I am shooting wood arrows out of a 56# longbow some are tapered and some are not..does the 20 grains make that much difference? weights are 497 and 517..thanks

not as much in the shaft as it would up front...PR

Wow, too many variables to answer in this format. The only way to know is to shoot them and see.

It does with aluminum arrows if one has a 30" draw length shooting 32" BOP arrows out of low poundage bows like then ones in my signature.

Nope!  At least not so anyone could tell.  I've been shooting sticks for 50 years, and I don't know anyone who can tell the difference in arrow flight cause by 20 grains of arrow weight.  Most folks can begin to notice a difference in drop at longer ranges with about a 50 grain or more change in weight.

They fly about the same I was wondering more about the penetration part than anything..and if they were even heavy enough..I have always shot aluminum in the past..

As long as everything is the same,( lenght, point weight, fletching, spine, nock). Then 20gr would be very hard to see any real difference....

I have played in the yard with different point weights from 100gr to 250gr and out to twenty yards they group together. I like the fact that trad archery is a simple and versatile, its not meant to be a precise, it rewards persistants rather then perfection.

It took 50 grains in my carbons to see a difference.

With my bows in that weight range it takes about 90-95 grains of arrow weight change to lose or gain 10 fps in speed.

All I know is that I can't shoot good enough to tell any difference.   :rolleyes:

I recall one of the Wensel's addressing this issue a few years ago, so their opinion is gospel in my book.  The answer was that it would be virtually impossible to detect differences of 20 grains or less, but stated the variation becomes more evident as weight difference increases.

Since your second point referenced penetration, I ran it thru my calculator that accounts for bow weight, arrow weight, wind speed, speed of the earth spinning on it's axis, temperature, humidity and relation to the moon and it shows the heavier arrow, after going thru the deer, will penetrate the ground .001379 inches more than the lighter arrow.  Now you know based on scientific evidence and a complex algorithm.

Seriously though, I don't think you can tell a difference and you said they were both shooting well, so go kill something.

What Crash said.

I shoot a 64" 47# at 27", I have shot arrows that were spined for 65-70#, 40#, and 50-55#. All different weighted arrows and they all flew very well and I really could tell the Diff. but I'm no expert.

Ken

If the weight difference is just in the shaft in general and not in the front or back then it won't make much of a difference unless you're shooting some longer shots then the heavier ones will obviously drop more.  As many others have said try'em and see how far they drop off, I don't think you'll have any problems.

QuoteOriginally posted by Orion:
Nope!  At least not so anyone could tell.  I've been shooting sticks for 50 years, and I don't know anyone who can tell the difference in arrow flight cause by 20 grains of arrow weight.  Most folks can begin to notice a difference in drop at longer ranges with about a 50 grain or more change in weight.

Orion is as right as rain.

You have to have a machine like form to be able to notice much of a deviation caused by +or-20grns.


My form allows for the shooting of arrows that differ in weight up to 200 or 300 grns. This is very handy when I've run out of arrows and have to use a broken one I found behind the last target.

I like David M answer "I can't shoot good enough to
tell any difference."  Joe