Arrow Speed Question.

Graf228

FNG
Joined
May 25, 2020
Messages
29
Location
Texas
Hello all,

New to building arrows, Currently shooting a Cabelas Fortitude at 26in DL, 60lb DW and a 28in arrow. Running stardard 340 spine with 100 grain heads. Been playing around with archers advantage and all of my arrows that I "build" have a speed of about 220-235fps. I'm looking to build a higher FOC arrow as well as in the future I will be upgrading my bow to a VXR (Hopefully) with 75lb limbs. Should I be worried about speed as of right now or just build a higher FOC arrow? Looking to be hunting whitetail this season with my current set up, Next season I plan on hunting Elk In Colorado/Idaho. Any help, tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
That VXR is going to be a completely different beast from what you have now. If you are getting the VXR anytime soon I think you should wait and build arrows for that bow. They will need to be pretty stiff if you are going to shoot 75 # limbs. I'd run your current arrows until you upgrade the bow...
 
That VXR is going to be a completely different beast from what you have now. If you are getting the VXR anytime soon I think you should wait and build arrows for that bow. They will need to be pretty stiff if you are going to shoot 75 # limbs. I'd run your current arrows until you upgrade the bow...

Agree with previous poster about waiting to build new arrows if you’ll be upgrading the bow soon.

Unless the total arrow weight is extreme, 220-235 FPS certainly isn’t blazing speed by today’s standards, but it should be good enough to take Whitetails.

One word of caution about jumping to a 75lb bow - would recommended shooting it before buying. That’s quite a jump up in draw weight - heavy poundage, arch of the draw cycle, the valley and wall - all will have an impact on comfortability and ease of an individual accurately shooting the bow. Everyone’s shooting form and comfort zone are a bit different. BTW - many of today’s bows can achieve some amazing arrow speeds with a 60lb draw.

My 2 cents
 
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Same opinion as above, I shot 83 lbs last year. I'm down to around 68 this year and it is much more enjoyable shooting experience. 230 fps is deathly slow as well. I'd try to pick up a VXR in November when they go on sale. Vertix would work as well. The Traverse is probably a better bow than either of those though.
 
Do yourself a favor and move FOC down the list of things to consider when you are selecting your shafts/components. It is faddish IMO. Guys were killing animals with arrows long before FOC was a thing, and none of the guys I know who are really good at that know or care what their FOC is.
 
Do yourself a favor and move FOC down the list of things to consider when you are selecting your shafts/components. It is faddish IMO. Guys were killing animals with arrows long before FOC was a thing, and none of the guys I know who are really good at that know or care what their FOC is.

There are so many factors for an archer to get caught up in, but I wouldn't move FOC too far down the list. I think people were killing animals with heavier FOC and heavier arrows and just didn't pay attention to it as much back then. The old aluminum arrows and Thunderhead broadheads I used probably were unintentionally desirable in terms of higher FOC and overall weight. I think there's an argument that super fast and light arrows is equally faddish. All that said, I think there's a happy medium for each hunter to find out for themselves.
 
That VXR is going to be a completely different beast from what you have now. If you are getting the VXR anytime soon I think you should wait and build arrows for that bow. They will need to be pretty stiff if you are going to shoot 75 # limbs. I'd run your current arrows until you upgrade the bow...
Great, Thank you. This is what I thought as well. The current arrows I have now have been pretty good to help me get into archery.
 
Agree with previous poster about waiting to build new arrows if you’ll be upgrading the bow soon.

Unless the total arrow weight is extreme, 220-235 FPS certainly isn’t blazing speed by today’s standards, but it should be good enough to take Whitetails.

One word of caution about jumping to a 75lb bow - would recommended shooting it before buying. That’s quite a jump up in draw weight - heavy poundage, arch of the draw cycle, the valley and wall - all will have an impact on comfortability and ease of an individual accurately shooting the bow. Everyone’s shooting form and comfort zone are a bit different. BTW - many of today’s bows can achieve some amazing arrow speeds with a 60lb draw.

