Arrow speed vs weight preference
Equipment
My Mathews V3 with 75 pound mods is shooting a 556 grain taw at 263 FPS. I’m considering dropping arrow weight and I’m interested in what people think would be the best combination of speed and weight. A chrono calculator estimates speeds for my bow at 315 FPS @ 400 grains, 306 FPS @ 425, 298 FPS @ 450, 281 FPS @ 500 And my current arrow at 263 FPS @ 556. Give me your thoughts on the best combination.
My arrows are 425 grains for everything, whitetails, moose, caribou and soon mountain goat. Good flight, good penetration and good speed. Very similar to your calculator. I believe mine was shooting 298 last I checked. I’d say in the end, it’s really what you get use too. If you go from shooting 315 down to 263, I’d be willing to bet it will take a while to get use to that. Eventually it will be second nature.
I find it easier to tune broadheads at slower speeds. Also a heavier arrow makes a bow quieter than shooting a lighter faster arrow
I would go with the 450 or 500 grain arrow.
^^ agree. Or split the difference with a 475 @ 289/290
I like my set up to shoot 270-280ish fps, my 70lb bowtech solution is shooting my 486gr axis at 275fps, i use it for elk and moose, my 63lb pse nxt 31 shoots my 417gr at 275fps as well, this is my deer and black bear set up
If I was shooting 75 lbs., I'd try to be around 500 gr. plus or minus.
Ermine said it right.
What do you hunt? Target shoot?
Bigger animals I’d stay heavier. Unknown distance 3D shoots go fast!
I think a good compromise is arrow speed in the 280’s fps range.
Is that V3 the 27 or 31? Whats your thoughts on it?
I shoot a recurve but I agree with Ermine , I like a heavier arrow..not too heavy but I try to stay at 9 grains per pound
I like just what you're shooting now. If nothing else it allows you to shoot an arrow that is twice as tough as what some are shooting. I shoot an 11.7 gpi arrow that's only .165" diameter. Tough as a 20 penny nail & flies like a dream!
I’d stick with your current setup. As Ermine points out…the greater the speed, the more tricky it can be to tune.
It’s always a balance; I shoot about 475 from my “#55”s - all in the #52-#55 range at my DL - and I try to stay in that same 8.5-9GPP range for everything else to keep the velocities comparable when I switch from one bow to the other.
Keeps it simple. I don’t see much point in going under 450 gr nor over 550, but I’m not hunting armored cars…. I might go lighter if I were shooting competitively, but everything I do is still thinking about hunting season.
i shoot a V3. 75# lbs 28" draw. i shoot the Garmin Xero Ai- which allows me to sight in different arrows on the same sight.
I have a 450 grain arrow and a 550 grain arrow profile. same arrow except on has 100 ethics insert/outserts from a trajectory point - there is very little difference in the drop. the 450 will bottom out the sight at 80 yds - the 550 at 70 yds. i don't have a chrono so i can't speak for the speed. the heavy arrow is obviously slower, but it flies great and it noticeably quieter.
as far as tuning goes - both arrows fly great with 125 grain magnus black hornets out past 60 yds
If most of your shots are within 30 yards, I'd stay with the heavy arrow. If you are a proficient hunter out to 60 yards, I'd probably lighten the arrow up into the 450-500 range.
With a I handle like 12yards, I guess I could tease you a little about using “proficient [bow]hunter” and 60 yards in the same sentence…. ;)
Without reading anything after your initial post it, and speaking in terms of Whitetail because that’s pretty much all that I hunt being on the East Coast, I would take the 425 or 450 grain arrow eights all day over the other options listed.
I go for a 450-500 arrow as several suggested. I’m shooting 63 pounds, 475 grains, 258 FPS. That has shot through lots of game, the biggest being elk.
Look at the specs on the bows Chuck Adams used to take the first Super Slam.
With range finder and adjustable sights you don't rely so much on 'flat trajectory' as even ten years ago.
A 420 grain arrow at much slower speeds than you are getting efficiently takes all NA big game. If you predominantly hunt oversize game like moose and bison, then the drop isn't even such a big deal. Animals hardly duck, and have bigger kill zones, and I'd stick with a heavy arrow. If you mostly hunt deer/elk my personal choice would be to go down to 420 or so and shoot a laser. Unless for some reason it makes your bow really loud. A quiet bow for whitetails is always my #1 criteria.
But that's my personal opinion and IMO at those specs you are still overkill. On a scale of 1-10 where 8 is barely passing through, I prefer to be about 9 and as fast as possible. With a 556 grain arrow you are putting so much energy into the dirt AFTER passing through the animal that could be making your arrow flight so much flatter.
I know my preferences and limitations GF. ;^D Who doesn't like an animal at 12 yards!? 12 yards is my preferred distance, not my max proficiency distance. Archery hunting to me is getting as close as I can. That's what gives me the rush.
I great to see a lot of VERY successful guys chime in here.
What I HAVE LEARNED from these guys is this. 430 to about 460 is a flat shooting, great speed arrow for elk and other critters over terrain at a reasonable distance, which BTW will kill most animals.
470 and up will tame your bow if it behaves badly with noise but you must be on point with aiming and know your sight limitations and be sighted in perfectly .
The best thing about archery is experiment and see what really work with your set up.
Have a blast
I’ve killed many elk with 385gr, 400gr, 420gr and 465gr arrows.
Not one of those animals cared what the arrow weighed
Link, how is your current arrow set up? Do you have a lot of weight up front to get that weight or are you shooting a very heavy arrow GPI?
You could look at a stiff arrow (300 spine) with less GPI and add more weight up front and still reduce your overall weight to around 520-525 grains, have awesome FOC and have a super proficient missle and it will be faster. I’d look at this option with your set up.
