I was telling my dad about the new HCA Speed Pro and how unbelievably fast it can fling arrows and he brought up a question that I really wasnt able to answer.
He asked if a bow shooting that fast would have less accuracy??
Now my Martin Bengal doesnt shoot over 260 fps but mostly because i have a 25" draw length right now....
so my questio not you is will more speed mean any less accuracy??
In some cases, yes. Speed normally means less forgiving, but bow compainies are making huge strides in that department. Really fast flying arrows generally mean the archer has to have repeatable, and good, form. Any little thing done wrong will be amplified.
BUT, there is an aweful lot more that goes into that equation than speed alone. Arrow quality and proper spine are a major variable as well. I don't personally feel speed is as much a hinderance as it was say.....5 years ago.
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In some cases, yes. Speed normally means less forgiving, but bow compainies are making huge strides in that department. Really fast flying arrows generally mean the archer has to have repeatable, and good, form. Any little thing done wrong will be amplified.
BUT, there is an aweful lot more that goes into that equation than speed alone. Arrow quality and proper spine are a major variable as well. I don't personally feel speed is as much a hinderance as it was say.....5 years ago.
I might agree with this completely if you had stated 15 years ago instead of 5,nothing has really changed in the last 5 years.Nothing substantial anyways.15 years ago,speed was achieved with hatchet cams and low braces.Nowadays,we have aggressive cams with high refex but for the most part,decent braces but imo,the high reflex offset that some.
The main thing that is a concern with speed is forgiveness,not just in the bow but in arrow flight.Extreme speeds usually mean light arrows which are much less forgiving to outside factors such as wind and deflections.They also require perfect form for broadhead flight.Torque will cause you nightmares in tuning a really fast setup.
I know one thing though, I'm going to try a speed setup next year with my Elite GTO. I'm going to shoot the Victory VForce HV's. They are similar to a speed pro. It will have me at about 5gpp, maybe just a FRACTION under. At 60, 28.75" draw, and a 296ish grain arrow, I should be in the 330's. In the 70ft/lb region, as far as KE goes.
Ballistically (once the arrow leaves the bow), the less time gravity and wind have to act upon the arrow the better. A 400 grain arrow @ 260fps will drift and drop more than the same arrow @ 300fps.
Gravity is constant. What combo of arrow weight/speed that would yield the least drift over a particular distance I have no idea- a lighter arrow sheds velocity faster rate so at some range, will be more influenced by drift than the heavier/slower arrow.
As for the accurate bow, accuracy is only another name for consistancy. So mechanically, shot to shot consistant velocity and harmonics should deliver the same arrow to the same spot time after time.
What screws it up is that bows are held by humans and we are variable.
A 400 grain arrow @ 260fps will drift and drop more than the same arrow @ 300fps.
Yes. And a 400 grain arrow @ 260fps will drift and drop more thana 500 grainarrow at the same velocity.
It sounded better when I said it in my head.
At any rate, what you say is true but I think still leaves the question open for discussion. The faster arrow does have the advantage in making the range estimation a little less critical. Heavier arrows have other advantages.
The fear is that a light arrow, especially with a fixed broadhead, may be less stable, end up pointed a little sideways, and get steered off line by the broadhead.
Take a ridiculous case - even those these arguments never convince anybody - throw bowlingballs at the deer, no danger of "planing", no drift, gravityon the other hand ...
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Velocity is reach, Momentum is penetration, KE is having both at once.
I would agree with what some have said in the past, but today speed does NOT necessarily mean less accuracy. Let's look at the Speed Pro and compare it to the Ross Cardiac for the sake of argument. If you were to get perfectly spined arrows for both (which would most likely be different arrows because the Speed Pro would require a bit of a stiffer shaft), the Speed Pro would shoot an arrow 25 FPS faster without a decrease in brace height, without an increase in draw weight,and without a decrease in arrow weight. In fact the Speed Pro arrows may be slightly heavier. So, all things being equal there is nothing that would decrease the forgiveness of the bow. Now that speed has to come from somewhere, so the draw force curve would be much more aggressive. If you can handle the stiffer draw, even in cold weather, the Speed Pro offers a speed advantage.
Less accurate, not really. If you had perfect form it really wouldn't matter. The problem is in order to get the speed you have to have trade offs that make the bow a little more difficult to shoot well. The biggest thing I see on the bows of the past 5 years or so is the amount reflex in the risers. This makes it a bit harder to shoot well because it is easier to torque the bow when you shoot it.
Paul
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Let's look at the Speed Pro and compare it to the Ross Cardiac for the sake of argument. If you were to get perfectly spined arrows for both (which would most likely be different arrows because the Speed Pro would require a bit of a stiffer shaft), the Speed Pro would shoot an arrow 25 FPS faster without a decrease in brace height, without an increase in draw weight, and without a decrease in arrow weight. In fact the Speed Pro arrows may be slightly heavier. So, all things being equal there is nothing that would decrease the forgiveness of the bow. Now that speed has to come from somewhere, so the draw force curve would be much more aggressive. If you can handle the stiffer draw, even in cold weather, the Speed Pro offers a speed advantage.
Oh, but there IS something that increases or decreases the forgiveness and accuracy of a bow... any bow... and it goes back to what Urban Redneck said about the human factor. The grip.
The grip is the only part of the bow that the shooter is in direct contact with while shooting - assuming he's a release shooter. If the grip isn't comfortable and allow for consistent hand placement, then the bow is not going to be accurate, consistent or forgiving for that shooter. What does it matter if Bow 'A' shoots 30 fps faster than Bow 'B' if Bow 'A' has a grip that won't let you put two arrows into the same zip code?
If you're lucky and the faster bow has a grip your hand likes, or has an available aftermarket grip you like, then you're in business. If not, you're far better off with the bow that has a grip that fits, even though it shoots slower.
Fit and comfort should be the first two points on your list of priorities when choosing a bow. Speed? It should never be higher than #3... unless you plan only to use it to win Fastest Bow competitions.
More speed = Less Accuracy???