My 2 cents
I won't start the weight at 75lbs. I'll slowly turn it up as I get more comfortable. Also, I forgot that my bow is on the older side, almost going on 4 years old now and the speeds of the bows now are pretty quick even with me having a small DL. I'll have to play around with archers advantage and see the speeds of the VXR in 60lbs and 75lbs. If the speed isn't all that drastic, I'll more than likely go to 70lb limbs or just stick with my 60lb weight. My thought process behind going to the 75lb limbs is with my DL being only 26in, I would want the higher poundage for a faster arrow with a higher FOC. But I could be totally wrong on that.
 
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Same opinion as above, I shot 83 lbs last year. I'm down to around 68 this year and it is much more enjoyable shooting experience. 230 fps is deathly slow as well. I'd try to pick up a VXR in November when they go on sale. Vertix would work as well. The Traverse is probably a better bow than either of those though.
I thought the same thing about the speed! I'm playing around with Archers advantage right now, VXR 28 with the 60lb limbs and same arrows is 40FPS faster. sitting at roughly 268-270FPS. This makes me feel a lot better that I won't be lobbing lawn darts at Elk and White tail. What is normally the sale price? I assume it would be different everywhere, But have you seen any patterns when it comes to the sale?
 
There are so many factors for an archer to get caught up in, but I wouldn't move FOC too far down the list. I think people were killing animals with heavier FOC and heavier arrows and just didn't pay attention to it as much back then. The old aluminum arrows and Thunderhead broadheads I used probably were unintentionally desirable in terms of higher FOC and overall weight. I think there's an argument that super fast and light arrows is equally faddish. All that said, I think there's a happy medium for each hunter to find out for themselves.
I like the Idea of a higher FOC arrow due to my draw length being only 26 inches, DO you think an FOC of 12-15% is a happy medium?
 
Hello all,

New to building arrows, Currently shooting a Cabelas Fortitude at 26in DL, 60lb DW and a 28in arrow. Running stardard 340 spine with 100 grain heads. Been playing around with archers advantage and all of my arrows that I "build" have a speed of about 220-235fps. I'm looking to build a higher FOC arrow as well as in the future I will be upgrading my bow to a VXR (Hopefully) with 75lb limbs. Should I be worried about speed as of right now or just build a higher FOC arrow? Looking to be hunting whitetail this season with my current set up, Next season I plan on hunting Elk In Colorado/Idaho. Any help, tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
That’s a huge jump in draw weight. 220-235 is a large range for speed and really slow for 60lbs, sure your chronograph is working? I shoot a Triax at 62lbs with 475gr total arrow weight around 265fps. I know built 525gr arrows with 14% FOC and bumped the bow to 70lbs and it’s running 266fps with a 28.5” dl

I would find a bow you like, at a draw weight you can pull in all Hunting positions (sitting kneeling etc) and then get your arrows. Keep in mind, the more weight you put up front, the stiffer you’re arrow shaft has to be, which increases overall weight substantially. And remember 70lbs at 70° is a lot different then 70lbs at 10° and cold stiff muscles that have been sitting for 3-4hrs.
 
That’s a huge jump in draw weight. 220-235 is a large range for speed and really slow for 60lbs, sure your chronograph is working? I shoot a Triax at 62lbs with 475gr total arrow weight around 265fps. I know built 525gr arrows with 14% FOC and bumped the bow to 70lbs and it’s running 266fps with a 28.5” dl

I would find a bow you like, at a draw weight you can pull in all Hunting positions (sitting kneeling etc) and then get your arrows. Keep in mind, the more weight you put up front, the stiffer you’re arrow shaft has to be, which increases overall weight substantially. And remember 70lbs at 70° is a lot different then 70lbs at 10° and cold stiff muscles that have been sitting for 3-4hrs.
I haven't actually took my chronograph out to test actual FPS, This is all off of Archers Advantage using my exact specs and arrows. I didn't even think about the different positions I could be in when shooting or factoring in the cold. I might go with a happy medium then for draw weight around the 65-70 mark after shooting that weight in shop first.
 
