New bow?

[Jon]

OK guys, I finally have the money to buy a bow! I know lots of your don't favor longbows for rangering and prefer shorter, recurved ones (right?), but I LOVE them. Anyway, trying to spend as little money as possible, my Grandpa has passed his bow on to my dad, who doesn't do archery, so he said I could have it. I don't have it yet because it's in storage in the UK and I'll only be able to get it in July.
Back to the point, the bow is a 40lb yew one. It's pretty old, probably around thirty years old. So now I'm getting scared; and here is the question: will the bow basically snap when I string it or have lost most of it's poundage since it is so old?

Thanks, Dirhael.

[Peter Remling]

Depends on how and where it was stored. One of my current longbows is old and I've used it and trust it. I have had another old longbow shatter on me. Shatter is the correct word as it practically exploded into at least 10 pieces.

Just be carefull, use a bowstringer, not the string off the hip method. Splinters in one's side can be very painful. If you don't have a bow stringer they are very simple to make. If you need help in making one, just post here and I'll give you the quick and easy method.

If the wood appears to be very light, Don't attempt to shoot it, as all the moisture has left the wood. The wood will be dry and the bow will snap.

If it's in shootable condition, still expect some loss of power.

[Mirimaran]

This might be a good place for those knowledgeable to post info on bow storage and maintenancee as well.

Ken

[Jon]

It's stored in a container along with a load of furniture, rugs, old TV, etc...

[Willrett]

it will depend on if it was left strung and if was flat or propped in a corner. Moisture and heat will play a big part to.