practical arrow weight limit??

[slinkymalinky]

I've been messing around with some different arrow/point combinations and I was wondering whether there is a generally accepted practical upper limit in grains per pound for arrow weight??

On my first hunt I was shooting 470gn arrows out of my 50# Gamemaster which flew beautifully. After some bareshaft testing I've got another arrow set up properly tuned with on a stiffer spined shaft with a total weight of 610gn. At 12+ gpp the arrows still fly well but seem much less forgiving of any minor flaw in release or form... at which point instead of 'flying' they feel more like the bow is 'throwing' them.

So is there an accepted upper limit or is it just down to each bow and how it feels with different set-ups?


Cheers, Tony
PS... the reason I ask is that when I turn my attention from goats onto deer and pigs, I'd like to have the heaviest arrows that feel good in my set up (which by then should be a 60# TradTech rig anyway)

[clinton miller]

when i was cooking up a buff hunting rig i experimented with arrow weights up to 1100gr out of my 69# recurve. i had access to a chrono at the time and my momentum figures peaked with arrows at around 1000gr. beyond that momentum values went down again with more weight. however they would penetrate better than a lighter arrow of the same momentum. for example an 780gr arrow and a 1100gr arrow might have the same momentum out of the same bow. the 1100gr arrow would penetrate more because more of it's momentum is derived from it's mass and it encounters less resistance because it has less velocity.
for practical purposes, yes i think there is an upper limit. where that upper limit is is up to you. there will be a point where the trajectory is so loopy that it limits accuracy.
12gr/# is not too high though in my oppinion.

[perry]

Only you can answer this question Tony and your on the right path experimenting and asking Questions. You will find the right balance of Trajectory, Accuracy and Performance after much Trial and error to suit your requirments. Keep plugging away with different Shaft Materials, Tuning each to your Bow, you'll get there. Just bear in mind correct Arrow Spine is Critical, those heavy Arrows sound to me something else is going on if they Bareshafted OK

I have settled on around 12 Grains per Pound of Draw Weight

regards Jacko

[Fanto]

http://www.tuffhead.com/ashby_pdfs/ashb ... Arrows.pdf

the Papua New Guineans kill deer with 3000gr plus arrows from 80# approx longbows.

They stalk them in completely open plains country too. shots are therefore around 25 yards.

Its a good read. Its useful to leave behind modern man's preconceptions sometimes. After all, we ain't exactly gonna go down as the generation of the best archers in history.