chronographing your setup

[BlueBarred]

Having a chrono for me has been a great learning tool. Being able to quantify what changes in my setup do to performance help me get a better idea of all the variables that come together for the shot. It is also a great tool to develop consistency in one's form. If you shoot the same fps for each shot, this is a good thing, and can only lead to better accuracy. That one bow may be faster than the other is not nearly as important. Dave

[Predator Man]

I know I cant wait to chrony my new ACS CX

[SERGIO VENNERI]

Amen to George! I sold my Chrony a long time ago. What counts the most in a hunting situation is Shot Placement!!

[Michael Pfander]

I like a chrono as a training aide.  From time to time I need something to get me back on track.  When my shots are consistent [I strive for 5fps between shots] it means I have settled in.

MAP

[George D. Stout]

Doc Pain....its' all good partner.  I have seen people agonizing over their buddies bow outshooting theirs; to the point of them selling their bow.  
As Tigger would say, "it's ridicurous!"    

[kennym]

My Chrony has one purpose, tweaking on the bows I build. If I can get free horsepower,I'm gonna take it.....  

[flatlander37]

I'm with Mike Most on this one.  My 53# longbow shoots 9GPP arrows at a blistering 161, with my 27" draw.  10-11 gpp arrows go in the low 150's.  Speed can be a good thing, if coupled with accuracy.  I also watched some wheelie guys at the local shop shoot through different parts of the chrono and get 20-30 fps different results.  They only stopped when they finally got it to say 300.  Heck, I'd be tickled pink if any bow I shot was to hit 180.

[dnovo]

You can fool a chrony sometimes too. I have a buddy shooting a BBO that can pluck his release a certain way and I have seen it register 320fps.
Several times I has seen him do it and get 240-250 out of it. When he shoots it right he is getting around 150-155 with cedar arrows.

[Cherokee Scout]

I have shot many different bows thru the machine. I have tried them with different strings, different silencers, brace heights etc.
Yes, you can get a few extra feet per second by making a few changes. But, it results in very little difference in how they shoot (hitting the target).
If you have any shooting flaws,the faster bows are often harder to be more accurate with.
If you have very good form, great release, a faster bow may help. But if you are like most of us, with flaws, speed will not help.
One more point, in spite of what you may read or hear, most bows are slower than you would expect.

[ozy clint]

i found a chrono to be very handy when working up arrows for water buffulo. it's nice to know what arrow mass is yielding the most momentum.

[legends1]

I use one to try and give answers to those that ask about my recurves.Seems most people want to know.My personal set up is 52# @ 31" 64" Safari Elite.AD shaft 530grns. 178fps.

[LeTuB]

I use to perform complete measurements (draw curve, stored energy, kinetic energy and mechanical efficiency) of the bows that I can have in hand, I don't use a shooting machine ('cause I don't have one when I hunt !!)I'm quite regular on the draw length (2 or 3 fps difference in a serie of 5)

Here is the list of what I have in stock,I have to find a mean to share the excel files :
Blacktail
Recurve Elite Take Down 60" 63# à 28"
Recurve Elite Take Down 62" 54# à 28"
Recurve Elite 62" 60# à 28"

Black Widow
Recurve TFV 58" 63# à 27"

Border
Recurve Black Douglas Take Down XP30 60" 58# à 28"
Recurve Black Douglas Take Down HEX IV 62" 55# à 28"

Bob Lee
Recurve Hunter Elite 60" 55# à 28"

Canale
Recurve custom 56" 58# à 28"

Cascade
Recurve Golden Hawk Magnum Take Down 52" 58# à 28"

Checkmate
Recurve Raven 52" 60# à 28"

Fox
Recurve Maverick 58" 58# à 28"

Great Plain
Recurve Type B 60" 55# à 28"
Recurve Swift Take Down 60" 55# à 28"

Hunter's Niche (Predator)
Recurve custom classic Take Down 60" 58# à 28"

Phoebus
Longbow Blackfeet 64" 62# à 28"
Longbow Blackfeet 63" 59# à 31"
Recurve Lonewolf 63" 57# à 29"

Robertson
Recurve Peregrine Take Down (charnière) 60" 59# à 27"
Recurve Falcon Take Down 60" 62# à 28"
Recurve Tribal Styk 60" 54# à 28"

Samick
Recurve Big Horn Take Down 62" 50# à 28"

Sullivan
Recurve Stealth Take Down 60" 55# à 28"

[lucky strike]

Mike ballanger @ 7 Lakes --archery built me a short knight r/d longbow  58" @ 51# .I'm doing 182 fps.It doesn't sound like much until you notice that my draw is 26.5 and I am pulling 46 lbs!-Arrows are 2013 with 125 points cut to 27.25"--The chrono was dead on and checked against other known speeds.

