Is 7.6 gpp too light?

[Kenny New]

The arrow and point combination that I am getting the best flight and grouping with is a little lighter than most often recommended.

Noise is acceptable, just a bit louder than heavier arrows I have tried. Not too noisy to hunt with though. The bow also shoots fine as far as hand shock.

I tried weed whacker line inside the shaft to bring the weight up but the arrows just dont group well.

Should I really be concerned about damaging my bow or penetration on deer?

[xtrema312]

What kind of bow and what does the boyer say about it?  Some bows are ok at that weight like ILF.

[Gehrke145]

I've shot alot of arrows in that range, out of 50 lbs bows.  Never had a problem shooting through animals.

[Thebear_78]

what kind of arrows.

[legends1]

I suggest 8 gpp  I think most bowyers would agree.

[Kenny New]

xtrema312

The bow is not ILF,  it is a Bob Lee 1 piece recurve.  

I don't know what Bob and Rob would say about it, I haven't called them or checked their website.

[Stumpkiller]

Is 7.6 gpp too light?  As long as it's at least 475 grains, no.  I prefer around 600 grains.  

Then I shoot as heavy a bow as I can with any endurance.

[Bud B.]

I am finding a 7.6gpp on my 65# longbow is driving arrows like darts. A little noisy though. Still trying to find a good whitetail arrow in this range and will be looking for around 10gpp for hogs this spring. It's an old longbow from Bingham that has four layers of laminate on the limbs. Two wood layers and black fiberglass front and back. Handshock is present with that light weight.

[Kenny New]

The arrow is GT 3555 with 100 grain point and 3-5 inch feathers and a crest wrap. They weigh in at 410 grains on my scale.

My draw weight is 53.5 lbs at my 29.5" draw length.

My broadheads fly like darts and,  group dead on with field points. I am able to shoot really good groups with this setup and don't want to change it unless I am in danger or blowing a limb.

[Javi]

I believe you will find that Bob Lee will tell you no less than 8gpp if I remember correctly.. However, I would never even consider less that 10gpp for a hunting bow.. but that's just me and YMMV

[Stumpkiller]

My broadheads fly like darts . . .

I don't know anyone who hunts with darts.   :D    Just make sure they hit like arrows.    

[Night Wing]

Since the bow is a Bob Lee, call Bob Lee Archery. They will have the definitive answer.

[Thebear_78]

You could also thru a weight tube in and see if it flies any different.  I haven't found them to change spine any and you could get  around 90gr with a 3gpi tube, or 140gr with a 5gpi, and 230gr with their heaviest tubes.      I have used the 5gpi in 35/55s for a 560gr arrow and been pretty happy with them.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Javi:
I believe you will find that Bob Lee will tell you no less than 8gpp if I remember correctly.. However, I would never even consider less that 10gpp for a hunting bow.. but that's just me and YMMV

+1  

but hey, shoot whatever ya like, 7gpp, 12gpp, i really don't care, but maybe when it comes to your safety you should care?    

it's interesting that you'd first ask yer question at trad gang rather than going to the source?    

[Friend]

Seems that at least every other week, there are threads testinn the waters while exploring the lower limits.

Our equipment, our safety and especially the animals we pursue deserve far more respect.

Need for speed may never escape us and remains the underlying driver. I will accept nothing less in a set-up that pushes well above 'adequate'. Our set-up should always be based on encountering the unexpected and especially one that doesn't require a near perfect shot.

[Rob DiStefano]

well said, scott.

[creekwood]

Originally posted by Kenny New:
The arrow and point combination that I am getting the best flight and grouping with is a little lighter than most often recommended.
Should I really be concerned about damaging my bow or penetration on deer?

answer: probably

[Randy Morin]

I think you should be concerned about penetrating deer and bow/personal safety.  Do you have extra shaft length you can cut back an inch or so and add 100 grains tip weight?

Remember...a light weight object may start moving real fast but it will also come to a stop real fast also (think bone hit or angled shots).

Good luck.

[Rob DiStefano]

i think that in the long run, answers like "maybe" and "probably" are good enuf reasons to go with heavier arrows and change those iffy answers to a positive, irrefutable  "no problem!"

[Stumpkiller]

     Good to have margin.

I just picked up my meat from a whitetail doe I shot last week.  The butcher asked me "what the heck are you shooting?"  I knew I had hit the doe high, but what I thought was a "zing" high in the ribs was a shot that had passed through the spine itself.  I'm the only bowhunter using a recurve and wood arrows in his clientele.  Not a shot I would recommend, but a Stos on the front of a 630 gr arrow (11.2 gpp) went through the side of the spine in a vertebre and then another 4" down into the lung.  I couldn't pull the broadhead in through when dressing the deer so I snapped off the head inside the chest.  Now I know why it was truly stuck!  He had sawed out the vertebre with 4" of d.fir shaft through it and I left it with him to put in his "museum" to show mechanical shooters what a broadhead does.      

It collapsed, obviously, but because her head was still up I put a second arrow into the chest.  My policy is to keep shooting as long as a shot is offerred and the head is up.