I shoot a 484gr arrow from my 60# bow. I shoot either a 524gr or 587gr arrow from my 70# bow. I will never go lighter. Bow hunting since 1975.
Blood my arrow is 11.6 gpi at 29 or so inches, standard insert, 125 grain head and a ballistic collar. I’m looking at doing what you mentioned going with a 9 to 9.5 gpi and a 50 or 75 grain brass insert to stay somewhere between 475-500.
Have been shooting a 486 grain arrow at around 270. Been thinking about going to a 440 grain and picking up a little speed
Link, let me know how you do. I’m tinkering with adding a 25gr. Impact Collar and some 25gr. Stainless HIT Inserts to get a little more FOC for longer range accuracy and keep my FPS pretty similar. Shoot straight!
No reason why you cant have a lighter and heavier arrow in the same quiver. I know a lot of guys that do that. I shoot 590-615 grain arrow as that is what my bow loves. Lost a few elk with lower weight arrows this just gives me more confidence. As Cnelk mentioned the elk will never know.
^^^^^No reason not to have two different weighted arrows???? Besides accidentally grabbing the wrong one how are you mentally compensating for which arrow you have? Oh man I have so many questions! Things must just happen too fast for my slow brain because when it comes to crunch time I want pure routine and zero thought.
Also, if you are hunting _______ animal why have two different weights to begin with? Either you think the arrow can do the job or not. If the light one is good, then why have a heavier one? Sorry I am just so confused.
I shoot 475 gr arrows at 270 fps these days. Shot a lot of elk with a bow using everything from 385 gr arrows to over 600 gr arrows. Never had penetration issues with any of them with proper shot placement from a 60 - 70# compound....most were taken with around 520 gr aluminum arrows but that was in the previous century.
Perfect arrow flight is more important than the speed its going....you have more than enough energy to hunt anything you want on the this side of the earth. Good luck!
Watch the new Ranch Fairy and Hunting Public video where they have a chrono that reads speed every 10 yards. The heavier arrow maintained speed and energy further out and the light arrow lost it quick very eye opening.
On one of my bows I shot my whitetail arrows, and then I went elk hunting so I wanted to increase my weight. I went up 50 grains on the same shaft. I had to sight in my pins again. So my 20,30,40..pins moved up, but in that particular example my 60 pin stayed in the same spot, and then my rig shot flatter with the heavier arrow beyond 60 yards.
All this makes perfect scientific sense. But I'd still rather have a laser in the yardages where I expect to do most of my shooting. That being 0-50 yards. While the arrows still maintains more than enough killing power. I just found it funny that with the heavier arrow my pins stretched out, and yet the 60 never moved. That was my "break even" point.
I watched the 'Ranch Fairy" YT video.
That was a very interesting video about the trajectory and speed.
I used to know a guy who carried different weight arrows, claiming he could adjust to different distances. He never killed much, if anything, but was convinced he had the prescription.
I also know a guy who shot an elk with his grouse arrow... I only carry hunting arrows in my quiver, and strangely, they are all the same weight and length.
What you need to remember, in the Ranch Fairy video, they ooooh and ahhhh the dynamics of the heavy arrow at distance, but they fail to state that, even though the lighter arrow slows down more, it still has plenty of energy to kill anything it hits out at that distance with ease.
I think there's a benefit to more energy... But certainly it depends on what and where. As an eastern whitetail guy, I'm not dealing with long shots, nor overly durable animals... So a pretty basic arrow is going to work great and blend speed and penetration nicely. I had great luck with arrows around 410-415 for years, last year gained about 100grns and it worked similarly. For me, moderate weight arrows penetrate well, and their trajectory is solid too so if I misjudge distance that's a nice safety net.
I'm using the low 500's arrows again this year because I have em and have them dialed in to my bow. But not likely Ill "chase heavy" for any reason so long as I'm shooting a pretty fast, fairly long draw set up.
Joel Maxfield (Mathews) posted some interesting pictures (FB) on July 16 showing the results of his tests with 395 gr arrows @ 314 fps versus 652 gr @ 249 fps arrows tuned to the same 73# bow. He shot great groups, all at 60 yards using the 60/50/40/30/20 yard pins.
Eyeballing the results looks like about 2' more drop with the heavier arrow at 60 yards. Another eyeball takeaway...the fast arrow drops the same amount between 60 and 40 yds as the slow arrow between 60 and 50 yds. The fast arrow drops the same amount between 60 and 20 yds as the slow arrow between 60 and 40 yds. Big trajectory difference with that much difference in speed.
In case you think Joel is a target archer...he is and shoots excellent groups, but he is also the most recent bowhunter to complete an archery Super Slam.
A Paul’s- I know a guy. James Yates (he killed a big mule deer in Utah that was on the cover of western hunter.). But anyway he shoots two different weight arrows. Kind of crazy but it works For him. He shoots a 600 grain arrow that he uses in case he needs to punch thru bone or thru limbs. And a 420 grain arrow for longer shots.
Joel Maxfield (Mathews) posted some interesting pictures (FB) on July 16 showing the results of his tests with 395 gr arrows @ 314 fps versus 652 gr @ 249 fps arrows tuned to the same 73# bow. He shot great groups, all at 60 yards using the 60/50/40/30/20 yard pins.
Eyeballing the results looks like about 2' more drop with the heavier arrow at 60 yards. Another eyeball takeaway...the fast arrow drops the same amount between 60 and 40 yds as the slow arrow between 60 and 50 yds. The fast arrow drops the same amount between 60 and 20 yds as the slow arrow between 60 and 40 yds. Big trajectory difference with that much difference in speed.
In case you think Joel is a target archer...he is and shoots excellent groups, but he is also the most recent bowhunter to complete an archery Super Slam.
It's just physics, Randy explains it all. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wYL-gB4TJpU
