fastest bow today

[Orion]

Hootie:  The definitive answer to your question (after sifting through all the responses in this thread) as to  the fastest recurve out there -- "WE DON'T KNOW."  

[Str8Arrow]

Originally posted by John Nail:
I am not good at math, but maybe one of the whizz-kids here can tell us the flight time difference 20fps would make at 25 yards?
Not trying to argue, just trying to point out the difference in modern bows is very slight, at least as far as hunting use goes.

I agree with this statement. I'm not trying to make it out to be a critical decision, but why knock someone who wants an efficient design on a bow they may pay many hundreds of dollars for? So what if they they spend a few minutes trying to make a good decision in this area? It certainly does not affect other decisions designed to increase accuracy.

I think my average shot on a deer must be in the 8-10 yards range. Accuracy just isn't a huge issue at these distances, yet if the deer moves, then penetration may be as important in some situations. A slightly more efficient bow, may give just enough extra to get to some vitals.

I think the people who are a bit misguided are the ones trying to shoot 5-6 gpp, not the ones who simply want their 800 grain arrow to fly a bit faster than it does in some inefficient designs.

[James Wrenn]

fastest recurve out there depends on how it is setup and who is doing the shooting.Spend a little time watching different guys shoot through a crony sometime.There is much more difference between what most can get from 2 shots as there is in the speed between the top ten fast bows made.Most every test shows a couple or 3 fps difference in the fast ones and it is not uncommon to see as much as 10fps difference if you ask the average guy to shoot two shots through a crony with his bow.If you want a fast bow just buy one.It will be as fast as any other you could have bought as long as you are doing the shooting.  

I would pick Border for a recurve...if I liked the way they felt and shot.It would be fast.

[S. Fillmore]

As STR8arrow said,accuracy kills nothing without any speed. My curve shoots 195 fps. That's great for a deer at 20 yards, plenty fast enough. But ask me that same question after I spend all day calling coyotes. By the time my arrow gets down range 20 yards or so, the yotes are 2-3 yards away from where they were before. Jumping the string. Very frustrating. This has happened numorous times. I think its a great question. All I know is I don't have the fastest bow.

[myshootinstinks]

I owned a chronograph for years that was used mostly for evaluating rifle loads. For awhile I chrono'ed my bows as well as anyone else's that I happened to be shooting with.  Most all bows of the same weight range were similar in speed, some a little faster like the Adcock ACS I had at that time. None were enough faster to make any appreciable difference in a hunting situation.
    I sold the chrono. I decided that if the bow shot well for me and looked pretty fast, that's good 'nuff.

[Bowwild]

My shootingstinks,
Thanks for the insight about the chrono.  If I acquired one it would be for fun and curiousity. I don't think I would use it to evaluate my bows.  However, I do tend to pick up bells and whistles that I don't need and soon lay to the side.

[John Nail]

Well, this has been an interesting thread. Just like the "old days", except everyone has been much more courteous. Ended the same also--we can't agree. I suppose that's a good thing.

[Bill Carlsen]

Just read a post by Igvivian. Long story short..he picked up an "Addiction" bow, shot it and bought it. He had this to say." The bow I tried shot smooth and fast, and felt great in the hand! I was hooked...."

I have rarely read any threads about guys getting new bows and being "amazed" by the speed. If you read thru very many of the posts on this site and others about new bows acqusitions speed of the bow is one of the qualities that is almost always mentioned.  I'm not saying speed is good or bad...but it is a big factor in what people find appealing in a bow and many of us look for it.

In the old days it was difficult to make a fast bow and maintain stability. Read some older articles about bow performance and often the "trade offs" to get a fast bow were mentioned and they were not always the most accurate bows back then, but there were exceptions. Today with better and more advanced materials, designs, etc. getting speed and accuracy does not present the problems it used to. We are fortunate that we live today where you can buy a bow the is fast or slow and is still a great shooter. I still maintain that regardless of the qualities you may seek in a bow (or arrow) accuracy and straight shooting trump everything. But, fortunately, we can now have both if we want it or need it.

[Lefty]

For me, speed does matter and again, for me, here's why:
1 fps equals 4 grains of arrow weight
2 fps equals 1 pound of draw weight
3 fps equals 1" of draw
  So when I have a bow that performs better I can increase my arrow weight, decrease my draw weight, or accommodate a shorter draw.  

  Now for some numbers that was the original question:

64" ACS CX
49@28"
417 grain arrow 192 FPS
554 grain arrow 173 FPS
625 grain arrow 164 FPS

[Chris Shelton]

Originally posted by S. Fillmore:
As STR8arrow said,accuracy kills nothing without any speed. My curve shoots 195 fps. That's great for a deer at 20 yards, plenty fast enough. But ask me that same question after I spend all day calling coyotes. By the time my arrow gets down range 20 yards or so, the yotes are 2-3 yards away from where they were before. Jumping the string. Very frustrating. This has happened numorous times. I think its a great question. All I know is I don't have the fastest bow.

GIVE UP ON SPEED.  No one is never EVER going to get fast enough to outrun a coyotes reflexes with a bow.  The speed of sound is 1500 fps as I stated in my first post.  The only way anyone is going to combat string jump or anything animal reflex related is by focusing on sound.  Having a fast bow is nothing if it is noisy.  If you have the slowest bow in the world but it is also the quietest bow in the world and you are accurate with it then there is nothing that you cannot kill.  Even the fastest compounds of today are not fast enough to outrun a regular humans reflexes, they surely cannot outrun a animals.

