BGfisher

blakeman,

I've been reading this post with a little humor in the back of my mind. First let me say that in your original post you say your bow is IBO at 225 fps as you shoot it. Then later you said you shoot a 375gr arrow at 62#. This is not to IBO specs. I know what IBO specs are and you can do the math doing a little bit of change and to get your bows speed at IBO specs (for your draw) you'd have to shoot a 310 gr arrow. If you did you'd probably notice a 15-20 fps gain, but only if you have nothing on the string.

Now discuss stuff on the string. Anything and everything on the string is just like adding weight to the arrow, something people don't consider when they talk about shooting 5gr/lb. A peep with a tube aligner slows things down about 8 fps. Kisser button another 3-4 fps. Brass nockset---4 fps for each one. String loop accounts for a couple. String silencers a couple. Depending on what all is on the string it can easily slow the bow down 20 fps, and this is very common with most hunting setups.

Even the material the string is made of and how many strands affects velocity. Some materials such as BCY8125 are faster than some others. Even reducing the length of center serving helps.

I'll give you some real world figures from my own bows and chrongraph. 2004 Martin SlayR (IBO rated at 325 fps). Set at 27" draw and 53# (no typo) shooting 5 gr/lb the bow was shooting 299fps. Shooting 6 gr/lb (my hunting arrows) it was shooting 284 fps. These speeds were recorded on three different chrono's so they are real.

There are a lot of tricks to gaining speed, but you really have to have a chronograph and be willing to spend a lot of time experimenting to find it. And realize that 3-4 fps here and there, paying attention to details, can mount up to 20 fps real quick.

Just for one example, at your draw and weight you could easily be shooting a Gold Tip Ultralite 500 and drop 100 gr of arrow weight. This alone would amount to between 20 and 30 fps.

Here again you have to decide what you want. A heavier arrow will assuredly make the bow more quiet and it's more toward the realm of a hunting bow. But you can go somewhere in the middle for a nice compromise.

Alpha says that speed is over rated and to a point he is correct, but it does depend on the application. And if speed wasn't an issue then we wouldn't have a need for aggressive cams. We could save ourselves a lot of wear and tear and just shoot roundwheels. So IMO speed is an issue. 90% of the people buying bows are looking for more speed, smoother draw, or just new technology. Thing is they aren't necessarily going to get more speed until they learn how.