Just kind of curious on what grain weight some of you are shooting that shoot bows between 40 and 45 pounds at your draw length. Total arrow weight?
46#-49# bows, I shoot 635-640 grain (total weight) douglas fir arrows
43-46# bows, arrows run about 525g.
imo, no matter what the holding weight below 50# and above 40#, i'd use a 500gr arrow minimum. this becomes more of a rule with woodies as going lower in mass wood arrow weight is a tougher row to hoe than with carbons or alums.
that said, i use 50-55# longbows and all arrows - carbon and wood - never go below 10gpp, with most 11gpp or more.
40-49# 575-626gr. Wood ,carbon or alum.
I think Rob has it..
Just yesterday I shot a set up with 12.5 gpp; 48ish pound bow with a 600 grain arrow. Great arrow flight and penetration. The other arrow I've been using gives me 11.5 gpp.
Would not consider anything below 550 and personally feel that 500 min is in the gray area and will work just fine with a perfect mark.
Employ as many as possible of the penetration enhancing factors in to your arrow design and you should be golden.
A very heavy arrow setup (2117), for me, with my 42# bow is around 572 grains which gives me a 13.61 GPP (grains per pound) arrow. My second heavy arrow setup for my 42# bow is a 2215 weighing 536 grains which gives me a 12.76 GPP (grains per pound) arrow.
The heavy arrow setup (2213) for my 37# bow is 480 grains which gives me a 12.97 GPP (grains per pound) arrow.
My light arrow GPP setup for both of my bows can be seen in my signature.
While the vast majority of people won't consider anything under 500 grains, in my case, at 421 grains for my light arrow setup.......speed kills. My 42# bows shoots 185 fps and my 37# bow shoots 174 fps. The speed comes from my 30" draw length combined with the 23.5" (times 2) length of my bows' limbs and 19" risers.
During my 47 years of trad bowhunting, I've never been one to "run with the pack" so to speak so sometimes I will forego conventional wisdom to experiment and see if things work out.
I shoot about 730 grain arrows out of a 48# longbow, at my 31" draw length. Probably too heavy, but they fly great, and make the bow real quiet!
I agree with Rob also.More weight just harnesses a little more of your bow's energy and at the ranges we shoot,trajectory isn't a big factor.
After decades of shooting 9-10 GPP arrows,a few years ago I set up some 700 gr arrows for a moose hunt.It took 3-4 shots to get the feel of them.I liked them so much,all my setups now are 650 grs plus,mostly 12-13 GPP.
My lightest bow is 48# and I probably draw it to 50.The most recent set I made for it weigh 680 grs.,13.6 GPP.It handles them very well.Recently I built some arrows for another bow and they turned out to be 740 grs.Not meaning to go that heavy but that's how it worked out.When I shot them,I was surprised that they impacted with my 655's and 700 grain ones.Curious,I stepped back to 29 yds which is my "point on" distance,with 700 grs.I'm not a gap shooter but use it if I want to take a shot that far.I shot two arrows into the bull 1" apart.I don't usually shoot that tight but it did tell me what I wanted to know about trajectory.
Then one day I decided to see what the 740's would do out of the 48 # bow(14.8 GPP)and found I was hitting dead on with them.I only shot out to 20 yds.I thought that bow couldn't be any quieter but it was with those arrows.
I know for some these are extreme examples but am just throwing them out as food for thought.I never thought I could tolerate arrow weights like these but at my hunting ranges there was very little adjustment and the gains in penetration and quiet have been considerable.
absolutely what jimb said. :thumbsup:
46# @ 26", 560 gr cedars (200gr Ace heads)...just a hair over 12 gpp
Just a hair over your draw weight range (47@29") but for reference, I'm shooting 550 grain cedars (125 grains up front) and 540 grain Easton Axis carbons with 250 grains up front. Just as a point of reference, the carbons blow through the bales like they're not there. cedars go to the fletching.
Pat's hill cane will get you between 550-600gr Charles. Got any of those? No better hunting arrow IMO. Perfect for your setup. Shooting the same weight bows myself......Art
Yeah I have a few Art. Going to have to get them straight and spine them and see what I get. Thanks everyone for the info.
