short draw chrono results

[bradsmith2010]

   ok this is a sinew bow I started in 2015 and did shoot it at 20 inches of draw,, 56 inch bow
it was about 50#@ 20 inches and would shoot a 498 grain arrow 143fps
then at 22 inches and 53# with dacron string 153 fps,, and with fast flight at that draw 158 fps,,
56# at 23 inches and 166 fps with same arrow,,
I tillered this bow out to 26 inches and it shot a 500 grain arrow 180 fps(9.09gpp) ,, it was 55#@26 inches,, this was in 2017 that I re tested,, but I have found once a sinew bow settles in, it usually shoots about the same unless you put it in front of the swamp cooler or it gets rained on,,  
   some of the 46 inch bows I exerimented with shot really well at the short draws,, so can see why some were used for short range bufflalo hunts and such,, I could get a hunting weight arrow to go 170 or 180,, enough to kill a buffalo with less than 60# draw,, I didnt experiment with lighter weights much, but feel like a 40# 25 inch draw bow could easily shoot a 400 grain arrow 160 fps,, probaly more with sinew and reflex,, I might try that next time,, I just hate it when people get discouraged with their(short draw),, a Sioux warrior would have said your draw was to long at 25 inches, isnt it all relative,,
     I will add shortly after that last test I was so happy with,, the sinew fell off that bow,,well the bow was not broken,, so I bent recurves into it and was going to sinew it again,, still sittling there waiting for me,, it will be interesting to see if the recurved version will out shoot the straight tip version,, right,,
   

[StickMark]

for us cheapskates, this chrono data is welcome.

[bradsmith2010]

yes no need to get one,, if you have a friend with one,,

[StickMark]

Yes, that is very true...
and, as well, Brad, you mention hunting weight arrow, and I think this is maybe Badger's suggested formula for testing speed on shorter draws, but I recall this formula:
(your specific draw for the bow divided by 28) x bow poundage x 10,

so a 25" bow at 54 is (25/28) X 54 x 10 = 482 grains.

[bradsmith2010]

I think the arrow shot out of the 23 inch draw bows was about 460 grains,, i didnt keep good records on that,, but it was about 23 iches long,,and was I think hickory or dogwood ok it was maple,,,,so it was heavy for the length,, but when you think about it,, at 23 inches you start to get some good performance,,especially if the bow is short, Im really awful at math,, so I just go with what the chrono tells me,, when the number comes up.... I go ohhh,, thats nice,,
anything over 400 grains going fast,, is a hunting weight arrow for me,, 170s,, the 23 inch arrows I made from dogwood were in the 500 grain range

[bradsmith2010]

   ok this next bow I take you way back in time to a humid 100 degree time in Texas 1999 bow,, when peopel say sinew is no good in hot humid,, its just not true,
the bow is 52 inches nock to nock,,
first test temp 100,,sinew applied july 24,  aug 10th test,, bow pulling 55@24,,500 grain arrow 170 fps,, and 380 grain arrow 187 fps,,
    ok as you can imagine the sinew is gonna cure more, and I have more notes on that to come,,this is with B 50 string, I dont think I even knew what fast flight was back then,,

[StickMark]

Brad I just put that 460 grain arrow into that formula....formula said 460,
so "good intuition" on that 

[bassman211]

I have a sinew backed hide glue black locust bow that is 48 lbs, at 24 inches of draw, and 52 inches long.. The strongest, and fastest short bow that I have built to date. I can't get it to full draw now, but back when I could I shot  430 gr arrows at 160 fps with a 10 strand B55 string. It was a bear to pull to full draw, so I gave up on heavy poundage short bows, but I have built dozens of short bows in the  20 to 40 lb class. Jim Hamm claims the Pawnee built 45 to 50 inch long Osage bows that were up to 70 lb draw bows, and that they could have been Olympic weight lifters. That would have been way to much for me even on my best day as a young man.

[bradsmith2010]

thanks guys let me organize my notes and more to come,, I wish I had been more detailed at the time,, but at least I have some notes and some things make sense,, and some patterns emerge,, even after 20 years,,

[Selfbowman]

Brad most native Indian people where pretty short so I can also understand them having shorter draws. And shooting from a horse of course the draw was shorter , faster, and more demanding. Them guys where bad asses.

[Badger]

Brad most native Indian people where pretty short so I can also understand them having shorter draws. And shooting from a horse of course the draw was shorter , faster, and more demanding. Them guys where bad asses.

   I don't think Indians had horses until well after the white man arrived.

[bradsmith2010]

well ok  and no chrongraphs,, how did they do it,,

[bassman211]

 No mention of draw length shooting pinch finger style, so it could have been they were shooting a 70 lb bow with a very short draw at 40 to 55 lbs. with more fire power, or not. Some                                                                                                                                                     tribes did shoot a mod 3 under finger style that would give much better leverage. None of them shot through a chrony though ,so I am off topic. Sorry.

[bradsmith2010]

its all good Bassman, if its about shooting a bow,, you good,,i reallly appreciated that about the heavier bows, and learning about that,,

[bradsmith2010]

ok to continue on the 1999 bow,, by sept 19 a few weeks later the bow went up to 64@ 25,,it would shoot a 500 grain arrow 181 fps,, with a b50 string,,thats as far as my notes go,, I did hunt with that bow and actually shot an arrow that was lighter than the 500 grain,, it was quite effective on whitetail,, it was my favorite hunting bow,, when I moved to new mexico,, I was practicing with it one day and dry fired it,, It literally exploded in half,, I still have the pieces but had some wonderful memories hunting with that bow on Jim Hamms place,,Tim Baker was there on one hunt,, Im pretty sure I saw an alien space ship sitting at the campfire one night,, ok I ramble,, but the main point I wanted to make about this bow was,, even in hot humid conditions,, a sinew bow can be very effective,, and a shorter draw can shoot really hard,, thanks for all the input enjoy your shooting what ever draw you have and even if you have a rest,,,,