Chronographed my go to selfbow

[Traxx]

Id like to Echo Pat B's sentiments as well.

I was givin a bow when i was young,that was made by my grandfather,long before i was born.This bow had been well used by the time i got it,but it was a sure enough, Native style bow and i was damn proud of it.I took a lot of smaller game with it and a few deer with it as well..Had the internet been in existence and i read what people say nowdays,concerning bow efficiency,i would have thought that bow,was a piece of junk..I was later,givin a laminated bow made with that material,that shall not be mentioned and made by a well known manufacturer..It was a speed demon for sure,but it felt harsh in my hand and i wasnt near as accurate with it,as i was the old bow,so it never hunted..

[Stick Bender]

When I first started coming around here I made this Mohegan hickory/sinew bow , I was very proud of it and it was much better then all my previous attempts  I thought it was a rocket launcher so one day I shot it threw the Chrono & it only hit 154fps 11.5 gpp ,I was totally deflated and the guys around here told me it was plenty fast enough to kill a dear but really I thought they where being kind , never killed a dear with it but I was shooting on the side of my house and skipped a arrow off the bag and it went completely threw my thick PVC fence gate into the back yard, but it put my mind right how deadly a slow bow could be !

[bassman]

I have used a chrony for ever. Tested for guys with crossbows , rifles, shotguns, 22's, recurves, self bows, air rifles ,etc. Good tool, and a hobby unto itself.I would not be with out one.

[Badger]

 If I am testing a bow that reads say 175 fps with 10 grains for speed I will get a much lower reading when I use my hunting or target style release. Typically that would drop down into the low 160's. I draw a little shorter and hold at full draw a little longer. I also don't get off the string as fast as when testing.

[DC]

Nobody has mentioned ERR messages. The main reason I made the shooting machine in the first place was constant ERRs. Some days I could shoot ten shots in a row and get nothing but ERR. I wrote it off too my lousy form etc. I did manual in the backyard and I've got the machine set up in the shop about 100ft away. Maybe some day I'll set the machine up in the backyard and see if it was me. I think I've had one ERR since I started using the machine.

[bradsmith2010]

I have tried to make my hunting release more like my testing release,, the chrono is a good teacher,,
as far as err,, I think sometimes the light has a major effect on that, and bad release too,,
the more I used the chrono,, the more consistant my readings were and the less err,, I got,, I think it just takes some practice ,, or a shooting machine would be great too,,
   I usually get quite a few duplicate shots,, so I think I am getting better,,

[bassman]

If you bare shaft your bow, and get it shooting with  a fletched arrow ,in other words tuned ,and your form stays good while testing you should get no errors ,and your readings should be pretty consistent. And as the Badger says their are ways of jumping fps. I shoot my made bows the same as I hunt with them. Watch Dave Mead on utube . He shows ways of jumping fps with different shooting styles.Flight shooters seem to know those little tricks, and use them to their advantage.

[HH~]

Of course dynamic release is faster than a more static release. The dynamic release with seflbow can work but for repeatability in different weather conditions I would not use the it. you'll gain a little speed but by time you out 15-25yds its not enough to tout as being a plus. Just pull thru your shot and don't go full static and selfbow will do everything one needs to get out of it.

HH~

[aznboi3644]

Honestly it feels so unnatural for me to hold full draw for more than 1 second.  I just aim as I draw and pull through.  Practice practice practice.

I want to get a chrono just to map my progress with wood bows.  I know right now they aren’t any speed demons by any means but I want to start fight shooting one day so a chrono will come in handy. 

[silent sniper]

I think the chrony is a great tool to have for the bow builder. I shoot every bow i make through the chrony to get an accurate gauge of how my bows are doing and how I can improve the designs.

While I try not to get too caught up with bow speed, I still think it is a great tool to judge bow design and efficency. 

Cheers
Taylor

[bradsmith2010]

Yep,,.and keeping a log,,is great for reference,..

[Stick Bender]

One of the biggest lessons I have learned from using the Chrono is when you reached a certain thresh hold on speed for a given design any gain from there only comes in small incremental changes and if you go to far you ruin the durability of the bow , but there is no magic with bow speed there is only so much FPS in any given design & with wood bows that are under built they tend to be fast for the first 400 arrows and quickly deteriorate from there ,I disregard fresh numbers on any bow tell at least 400 arrows & then you know the true speed of the bow ! But some of my osage bows actually gained speed after setting a couple years draw weight too !

[razorsharptokill]

Great points on both sides of the issue. I have been considering curving the tips on this bow to see if I could coax a few more FPS out of it. I get this "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" voice in my head though. This bow will kill anything that I would ever hunt so yes, it is fast enough.

[artcher1]

A chronograph is a great tool for judging arrow and bow compatibility. For example, I tested a set of 6 cedar arrows, four weighed in the 480's and two weighed in at exactly 522 gr. Shooting out of a 41# Osage bow, the 480's clocked in with a 145 average speed. The two 522 gr clocked in at 167 FPS.

So, sometimes a chronograph will tell you more about your arrows than your bow...……...Art

[Badger]

A chronograph is a great tool for judging arrow and bow compatibility. For example, I tested a set of 6 cedar arrows, four weighed in the 480's and two weighed in at exactly 522 gr. Shooting out of a 41# Osage bow, the 480's clocked in with a 145 average speed. The two 522 gr clocked in at 167 FPS.

So, sometimes a chronograph will tell you more about your arrows than your bow...……...Art

   I don't think you conducted  a valid test for comparing the arrow speeds. I have never seen a heavier arrow shoot faster. You should have registered about a 5 fps difference in the arrows with the lighter being the fastest.