My bow is 48-50 nat my long draw and have been using 840 gr arrows but have stepped down to 760 gr for this year (bamboo) but I love heavy out of a lite bow :thumbsup:
Arrows for my 40# recurve weigh 570-580 grains.
45# 520 grain arrow.
I am high in favor of upping the gpp as the draw wt goes down. There are definate limits of marginal utilty. Even Dr. Ashby had 12 out 12 arrows(691 grain -26.2% EFOC) shot fom a 40@27 moderate performing recurve penetrate the ribs of a young Asian Buffolo bull.
I believe with the game we typically pursue, the appropriate arrow wt range, yet still quite lethal, is much less than 691 grains especially if design enhanced penetrating features are retained.
I like 10 to 12 gr a lb if you go too heavy you loose some range and if you cannot hit your target it does not matter how heavy your arrows are ,I find a flatter arrow at 10 gr a lb make more sence to me ,, just my 2 cents worth
45# bow, 2117 arrow at 589 grs.
51@28 recurve shooting 518 grain arrows. Had 2 complete pass thru's with this set up last year.
500 grains for me too.
Shooting a 50 lb. @26" Northern Mist Shelton; 586 grain arrow or 11.7gr./lb.
Very good arrow flight!(quiet too!)
When you get down to 40# for hunting you need to re-think everything. Or at least I do. Not only the weight of the arrow, but type of arrow. Best bow design for that weight, and in my case, a very short draw. Look at string type, arrow finish and just as important, broadhead design. I think this is where a single bevel blade is warrented.....Art
QuoteOriginally posted by Art B:
When you get down to 40# for hunting you need to re-think everything. Or at least I do. Not only the weight of the arrow, but type of arrow. Best bow design for that weight, and in my case, a very short draw. Look at string type, arrow finish and just as important, broadhead design. I think this is where a single bevel blade is warrented.....Art
and the kinda critters hunted are a big part of that re-thinking, too.
You're correct about those critters Rob. Anything bigger than deer then I would have to drag out my 45#ers and cane arrows :biglaugh:
I hold 47#@28" string to belly side of grip.
Using a 591 total grain arrow. ( including 200grn Grizz)
12.57grns/lb
17.65 FOC with tapered spruce arrows.
Getting 165ft/s out of my Savannah.
I'm thinking I'll be fine.
Never have put one to the test on deer yet.... :rolleyes:
Zradix,that is good speed for that weight arrow.I promise you will be more than fine for deer with that setup.
hope so...
Here is what I use with my Kanati.
POC Shafts Zwickey Delta 2 Blade
FOC
ARROW length 28.75
shaft+feathers+nock wt 426
point weight 130
total arrow weight 556
balance length 18.25
FOC % 13.48
GPP
draw wt 46
arrow wt 556
GPP 12.09
Beman ICS Bowhunter 500 Zwickey Delta 2 Blade
FOC
ARROW length 29.5
shaft+feathers+nock wt 259
separate insert weight? 30
adapter weight? 100
point weight 130
total arrow weight 519
balance length 21.25
FOC % 22.03
GPP
draw wt 46
arrow wt 519
GPP 11.28
I have killed deer with 8gpp. and I would not go much over 9gpp. I like a flat shooting arrow and I can tell you the difference in penetration between say 9gpp. at 195fps. and 10gpp. at 180 is not noticeable. I just do not like the arc of a heavy arrow that does not need to be that heavy to kill stuff. Shawn
All of my bows are 44-45# at my 27" draw. Now all of them shoot a little different, so the arrow I use for a particular bow is what flies best from that bow. My hunting arrows weigh between 485 - 545gr. I have had them up to 595, but couldn't get them to fly well. My woodies at 535 fly well out of all of my bows - they just seem to be very forgiving. My go to bow this season is a Leon Stewart Slammer that is 44# at my 27" and I am shooting CE 150 w/50gr brass inserts and a 125gr broadhead for a total weight of 542gr.