Bow weight for longer distances
- Thread starter inthemiddle
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Riceburner
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With sights and typical conditions? You don't "need" more than about 30-40lbs draw, heck 20lb longbows can reach that distance, (ok, they'll be pointing skywards to do it... 
).
It depends also on what you'd accept as 'good level of accuracy'. I was perfectly happy with a 35lb wooden riser'd bow at 100yds, and while I wasn't shooting 6 gold ends repeatedly, I wasn't far off getting one on occasion.
All the extra power will give you is a flatter trajectory (possibly at the expense of less accuracy tbh - the heavier a bow is the harder it is to hold at full draw on target until you release).
).It depends also on what you'd accept as 'good level of accuracy'. I was perfectly happy with a 35lb wooden riser'd bow at 100yds, and while I wasn't shooting 6 gold ends repeatedly, I wasn't far off getting one on occasion.
All the extra power will give you is a flatter trajectory (possibly at the expense of less accuracy tbh - the heavier a bow is the harder it is to hold at full draw on target until you release).
inthemiddle
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I'm talking competitive archery levels of accuracy ie MB level etc.With sights and typical conditions? You don't "need" more than about 30-40lbs draw, heck 20lb longbows can reach that distance, (ok, they'll be pointing skywards to do it...
It depends also on what you'd accept as 'good level of accuracy'. I was perfectly happy with a 35lb wooden riser'd bow at 100yds, and while I wasn't shooting 6 gold ends repeatedly, I wasn't far off getting one on occasion.
All the extra power will give you is a flatter trajectory (possibly at the expense of less accuracy tbh - the heavier a bow is the harder it is to hold at full draw on target until you release).
I was getting h'cap low 30s (recurve between BM and MB) with 36# OTF and ACEs (lightest poss.). Lower # possible of course, but the arrows would take a more scenic route (higher trajectory, slower, longer time in flight) and so more susceptible to wind. Contrarywise, higher # would be flatter, faster, quicker. Do the calcs because poundage vs. arrow speed is not a linear relationship. I.e. a lot more # won't get you the same increase in arrow speed.
steve
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A young woman at my club regularly achieves good scores at 100 yards shooting 30lbs.
I think if you want to be MB or over and competitive, ie really competitive, you want to be shooting with the sight pin on the target at 90m with the sight not reversed, ie between riser and string. You will also probably be shooting carbon or AC arrows. This said an average face with a Med release and a 28" draw length will probably reach the target at about 36lb. A shorter face more and a longer face less. But there are so many variables
Shooting high draw weight has a number of advantages if you train to hold it.
inthemiddle
Active member
Yeah I'm a short face for sure and one of the reasons I went compound years ago. Do really expensive limbs help?I think if you want to be MB or over and competitive, ie really competitive, you want to be shooting with the sight pin on the target at 90m with the sight not reversed, ie between riser and string. You will also probably be shooting carbon or AC arrows. This said an average face with a Med release and a 28" draw length will probably reach the target at about 36lb. A shorter face more and a longer face less. But there are so many variables
Shooting high draw weight has a number of advantages if you train to hold it.
Yes, they make you feel better when you break or loose arrows.
Read fast not expensive and yes they help.
I shoot Uukha UX100 38# with ACE arrows and this combo made a huge difference to sight marks, however even buying them second hand they're not cheap.
inthemiddle
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so what # do you have on your fingers? No fussed about the cost. I'll sell my body, all those 50p's add up
inthemiddle
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This is well worth a watch
inthemiddle
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Thanks for this. I have been experimenting with shelf tabs. They take a bit of getting used to but as you say they do help...a lot
It's deffo a lot cheaper than buying new gear and potentially over bowing myself too.Interesting comparison, however assuming like for like draw weight you could actually drop a few pounds with the uukha limbs and still get the same performance as the other manufacturers limbs so effectively you would be working less.
ATM with the SX+ 70/36 limbs I have dropped 4lb's in holding draw weight 37lb (getting older and not shooting so much) yet using same arrows still getting the same arrow tune and sight mark (as my old uukha limbs XX 70/36 @ 41lb) and lasting a full round with higher scores as I am in more control.
I also know of a top archer that has done the same dropping just the marked limb weight by 2lb and still benefiting from greater arrow speed but again in more control of the shot and not punished so much if they miss a days training or reduce daily arrow counts here and there.
It is about time we started to benefit from all this technology and the latest magic materials.
From my experience in terms of speed etc I would think the SX50's are no more than most archers need, so cost not an issue as they are a lot cheaper.
I also agree about the tab, too many archers do not anchor under the jaw and the distance from the eye to the hand is reduced because of this resulting in poor sight marks.
inthemiddle
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Thanks for the input. There has to be a sweet spot on price/performance. The SX50's fit into a more appealing budget for sure. I'm tempted to go for 36/70's as my draw length is just shy of 29". Opinions on bow length for my draw length appreciated
inthemiddle
Active member
cool 68"it is then
Just on that "doing the calcs" bit - If you know your time of flight, you can calculate the fps of your bow.
I spent a fun 30mins recording my shooting at 70m (iPhone voice recorder sitting on the shooting line) and working out my time of flight (load the soundfile into Audacity and count the ms between the "twang" of release and the "thunk" as it hits the target. Then subtract 212ms for the time the thunk takes to travel back to the phone).
Then load the TOF into a ballistics calculator and it will tell you the launch velocity. I used THIS one:
Projectile Motion CalculatorUse our projectile motion calculator to analyse a projectile in parabolic motion.
www.omnicalculator.com
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With the TOF, distance=70m and the height difference = zero (no projectile drop, gold on target is about the same height as arrow release height), that's all the calculator needs. My draw weight = 34lbs, and release velocity = 180fps.
Assuming each additional lb on the draw weight gives an extra 2.4fps, I worked out that going from 34lbs to 42lbs would increase my fps to ~200fps (and that's without allowing for the heavier/stiffer arrows I might need), and the TOF difference would be <10%
Since it would be a massive effort in training for me to go from 34lbs to 42lbs, I have come to the conclusion that I'm pretty happy at 34lbs, thanks.