Fastest traditional bows on record?

[Del the cat]

Have yall ever been down range of an arrow with real feathers not plastic on it?  Well I have some idot shot while I was pulling my arrows from the target as well as every one else was to.  I  never heard the bow but the buzzing of the feathers was loud as heck.  I think more often than not they hear the feathers buzzing more than the bow. the best way I can descibe it is scary as can be but really it shouded like a swarm of bees was inside my ears.

I once hid just behind the wall of a small bore rifle range when a mate of mine shot my repro light medieval sporting crossbow (275#) it sounded like a steam train coming . We'd propped up a big old solid tongue and groove pine panel against the wall as a target and the whole thing shook when the bolt smacked through it.
Del

[boughnut]

Have yall ever been down range of an arrow with real feathers not plastic on it?  Well I have some idot shot while I was pulling my arrows from the target as well as every one else was to.  I  never heard the bow but the buzzing of the feathers was loud as heck.  I think more often than not they hear the feathers buzzing more than the bow. the best way I can descibe it is scary as can be but really it shouded like a swarm of bees was inside my ears.

I once hid just behind the wall of a small bore rifle range when a mate of mine shot my repro light medieval sporting crossbow (275#) it sounded like a steam train coming . We'd propped up a big old solid tongue and groove pine panel against the wall as a target and the whole thing shook when the bolt smacked through it.
Del

I am glad some one knows what i am talking about Loud as heck isn't it.  much louder than a bow slaming home.

[BowEd]

Correct me if I'm wrong but a lower fletching does make less noise,but with added speed it still could get amplified some.That's why it's important to bare shaft tune those shafts.
boughnut.....Gotta agree that is a bit scary.Total lack of respect there.

[half eye]

Hey beadman, I'm 67 yrs old and been bow huntin since the early 60"s. to say someone is handing out baloney is just bein pompous. I'll bet I've killed more deer with bow than you.....I dont tell you that your opinions are full of crap......you got yours and I got mine.

You aint bein hard on me at all, cause opinions are like butt's , we all got one. You dont want to admitt that quiet is good and I wont admitt that speed is the answer for hunting mistakes. That's what makes America great everybody gets their say.....I think you are wrong but I wont say your full of baloney, either.
rich

[Marc St Louis]

I know you were jokin Ed.  Ive shot right next to you and know how quiet your bows are.  I don't have any silencers or doodads on bows either and they're pretty quiet as well.  I am just surprised to see folks discrediting the value of a quiet bow.  It is simple fact that no matter how fast our arrows are traveling the sound is faster.  The less sound is always better IMHO.  Josh

Josh
I'm not discrediting the value of a quiet bow but I certainly hear many people discrediting the value of a high performance bow, the same people have been doing it for years

[Pappy]

Marc I have shot some of you bows and they were plenty quite,I like quite and  speed is a plus but not mandatory for my hunting bows. Guys this is just a discussion,and a good one,please don't let it get out of hand.
 Pappy

[SLIMBOB]

Funny, I have been having this discussion/arguement with people for as long as I have been shooting bows.  Back in the 80s with wheelie bows it was hard cams, overdraws and carbon shafts (loud, unstable) vs round wheel and full length heavy arrows (plodding but quiet and accurate).  And 30 years later as we rediscover wooden bows, same topic just different parameters.  All these many years later, I will still argue the merits of plodding (comparitivley), but quiet and accurate, and those same buddies will still argue for lightening bolts.  Keeps me smilin'.

[Josh B]

Fair enough Marc.  I am all for better speed and flatter trajectory clear up to the point of adding decibels and losing longevity.  I'm not saying fast bows are all short lived time bombs either.  I just have a desire to balance all aspects to get the best overall package.   I don't know what you were considering baloney Ed, I think there must have been a miscommunication of sorts.  I think all points made so far have merit.  As far as your new bow goes, be patient my friend.  That's  one of the good points of my job,  I can do a step like that, set aside and go to work.  Being gone for weeks at atime alleviates the temptation to fiddle with it prematurely.  This is pretty good thread.  I hope it doesn't get out of hand over misunderstandings.  BTW Ed, try not to hump anybody's leg while you wait on your bow to cure!   lol!  Josh

[mullet]

Have yall ever been down range of an arrow with real feathers not plastic on it?  Well I have some idot shot while I was pulling my arrows from the target as well as every one else was to.  I  never heard the bow but the buzzing of the feathers was loud as heck.  I think more often than not they hear the feathers buzzing more than the bow. the best way I can descibe it is scary as can be but really it shouded like a swarm of bees was inside my ears.

I have to admit I never thought of that and I have had arrows come close to me.  They are loud, you can easily hear them from at least 20 yards away

Back in the karate days I used to do a Demo catching arrows from a 40# bow with rubber blunt tips at 20 yards. As soon as you heard the string twang you had better be reaching for air if you were going to touch or catch the arrow. You can see it coming all the way except for the last 5 yards or so, then it just disappears. If you waited till you thought it was close enough to grab and did not react to the sound you wouldn't touch it. And, you can hear helical fletching coming all the way.

I tried it once with a compound bow set at 60# and that was a disaster. I had jammed fingers and round bruises all over my forearm.

[PEARL DRUMS]

My fastest bow is my quietest bow. It uses the highest percentage of created energy, more than any other bow I have.

And Eddie my friend, your CRAZY. Blunts or not, I aint reaching for any arrow from any bow! OUCH

[Badger]

  One of the biggest losses in speed from a bow comes from hysterisis. Most of the hysterisis comes from overstraining the limbs durring the tillering process. An overstrained limb is not as safe as a limb that has not been overstrained. So faster bow can equal more durability as well. Same with sound, a faster bow will usually be more efficient than a slower bow, meaning more energy is going into the arrow instead of the bow. A very fast bow will usually be very quiet as well. No downsides to good performance until you start pushing the limits and loosing reliability. If you look at some of the relics from bows thousands of years old it is plain that they had a good grip on efficiency based on the designs they used. We are not comming up with anything new here, we are struggling to get archery back to where it was when the real pro's were building them, guys whose lives depended on performance.

[rossfactor]

Yeah, Steve and Pearl, doesn't seem like gaining fps = gaining decibels.  In terms of limb vibration seems the other way actually.

Gabe

[PEARL DRUMS]

FPS can equate to more decibals if you do it by using lighter arrows.

[Hunter Van Winkle]

I've made a few that shoot over 180fps at 10gpp.
I've just finished a weird hornbow that is shooting at 175fps at 10gpp and i'm only drawing it 25 at the moment - I think it has a few more inches of draw in it.
I'm working on a yew recurve at the moment which has a lot of potential. Most of it is sapwood....light. The heartwood is just hanging on in there and hopefully I won't run out!

Have pictures and details on the ones above 180?

[BowEd]

half eye.......the balony word was a bad choice and when I used it I was under the impression you were saying that you had to have a slower bow to be quiet.I'll say this again I don't have anything against quiet in fact that is what I want also.I was defending the desire to improve bows through the use of a chronograph.Sorry for my word choice.Settling for good enough is not in my nature.I'm 58 and have had a gun in my hand since I was 5 years old too and enjoy this bow making process.The numbers of animals I've killed don't make me feel big about myself in fact I enjoy seeing wildlife live and breath all around me more now than ever.I've lived in the sticks all of my life.I'm glad to hear you are a hunter too that appreciates wildlife.Again sorry to ruffle your feathers there.I'm good if you are.