you can shoot a lighter arrow or increase draw length. Having said that, speed is over-rated. It is more important that the bow fits you properly and that it is accurate. I will take a slower, perfectly placed shot over a fast miss any day.
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"It's not the size of the dog in the fight..... It's the size of the fight in the dog."
Yeh, there are a few more things. Get a good set of aftermarket strings made from BCY 8125. If you shoot a lighter weight you might consider having them made with 2 less strands. Shorten the center serving. Most are 7 to 8" long. All you really need is about 3 1/2". I like 1 1/2" under my Tied-in nockset and 2" above.
Shoot feathers instead of vanes, shoot lighter nocks on your arrows. Make sure your center serving isn't too large in diameter (nock fit can be critical). Align your cams to eliminate as much friction as possible. Better yet, get a dual cam bow rated for a higher IBO rating. There are a lot of little things that add up.
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Martin Silver Star Shooter
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Without taking stuff off the string, changing out the factory rigging, shooting lighter arrows or increasing draw weight, about the only things you can do are: Keep the axles and bearings in your cams clean and lubed. Keep your bow perfectly tuned.
Remember that bottoming out the limb bolts will not necessarily make the bow shoot faster. It could even slow your arrow speed down, due to extra friction on the axles. Bottoming out the limb bolts does not guarantee the bow will be in tiller either and an out of tiller bow will not use it's stored energy efficiently.
One extreme option which most people will disagree with is an overdraw. Popular about 10 years ago you can take in some cases as much as 3 to 4" off the arrow. This does however reduce your accuracy. Unless your using a release and have good form you may not want to consider this. I shoot a 15 year old bear first stike at 70# with peep and chrony at 292 fps. Thats good but I no longer shoot accurately beyond 45-50 yards.
Your call, but thought you should know all options!
Kem, there is absolutely no advantage to shooting an overdraw anymore. With today's thin walled aluminum arrows and carbons it's possible to even shoot arrowqs below the 5gr/lb minimum that most bow companies recommend, shooting full length arrows, light points, feathers, etc. And it's been that way for at least 5 years.
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Martin Silver Star Shooter
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Sorry BGFisher but I disagree. Thin wall = weak arrow. The shorter arrow allows more grains per inch yet provides for a stiffer arrow. Odds are an arrow of the same diameter shaft but thinner wall will go into the 5gal pail of wrecked arrows long before the shorter thicker walled arrow.
The advantage may be dimminished but for those who want speed and are willing to sacrifice accuracy a shorter arrow will always be faster.
KEM... overdraws are definately a thing of the past..
With todays light weight carbon arrows.. there's no need to shorten them any shorter than any normal length arrow.. IE 1" shorter than draw length.
I do agree that the 12 series aluminums (2212, 2312, 2412, 2512) are pretty fragile... alot of people shoot them w/ good success. I used to shoot 26" 2213s that weighed 400gr at 80# off a 4" overdraw... at a whopping 300fps back in the early 90s when this was the common belief that is what it took to obtain such speeds.
I now shoot a 60# bow at 29" draw w/ a 28" GT 22s that weight 300 gr.. and shoot about 314fps...
Yes shortening your arrow makes it stiffer.. but the advantage of an overdraw was that you could shoot a shorter arrow w/ less spine.. and still be correctly spined at the given weight. Moving the pivot point behind the wrist was detrimental to accuracy for most though... This is where the common saying "I'd rather have a slow 10 than a fast 5 any day" came to be. Today there is just no need for such contraptions.
Things that will increase speed..
1. less weight on the string... nocks, peeps, silencers, rubber tubing, ect..
2. speed nocks near the cams
3. lighter string materials like TS1 or 8125
4. more pounds
5. more draw length
6. lighter arrows
7. stiffer arrows.. if you're on the line.. go w/ the stiffer arrow.. weaker will expend energy trying to stabilize
6. tuning.. cam timing.. ect..
8. buy a Bowtech!!!
Lots of good advise and some that are just fine for shooting targets and 3D, but I'd advise caution if hunting with a set-up tweaked for speed. Some of these techniques may give you an arrow that is far less deadly with a broadhead attached.
speed up a bow
