Recurve speeds

[bdgerfn20]

Sorry for the repost i posted this in another forum but think it might get attention here. What kind of speed do hunting recurves get? and others for that matter. Im not interested in the speed of the bows they shoot at the olympics if thats any different. Obviously there are factors that affect speed but what do you thing a 40# bow will get for speed? Does the bow matter as much as it does in modern archery? (One brand new bow will have 340 ibo and another 300 ibo)Just curious i want to get an idea of the speeds that the bows produce to become more familiar with the basics of traditional archery

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Around 180fps seems to be a pretty standard figure using hunting arrows. Some are lower, some are higher. It depends greatly on arrow weight. Any tradbow can shoot over 200fps with light arrows, but it might blow-up, and won't penetrate very well. Many people hunt very successfully with 160 to 180fps, and heavier arrows. I have never seen a chronograph, and am just telling you roughly what I've read on here.

[bdgerfn20]

Thanks that gives a little perspective. What makes a traditional recurve designed for speed? Hate to keep bringing up that modern stuff on here but with a compound different cams and brace hieght are an example of what affects arrow speeds.

[Looper]

You can find some scientific measurements at bowreports.com .

Ben has it right.  There are a lot of variables that affect arrow speed. Draw weight, draw length, arrow weight, string type, etc.

Are you planning on using this 40# recurve to learn with?

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by bdgerfn20:
Thanks that gives a little perspective. What makes a traditional recurve designed for speed? Hate to keep bringing up that modern stuff on here but with a compound different cams and brace hieght are an example of what affects arrow speeds.

Things like materials, limb design and overall geometry come into play when designing recurves for speed. However -- and this is a big however -- just because a bow is fast doesn't mean it's forgiving. I've shot a number of traditional bows that touted high speed but, quite frankly, were about as stable as a ferral cat hopped up on Mountain Dew.

That's not to say you can't have speed and stability in a recurve design, but there are some bows on the market that are more useful for shooting through a chornograph than at a target.

[Looper]

Well, pretty much the same things that affect arrow speed in compounds, affects them in traditional archery, minus the cams, of course.

The most important thing in traditional archery is to find a bow/arrow/point combination that works for your purpose, learn the correct shooting form, and shoot enough until you can consistently hit where you want to.

Chasing speed can be a fun, and expensive, pastime, but it's all for naught if you aren't consistent.

[Steelhead]

All recurves are gonna give you all the speed and energy you need to get the job done with hunting weight arrow out of a hunting weight bow with proper shot placement,a sharp broadhead and well tuned bow and arrow.

Thier might be a 15 to 20 Ft per second differnece between the so called slower ones and the faster ones that milk every bit of energy thats put into them.

I think most the higher performance ones are gonna be within 5-7 ft per second of each other on a chrono

With a hunting weight arrow of 9 to 12 grains or more I think you could expect somwhere between 165 to 190- 195 ft per second on a bow drawn 28 inches.High ends gonna be around 190 with 9 grains per pound shot with fingers.

Thier are some really high performance hybrid style longbows that shoot as fast or faster than recurves if you want to look into them as well.

I would concur that you want a bow that feels good in your hand and fits you well and just shoots well for you over speed.Thier are plenty of quiet, stable, and fast shooting bows out thier though.You need to find a shoot to try a few different ones out.

Thier is a big traditional gathering here in MI in late January if you can get away from WI for a day or 2 you could check out tons of different bows and meet with bowyers and really got some impressions of whats out thier.You can test shoot bows till your arms fall off.Thier are also shoots in WI in the summer and other surrounding states that you should check out that have alot of venders.Theirs a huge one in S.W. MI. in Barrien Springs in mid to late June you could get to that would be fairly close to WI.Its called Comptoms.Its a good one to attend believe me.

[widow sax]

I have chornographed alot of trad bows and most of the bows I have seen shot over my cronograph go from 170 to 188 fps. That was with them shooting there bows and with there setups. My own bows have shot 176, 183, 183 and 188 fps. That was the speeds of the four bows I have owned with the way I set them up for me. I taylor the arrow weight to get the speed and trajectory I am looking for but you have to have your bow tuned with whatever arrow setup you are shooting if you want a good shooting well penatrating setup.  Widow    ps.Forgive any misspelling

[Margly]

Hi!
Interesting tread    
One thing that would be interesting is to first agree about what a good hunting arrow/weight is and then tested that out with your own hunting trad.

What is a good hunting weight? 500 grains?, 650 grains? If for example the weight for testing a 40-45@draw length is 500 gn. And a good weight is 650 for a 55-60@draw length.

So If the ones with a chrono did test these things out with all the different bows we tradgangers own, I think we would get a good idea of low and high.

By the way: I have tested and own different bows and it seems for my way of shooting that the fastest bows sometimes is "nervous" in the way of small mistakes in the release/form when shooting gives much bigger consequences for the accuracy than an average fps performer! But of course that is my experience    

Margly

[cacciatore]

Speed is not everything hunting;then it depends of the style and animal you want to hunt .As sayed before you can go from 160 fps to 200fps.You have to adapt your set up to your hunting quest.

