razor1

I am thinking about switching to a lighter arrow for faster speed for a straighter shot at longer yards. I am just wanting so explanition on penetration and weight of the arrow. It seems to me that faster speed wouldbe greater penetration as long as the arrow was stiffenough to withstand the speed. All of the energy of the arrow flight would be behind it pushing it.Any input would be appreciated.


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MeanV2

I shoot hunting arrows weighing from 326 grains to over 500 grains depending on what I am hunting and where. The Mule Deer below was killed at 51 yards with the 326 grain arrow, out of my 60# Allegiance. I got a complete passthrough.

Dan

twildasin

Well i just switched to a lighter arrow. Im shooting a 500 spine lightspeed easton arrow with a 60Gr. tip on it! I think your slower but heavier arrow will hit a little harder at a shorter distance but the lighter faster arrow will carry more Kinetic energy farther. Im a firm believer that it all equalls out. Everyone has an opinion though. If you hit them where your suppose to you will not have any problem with any set up!

twildasin

my total arrow weight is around 310gr.

mobow

Well, you're right, but w/ the wrong thinking. Speed alone doesn't equate to penetration. A heavy arrow will actually carry more kinetic energy and momentum......BUT, today's bows are efficient enough to pull it off in most cases. Last fall, I was shooting 355 grain arrows, exactly 5 gpp. Blew through both deer I shot, no problems. That set up was producing 79 pounds of KE, more than enough to get the job done. That arrow was flying 318 fps.

I just changed over to X7 Eclipse, 2613 aluminum.....They weigh in at 490 grains, flying 282 fps, producing 86 pounds of KE. Other than the arrows, same bow. So as you can see, speed does not equate to more penetration, weight does.

A fast arrow will shoot flatter, but it's not as much as you would think. I was on a speed kick the last 2 years, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Personally, I feel if you are shooting 70 pounds, an arrow weighing between 400 and 425 grains is the perfect mix of speed and weight.

salukipv1

one thing i've found is lighter arrows are more suseptable to wind gusts etc......and while a lighter arrow will shoot flatter, I'm not sure what you mean by "straighter" The energy of a lighter arrow equals the energy of a heavier arrow, theoretically, ie as a fast light bullet equals that of a heavy slow bullet, though heavier arrows I believe shoudl penetrate deeper. You can definitely go lighter and gain some speed, you don't have to go way light or way heavy. A faster lighter arrow, ie that'll shoot flatter, now means exact yardage is less important, less misses, though wind deflection certainly is somethign to consider.

Roskoe

I don't think there's much question that, at the same KE level, a heavier arrow is going to penetrate better than a light one. But today's bows are so much faster than the recurves of the 1960's that you can often get a pass through even with afairly light arrow - at least on deer size game. And the super slim diameters of some of today's carbon arrows are giving superb penetration even out of medium (400 to 450 grain) weight arrows. Go to lighter game like antelope, and I'm looking at nocking the lightest arrow I can shoot to getbetter trajectory on the long range shots sometimes encountered with these western goats.

mobow

The highlited sentence is COMPLETELY false. A HEAVY arrow will retain it's speed and KElonger, because it has more momentum. Here's a simple way to explain it....Go outside, and find 2 small rocks. 1 of those 2, a tiny pebble, the other your average sized rock you would find on a driveway. Now throw them both, I PROMISE that you'll throw the heavier "arrow" farther.

Edited for spelling....darn typos...

twildasin

So what your saying is that if your shooting a 450 gr arrow at 270fps and i was shooting a 300 gr arrow at 320fps your arrow is gonna hit as hard if not harder at 50 yards as mine?

MeanV2

I Agree!I also think a heavy arrow carries it's KE farther. Like I said I use the setup I think is best for the conditions I expect. 40+ yards I'm going with a lighter setup because I know it has the KE to Git-R-DoneIf I know ranges will likely be shorter I like a heavier arrow with higher FOC. The Buck below was killed at 36 yardswith my 60# Guardian shooting a 500 grain FMJ with over 20% FOC. The arrow completely passed through and went another 18 to 20 yards

Dan