Why such a heavy arrow?

[Rico]

The compound shooters in general are looking for a fast flat shooting arrow with their sites that is their strength probably the 350 grain arrow from  a 60#  is not the most efficient arrow for the compound bow either and a good amt of energy is never absorbed by the arrow.

[Richie Nell]

SirRobin....It's like this, would you rather get hit in the rib cage with a plastic wiffle ball at 100 mph or a shot putt at 20 mph?

That is why heavy arrows are used.

[James Wrenn]

The main reason I might shoot a heavier arrow is to get the bow quieter or because I like big broadheads and they weigh more.I think heavier arrows work better if useing big cut broadheads.When useing lighter arrows I just use smaller broadheads that don't cut as much.The compounds bows you see not getting the pentration people think they should is a result of there broadhead selection not arrow weight.Most are shooting large mechanical heads or multi blade heads.Stick a small two blade on a 350gn arrow and it will not even slow down on deer sized animals.jmo

[BEN]

Also,
heavier, slower arrow is way more forgiving of a slightly "off" release than a lighter, faster arrow. Plus, heafier arrows can push through some slight brush you may overlook in the way of your shot, whereas the lighter arrow will be more easily deflected.
 This has been my experience. When I first switched from compound to Trad---I tried several arrow types: aluminum, wood, and carbon. First, I wanted as light an arrow as I could safely shoot with the faster/flatter is better thought from compound shooting. Could never really get where I wanted to be. Slowly started trying heavier arrows and now i'm up ther at 10gr.pp of bow weight and my arrows fly better, my bow is quieter and more forgiving.

JMO
Ben

[Don Stokes]

Another thing to consider is that bow pounds are not all equal, due to the differences in energy storage for different designs. A 45# recurve may shoot the same arrow, just as hard, as a 50# r/d longbow, or a 60# Hill style, or a 70# self bow. It's funny to me that people will argue over whether a 45# recurve is adequate for hunting, but nobody questions whether a 70# selfbow is, even though the energy imparted to the arrow is similar for both. There are differences, of course, because the efficiency of the bows changes with arrow weight, but the principle is valid.

[frassettor]

Originally posted by Richie Nell:
SirRobin....It's like this, would you rather get hit in the rib cage with a plastic wiffle ball at 100 mph or a shot putt at 20 mph?

That is why heavy arrows are used.

Its hard to stop a freight train  

[JimmyC]

This year I'm shooting a 30" Heritage CE with 200 grains up front, total weight about 615 grains and droppin' 'em like bombs out of my 45# @ 28" recurve.  Should be interesting!

[SteveB]

SirRobin....It's like this, would you rather get hit in the rib cage with a plastic wiffle ball at 100 mph or a shot putt at 20 mph?

That is why heavy arrows are used.

A wiffle ball weighs maybe 1 oz - a shot put weighs 16LBS or 256 times more then the ball.

For your comparison to be valid, the whiffle ball needs to be traveling 5,128 MPH. Nothing I want to be hit by.

Steve

[aprice555]

Maybe a dumb question but what is the conversion for "grains".  Meaning how many grams (or other unit of measure) equal a grain?

[snag]

I've often wondered what a compound that shoots 280fps would do with a 10+gpp arrow. I tried to get a friend who shoots a modern day compound to do a test...he wouldn't have it!

[Lost Arra]

To aprice555: Here is your conversion without the math.

  http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/grams-to-grains.htm

[VA Bowbender]

Originally posted by snag:
I've often wondered what a compound that shoots 280fps would do with a 10+gpp arrow. I tried to get a friend who shoots a modern day compound to do a test...he wouldn't have it!

I can't chrono it but I can shoot some 10+gpp out of my !@#$%^&* bow and let you know what the trajectory and penetration effects were.
Might, kick like a mule and bite like a crocodile.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by George D. Stout:
Sometimes watch how little penetration those fellers get with their high-speed and mechanical heads.  Most times they do not get pass through shots even on thin skinned whitetails.  Traditional shooters commonly shoot through whitetails and bigger critters with heavier but slower arrows.

I would have to say their lack of penetration probably has more to do with poor tuning than anything else. A good hunting partner of mine is a devout compound / mechanical head user. I've helped recover a few dozen of his deer kills and can't remember him ever leaving an arrow in a deer. His six bears and one bull moose were also pass throughs.

Unfortunately, I can't really say poor tuning is a compound thing either, judging by the number of stories I hear every year about traditional folks not being able to get pass throughs on whitetails.

[Grabwad]

15.4 grains per gram is what I found when I attempted to look it up.

[donnyjack]

Originally posted by snag:
I've often wondered what a compound that shoots 280fps would do with a 10+gpp arrow. I tried to get a friend who shoots a modern day compound to do a test...he wouldn't have it!

As I remember in the older days they use to rate compounds by both IBO and AMO standards.  They no longer do that just by IBO standards now as it's the faster number. If I remember right the differance was:  AMO used a bow draw 28" at 60 lbs with a 500 gr. arrow.  IBO uses a bow draw 30" at 70 lbs. with a 300 gr.arrow and no add-ons or flitching on the arrows.
When they listed bow both ways you would see as an example a bow with IBO speed at 300 fps. and AMO speed at 220 fps. But  as you can see the IBO speed rating would sell more bows.


I don't know many average compound users that pull 30" @ 70# and shoot 300 gr arrows with their hunting setup.  I think a lot of the wheel guys  would be surprised what their speed really is on those 320+ rated bows is they shot them through a crono. with  their hunting setups .


DJ

[pine nut]

--------------------------------------------------aprice------------------------------
"Maybe a dumb question but what is the conversion for "grains". Meaning how many grams (or other unit of measure) equal a grain?"

1 grain = 65 mg.
1000 mg. = 1 gram
1ooo grams = 1 kg
2.2 lbs = 1 kg
Hope this helps you.

[AdamH]

I value my "EXPENSIVE" Traditional Bows alot more than watching them BLOW UP on light arrows, and they are alot Quieter & Penetration is never a problem w/ a GOOD hit....

[aprice555]

Thank you.  I finally know how heavy my arrows are. 560 grains

[Don Stokes]

7000 grains to the pound, 437.5 to the ounce, 453.6 grams per pound, 15.432 grains per gram.

I believe the AMO standard used a 540 grain arrow.

One of my employees in the arrow shaft business was a pro compound shooter, using an overdraw and shooting fingers with his 70# cam bow. We matched him up with some Superceders cut to fit his overdraw, at a spine of about 120#. They shot beautifully, grouping right with his carbons. It sounded like a bowling ball had hit the target. I don't remember what they weighed, but they were heavy! He shot them some at 3D, but they were so hard to pull from the targets that he quit using them. He was also afraid of losing his sponsor if they found out.