is my bow slow?

[Scott Barr]

I agree with Charlie.  If your arrows "snap on a little tight" this is far more likely to be a culprit with your decline in FPS.  More importantly it will also affect accuracy.  Just as others experience with a SBD string, I usually gain about 4 fps with Allen Shafer strings. And he makes them and mails them out only one or two days after ordering. If you have quiet and accurate, you have two pieces that are more important than fps IMO.

[LBR]

Roy's bows aren't touted as the fastest, but they generally aren't slouches either.

How much difference the string makes will depend on what you are comparing.  First thing I'd do is re-serve the string you have for a proper nock fit, then check the advice I suggested earlier with your release.  Simple trick, big results.

Tight nocks can be a real pain, rob you of performance, add noise, make tuning more difficult, etc.

[Cootling]

Chronographs can vary quite a bit.  It's best to take numbers from a single chronograph with a grain of salt.

[old_goat2]

I'd say that's a bit slow for 10gpp out of a recurve, are you sure you were getting a good reading from your Chrono? If you stand too close they will read slow. I know that from experience, had to break out the instructions, lol. Make sure your standing more than an arrow length away from it.

[el greco]

Yes it is slow.

[Ray Johnson]

I have already ordered an SBD string but will reserve the string in the bow tonight.I can go to the archery shop fir a chrono reading when I am off work on Wed.

I checked my nocks last night to see if the arrow would come off with a gentle tap and it wouldn't.It would not come off with a hard tap.lol. That is part of the problem,I am sure.

[tenbrook]

No.  That bow should be faster then that IMO.

Don't take this the wrong way but I would guess that your release is probably the culprit.

Here is a cut and paste from Rod Jenkins:

SHOOTING TIPS :
"Never Stop Pulling"
By - Rod Jenkins

"Want to pickup 6-12 FPS at the same weight your currently drawing,
without buying a new bow?

Want to become much more consistent with your
shooting?

It's easy - learn to never stop pulling!


By far, the biggest form flaw I see with a majority of traditional archers
is "they stop pulling"!

Don' believe that? Break out the video cam and
shoot some footage of yourself, as well as your pals. Playback in
slow-mo and at the moment of release, you'll see the draw hand come
forward, often losing 1-2'' of draw before the fingers clear the
string, and often the fingers are getting scrubbed by string in the
process. Ever wonder why guys are buying thicker gloves and tabs?

Pulling in an archery shot is a 3 phase affair.

(1) Excessive pulling to anchor.

(2) Balanced pulling at anchor.

(3) Increased pulling (expansion) to shot conclusion.


No doubt it's a little more work to never stop pulling, but the dividends
are well worth the effort, and face it " guys shooting longbows and
recurves weren't looking for the easiest way to begin with"

[Traditional-Archer]

There is so much to to the equation than just 10 Grains Per Pound. That bow is plenty fast for most game animals. Then you get into big boned animals, it would be a challenge for that setup. Just my opinion

TA

[Ray Johnson]

Ten brook,I know what you are saying about the release but I went from over 170fps with my BW recurve to 157fps with my new longbow.That is probably not a release problem.I'm not saying that my release is great but that losing about 12-15fps going from a recurve to a longbow is a lot of speed loss and I'm hoping the nock fit is the problem.I will know Wednsday.

[Ray Johnson]

I'm posting from my phone.For some reason I keep double posting.Sorry.

[Friend]

From the numerous reports viewed over the years, approximately 170 fps @ 10 gpp is a reasonable number on paper. My own testings seem to always be much less.

The speed or lack of likley effects the mind far more than the actual performance. A ratioanlized slow arrow does not impart a slow death.

[Sixby]

The speed is really slow but the reason is not evident. The question o whether or not the bow is slow does not come with enough info to accurately determine a correct answer. For instance what do you have for a string and on the string? How far are you pulling the arrow (really)? How if the nock fit to the string? How close is the average of your shots( determines consistency and perhaps quality of release}

With the reputation of Roy Hall as a bow builder I suspect that the bow has good speed but other factors are hindering the speed.

God bless, Steve

[LBR]

I checked my nocks last night to see if the arrow would come off with a gentle tap and it wouldn't.It would not come off with a hard tap.lol. That is part of the problem,I am sure.  

Yep.  How does the nock fit compare with the nock fit on your BW?

[slowbowjoe]

Let us know how she shoots when you get the nocks fitting better!

[Bjorn]

LBR asked about your release. That's the biggest speed robber there is. The difference between a pull through release and simply opening your fingers can be 20 fps.    

[T Folts]

I'm getting 185 fps with 10.2 gpp.

[ishoot4thrills]

What Sixby said in his last post.....

I draw relatively short so I get robbed of speed because of that reason. But, I'm plenty happy with my bow's performance, see below in my signature.

[Ray Johnson]

I reserved my string a little bit ago. I haven't shot it yet.I worked 12 hrs today and 12 tomorrow then three days off.I hope to check my speed again Wed.The nock fit on my BW was not as tight as it is on my longbow.I'm not sure what string is on it now.It is what came with the bow.It is fast flight I guess.I hope to get the SBD string in the mail in a couple weeks.Until then I will use what I have.If I could get 165 -170,I would be a happy camper.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

That is fast, for a  slow bow.               :p

[trubltrubl]

If you are a bowhunter you should only be concerned with accuracy AND  adequate kinetic energy...both....enough of both to take game...Heck I don't even measure the speed of any of my bows....I shot a moose two weeks ago with a 53# at 26" bowlength 60" (Bear takedown)...arrow weighed 600 grains....moose did not even travel 75 yards before going down...I bet that arrow was not going any faster than 160 fps...just guessing...I shoot 600 grains or more with all my bows...