[Str8Arrow]

Originally posted by Chris Shelton:
GIVE UP ON SPEED.  No one is never EVER going to get fast enough to outrun a coyotes reflexes with a bow.  The speed of sound is 1500 fps as I stated in my first post.  

I think the biggest reason trad shooters want more efficient bows isn't to overcome the reaction time of an animal. It's to flatten the trajectory of their arrow (especially heavy arrows) and to increase the momentum of their arrows (especially those with low draw weight).

By the way, the speed of sound is a hair over 1100/ft/sec at sea level and decreases substantially with altitude. Over 68 degrees, it will increase a bit and will decrease a bit at lower temps. Your figure is actually around 36% faster than it really is.

[Rusty in Fla.]

My 60# Martin Vision will go 217 with a carbon arrow.It is a RD longbow though.
 
  The ad for the brown recluse shows a readout of 214.

[Chris Shelton]

Originally posted by Str8Arrow:
 

Originally posted by Chris Shelton:
GIVE UP ON SPEED.  No one is never EVER going to get fast enough to outrun a coyotes reflexes with a bow.  The speed of sound is 1500 fps as I stated in my first post.  

I think the biggest reason trad shooters want more efficient bows isn't to overcome the reaction time of an animal. It's to flatten the trajectory of their arrow (especially heavy arrows) and to increase the momentum of their arrows (especially those with low draw weight).

By the way, the speed of sound is a hair over 1100/ft/sec at sea level and decreases substantially with altitude. Over 68 degrees, it will increase a bit and will decrease a bit at lower temps. Your figure is actually around 36% faster than it really is. [/b]

I agree that a lot of shooters are looking for faster bows to compensate for rainbow trajectory's.  But it seems to me that more and more of the archers around me are trying to claim that there bow is fast enough to avoid string jump.  I like my bow as fast as it can be because of trajectory.  But I am by no means a speed freak.

I have a compound buddy that actually said to me last week that his new bicycle was fast enough that he didn't have to worry about string jump.  And he was not kidding, he actually meant it.  Maybe it is something to do with that crowd but they say some of the darnedest things because that is either what the dealer said or what they heard on tv.

And sorry about the slighty off stat, been a year since I've had physics, you are right, 1100 fps for sound.    Either way still a long way to go before the arrow gets there first . . .

[Johan van Niekerk]

Originally posted by ishoot4thrills:
I'll say it again. A bow that is capable of launching an arrow at high speed is an efficient bow in design and therefore has good cast. If that bow is sound in craftsmanship, quality, and durability then what does it hurt that it shoots with great speed? If you can get it to shoot quietly, usually with a couple of string silencers, then that speed can equate to better penetration on game with a relatively heavy arrow. And also, you can get away with shooting that fast bow at less poundage and it still be very adequate for hunting. Less draw weight usually means better form and generally easier to shoot accurately.

I agree 101%. If you've never encountered a "string jumping" animal you'll probably not understand the need for speed. I took a shot at a common duiker about 3 weeks ago, it was standing about 12 meters from me, feeding peacefully. My bow is VERY quiet and I fired a "perfect" shot...the duiker ran off a few meters, turned and doubled back ...BEFORE the arrow reached its original position! It crossed the arrows path TWICE and still was faster.  Duiker, impala and warthog will all dodge an arrow as if its barely moving...
So for me quietis KING, and accuracy is obviously important...BUT, that said...I LIKE a faster bow... Sometimes it makes the difference

[Bill Carlsen]

I once had a friend who shot a bunch of stuff with a Black Widow. One day he shot at a deer that jumped the string and he missed. He vowed that would never happen again. He went out and bough the fastest compound he could find. Long story short....with his new compound, sights, release (all the bells and whistles including super fast light weight arrows) he had a nice 6 point feeding about 15  yards away in an apple orchard. The deer was totally unalarmed and when Mark released his arrow he was surprised to it sticking in the ground after it went over the buck's back because the buck jumped the string.

The lesson is simple, speed is not going to make up for an animal's reflexes and anyone who thinks otherwise just has not hunted for too long. I look for speed in a bow because I shoot b better and also because it allows me to shoot heavier arrows thru critters more easily than bows that have less of what we used to call "cast". I see this particularly in my wife's situation where she shoots only 45# at 26" but the cast of her bow allows her to shoot a very flat arrow and she can shoot 500 grains, with much more retained energy than others shooting the same weight with lighter arrows and slower speeds and it allows her to get pass thrus with multiple blade  heads. Essentially I am saying and supporting what Lefty said.

[Chortdraw]

A friend of mine has 2 of Jack's gamemaster jets. I know one is still new in the box, at least it was the last time I saw it. They are very fast bows. He has a bad arm and very seldom shoots anymore. He was the man to beat at the shoots. Shoots guns the same way.

[SteveB]

Originally posted by Rusty in Fla.:
My 60# Martin Vision will go 217 with a carbon arrow.It is a RD longbow though.
 
  The ad for the brown recluse shows a readout of 214.

The numbers mean nothing with gpp of arrow weight and drawlength.

[Walter Mauney]

AMO Standards?????

[Turkeys Fear Me]

I always get a charge out of the "fast is good but accuracy is better" thing.  Like you can only have one or the other.  

No bow is any more or any less "accurate" than another.  All things being equal, if you do the same thing every time, your arrow is going to do the same thing every time.

Accuracy falls on the shooter and his/her ability to do the same thing every time.  Certian styles of bows make this easier to do for certain individuals, but that is still not a bow issue, it's a shooter issue.

Under controlled conditions, every bow is just as accurate as the next, regardless of the speed.

[Orion]

Turkeys, you're making too much sense.