Bow length calculator

Recurves are sold by length, and the right one follows your draw: too short and the string pinches your fingers at full draw. Enter your draw length, or your arm span, to get your recurve length, the limbs to buy for a 25″ riser and your AMO string length.

How to use it: Set your draw length (or switch to arm span if you haven’t measured it) and read your bow length on the right. Between two sizes, pick the longer bow.

// The calculator

Start from

Your draw length28″

For a takedown recurve, measured tip to tip along the back of the unstrung limbs. Between two sizes, pick the longer one.

Your recurve length

68″

Limbs on a 25″ riserMedium

String (AMO)65″

A starting size from the shop charts. Shoot one at a shop before you buy if you can.

28″ draw → 68″ bow; string 68 − 3 = 65″

Draw length → recurve length

up to 22″58″

22–24″62″

24–25″64″

25–26½″66″

26½–29″68″

29–31″70″

over 31″72″

// The math

How it’s calculated

Bow length follows your draw length, from Lancaster Archery’s and Archery 360’s takedown recurve charts: 58″ up to a 22″ draw, 62″ up to 24″, 64″ up to 25″, 66″ up to 26½″, 68″ up to 29″, 70″ up to 31″ and 72″ beyond. Where the charts give a range, the tool follows Archery 360’s 66/68/70″ chart, the same sizes the bow quiz and the draw length calculator use.

On a 25″ riser, short limbs make a 66″ bow, medium 68″ and long 70″ (Archery 360). AMO string length = bow length − 3″ (Lancaster, Archery 360). No draw length yet? Arm span ÷ 2.5 gets you close.

A worked example

A 28″ draw: a 68″ bow, medium limbs on a 25″ riser and a 68 − 3 = 65″ AMO string. Olympian Jake Kaminski lands on the same bow for a 28″ draw: medium limbs and a 25″ riser, “so a 68 inch bow would be pretty good.”

The full explanation: How to choose your first recurve bow.

// FAQ

Questions about bow length

Quick answers about recurve sizes, limbs and strings.

What size recurve bow do I need?

Go by draw length: about 66″ up to a 26½″ draw, 68″ up to 29″ and 70″ up to 31″ on the Lancaster Archery and Archery 360 charts. Confirm it at a shop if you can.

Which limbs fit a 25″ riser?

Short limbs make a 66″ bow, medium 68″ and long 70″. The sticker on each limb lists the bow length it makes on each riser length.

What AMO string length do I need?

The bow length minus 3 inches: a 68″ recurve takes a 65″ AMO string.