Newbie Question about KE

[sparkyflint]

Hi everyone.  I really have learned a lot about Trad Archery in the past week just by reading old posts.  I even went to my first trad shoot today, but arrived a little too late to really get to know anyone, and talk about some questions I have.

As I am begining to look for my first trad bow I am not sure about the dif's between arrow performance from a longbow and recurve-if they both are, say, #45 @ 28".   Is their kenetic energy the same, in general?-I know it matters WHICH recurve vs. WHICH longbow.  So for arguments sake lets say a Bear Grizzly vs the Barta Bow from 3rivers(or some similar modern RF/DF longbow)  

Would you/could you shoot the same arrows from both bows, or would I need an entirely new set for a different bow?

Also-how much is a "grain" in everyday weights?

Thanks for your patience.

flint

[sparkyflint]

ttt

These may seem like sorry questions, but I'm trying to glean as much info as I can before i "pull the trigger" (can I say that here?) on my first trad bow purchase.

thanks
f

[elk ninja]

Sparky, Thats a tough question to answer because there is a whole lot that goes into the equation...the same arrow would be a good start but things such as how center shot is the bow would come into play...you could shoot the same arrows from both bows, but for optimum accuracy and maximum penetration (when hunting, nothing less will suffice!), you would have to tune the arrows to a specific bow.  My opinion,...get one bow and shoot it, shoot it, shoot it, tune the arrows and don't try to swith, especially between a longbow and a recurve....not sure really how much a grain is...

[madness522]

There are 7000 grains in a pound.  I haven't had enough coffee yet so that's about all the help with math I can be at the moment.

[overbo]

Sparky,
Lose the KE train of though and get a bow and put your all into it to become better w/ it than you expected.Hopefully you will be a fortunate one that picks it up quickly.Myself it has taken several years to get good enough to compete w/ the compound shooters and still today I haven't reached my goal.The KE stuff will come later.

[Chesapeake]

Kenetic energy is the result of mass (weight of arrow) and velocity (speed of arrow).

For you just starting out the concern would be, will a given bow launch a sufficient arrow fast enough.

The poundage of the bow means little in this equation. A lower poundage bow can be faster or slower.

An ounce is about 438 grains.

As was said above, odds are no two bows of the same poundage but different design will have the same optimum arrow.

Just look at getting a well built bow with good performance. Then find an arrow that flies good and the KE part will happen on its own.

[ChuckC]

Sparky, there are a lot of debates over whether kinetic energy or momentum are more important in flinging arrows.  They both measure something similar, but go about it in different ways and arrive at different answers, with one putting more emphasis on a projectile's speed and the other on its mass.  As was said above, there are too many variables to worry much about it at this time.  Yes, it is possible for two bows to shoot the same arrow, but it is also very possible that they may not, again, variables.

As was suggested above, get into a bow that you like and can handle, 45 pounds on up will suffice for deer.  Lower poundage can also suffice but if you can handle it, many here will suggest going higher rather than lower.  

Match that bow with arrows of the correct spine and of about 9-11 grains of weight per pound of bow weight or pull.  Again, that range seems to be a popular consensus of optimum arrow spec's.  Then, practice, practice, and practice some more.  

Once you can hit what you are aiming at at reasonable distances, you should experience no problem getting good penetration on a deer sized critter, and that is the name of the game.  Hitting it well, and getting enough penetration.

Anything more than that is icing on the cake.
ChuckC