Thrift Store Find: PSE Reflite(?)

[u/NPC2001]

Found at a thrift store for 20$, figured why not. Not a big bow guy, but mostly because they’re expensive and I’m poor.

But 20$ is 20$, and now I have a bow. How’d I do?

55-70lbs pull 31 draw length 883 cable tune

If yall can learn me something about it, that’d be sick.

Gunna be practicing with it in the back yard for quite a while lol

[u/FlightlessLobster]

Old compounds are neat, and you didn't pay too much. But it's not something to shoot. Those steel cables are 40 years old, and no longer safe. getting it restrung is going to cost more than it's worth. You can look up warfbows is I think the best way to make practical use out of it, its otherwise a wall hanger.

[u/NPC2001 → u/FlightlessLobster]

Interesting, what causes them to break down? And what does the process of getting one restrung look like? Roughly, I mean

[u/pixelwhip → u/NPC2001]

They are metal; they get rusty;but this damage is often hidden by the plastic coating.. So it’s dangerous to assume it’s ok, & uncommon enough for you not to find a bow shop with replacement cables; let alone them being willing to touch them.. Bow may have cost you $20, but expect to pay many times that in medical bills should the steel cable violently fail..

This is why these bows are either best hung on the wall; or converted to a Warfbow.

[u/Ambitious_Cause_3318 → u/pixelwhip]

There is usualy a grub screw that pinches the cable at the wheel this is a place I've witnessed one breaking .

[u/pixelwhip → u/Ambitious_Cause_3318]

Never seen one break but heard horror stories from old timers.. Was the shooter OK?

[u/Ambitious_Cause_3318 → u/pixelwhip]

Yes besides the stitches. The issue was he had a long draw and the bow was not set up for him. He tried pulling it back to his draw and the cable let go causing the section that had the lead cable to string tear drop piece to come back at his face. Where that short length of cable just caught under his cheek and just missed his eye.

[u/FluffleMyRuffles → u/NPC2001]

Rust, those cables are made of metal. At full draw there will be a significant amount of energy put onto those cables and you don't want your face near it if it fails.

You can't easily DIY the fix and will need to find an archery shop that's even willing to work on a bow that old, plus have someone that has experience working on those ~40 year old bows. It'll cost probably around $100+ to replace the string and cables, and once you do you'll have a bow using technology that aged like milk.

The general consensus is that those bows are wall hangers and only ever restored if it has sentimental value.

[u/KatmoWozToggle → u/NPC2001]

See Pat Norris Archery (he's in the US but ships elsewhere) - from him a new set of steel cables for this bow costs $50 plus another $25 for the string. $20 plus return shipping for a safety check - more if it needs work or parts. He'll at least tell you honestly whether or not it's a wall hanger (though even wall hangers should be in fully working order in my book) - most shops will just try to sell you a bow and very few indeed have the tooling to re-cable or skills to assess it anyway.

You could easily buy a cheap 70lb modern compound from aliexpress for this - then run a book on which kills you first - my money would be on the Chinese bargain. People seem to have an issue with the safety of these cables, yet happily fly on aircraft which are steered by exactly the same spec.

[u/Ambitious_Cause_3318]

Check the wheels for a grub screw see if at some point this screw pinches down on steel cable to set eccentric wheels to cable. So I could be wrong but most of these wheel designs use a cable through wheel point to lock wheels to cable. Newer bows the string cables connected to lugs directly on wheels/ cams as did the string itself. Yes be careful with these metal cable bows my friend pulled one back and the metal cable just missed his eye the wire gave him a nasty cut. A few stitches. Watch for it to break at the point where the grub screw pinches the cable. Pretty sure yours will have this also..