[kibok&ko]

i used to try several times with the chrono of a friend, but i'm sure the way i shoot with tne chrono is completly different with my hunting shooting when the target is alive ... so i just now put more weight in front !!!

[James on laptop]

The crony is great when you use it right.Using one expecting to get someone elses numbers on a certain bow is wrong.Too many can shoot the same bow and have a big difference in how fast the arrows are moveing.It is best used for getting YOUR numbers for the way YOU shoot.No disapointments that way and you can see what differences little changes make.

I can quote numbers from different bows all day but none should mean anything to the next person.Unless everything is shot with a machine or at least by the same person numbers mean little.I can tell you every bow I own will shoot over 200fps if I want it to and I only draw about 27" all stretched out.They all can be made to shoot slow as well.Those numbers mean nothing to anyone but myself and my own comparisons on bows I build or shoot.When someone shoots through a crony and expects to get 193fps from a BW just because someone else did in another thread or you read about it in a bow test somewhere you can expect to be disapointed because it seldom will happen.Cronys are great tools but should be used as such for your own comparisons or tuneing aids.Not to try and keep up with the next guy.     jmho

[NDTerminator]

Originally posted by George D. Stout:
pavan, the last bow I chronographed was Bear Takedown, 65# with a 1718 Graphlex arrow, shot 196fps average

Gawd, just reading the word "Graphlex" made me break out in a cold sweat.  I had one of them blow up on release from a compound in the early 80's.  When the arrow blew, so did the bow.  It was an interesting trip to the ER....  :eek:

[joevan125]

I would love to chrono some of my hunting bows just for the heck of it.

Funny thing is that one of my favorite bows to shoot is by far the slowest i own.

[Doc Pain]

Going back to George's first post, I'd like to talk about a couple of things.  First, I also owned a Jennings Arrow Star.  I also owned a T-Star hunter.  Both were good wheel bows.  Top of the line at that time.  The arrow star was so heavy that you needed a wheelbarrow to get it around in the woods. I found my chrono results to match your friends.  At that time, I shot a lot of bow leagues, both compound and traditional. I'm glad that you mentioned the Bear takedown.  This brings another good point about performance as far as speed goes.  Even with carbon and fast flight, we've changed very little in the performance of a traditional bow in the last 30 yearsas far as speed is concerned when we look at the arrow speed from your old bear takedown.  The reason that I bring this up is that in any archery write ups from the trad archery magazines on a manufacturers bow, they all include a graph page of the force draw curve and arrow speed which basically is all the same for each bow bow tested.  Now, my question is, do you think this is important or not and would it influence your purchase of a bow?

[outdooru]

One nice thing about using a chrono, regardless of the numbers on the screen, it seeing how consistent you are. If you are seeing wide number swings you instantly know that your form/anchor point is off.

[Cherokee Scout]

outdooru....you are exactly correct. The machine will show you how good your release is or is not.You can see a good release and a bad release and the shots may vary 8-10 feet per second.
As a former dealer, my experience saw that many peoples' purchase decisions are influenced by the "proclaimed" speed of the bow.
Many trad guys came over from the compound side where speed was king. The need for speed came with most of them.
When guys came into the shop with a new/used bow talking about how fast they were, we would shoot the machine. Nearly everyone shot slower than expected or claimed.
Nothing beats having the correct spine arrow and good shooting form.
I am not looking to start debate, but I will say that at 28" draw, 9 gr/lb, fingers release, most bows shoot about 175-185 or so. I have seen speeds of over 200 using light arrows, 6-7 gr/lb.