Lighter Arrows?

[ELK308]

I have been thinking about lightening my arrows for next year but I'm not sure that I should. I heard somewhere once that you should shoot 6 grains of arrow for every pound of draw weight that puts me at 408 grain arrow and that is what I'm shooting right now. I was wondering if I were to lighten them to 4.5 or 5 grains per pound of draw weight if I would be risking damage to my limbs.

 

[BuckSnort]

Most bows should be safe shooting an arrow that weighs 5 grains per pound.I always thought 5 grains was the lowest not 6.

 

[c3]

5 grains is the bare minium. You can shoot that or lighter, but your bow will wear out very quickly. The bushings in the cams, the limb pockets all your accessories will become rattle buckets in a short period at 5 grains per pound.

The next question is why? If it's for 3D target shoots and you are a very serious competitor, getting 285 fps at 60 lbs draw would be very useful. If you are casual 3Der or hunter, it is not worth the noise, damage and lower penetration that comes with it.

400 grains at 64 lbs and 28" draw shoots about 260 fps on most bows. This is a very comfortable hunting set up. A bit slow for serious 3D work, but if you are good at judging distance it isn't a problem.

If you are shooting for 12's then 5 grains per pound is useful, but unless you are using a magnified scope, you can't see the 12 ring and going lighter is a waste of time.

Cheers,
Pete

 

[BOHNTR]

ELK308:

408 grains of total arrow weight should be producing a fast arrow unless you're drawing low poundage. You really are not going to benefit much in speed by lowering more to 4.5/5 grains per pound. If your arrow is grouping well with broadheads, you may not want to change anything. Your arrow may be a little faster, but your bow WILL be louder and lose some effiency. Many years in the archery business has definately taught me one thing.....Speed is not everything, accuracy is! Good luck and have fun.

BOHNTR )))----------->