Arrow speed?

[JamesKerr]

I am curious what is an average speed for an aggressive D/R longbow with an arrow that weighs 11 gpp? One of my bows is shooting 171 fps and another one with similar design is shooting 154 fps. Can limb materials make this much of a difference?

[30coupe]

I'm not quite at 11 gpp with my Kanati, 10.32 gpp, but I got an average of 175 fps with it the other day. I thought that was great for a 46# bow and 10+ gpp. The Kanati has Actionboo limbs under clear glass. I think limb material can make quite a difference as can limb design.

Your 171 fps sounds pretty darn good to me. I always thought the Kanati was pretty quick. Now that I have a chronograph, I have confirmed that. I was drawing 28" and using a cordovan tab, but my shots were very consistent speed-wise. In fact, when I shot my RER XR, I think the first three shots were exactly the same speed, and it never varied more than 2 fps.

My first couple of shots with the Kanati were 171 fps, but I hadn't warmed up at all first, so I probably drew short on those. Once I warmed up, the shots were again within 2 fps.

[Flying Dutchman]

According to the tests of Pete Ward The Caribow Peregrine delivers 178 fps at 11 GPP (with a 10 strands string)So I think you're smokin' fast!
I don't think limb materials make much difference, but a different design sure does!

[ishoot4thrills]

My specs are in my signature below. 11.3 gpp and wool puff string silencers. I have a relatively short draw length. Makes a big difference.

[Nativestranger]

Originally posted by JamesKerr:
I am curious what is an average speed for an aggressive D/R longbow with an arrow that weighs 11 gpp? One of my bows is shooting 171 fps and another one with similar design is shooting 154 fps. Can limb materials make this much of a difference?

Which bows are they?

[gringol]

I've only chrono'd a couple of bows, but they were aggressive R/D bows and all shot between 165 and 175 with arrows between 9 and 12 gpp.

[JamesKerr]

Nativestranger the one that is faster is a tomahawk diamond series ss and the other is a tomahawk legacy series

[JAG]

WHY?  Worry about speed, that is.  Worry about where the arrow hits, that is of greater importance.
Just an old dinasouar thinking out loud!

[ishoot4thrills]

Originally posted by JAG:
WHY?  Worry about speed, that is.  Worry about where the arrow hits, that is of greater importance.
Just an old dinasouar thinking out loud!

He said he was just CURIOUS, not worried about it.

Why do some get bent out of shape when someone mentions the word speed? Nothing wrong with a fast bow, is there? One doesn't have to shoot a light arrow in a fast bow. A fast bow also shoots a heavy arrow with more authority than a slower, less efficient bow.

Just sayin'.

[JAG]

Not bent out of shape.  Just curious as to why some folks are curious so much about speed!
Like I said just an old dinasouar thinking out loud.  If I hurt your feelings, my apologies!!(can't spell either)
Johnny/JAG

[Andy Cooper]

Arrow speed interests me, just as does bullet speed. I have a chrony, so I play with it. However, I don't ever remember even contemplating either arrow speed or bullet speed when game was in sight. Accuracy interests me waaaaay more than does speed. One thing I've found about chronographing arrows, though, is that tiny variations in form and release can make huge velocity differences.

[Sixby]

Anymore unless a bow is shot through a machine with no human error involved and with really good artifical lighting and preferably double chronograph from 4 ft. I pay not attention to any speed anyone mentions. There are as Andy says , so many variables/ human, lighting,. ect that its almost useless even is one person is doing the testing and doing his best/ The 171 sounds good, the other not great but good nuff to hunt with/

God bless you all, Steve

[JamesKerr]

No offense taken guys I am just curious as both of these bows are toted as being high performance bows and one is quite a bit faster than the other. My take on speed is that it's not the most important thing at all but when you can pick up two different bows and shoot them equally well why not shoot the faster one.

[Nativestranger]

Originally posted by Flying Dutchman:
According to the tests of Pete Ward The Caribow Peregrine delivers 178 fps at 11 GPP (with a 10 strands string)So I thaink you're smokin' fast!
I don't think limb materials make much difference, but a different design sure does!

178 is really good for 11gpp. Does the Peregrine have carbon laminates in the limbs?

[Flying Dutchman]

No, Peregrines have a limb core made of action boo.

[ishoot4thrills]

Originally posted by JAG:
Not bent out of shape.  Just curious as to why some folks are curious so much about speed!
Like I said just an old dinasouar thinking out loud.  If I hurt your feelings, my apologies!!(can't spell either)
Johnny/JAG

No hurt feelings here. Okay, maybe you're not bent out of shape, so my apologies there.

Originally you said "worried about speed" instead of "curious about speed". Big difference. I just don't think that when people talk about speed in a trad bow that they're worried about it, just interested or curious about it.      

[Hoyt]

The interesting thing to me about speed posts. There's just about as many or maybe more posts about deer jumping the string and being quicker than Superman. Then about as many or more about how fast your bow is doesn't really matter.

I would think bow speed matters very much if you deer hunt. It does to me.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Can limb materials make this much of a difference?  

James,

To answer your questions without getting off on a tangent. There is no average speed for an aggressive R/D longbow, and limb material is just one part of the equation.

The shape of the limb typically dictates energy storage capability. The type of materials used in the limb can effect energy storage too in some cases, and will effect the mass weight of the limb.

There are  lot of factors involved that dictate how much of the stored energy gets transferred to the arrow shaft.

You can have two bows at identical draw weights with "aggressive" looking reflex to the limbs that easily shoot 20 fps difference. actually you don't need a chrono to see the difference either.  just step back to 30 - 40 yards and see which arrow is still in the target, and which one is in the dirt..... There are many archery hunters that prefer a flat trajectory that increases their accuracy at longer yardage.

But Of course..... everyone knows "Speed doesn't matter"     :rolleyes:

[duncan idaho]

"But Of course..... everyone knows "Speed doesn't matter"

LOL...good quote

[FarmerMarley]

I don;t have a chronograph and have never used one, but I do care about speed. I care most about accuracy and lethality in hunting situations. But as it turns out speed does have an influence on that. I like to shoot really heavy arrows and I shoot light poundage bows...the difference between a faster bow and a slower bow really effects where my arrows hit and what I can get away with in terms of high GPP.

I think about it as efficiency (which is something I like). If I am going to be pulling 45 lbs either way of course I want a bow that is going to do MORE with the 45lbs then less. I really don't want to be shooting a bow that is heavier unless I'm actually getting more energy going where I want it.