[vtmtnman]

200 is the holy grail in trad.Much as 300 is to wheels.Over 200 is considered smoking fast.

My old bear was shooting about 176,which is repectable for a vintage bow shooting hunting weight aluminums.

[Mike Lee]

I usually only get around 160 with my bows some a little higher.

Mike Lee

[James on laptop]

Most any of the ones considered higher performance bows will shoot around 190 with a 28" draw using arrows weight 9gns per lb of bow weight.The fastest one will be 3 or 4fps over that and the slower ones a tad under.They are so close you will be better off picking a bow by the way it feels or sounds for you rather than worring about a very few fps that you will never notice after you start shooting.Your release ect will make a bigger difference in the speed you see than the bow brand if you stick to the better performers. jmo

[Rob DiStefano]

hunting stickbow speed is secondary to high hunting arrow arrow mass weight.

arrow mass weight is secondary to broadhead design and sharpness.

the rest is subjective conjecture and personal aesthetics.

[NDTerminator]

Not much to add.  Depending on bow design, draw weight/length & arrow weight, you can expect around 180FPS to tickling 200.

All my recurves which are 51-55# at my 28.5 draw weight, shooting arrows weighing 500-530 grains, chronograph 180 to 188. Ironically, the fastest is also the quietest, but is #3 in the line up because it just doesn't fit my pistol quite as well as #1 & #2, and consequently I don't shoot it quite as well.  The two I shoot best do low to mid 180s, which is plenty fast to pass through a deer at 20 yards or more.

Considering 4 or 5 lbs draw weight difference shooting the same arrow, only a 8FPS increase seemed somehow unfair.  It was however, enlightening.  I learned that with recurves the point of diminishing return is far more pronounced that with compounds, and that with a recurve shootability more important than speed.  

Knowledge is power and learning something new is always good...

Just for the hell of it, I once shaded 190FPS pretty fair over the chrono with my fastest recurve and an unrealistically light arrow.  Then I recalled the trip to the ER after I had an arrow blow up on release back in the 80s, and having to replace the destroyed bow to add insult to painful injury.  My curiosity suddenly was sated...

Sometimes knowledge is painful, and learning something new not always good...

The fastest recurve I've seen was the guy who made the Dead On Trad DVD.  He was shooting, if I recall correctly, an 80# Martin Hatfield with tiny little target carbons over a chronograph at 230FPS. To be fair, he was shooting a setup designed to win 3D tournys, at which he's highly successful. Still, all that energy has to go somewhere and whatever isn't absorbed by arrow weight on release is transferred back into the limbs. I wondered how many sets of limbs he goes through shooting those straws...  

Never personally seen them in action, but I hear the ACS and Dhalla can launch an arrow pretty fair.  For the price I would expect them to track the deer, too (insert rimshot here)     :D     ...

BTW, In my own defense I own the chrono for developing rifle loads, something I do a lot of.  Shooting my recurves over it was purely a curiosity thing...

[myshootinstinks]

In the past I've owned a chronograph that was used primarily for evaluating rifle loads. Naturally, my curiousity got the best of me and I started checking all my bows along with everyone else's that I happened to be shooting with.  Very seldom when using an identical draw weight or very similar,(+-2pounds), using the same arrow, same shooter, did I find more than a 6-10 FPS variation. It was usually closer that that. That includes comparing a '60s Bear  w/ a B50 string to the latest Super Swizzle Stick FF custom.
 
     I sold the chrono years ago and decided that if the bow shot well and looked pretty fast, that was good 'nough.  

[Rob DiStefano]

quote:Originally posted by myshootinstinks:
...
     I sold the chrono years ago and decided that if the bow shot well and looked pretty fast, that was good 'nough.  

[wingnut]

We use a chron to evaluate designs.  But speed isn't the only factor.  The efficency of the bow is much more important.  That's what makes them smooth and quiet.

Need all three to have a good package.

I think chronos in the hands of the general public cause a lot more unhappy people then anything else.  I watched a guy shoot a selfbow he was very pleased and proud of all day.

He stopped at a chrono at the end of the course and shot his arrow.  150 fps.  He was disappointed and no longer happy with the bow he built.

Mike

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by wingnut:
We use a chron to evaluate designs.  But speed isn't the only factor.  The efficency of the bow is much more important.  That's what makes them smooth and quiet.

Need all three to have a good package.

I think chronos in the hands of the general public cause a lot more unhappy people then anything else.  I watched a guy shoot a selfbow he was very pleased and proud of all day.

He stopped at a chrono at the end of the course and shot his arrow.  150 fps.  He was disappointed and no longer happy with the bow he built.

Mike

absolutely +1    

[Ryan Rothhaar]

The traditional bow that will shoot 200 FPS with 10 grains of arrow per pound is (I think still) the holy grail.  As stated above, the best are 185-190-ish with reasonable hunting arrows.


Jason, my man, nicely played! "as stable as a ferral cat hopped up on Mountain Dew." I need to remember that...you're coming along nicely with the pithy sayings (considering you are from the Big City!)

R