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Heavy arrow (525gr+) speed reference list

slonstdy

slonstdy

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
1,377
I decided to start this thread because I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought to themself "How does my "heavy" arrow setup compare to others in terms of speed".

Now all of us who made the switch to a heavy arrow setup knew going in that we were willingly giving up arrow speed with the understanding that arrow penetration would be vastly improved over whatever weight we were currently shooting and causing us grief. I think I can safely say that most of us are very pleased with results and are thankful we took the route we did. With that said, shooting a heavy arrow put us in unchartered waters in terms of judging arrow speed to determine what is considered fast or slow because there isn't a reference point to base it off of. ATA and IBO numbers don't help unless you are shooting at 70 or 80#'s and have 30" dl and that would still leave the difference in arrow weight to somehow be factored in. So yes, we are shooting slow arrows when compared to light arrows but that's like comparing yourself to an Olympic level sprinter as opposed to comparing yourself to guys in the same age bracket and physical condition. For any comparison to work it needs to be apples to apples.

What if there were a couple of guys who had the same draw length and poundage shooting close to the same weight arrow as yourself? Or maybe the same arrow weight and poundage but the draw length was within a few inches? Wouldn't having someone shooting a similar setup give you a better idea of where your heavy setup sits in terms of speed?

Let me stress the fact that the idea here isn't to have a speed contest and I'm not implying that we should be concerned with speed because we all know that's not what's important to be effective at killing game. This is merely to collect data and establish a reference range for us so that we can determine the performance of our own equipment with heavy arrows.

So with the preamble out of the way let me set some guidelines for posting...

1. This isn't a debate on heavy vs light arrows so don't make it one. Besides we know which is better...:tearsofjoy:
2. Don't bother posting stats with a sub 525gr arrow weight. Sorry, this thread is for the big boys.
3. Post bow model, draw length, draw weight, arrow weight (taw) and speed.

I've got two...

Mathews Switchback
29" dl @ 62#'s
640gr taw @ 214fps

PSE Evoke 31
29" dl @ 60#'s
585gr taw @ 238fps
 
Ok got the chronograph to behave.

Mathews Heli-m
28" DL @60 pounds
655gr TAW (29% FOC)
189.5 Fps
 
Matthews Triax
IBO 343 fps.

26" DL #61
570 grain arrow
215 fps

Whats funny is that with a 425 grain arrow I was 265 fps
 
I’ve posted a chart on this forum before showing about 10 different arrow weight speeds through my VXR


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
PRIME Centergy
27 1/4" @ 53lbs
607gr TAW
Assume ~240fps since that it the EZV insert I use out to 40yds

Morisson Phoenix stickbow with double carbon limbs
27 1/4" @ 43lbs
535gr TAW
Need to go over to @Gator's house so I can figure how fast it is shooting :tearsofjoy:
 
Gator said:
I’ve posted a chart on this forum before showing about 10 different arrow weight speeds through my VXR
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
That would be great info to have here! Do you remember which thread?
 
The arrow speed calculators are pretty accurate. I haven’t had one not come up within +-10% of the chrono. I know it’s nice to read these things here. But really, you can have exactly how your bow/arrow will perform in about 30 seconds on the computer.

type in “bow speed calculator” enter your information. Done.
 
kyler1945 said:
The arrow speed calculators are pretty accurate. I haven’t had one not come up within +-10% of the chrono. I know it’s nice to read these things here. But really, you can have exactly how your bow/arrow will perform in about 30 seconds on the computer.

type in “bow speed calculator” enter your information. Done.
Click to expand...
Wow! Was interested to see how well this would work and I got 187.3333 from the calculator and my actual chrono speed yesterday was 189.5!
 
Bow:Hoyt RX5
TAW: 653 grains
DL: 32”
DW: 70 lbs according to manufacturer spec, 72 lbs according to hand scale
Arrow speed: 265 FPS (per chrono at bow shop)
 
kyler1945 said:
The arrow speed calculators are pretty accurate. I haven’t had one not come up within +-10% of the chrono. I know it’s nice to read these things here. But really, you can have exactly how your bow/arrow will perform in about 30 seconds on the computer.

type in “bow speed calculator” enter your information. Done.
Click to expand...
Like I said at the beginning, this is not about the speed number but more to determine the efficiency of our bow as compared to like and kind setups. For example my Switchback shooting a 640 gr arrow at 214 fps is not as efficient as my Evoke 31 which shoots the same 640 gr arrow at 229 fps. These bows are 14 years in age difference so comparing them isn't a good indication of how well the Evoke is performing. Now if someone has the same specs as I have and is using a Realm or Vertix (which are within a year age difference) and getting 225fps, that will indicate my Evoke is on par or a touch better than the average. In the end it's another piece of useless info for us to occupy our time with. :tongueout:
 
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