Arrow length

[DC]

Just reading about Dan's(Alans) 24" arrow. And realised that the shorter the arrow, the lighter it is, but also the stiffer it is so it may be possible to reduce the diameter leading to lower weight. This made me realise that it's the speed of the arrow as it leaves the bow that really counts so it's acceleration that is important. If we can get the arrow to dry fire speed in 6" we could use really short dense light arrows. There's got to be something I'm not thinking about. What limits the length of the arrow?

[Badger]

   Don, there is no such thing as an arrow shooting at dry fire speed. Dry fire speed is just that, dry fire. The further you draw the bow the faster it will get. It is often advantageous to use shorter arrows and shorter draw though because of the difference in weight and stiffness. We have a minimum legal arrow length of 23". This can''t be draw any further than 25" using a 2" shelf.

[DC]

Thanks Steve. I've got a couple of short staves. I may try something.

[Del the cat]

My Osage flight bow was originally 24" draw for all the reasons stated in the original post. It did pretty well, but taking it to 28" has shot it further. I think there's a sweet spot and anything over 28" certainly starts to get floppy or heavy.
Dunno where the sweet spot is tho' , doubtless depends on the bow too.
There are control issues with short draw... my mate JT who is used to shooting 32" has been bruising his bicep trying to shoot 95#@28".
Del

[Selfbowman]

Well I under built a 70# bow and cut it from69" to 60" trying to hit 70 # it started taking set at about 50# at 26#  so I stopped . Building a couple 23-24 test arrows. Test results still out. I figured this was all I was going to get out of this design and bow. The force draw also started to go the other way , meaning smaller differences per inch of draw. Not sure about this but when it peaks it peaks. Arvin

[Badger]

  Heavier arrows tend to carry better than lighter arrows, heavier arrows require a bit more stored energy that we get from the longer draw. 28" draws have been doing pretty well here lately.

[JNystrom]

What if you have 4" of reflex and 24" of draw. Would you have best from both worlds? High energy storage and short arrow. Might as well use a bit heavier arrow if you like.

[BowEd]

 I would think so too JNystrom.
Is it possible to compare bows fairly in theory or reality for distance shooting of different poundage all shooting a 10 grain arrow @ 28"?Just like comparing them shooting through a chronograph.

[Badger]

  Ed, the distance shoot we are doing at Mojam is not really a scientific comparison of bows. Bows play a large part of the equation in Broadhead shooting, much larger than in regular flight but the archer and the arrow still have an impact. Even the chrono is of little value unless shot from a shooting machine. The flight shoot is a lot more fun though.

[BowEd]

I was thinking that maybe the heavier arrows from the heavier bows would have a slight advantage of momentum to carry farther.
Then a lot of the factors affecting distance lie with the arrow and the shooter along with the bows.Sounds like healthy fun to me!!Unless the bows are all shot by the same person.That would be a comparison of bows more so then.

[Badger]

  Ed, the heavier arrows do have some advantage. I am going to fletch the 60 to 70# arrow with 5"  and the 35 to 45 with 3"  and the 45 to 60 with 4".

[Matthias Wiltschko]

  Heavier arrows tend to carry better than lighter arrows, heavier arrows require a bit more stored energy that we get from the longer draw. 28" draws have been doing pretty well here lately.

Steve, are you talking in the 200grain to 300 grain range and about 4gpp arrow weight?

There will be a certain point were the increase in arrow mass will reduce distance due to lower arrow speed.

[Badger]

   Any added weight at all reduces speed but often the heavier arrows will still carry further than the lighter faster arrows. The better you make the arrow and tune it to your bow the lighter arrow you can get away with. My fastest arrows and bows have never given me the best distance in regular flight. In broadhead flight raw speed out of the bow seems to win more often.

[Matthias Wiltschko]

Two classes of flight shooting explained in 4 sentences. Could not be any clearer. Thank you Steve.