The old aluminum arrows and Thunderhead broadheads I used probably were unintentionally desirable in terms of higher FOC and overall weight.

They would definitely have been desirable in overall weight, but FOC would have been abysmal with the heavy aluminum shafts. The heavier the overall shaft, the lower the FOC will be unless you're shooting 300gr BH's or super heavy inserts.
 
Just for reference, I have a Mathews Z2 shooting 235fps that zips thru deer and pigs easily. Never shot an elk with it. I had a Drenalin for years and years that was even slower. I killed several large African animals with it. I used Slick Trick standards each time.

I am a fan of medium weight arrows and FOC, but don't over think it. An arrow that flies true and a sharp quality broadhead are most important.
 
I like the Idea of a higher FOC arrow due to my draw length being only 26 inches, DO you think an FOC of 12-15% is a happy medium?
I think you'd have to see what flies well for you based on your goals. So many threads on here with input from really knowledgeable people. I went from a 400 gr arrow and 9% FOC to this year shooting 490 gr with 16% FOC and I am very pleased with the flight and benefits of better penetration. I tried 520 grain and it was a drastic drop at 30 yards and out, so I liked the 490 as the happy medium that worked for me. That's a 28" arrow and about 62 pound draw weight. Gotta take it all in and do what works best for you and for the game you're pursuing. Good luck!
 
They would definitely have been desirable in overall weight, but FOC would have been abysmal with the heavy aluminum shafts. The heavier the overall shaft, the lower the FOC will be unless you're shooting 300gr BH's or super heavy inserts.
Yes, good clarification! I can safely say I wasn't using a 300 gr BH. ha!
 
If you are just going for speed then, for me anywya, at a short draw length I would rather pull a 65-70lb speed bow like the Hoyt Turbo than a 75lb VXR.
 
I like the Idea of a higher FOC arrow due to my draw length being only 26 inches, DO you think an FOC of 12-15% is a happy medium?
I think 12-14 is plenty es
I haven't actually took my chronograph out to test actual FPS, This is all off of Archers Advantage using my exact specs and arrows. I didn't even think about the different positions I could be in when shooting or factoring in the cold. I might go with a happy medium then for draw weight around the 65-70 mark after shooting that weight in shop first.
Is got a ton of bow at 62lbs my first year, was feeling great, dead on out to 60yds. Long story short, after 4-6hrs in a tree stand at 10-15 degrees, sitting down, I realized it took everything I had and the hand of God to get my bow back. I changed my practice shooting after that. I shoot kneeling, twisted, sitting on a bucket and of course standing. Do yourself a favor and practice as you’ll hunt! That means face mask, gloves etc it will boost your confidence big time and make you safer and less distracted in the trees! Don’t learn the hard way like I did 🍻
 
If you are just going for speed then, for me anywya, at a short draw length I would rather pull a 65-70lb speed bow like the Hoyt Turbo than a 75lb VXR.
I’m not going specifically for speed, I want a higher FOC arrow with a decent speed so I’m not lobbing arrows at an elk.
 
I thought the same thing about the speed! I'm playing around with Archers advantage right now, VXR 28 with the 60lb limbs and same arrows is 40FPS faster. sitting at roughly 268-270FPS. This makes me feel a lot better that I won't be lobbing lawn darts at Elk and White tail. What is normally the sale price? I assume it would be different everywhere, But have you seen any patterns when it comes to the sale?
I bought mine for 1100, the 28 you can grab for a grand. As I said before if your set on that bow you can expect a significant drop in November. If it were me I'd pick up a used Traverse now. I think that is the best bow Mathews ever produced. Longer ATA, and really good let off options.
 
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