I bought an entry level crossbow (AKA: A cheap sportsmansguide issue). It is a 180lb. recurve, simialiar to a Barrett design. It came with 2013, 15" arrows. These arrows would not clear the end of the rail. Since I plan on hunting with it, I took old 2117's and cut them to 17". This clears the rail for a broad heads later. The arrow weights are 415-435 gr total, 3" vanes.At 20 yds, the arrows sink 12" deep into a "Block" style target, on the field point section. Thier is no drop and the red dot is sighted in great. I used a bench and shooting rest made from a car scissor jack. (IE: minimumal deviation). The trigger pullis suprisingly smooth and not very much poundage (no trigger pull guage availble).
All is good.
#30 yds is another story. The arrows are traveling great from 20 toapprox. 25 yds. At 25 you can visiably see them drop. The drop is about 12". It is almost like they hit a wall.
Now here comes my questions.
Should I go with a lighter arrow, to make up some speed? Prehaps a carbon? Or should I increase the tip to a 125 gr, to increase the mass? I have heard you cannot make up for loss of kinetic with speed.
I do not plan on shooting past 30 yds, so This is my target distance.
Any suggestions?
Those are fairly heavy arrows, before you lighten them make sure you know what the manufacturer recommends, there is a minimum arrow weight for each bow.
A heavier tip will cause the arrow to drop faster.
Dropping 12" in 30 yards is fine if you know what you are looking at through your sights, seeing how your arrow is flying good at 20 yards 30 should be pretty decent too.
*edit* I am no crossbow guru, so take my info as that..
And welcome to the forums! Someone will be along soon to help..
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A bowhunter with a passion for firearms
Exocet 200
Stephen, I would stick with the 2117 arrow for the energy and sight the bow in at 25 to 27 yds, that way you will be only a few inches high at 20 and a few low at 30. Hope this helps.
I thought of sighting it in at a different distance, to compensate for the drop, but I was trying more to figure a way to allow for a flat trajec. at 30 yds, if possible. I am going to buy a chronograph so I can figure the exact kinetic energy (this gives me a reason to buy one instead of having an excuse to buy one). The arrows that came with the crossbow were 2013's, I used the 2117 because I had some old ones laying around, to start this trial with.
Arrow Drop
