A few weeks ago I rescued a 1974 Howatt Hi-Speed from a guy's man cave. He told me he hadn't shot it in years, was just decorating the wall. It was supposed to be 45# at 28". I assumed it was 58", and he never mentioned it was 54", Was quite a surprise when it arrived! Took quite a bit of scrubbing to remove the years of nicotine and grime.

It has a new 16 strand string (rope) on it, or at least not shot much, nock set wasn't clamped real tight. So after cleaning, I strung it, and head out back. Sure doesn't feel like 45#, but it's 4" shorter that all my other Hi-Speeds.

Whoa! Sure doesn't shoot like the 50+#s I expected either! Last few inches of my 30" draw are a little stubborn, but I expected that, to a point. The 2213/125 I just shot hit way left, shot a 2215/150, centered, shot another 5, it feels like mid 50#s.

So I set up my bow scale system.  Tie off bow, tie D loop on string, hook scale into D loop, nock measured arrow, pull rope thru a couple pulleys..
36.57# at 24"
38.97# at 25"  +2.4#
41.9 # at 26"   +2.93#
44.84 at 27"     +2.94#
48.18 at 28"     +3.34#
51.79 at 29"     +3.61#
56.89# at 30"   +5.1#

Kinda funny, one of the reasons I wanted this bow was its color and serial number(HS4 1623). It was made 27 bows after my gifted ( my first Howatt) 50# Hi-Speed(HS4 1596), that peaks at 56#. Weighs 50.01 at 28"
Wanted to see if it was as close to it's marked weight.

But back to the title of this thread. After I weighted the bow and took it back out to shoot some more, I looked closely at the Specs and sure enough, Pearl added a X.

Actually pretty mild mannered until I lock into full draw. Think I need to re-test them thru the chrony, current results show 1596 5fps faster (165.5 fps) than 1623(160.49fps) despite the almost # difference in draw weight. Might be that tow rope it's strung with.

These '74 curved stripes sure were popular, my highest serial number is HS 4 2786, lowest is HS 4 1201.
Today (8/3/20) there are two 54" Hi Speeds on the bay;
HS 4 1517 54" 46#
HS 4 1638 54" 42#
Neither has a X.
The HS 4 2786 is marked 45# but scales 43.4, HS 4 1201 is marked 40#, scaled 39.2 which made me wonder if the scale on the Hi Speed line wore out.

I've had a couple of the 54" HS, but dumped both as they seem to hit a wall at near 28".  I just figured the long riser and short limbs would make for a fast bow, but not if you cannot get to full draw.  I much prefer the 58" version, but know that 54" has its fans. 

As a side note, I have weighed many Howatts and believe many are pulling more weight than marked.  It seems rare to me find one pulling less than marked...but that's just me.

Quote from: Blackhawk on August 03, 2020, 12:20:59 PM
.....  I much prefer the 58" version, ....

Me too, got 4 of them, 3 '74 curved stripes and a '66 rosewood/straight bubinga stripe. It's marked 47, actually 47.8 so real close. So 1 weighs right on, 1 .80# over, and two under, one by .80# and the other 1.6#

Nice bow, but I fear drawing it to 30 inches is going to lead to its early demise. 

Quote from: Orion on September 13, 2020, 11:53:16 AM
Nice bow, but I fear drawing it to 30 inches is going to lead to its early demise.

So do I, I use thumb knuckle in stead of middle finger anchor, shortens my draw an inch.