"Likes heavy arrows" ?

[Tom Anderson]

I see the term when describing some bows as "it likes heavy arrows".  Isn't that just a creative way of saying that the bow is noisy and shocky as hell unless you shoot heavy arrows in it?  

[swampthing]

Could be referred to by some. I see it as the bow does not loose as much speed per g of additional weight as another one might.
  Say add 200g of arrow weight and it drops 20fps, pretty good,
  Add 200g of arrow weight and drop 30fps, not so hot any more.
 Say you shoot with 7gpp, and the bow shoots 195fps, then you add weight so you are 9gpp and now the bow shoots 185fps, that is pretty good for a 50# bow especial when you consider that a 10gpp arrow should clip along at 180fps.

[Medley]

Could be.

That term is also used for bows that need a stiffer than expected arrow due to shelf cut. Bblack Widow is a good example

[BaldingEagle]

Northern Mist longbows were designed to shoot heavier arrows.  My Whisper, with silencer, is just as quiet shooting a light (no-weight-added carbon), as they are shooting much heavier arrows. There is no noticeable handshock difference either.  I think Steve refers to them liking heavier arrows because the heavier shafts are better for penetration.  I know that some bows I've shot lost a lot of efficiency when adding 100 grains to the shafts.  Not the NM.  As far as other other bow types, 'Liking heavier arrows."  I am not sure what they mean.
Have a great day.

[Roger Norris]

"Likes heavy arrows"....my definition:

Going with the assumption that a heavy arrow is better than a light one, (to a point)....a bow that efficiently puts a heavy arrow on target without a rainbow arc. Minimal noise and vibration are a given.

Ever shot a light bow with a arrow you KNEW was too heavy....like a 30# longbow and a fish arrow...feel how the limbs seem to strain?

[BWD]

Originally posted by Tom Anderson:
I see the term when describing some bows as "it likes heavy arrows".  Isn't that just a creative way of saying that the bow is noisy and shocky as hell unless you shoot heavy arrows in it?          

You won't be allowed into Sherwood Forest now.        

I always thought of it more in terms of the definition of a bow I don't want.

[reddogge]

If it likes heavy arrows it probably like medium ones as well.

[WidowEater]

My bows like heavy arrows because I like heavy arrows.

Makes my bow quieter in the process too I guess.

See sig.

[cahaba]

Any bow will be quieter with heavier arrows. It takes a great design for a bow to shoot heavier arrows with efficency.

[LongStick64]

For me it's used to define bows that don't shy away from heavy arrows, that retain great cast.

[Brazos]

I am with Swampthing's definition, at least with my longbows.  It seems like those long limbs cast light arrows about the same speed as heavier arrows.  This is something I want to figure out soon as I have a chronograph and can prove or disprove my theory.  For example I am currently shooting 565 gr aluminum arrows out of my HHA longbow.  Last week I fletched up some CE Maxxis arrows I had left over from my compound days.  I was able to bare shaft them with a 175 gr point giving me a total arrow weight of 430 grs.  You would think a 135 gr difference in weight would me a huge difference in arrow speed.  I can't tell any difference in speed shooting them side by side.  So therefore I would prefer shooting the 565gr arrow.  But the Chrony won't lie so I need to shoot them both.  Also worth noting I really feel very little difference in the feel of the bow after the shot  (8gpi compared to 11+gpi).

[Orion]

Tom:  You're not too far off.  A heavy arrow will quiet a bow and reduce its hand shock, of course.  And, that's the reason (and reason enough IMO) a lot of folks like them.  As Widow eater illustrates, " My bow likes heavy arrows because I like heavy arrows."  It's generaly agreed that heavy arrows also penetrate better than lighter arrows, other things being equal.

John Havard has addressed this issue in the past based on a lot of testing he's done.  In short, he notes bow efficiency is bow efficiency.  A bow that shoots a light arrow slow also shoots a heavy arrow slow.  Likewise, a bow that shoots a light arrow fast also shoots a heavy arrow fast, not as fast as the lighter arrow but also fast.

Sometimes, when folks say their bows like heavy arrows, they're implying that their bow shoots a heavy arrow faster than a light arrow.  Never gonna happen.            

[ron w]

I have had bows that did not shoot a heavy arrow [600 gr or better] well at all. Take that same arrow a shoot it from another bow and like a dart it flew. So that tells me that the first bow did not like a heavy arrow and the second one does! Don't ask me why, maybe different cut to center, maybe speed don't know. And yes the bows were the same poundage, plus or minus a pound or so!

[SELFBOW19953]

A bow is definitely not going to shoot a heavier arrow faster than a lighter arrow, however, at hunting distances (20 yards or less for me) if I still get flat trajectory with the heavy arrow, as opposed to an arrow that looks like it fell off a table, that bow likes a heavy arrow.  I've found that bows having a lot of tension as soon as you start to draw will cast a heavy arrow better.

[Ben Maher]

Originally posted by LongStick64:
For me it's used to define bows that don't shy away from heavy arrows, that retain great cast.

well said !

[JamesKerr]

I like heavy arrows so my bows better like them.

[arrowking]

How heavy do you like for weight on your arrows ?
And what kind do you use ?

I like my arrows to be heavy from 650-750 gr

[Troy D. Breeding]

I read on another thread where the fellow said his light arrows overshot everything. He was going to try heavier arrows to bring the flight/impact point into his sight/mental picture.

So I guess thats another way of saying his bow likes heavy arrows.

Thats also one of the reasons I shoot heavy arrows. I like then and I like the way my bow shoots them. So it means my bow likes them.

Troy

[xtrema312]

There have been those that I have found to throw a heavy arrow much better than other bows of the same draw weight while showing less variation in trajectory over a range of arrow weights in the bow.  They are just more efficient in cast with the heavy arrow than other bows.  Bows more efficient with heavy arrow can have some sound and shock due to too much left over energy with the lighter arrow so they kind of fit both descriptions at times.  The best of them shoot quite and smooth with most reasonable arrow weights and loose less than most with a heavy arrow.  Those are the best of the best.  My MOAB fits in that category and so does my Wildcat.  Both with an SBD string are whisper quiet with any arrow weight. The MOAB will settle down a little more in the hand with the heavier arrow, but it is not bad with a light arrow, and it really spits out the heavy arrows well.  The Wildcat is quiet and dead in the hand as any bow I have ever shot and changes nothing regardless of arrow weight.  It will not quite match the MOAB for real heavy arrow cast, but it holds its own against a lot of bows in that department.

[Greg Skinner]

My experience has been that with HH style bows the heavier arrows get more efficiency from the bow.  In other words, if I only gain 5 fps by dropping 100 grains in arrow weight, why shoot the lighter arrow?

 I think most recurves and some radical r/d longbows are designed to shoot lighter arrows more efficiently than the longer limbed HH style straight limb bows - that is not to say that they won't shoot heavy arrows well, just that HH style bows tend to lose less speed percentage-wise as you add arrow weight.  Thus, they "like" heavy arrows.  I guess you could also say that HH bows don't like lighter arrows because they don't gain a substantial increase in speed by dropping arrow weight.