How much arrow weight is to much?

[lunchbucket]

I was wondering how do you determine the right amount of arrow weight and still maintain good arrow effiency.I am shooting a Bob Lee natural 46 pounds at 28 inches however I draw 27 inches so I am at about 43 pounds.My arrow weight is 560 grains.They seem to fly great just curious about the weight for my poundage.

[Smithhammer]

My simple answer would be, "when they no longer fly the way you want them to."

Other than that, it's hard sayin.' You're certainly not going to hurt the bow by going heavy, only by going too light.

[onewhohasfun]

13 gpp is getting up there, but perfect tune trumps every thing else in my book. A little extra weight might be a good for a #43 bow on big game.

[lunchbucket]

My big game consist of Turkey and Deer and what ever I hit when I miss. LOL......I was thinking of going to a 600 spine and reducing my point weight to lighten up the overall arrow weight.

[Smithhammer]

If you say they "fly great" as is, why do you want to lighten them up?

[lunchbucket]

I was just concerned about the arrow weight for my light poundage.

[Jake Diebolt]

Heavier arrows retain energy better, but the trajectory is affected. I would say that if the trajectory drops too fast in your hunting range you may want to lighten to get a flatter trajectory - but any arrow trajectory can be 'learned' by practicing, anyway, so I've never seen it as a concern.

[Troy Breeding]

A test I've been working on uses momentum to find the heavest arrow that most bows are capable of handling before reaching deminishing return. So far it looks like somewhere between 14.5 and 16gpp is about all most bows can handle. Anything 12gpp and up to that 14.5-16gpp range is a good arrow weight for hunting.

Troy

[drewsbow]

stay with the extra weight if they shoot good

[ron w]

Originally posted by drewsbow:
stay with the extra weight if they shoot good

That's what I would do.....if it works, don't fix it!

[slowbowjoe]

I'm shooting a very similar combination - like within a pound of draw weight, and maybe 30 grains of arrow weight. With wood arrows, correct spine, and 125 grn points, I feel good about 'em.
Have some carbons, overspined, that have 250grn. points to fly..ok...and I don't like 'em. Too point heavy for me, and the .%% spine doesn't help.
So maybe it partly depends on arrow/point/and spine balance?

[slowbowjoe]

I'm shooting a very similar combination - like within a pound of draw weight, and maybe 30 grains of arrow weight. With wood arrows, correct spine, and 125 grn points, I feel good about 'em.
Have some carbons, overspined, that have 250grn. points to fly..ok...and I don't like 'em. Too point heavy for me, and the .500 spine doesn't help.
So maybe it partly depends on arrow/point/and spine balance?

[lunchbucket]

Yea the arrows I am currently shooting are overspined so I had to load the front heavy to get my fletched and bare shafts to group together.So I am going to order some lighter spine shafts and do some experimenting.

[Shakes.602]

Once Upon A Time..... There was a Chart that told You how many Ounces pre Poundage of Limbs, then distance of Drawlength, plus Blah Blah Blah....It was rather Lenghty... Mr Lamb...Help Help Help!!!  It Escapes me now... Dang It!!  

[Shakes.602]

Remember: If ALL Else Fails, ASK the BOWYER!!

Originally posted by lunchbucket:
I was just concerned about the arrow weight for my light poundage.

If they are well tuned and you can shoot them good at your hunting ranges.....then the heavy arrow is better out of any set up, but esp out of lighter poundage bows!

Bisch

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by Smithhammer:
My simple answer would be, "when they no longer fly the way you want them to."

Other than that, it's hard sayin.' You're certainly not going to hurt the bow by going heavy, only by going too light.

That's the long and short of it. All the arrow weight in the world won't matter if you can't hit where you're aiming.

[Doug Treat]

I shoot 15 grains per pound.  Way more than most would recommend.  630 gr. arrows for a 42# bow, shooting about 143 fps. When I first started shooting that much weight it seemed really slow, but after getting used to it and figuring out trajectory, I like it and it is QUIET.  I have limited experience shooting this setup but did manage to poke my arrow 20" into an elk in '10 (see article in Oct/Nov '11 TBM).

[lunchbucket]

Thanks for all the reply's. The arrows are shooting great I was just concerned about the weight.I guess I will try them out on Turkeys and see how they like them in a couple of months.

[Friend]

There will always be someone that gets by just fine with a lighter set-up.

If you have excellent arrow flight and accurate w/i your individual hunting range, you should be golden for deer and gobs. You may find that your field performance on live critters is quite reliable.