I didnt want to thread jack batmans speed post and I know traditional is not about speed. But I shot my GP Swift Recurve over my chrono last night and got 152 FPS average for the speed. Shooting a 495 grain arrow 50# at 28 which is my DL. Does that seem right? Its only 25lbs of KE which is borderline on deer size game? My one concern for the accuracy of this is my chrono is stabilizer mounted and my curve has no stabilizer hole so I propped it up on a table and shot over it while kneeling in my basement. Which may have been too far away or not right in the correct spot to accurately calculate.
Thanks for any insight
That sounds low, I have one similar set-up that is around 173 fps with 33.5 ke. You may want to check it on a different chrono.
First,forget KE as an indicator of how a bow will penetrate.
I suspect that something is off there.My 50# bows shoot 700 gr arrows in that speed range.I have chronoed several recurves,some old,some new customs and they didn't vary much in speed.I think your bow is probably going faster.
Regardless,a 500 gr arrow at that speed will blow through anything you need to shoot and that's what is important.
I will try a different chrono or rig up something where I can stand and shoot with regular form.
Forget KE it is entirely irrelevant to penetration. KE is the measure of the energy stored in the arrow during flight. Really fast bows have high KE. Thus it sells lots of compounds. It says absolutely nothing about how that energy is released when it impacts the animal.
Focus your time and efforts on perfecting your form, perfect bow and arrow tuning, and perfect shot placement. Those are what put meat on the ground.
My 55 lb longbow at a 30 inch draw is pushing 584 grain arrows at 175 fps. You curve should be close to or faster than that with those light arrows at your draw length. Something is wrong with the readings your getting.
Use a tripod to hold it.
Sounds slow. My experience with chonographs is that they are finicky. Shot angles, lighting conditions and such seem to make mine take different readings. You might have to play with it a little to get it accurate/consistent.
I shoot thru my cronograph with my bow hand about 4 foot fron it. My two go to longbows(44 and 47#) shoot the same, a 580 grain arrow at 144 fps. It seems slow by what you read, but this is a 580 grain arrow. Ken