# Blackwidow arrows speeds



## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)




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## Bill 2311 (Jun 24, 2005)

From what I have seen in past posts, that is pretty good.
They are not real fast bows but have loyal following.
Chronograph have sold more bows than anything else in archery


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## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)

I agree, chrono numbers sell bows. My toelke whip longbows shot faster than this bow with the same arrow, same specs.


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## Yooper-travler (Feb 28, 2011)

Conner something is clearly wrong with your chrono. That is fast! Are you sure it’s 47# and not 67#? :wink:

Nice bow BTW, I always have a BW lying around. Greybarks, especially with some snake skins are one of my favorites.


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

CP - 

I put a number of them (both vintage and current) through chronos over the years, and your number are on par, if not slightly better than most. 

Viper1 out.


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## tallguy1968 (Feb 27, 2019)

Never shot a black widow. I have an Allegheny mountain recurve pulling 57# at 28 1/2" shooting fast flight strings with about 500 grain arrows and I got 205 FPS if I recall correctly. Speed isn't as important as accuracy in my opinion, if you shoot your bow well, that's all that matters!


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## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)

This was my fastest speed: 452 grain arrow, 28-3/4" gold tip hunter 400, regular insert, 3 x 4" trueflight feathers, arrow wrap, and 175 grain point.


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## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)

I had two friends come over and shoot this afternoon, and speeds seemed to be on par with the other bows. One shoots a striker longbow, and the other shoots an A&H longbow.


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## GCook (Aug 22, 2016)

My PSA was no speedster either. Good, solid shooting bow though. 

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## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)

I took a measurement today, actually looks like I’m drawing closer to 27”. Anybody know what the draw weight would be? It doesn’t feel like it stacks at the typical 3lbs per inch. That would make it 44ish. Feels a little heavier.


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## Yooper-travler (Feb 28, 2011)

45 (ish). All kidding aside, that is a good speed for that bow. My greybark is 44# and I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt anything in N.A. with it.


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## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)

I am very pleased with the bow. Utah started a new archery only hunt for desert bighorn sheep, I applied with 18 points. I’m hoping to hunt sheep with this bow in the next few years.


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## moog5050 (Oct 23, 2012)

My recollection is that I usually get mid 160s with my widows shooting 12gpp or so. Very accurate and quiet and plenty to kill game. At some point I realized that chasing speed made little sense for guys like me that shoot at game 30yds and in. The speed usually makes no difference. Shoot whatever you shoot well.


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## bfisherman11 (Oct 16, 2002)

I have hunted with my BW PSA since 2006. If you did a search of my recent posts you would see I have been bit by the Border speed bug but that does not mean I am selling my Widow. I have killed a lot of critters with this bow in the last 12 going on 13 years.

BW bows have a lot going for them. The higher brace ht gives you plenty of room for bulky clothing and they are very forgiving bows (my opinion). I also think they are better looking than given credit for. Are my Border bows faster than my BW's... Yes, by far, but I am being very exact in my testing before I commit to a change in what I hunt with. Hey, can't a guy like both? Ha. Fact is a BW is a well built solid bow that will serve a guy well for a lifetime. What more could you ask for? 

*Not saying anyone here is doing this* but after doing this a long time I can advise others to put in the time shooting one bow and it will become a part of you. Too many times I think guys give up on a bow and sell it off in that never ending hunt for "the" bow.

Congrats on the new Widow!

Bill

Oh, Here is my BW in AK just before I killed a Caribou with it.


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## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)

I appreciate all of the feedback. I am very happy with this bow and it shoots great, good hunting to all.


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

Widows are not a modern bow and their performance reflects that but the good news is, the deer don’t know what speed the arrow was.


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## AG_2006 (Dec 30, 2016)

Thanks for posting. 


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## Roof_Korean (Dec 19, 2018)

Im curious how all the sort of custom trad bows line up in regards to speed, such as bears, great plains, BW, etc. I would imagine great plains out of the ones i mentioned are fastest due to the shorter brace height.


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## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

Ive tested a lot of different ilf recurve limbs through my Prochrono and your numbers are on par with what I see. I dont think that's slow at all when comparing them to other conventional recurve limbs.

If you were drawing 27" pulling 44#. That puts your 530gr arrow at the 12gpp mark. I draw 28" and here is a picture me shooting a 12gpp arrow at 160 fps also. I'm shooting a 17" Titan and RC wood limbs.

Also worth mentioning. Not all Chronographs are the same. My friend has one of those green metal chronograph (can't remember the name) and my bow shoots about 8fps faster on it. I'm thinking his chrony is more accurate [emoji38]


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## Demmer3 (Apr 23, 2017)

BWs have never been barn burners. Or even close. They are expensive pretty things to look at. 

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## Conner Parry (Apr 12, 2010)

I’ve shot quite a few animals with black widows, they’re a bombproof bow that you can rely on. Much more than a pretty thing to look at. To each their own.


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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

You buy a BW to shoot, look at and because they hold value. They are not a true custom bow, semi custom at best, and their technology and performance is still in the 80’s. If you want a fast shooting bow, you need to look elsewhere, if you want to shoot a Widow you accept solid shooting and mediocre performance.


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## Demmer3 (Apr 23, 2017)

Bigjono said:


> You buy a BW to shoot, look at and because they hold value. They are not a true custom bow, semi custom at best, and their technology and performance is still in the 80’s. If you want a fast shooting bow, you need to look elsewhere, if you want to shoot a Widow you accept solid shooting and mediocre performance.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Pretty much. There will be some sacrifice of speed given the geometry. Nice bow. Expensive bow. Nice to shoot. Just that black widow shooters shouldn't worry about speed because they're not going to get it. 

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## Roof_Korean (Dec 19, 2018)

Bigjono said:


> You buy a BW to shoot, look at and because they hold value. They are not a true custom bow, semi custom at best, and their technology and performance is still in the 80’s. If you want a fast shooting bow, you need to look elsewhere, if you want to shoot a Widow you accept solid shooting and mediocre performance.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Do you have examples of better performing bows?


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## BowFlight (Jan 25, 2008)

That’s a beautiful bow! