# light vs heavy arrow @ field archery



## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

Just depends on what your setup requires. But all things being equal... a heavier arrow will not perform better for field just because it’s heavier. Just like having a heavier point say a 120-140 grains isn’t always better then 100-110 grains. Depends on your setup and the arrow your shooting. 

I shoot 59lbs with a 27.5” DL.... my Nano RZs weigh 322 grains with 110 grain points. They shoot amazing. No way I would trade them for a heavier shaft. I shot a field half yesterday at my club... shot a 277 half. Made a bone headed mistake on the 35 fan and dropped one... missed the 80 by about an inch and missed my 2nd arrow at 50 on the last target. 




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## dschonbrun (Nov 14, 2012)

Light weight arrows fly at higher velocity and thus flatter trajectory. This is beneficial for unknown distance events. For known distance, and for longer distance shots, a heavier arrow is less affected by wind (all things considered).


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

dschonbrun said:


> Light weight arrows fly at higher velocity and thus flatter trajectory. This is beneficial for unknown distance events. For known distance, and for longer distance shots, a heavier arrow is less affected by wind (all things considered).


True... but not 100% factual. The arrow itself also plays a roll on how much it’s affected by wind. A Nano RZ or X10 will drift less then a standard diameter carbon or even ACC that is heavier. Every day all day. 

Shooting my light RZs at 50-70yds I pretty much ignore the wind in comparison to what I would get from shooting a heavier fatter shaft. In a good wind at 60yds a shot that breaks in the dot lands in the dot for me. The wind effects me way more then it bothers my arrow. 

Also the vast majority of field ranges aren’t in wide open fields that wind becomes an issue. Yes there are longer shots... but still a field round isn’t really a long range game. It’s a mid range game. There are only 22 shots over 55 yds out of the 112 arrows shot in a round. 

Yes it’s marked... but I would much rather have a setup shooting over 270fps for field then under. 


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## dschonbrun (Nov 14, 2012)

The “all things being equal” part of my comment was meant to clarify the same arrow diameter, length, fletchings. Sorry I wasn’t more clear.


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## the.pabst (Nov 6, 2014)

OK, that helps a lot.

Currently I shoot 3dHV for 3D without issues. My bow setup is perfectly tuned for theses arrows with its shaft diameter, spine and weight.
I guess, If I want shoot an different arrow with the same setup (just for marked distances and finals) I will get more disadvantages than advantages.

One week befor the national field championship we have the national 3d championship. I can´t chance the setup within one week.
The only posibility for me is to find an heavy arrow, that fits perfectly with my 3d setup (arrowrest, sight ...) and put additional sight marks on my axcel.


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

the.pabst said:


> OK, that helps a lot.
> 
> Currently I shoot 3dHV for 3D without issues. My bow setup is perfectly tuned for theses arrows with its shaft diameter, spine and weight.
> I guess, If I want shoot an different arrow with the same setup (just for marked distances and finals) I will get more disadvantages than advantages.
> ...


Your really overthinking things. Just shoot your setup. Your not gonna win or loose or shoot a bad score because your arrows weren’t heavy enough. 

Like I said. I just shot a half the other day with arrows that weigh 321/22 grains.... I dropped 3 points. 


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## Rick! (Aug 10, 2008)

Brown Hornet said:


> Your really overthinking things. Just shoot your setup. Your not gonna win or loose or shoot a bad score because your arrows weren’t heavy enough.
> 
> Like I said. I just shot a half the other day with arrows that weigh 321/22 grains.... I dropped 3 points.
> 
> ...


A larger concern is that Yankton will be 2 days of 112 arrows each followed by a day of 28 shots for the animal round. The last 3 targets usually are a tell if you’re not in good shooting shape. The good thing is Yankton’s field course is fairly flat.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

I shot Field in 2004 and 2005. I took Senior Adult Free Style Champion 2004 and 2nd in 2005 in the IAA Two Day Field Championship. My arrows were Carbon Express CXL 250s with insert and 90 gr field point. Weight was 325 grs. I cleaned the 80 yard Walk Up in Field and cleaned the 70 yard Walk Up in Hunter more often than not. I never shot on what I call windy days. I think 6 Field events, 28 lane and 14 lane. 1st and 2nd place in each of them. The CXL 250 is a pretty fat arrow compared to the said needed Nano arrow.
My bow was a Hoyt 2004 UltraTec set to 56 pounds and 29" of draw - the 2004 UltraTec was not a fast bow. I used my Hoyt 2000 UltraTec (314 fps IBO) in 2005 (2nd place) and had to lower the draw weight to minimum (60 pounds) and use a heavy arrow to stay within the then NFAA speed limit of 280 fps +3% for error.

So tune your bow and tune you better.


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## Twistedx42 (Jan 30, 2015)

A 300 grain arrow is extremely light for a 60 lb bow. I am shooting the 3dhv this year for field. My finished weight is just under 360 grains. They are shooting 295 feet per second. That's way faster than you need even for 3d. Sometimes chasing speed too much will sacrifice some accuracy. I usually shoot an arrow closer to 400 grains for field but I wanted to try something different this year. I'm shooting 3dhv 350 spine cut 27.5 carbon to carbon. 150 grn points. Tophat nock collars and pin bushings with 3 flexfletch 1.87 vanes. They fly great and group at least as good as the vaps and pierce tours I've shot in the past. Personally I'd build a heavier arrow if I were you. But to each their own.


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## the.pabst (Nov 6, 2014)

Twistedx42 said:


> Sometimes chasing speed too much will sacrifice some accuracy.


Yesss, that is what generally most of archers think. Is that a physical law or a myth? Why should a light arrow worse fly than a heavier one? It would be intersting if top archers like Anderson, Shaff, Gellenthien would shoot perfectly tuned lightweight arrow (300gn)... how much decrease the score on a standard 50m round!? 
5 points, 10 points, 0 points?


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## Brown Hornet (Aug 8, 2002)

Twistedx42 said:


> A 300 grain arrow is extremely light for a 60 lb bow. I am shooting the 3dhv this year for field. My finished weight is just under 360 grains. They are shooting 295 feet per second. That's way faster than you need even for 3d. Sometimes chasing speed too much will sacrifice some accuracy. I usually shoot an arrow closer to 400 grains for field but I wanted to try something different this year. I'm shooting 3dhv 350 spine cut 27.5 carbon to carbon. 150 grn points. Tophat nock collars and pin bushings with 3 flexfletch 1.87 vanes. They fly great and group at least as good as the vaps and pierce tours I've shot in the past. Personally I'd build a heavier arrow if I were you. But to each their own.


True... don’t chase speed. But 300 grains is light for you maybe but not for others. We don’t all shoot the bow or have the same DL. [emoji6] 

I shoot a Hoyt Pro Comp with spirals at 59lbs... my DL is only 27.5”. The Pro Comp has almost a 7.75” brace and is only a 315ish FPS bow. My properly spined RZs are only 321/2 grains. I’m shooting in the high 270s. I wasn’t chasing speed. That’s just what my setup gives me. 

This setup is crazy forgiving and accurate.... no way I would want to go to a heavier shaft just because it was heavier. 


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## Rick! (Aug 10, 2008)

I just found out for myself that the condition of the bale also comes into play in light vs heavy. 260fps 360grn protour 420s won’t go through a bale very often but 257fps 391grn 380s will. It gets a little annoying after a bit, especially when at Yankton.

But, the 380s group better for me so I’ll deal with it this year…


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## baller (Oct 4, 2006)

Well I'm not Steve, Kris, or Braden but I compete with them so I'll weigh in on my experiences and school of thought.

I normally have 2 micro diameter arrow builds in a given year. One is shorter/weaker/lighter than the other. It may be by 10 grains it may be by 50 grains depends on the arrow and the bow. This year it's about a 30 grain difference, 20 in the points, 10 in the shaft length. I use the lighter build for Field/Hunter/Animal and 3D rounds (live in Kansas so fat arrows in wind suck). These arrows weight about 380 grains with a 120 grain point, shoot about 290fps out of my setup with very good results. 

My other build is the same spine, about 3/4" longer and has a 140 grain point. Other than that its the same arrow. This is my outdoor target arrow (think open field, yellow face you get the idea). I find that, for me, the slightly longer shaft and heavier point make the arrow just a tad softer which for me is a little more forgiving. The extra weight allows me to control wind drift a little better than the lighter one, the only trade off is speed, about 8-10 FPS. While this is not a lot, I prefer slightly faster/flatter setup for field, and the slightly slower/softer/heavier setup for target applications.

If I had to run only one setup it would likely be a best fit match between the two sets. Roughly a 390 grain arrow with 130 up front. Best of both worlds in theory, but I'd have to test that theory before trying to win a pro national event.


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## Joco52 (Jun 30, 2021)

Light arrows for field. Heavier for indoor


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