More on speed

[bradsmith2010]

ok i made a straight stave bow shot pretty good last year,, my disclaimer is I shot by myself pulling the arrow to a piece of tape, and the hand scale I used is ok, but who knows,,

and the arrows not quite 10gpp,, but here it is,,
the bow was about 51# @ 27
I pulled it to 28 and figure about 53 at 28
it was shooting512 grain arrow 181 fps,, ok the bow was fresh,,most shots were in the high 170's,,
I did tiller the bow out to 29 1/2 but did not test it at that draw,,
the bow was holding some natural reflex after being shot in,, so I am guessing cause I cant do the math,,with 540 grain arrow maybe mid 170's,,

so I think  your straight stave bow is shooting close to what you think, but wouldnt hurt to check with another chrono,, so you can sleep at night,,

[Stick Bender]

If your getting contestant numbers with in 3 fps then I would bet your Chrono is probably ok , maybe you could find some body else that has one or a archery range that has one to test it !

[DC]

Cabelas is having a Cybersale. Free shipping and a Caldwell Chronograph for $100 Can. So I ordered one. If the two chronos agree then I can stop arguing with myself.

[Badger]

    I doubt your chrono is faulty, I suspect you have a pretty fast bow and are slightly overdrawing. This would easily account for a high number like you are getting. 180 at 10 grains at 28" is smoking fast for a self bow even with recurves and backset. I have honestly never seen a bow go past 170 if it had more than 1" set. It is also possible you may have trained yourself to crank up your release. You can add a lot of speed doing this. I do it for fun to see what I can get but when testing I have to avoid doing it. I have actually added over 20 fps using an active bow hand and pull through release. 10 fps is easy to add even if you don't realize you are doing it.

[willie]

crank up your release. You can add a lot of speed doing this

snap shooting, Steve? I will bet there is a bit more to the technique to get 20 fps gain...active bow hand....
Some of us would appreciate hearing a bit more about how the flight shooters get some extra oomph,
thanks

[Badger]

   Willie, I can't get much of a snap shoot in the flight shooting position, I think I can get a little but not near as much as I can get shooting through a chrono. It is mostly just practice and timing. You rip your fingers of the string so their is absolutely no forward creep loosing draw length. You bend your left arm and throw a left jab just as you release. Kind of like shooting from a moving car.

[willie]

I can't imagine that the left jab adds all that much to overall velocity, but I can certainty see where the jab makes sure that the string is ripped from the bowhand.

[DC]

   Willie, I can't get much of a snap shoot in the flight shooting position, I think I can get a little but not near as much as I can get shooting through a chrono. It is mostly just practice and timing. You rip your fingers of the string so their is absolutely no forward creep loosing draw length. You bend your left arm and throw a left jab just as you release. Kind of like shooting from a moving car.

So for good honest testing you just draw normally, hold for a split second and release?

PS So, what is wrong with "cranking up the release". Arrow speed is arrow speed, right? If the arrow is going 180 fps 6" from the bow it's going to go as far as 180fps will go. Unless this is a "bad release" and the arrow isn't flying cleanly?

[Badger]

DC, nothing wrong with it, just not good for testing bows, great for flight shooting though. In all honesty bow testing by hand doesn't really mean a lot unless you have really refined your testing techniques and even then it is questionable. It is great for your own knowledge but doesn't always give accurate results for others to compare to. If you are talking speed for a flight bow and not really looking for a measure of the bow then snap shooting is what you need.

[DC]

So I should make a shooting machine?

[Pappy]

Wow that is fast for sure, That is fast for a 50# bow much less a 35, you may have stumbled up on something and wished I could figure out what.
 Pappy

[Stick Bender]

Don that Caldwell is a good solid machine does it come with the L E D hoods ? They have nice soft ware for the computer also, the tournament archers at a range I go to swear buy them , thats a steel at that price !

[DC]

It'll be a week or so til I get the new chrono but I'll go out today(if the rain holds off) and try a few more tests. I'll put tape on the arrow (after I repair it) to limit my draw length and just draw and release as if I'm target shooting. I've always questioned my chrono results. I don't think my skills are up to the numbers I'm getting. You have to be able to trust your tools. To bad there isn't a convenient way to calibrate them. You would think there would be an app for that.

[DC]

OK New 374gr arrow with tape at 27 1/2",extra 1/2" to allow for the thickness of my finger, bow weighed at 37#@27". Draw slowly back til the tape hits my finger, pause, and release. 6 shot all in the mid 170's. Best of 178. I guess it's wait for the new chrono

[Badger]

  I bet your chrono is right, You might just have a barn burner there, Chronos are usually pretty accurate or way off and inconsistent. Yours sounds like it is working fine. Just for fun why don't you flight shoot that 370 grain arrow and see how far it will go. About 200 to 215 yards would correlate with your speed. I had a very fast 35# a few weeks ago but mine has about 2 1/2" reflex. I don't have a chrono anymore but it shot a 450 grain arrow over 200 yards so I know it has some speed.