speed demon or not?

[Ratatat]

I used a chronograph today for the first time.  shows my 58# longbow is shooting a 700grn birch arrow 135fps.  does this seem right?

[mbbushman]

Seems a little on the slow side. My 60 lb Caribow recurve shoots a 600 gr. arrow at about 175 fps. I can't imagine losing 40 fps with 100 gr increase in weight. Just my experience, I'm sure others have way more knowledge on this.

[BobW]

It is fine if you are happy with the bow.  People should not chrono a bow - ever!!!!! Too many guys will suddenly hate their bow because it didn't give them a number that allows them to break the sound barrier.

If you shoot it well, and it is nice and quiet, BE HAPPY!!!!!

[Gordon martiniuk]

slow or what this is not a fast bow try lighter arrows as you will have trouble at shots past 10 yards and yes you owe it to the game you hunt to find out whats up so yes chrono your bow as it will tell you the truth on arrow speed  and then you can decide on a new bow or new bow and arrows good luck  

[Diamond Paul]

That's a whopper of an arrow for a 58lb bow!  If it is an older style longbow, that's probably close.  Would be a little slow for a newer reflex-deflex bow, maybe.  You didn't give your draw length, or whether the bow is that poundage at your draw, so it's hard to say.  I have to agree with BobW: Chronographs are so unreliable that it's just about pointless to shoot through one, and then it still doesn't matter if the you like the bow and shoot it well.  Paul.

[vermonster13]

Not enough info. As far as on par for an older style longbow, not really. D style longbows are usually more efficient with heavier arrows. This bow is right around 50% which isn't very good. 28.3# KE is pretty poor for that draw weight, if you are actually drawing it to the full weight. But is it 58#@26 or 58#@30? The draw length makes a difference. How good is your release? How well tuned is the bow? String? Lot's of factors. How many shots did you average to come up with 135? What was the variance over the number of shots? Speed only tells a small part of the story.

[Ratatat]

I feel like a bad bowhunter.  I hurt my shoulder a while back (big boo boo) and never bothered to recheck my draw length.  I used to draw the bow 28".  I rechecked it this morning and it turns out I now have a 26" draw!!  No kidding.  The bow is RD, FF  58@28.  It's hard to believe I didn't notice.  (arrows stick out way past the bow.)

[vermonster13]

SO you're shooting closer to 52#s and the bow is most likely not reaching it's sweet spot if set up for a longer draw.

[James Wrenn]

Either way it will shoot a 500gn arrow faster.  

[trapperDave]

yup  

[LBR]

Try shooting through a couple other chronographs, just to be sure.  Lots of things can have an effect on the reading--lighting, arrow flight, calibration, etc.

I agree with Bob--chrony's have hurt a lot of folk's feelings.  They are nice for checking your consistency, but unless you know how to operate it and have it calibrated regularly they aren't all that reliable.

As far as hunting goes, it doesn't take a rocket launcher to shoot through a deer.  You can gauge penetration on targets and get an idea.  The big thing is if you can put the arrow in the spot--regardless if you are getting 125 fps or 225 fps.  You could dang near throw a 700 grain arrow through a deer by hand.

Anyhow, my guess is the chrony you used is off.  If not, you do have a comparably slow bow, but I don't think it would be a problem to shoot through a deer with it--again, as long as you can put the arrow in the spot, are getting good arrow flight, etc.

Chad

[Molson]

So far, none of the deer I've shot seemed very concerned with how fast my arrow went through them.  :rolleyes:    :D  

That combo will punch through any part of a deer that a lighter arrow can, only quieter and with more forgiveness.  The only difference would be the trajectory which, IMO, is totally irrelavent under 20 yds unless you decide to make it an issue.

I wouldn't be too concerned with what a chrono says.  If you're draw is 2" less, you may need to readjust your brace to find what works best and you should probably tune in some new arrows as the old ones may be too stiff now.

[Ratatat]

Thanks for the sound advice.

[kennym]

This bow disappointed me at the chrono,I was gripin about it a little and a fellow told me "Don't shoot it thru a chronograph,shoot it thru a deer!"  So I did,turns out it worked fine on this one and several others before it slipped away from me!!