Arrow Vs. Weapon Penetration Test

[ChiefStingingArrow]

Thought this old Video was pretty insightful.


 

[Roy from Pa]

Damn, that's awesome..

I can't believe those guns did not do better.

[SC Bowhunter]

cool video.
Thanks for posting it.

[Bowwild]

Pretty neat.  I had heard of similar tests with sandbags but never actually saw it until now.
Thanks!

[Pointer]

Fred Bear used to do a similar demonstration at outdoorsman shows in the '50s using a sandbag to win over any skeptics that the bow was an effective hunting weapon. A .30 cal bullet would not penetrate completely but an arrow off his bow would. He freshened it up by placing a pane of glass behind the bag. His arrow would blow through the bag and shatter the glass for a really dramatic  effect.

[stujay]

interesting

[crazynate]

Cool video.

[highlow]

I joined a local archery club when I got into shooting back in the 70s. We used to do an archery demo at the local state forest day use area every summer. Part of that demo was showing the penetration of a broadhead tipped arrow as opposed to a .30 cal. rifle slug. Basically the same as the video except we used one of those old five gallon metal oil cans with the top cut off and filled with sand. Results were the same and I'm sure those in attendance left with a newfound appreciation of the power of a weapon as simple as a stick and string.

[ChuckC]

On the other side of the game,. Shoot a head of cabbage with an arrow, then shoot it with a .270.

[flyflinger]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

[YosemiteSam]

I took my last deer with a .308 a couple years ago.  Shot was less than 30 yards, quartering away.  Although it was a perfect bang/flop with no tracking job required, I was amazed that the bullet never exited.  I didn't find any broken ribs (although I was mostly quartering in the dark).  The bullet did not fragment or tumble -- perfect 4-petal mushroom from a copper bullet.  It just never made it out of the thorax.  From what I've read thus far, a 40# bow should easily out do that.  I'm hoping to find out one of these years...

Granted, a 130 gr. .308 moving at 3000+ fps is putting a heck of a lot of hydrostatic shock on an animal -- something an arrow just can't do.  But raw penetration in tissue is just hard to beat with modern weapons.

Just think what a javelin could do in that same test.  Yikes!

[Orion]

Bullets are made to expand and expend all their energy in the target.

If you want to shoot through a bucket of dirt or a critter, shoot a solid, non-expanding bullet.  Of course, you may not get the critter.  It will die eventually, but likely won't drop in it's tracks unless you hit heavy bone.

We used to show a video similar to this  one in Bowhunter Education classes.  The idea was to demonstrate that the bow really is a lethal weapon, not a toy.  The comparison is quite dramatic, though the result certainly not unexpected.