously injured. Stay safe and I am glad you were not hurt at all.:peace:

It SHOULD be okay (not saying it is!) - The new hoyt's are designed with split limbs to signifigantly reduce the destruction caused by dry-fires.

Just wondering if this is humor.....

I always said that hoyt came up w/the split limbs because of all the broken ones sent back in the first few years they were in business.....heard they had enough till the year 2025......:laugh:

Thanks to all replies to this post....I had the bow checked out today by my local archery shop, and everything is O.K. I was cussing myself all day after it happened, but I'm glad it's not damaged. It still shoots good, too. From the comment, I assume you don't like Hoyt bows, Bowman. I've never shot a Matthews, so I can't give any comparisons.......whatever flings your arrow, right? I guess that this would be the best I can come up with for an archery saying. How bout........"Ten ring on 3....ready.....BREAK......."Down.........SET.......HOYT 1......HOYT 2......HOYT 3".....That was pretty lame, I know....but it's the best I can do for now. :biggrin1:

Just wondering if this is humor.....

I always said that hoyt came up w/the split limbs because of all the broken ones sent back in the first few years they were in business.....heard they had enough till the year 2025......:laugh:

Nope, 100% fact... I think

It was discovered that when a bow was dry fired the limb damage normally appeared in the middle of the limb due to the way it flexes and bends. So somone took the next logical step and got rid of the middle of the limbs.

This allows both limbs to flex and bend without hitting each other and it dissipates the energy much more. There is no other advantage to using split limbs other then this. Sorry Hoyt lovers.

Instead of going with split limbs a lot of the other bow manufacturers have re-enforced the limbs around the wheels/cams to make them more durable then the rest of the limb as this is where most of the cracks occured in dryfire testing

and as a side not something like 80% of the bows sold anually in the US are solid limb designs :)

PS: If you decide to test out my theory and dry fire the crap out of your hoyt I am not responsible.. although I would like to see pictures :)

Thanks to all replies to this post....I had the bow checked out today by my local archery shop, and everything is O.K. I was cussing myself all day after it happened, but I'm glad it's not damaged. It still shoots good, too. From the comment, I assume you don't like Hoyt bows, Bowman. I've never shot a Matthews, so I can't give any comparisons.......whatever flings your arrow, right? I guess that this would be the best I can come up with for an archery saying. How bout........"Ten ring on 3....ready.....BREAK......."Down.........SET.......HOYT 1......HOYT 2......HOYT 3".....That was pretty lame, I know....but it's the best I can do for now. :biggrin1:

If you were drinking heavily you could have come up with something better then that :peace:

Glad to hear everything is ok with your bow radtuck. :rockon: Don't pay any attention to Bowman he has a few issues, but he is actually pretty harmless and can be quite humorous at times. :laugh:

PS: If you decide to test out my theory and dry fire the crap out of your hoyt I am not responsible.. although I would like to see pictures :)

I will second that......


I'll have you know that I am funny all the time Frank!!!!! :laugh: just ask me......

huh itd b nice to find a cheap hoyt and see what does happen

I thought all hoyts were cheap???????

:laugh: cheaply made but hoyt thinks theyve got somethin u looked at the price tags ?

well cant be all bad hoyt still sells alot of bows....

:laugh: cheaply made but hoyt thinks theyve got somethin u looked at the price tags ?

Ouch! - I thought the more you pay for something the better it is...

I was at a shop that sells both mathews and hoyt. and he had 2 switchbacks that people came in and pulled them back. and whoops dry fire both broke, Bad!!!!!! One a piece hit the vault ceiling . He said he see this alot people come in pull back the bow it slips. But he said that hoyt are ok most of the time.....but I wouldn't want to be with in 100yds of one of the switchbacks if it happened.....

its supposed to work that way jay are but occasionaly it doesnt

I was at a shop that sells both mathews and hoyt. and he had 2 switchbacks that people came in and pulled them back. and whoops dry fire both broke, Bad!!!!!! One a piece hit the vault ceiling . He said he see this alot people come in pull back the bow it slips. But he said that hoyt are ok most of the time.....but I wouldn't want to be with in 100yds of one of the switchbacks if it happened.....

That'll teach them for only using one cam! those silly Mathew guys will never learn haha :doh:

Yeah cuz if they wood just lern and put nuter 1/2 a wheely thingy on them their bows it wood bee alll beeter rite??????:tape: :laugh:

Yeah cuz if they wood just lern and put nuter 1/2 a wheely thingy on them their bows it wood bee alll beeter rite??????:tape: :laugh:

See you ARE learning. I'm so glad I could be here to see you have this breakthrough :rockon:

keep dreaming.......

I think my question about dry firing turned into a Hoyt/Matthews feud. Is there a bow made by Hatfield or McCoy?

yeah its called bowtech!!!!!!!

i dry fired my hoyt ultra tec before i even got to shoot it, i popped the string off and did a little wrist damage, it's healed now. it seems to shoot good now though, i have been putting 30-50 arrows through it for the last two weeks.

i dry fired my hoyt ultra tec before i even got to shoot it, i popped the string off and did a little wrist damage, it's healed now. it seems to shoot good now though, i have been putting 30-50 arrows through it for the last two weeks.

That can certainly happen... I think dry-firing is such an "archery taboo" that until recently most manufacturers never cared to address it. On a LOT of old bows I'm pretty sure you voided the warranty if the bow appeared to have been dry-fired. One of the old school archery guys can call me on that or not, I thought I read it somewhere but I'm not positive. :noidea:

As a result we are really just starting to get to a point now where dryfiring isn't massively destructive, but we are nowhere near a point where we can safely say "if you dry fire you'll be fine", as witnessed by Roosevelt (btw glad your wrist is okay)

Heck we are just starting to get to a point now where designers and engineers are starting to understand the massive amount of stress that is put on the accessories and the riser and they are making new stuff to address this with new designs, additional vibration dampeners, risers designed to twist w/ the forces instead of absorb them...

Archery is growing at an amazing rate, probably faster then almost any other sporting industry out there, and its got lots of room to run still before we start running out of ideas. Eventually we'll be shooting arrows at 1 GPP and shooting in the 600 FPS range. but until we get there I'm gonna sit back and enjoy the ride and try not to hit that release trigger pre-maturely :)