Care and safety

Check your bow after a dry-fire or limb hit

A dry-fire, or a limb tip smacking something mid-shot, can hurt cables, saddles, limb pockets and the timing. Go through this checklist before the next shot.

  • Difficulty Moderate
  • Time 20 minutes
  • For All Oneida lever bows

Any Oneida. Oneida never printed one checklist; this pulls checks from several manuals, and some steps are our advice (marked). Checking is a beginner job; fixing is not.

All how-to guides

We're still double-checking this guide against how we do it in the shop. If anything doesn't match your bow, stop and text us or call 270-318-2020.

Before you start

  • Wear safety glasses while you look it over.
  • Broken cable wires are sharp; feel along cables slowly.

Steps

  1. Set the bow down and don't draw it until you've gone through this list.
  2. Look over the string and every cable for frayed or broken strands, feeling slowly along each power cable's cam bend on cam bows.
  3. Check both saddles for cracks along their sides and replace any that are cracked. Oneida calls for this on the Stealth; we suggest it on any Oneida.
  4. Make sure each power limb is fully seated in its pocket. After a Stealth dry-fire the pockets may need replacing.
  5. Sight down the string tip to tip. A bent-looking limb is usually a shifted butt or a yoke slid in the saddle, rarely a damaged limb.
  6. Check tiller: string to cam nose on cam bows, end cap to string on a Discovery, timing cable feel on a Stealth. A stopped limb can slip the tiller.
  7. Stealth: replace the timing cable if its tension won't even out.
  8. Draw slowly a few times with safety glasses on, letting down gently, if nothing looks wrong.
  9. Listen and feel while drawing: a click can mean loose saddle or hinge screws; a bump can mean a loose clevis, timing wheel screw or timing cable, or a bad module. Stop and call if you notice any.
  10. Text us photos of the string, cables, saddles and pockets if you found damage or aren't sure.

Tips

  • A cracked nock can cause a dry-fire; check nocks before every trip. (Kestrel Manual p.4)