Wow, this is a great topic guys. Ive always been one to try to get a few extra fps out of every bow ive owned to get a better trajectory. But as you guys have pointed out, i guess it really isnt that big of an issue once you reach the 275-280 fps mark. Thanks for all the information!

Great post Rob. My personal experiences tend to mirror your own. Within the speed range you specified I have never noticed a significant difference in my sight pin setttings. Even comparing 265 fps to 285 fps I have noticed very little difference in pin gap out to about 40 yards. I seldom do shooting at 50 or farther so cannot comment on that aspect of this discussion.

What I would like to make mention to though, and somewhat related to this discussion, is the actual difference in pin setting from one individual to the next. Because of the differences in facial dimensions and the subsequent difference in peep sight location because of this and relative anchor point I have noticed a significant difference in pin gap for different individuals. To put it in plain English, I have noticed that actual pin gap can vary from individual shooter to individual shooter when they have the same arrow speed simply because of the angle created by the shooter's anchor position and peep location on the string.

Just something else to chew on.

That is incorrect. Arrow drop and trajectory are not interchangeablelike that.

"Arrow Drop" is absolutely the most useless piece of info an archer can clutter his mind with. All that does is tell you how much an arrow traveling XXX fps will fall, over XX number of yards, when shot perfectly level off a cliff. Who ever does that? Not I!

The archer launches his arrow at an upward angle, the arrow travels upward until gravity begins pulling it down and it starts to glide downward until itplops into the center of the target. That upward launch angle makes arrow drop numbers totally, completely, irrevocablymoot.

TRAJECTORY is the ticket!

When you calculate the trajectories of arrowsgoing the speeds Rob mentions at different yardages, the results will be very similar, if not identical,to his actual results.

Wow, these are great posts....

All I know is that when I entered in my bow's info into that OnTarget2 software from pinwheelsoftware.com, it showed me shooting 273 fps with 69.71 of K/E. My trajectory was really flat compared to my old worn out, blown out, PSE round wheel dual cam!

I went as far as going to a single pin sight, because I can shoot accurately out to 30 yards without having to use another sight pin.

Thanks for the info Rob and BBH...some good info by both of you..

Boy I need to get TAP......can someone who has it run these numbers and list 40 yards as the aiming point on an actual 45 yard target.
Meaning if I screw up and misjudge an actual 45yd target for 40 yards how much will each arrow drop at 45 yards.

Here are last years and this years numbers and I'm hoping to see at least an 1" or so of wiggle room on drop for a 5yd mistake on the faster arrow. (The reason I sped up for this season)

Here is my arrow selection one year to the next.....I will even match up the components for comparison sake even though I shot 4" vanes last year.

28.5" shaft @ .338 outside diameter (GT Pro22's)
1.825" vanes
.375" vane height , 3 vanes total (Duravane 3D)

312 @ 284fps (last years actual speed)
312 @ 306fps (this years actual speed)

How much leeway is that extra 22fps giving me on the 45 yard target that I undershoot by 5yds?

Rob my results have been that same as yours. I shoot two different arrows, a gold tip and beman matrix. The matrix is right around 289 fps and the gold tip around 300 fps. Havne't shot through the chrony in a long time and don't remember exact numbers but I practice with both at the same time and POI is the same for both.

Matt, my trajectorycalculator isn't dead nuts accurate - doesn't allow for drag/velocity decay - but it's good enough for a ball park figure. With a 40 yard zero and shooting at 45 yards, the 284 fps arrow will hit about 4.2" low. The 306 fps arrow will hit about 3.5" low. So, your 22 fps gained you approx .7"

Now, if you could bump the speed up to 406 fps [:-]the arrow would only hit 1.7" low at 45 yards.

edit: Just as an aside, a little extra info. Midrange trajectory for the 284 arrow is +6.0" and for the 306 arrow it's +4.9".

Thanks Aurthur, that's my point exactly, even with a 5 yard mistaken quesstimation (is that a word) there isn't a shooter alive that can hold his pin to eliminate human error to .7" on a 45 yard target.....out of a shooting machine, yes...human shooters, no.

One tip I'm trying to make with this post is that you should be shooting a comfortable poundage and adequate arrow out of your bow making you a better more accurate shooter rather than pulling poundage you might be strugglin with or an arrow underspined for your bow trying to get the magic speed or a few fps more that really means nothing other than perhaps KE....but you first have to be accurate and hit what your aiming for rather than hope you make up for errors with speed....what good is a fast bow if you struggle with it or can't hit what your aiming for because your shaking on an over poundaged bow. Or, your arrow is too light for penetration because it absorbs too much of the impact....heavier is always better.

PAB, (Frank), great point from archer to archer on pin assembly....I've seen this myself as well as the distance the sight is away from the riser....longer sights tend to be gapped differently from shorter sights.

Unlessssss you anchor at the corner of your eye

And that folks is the end of story Well done Rob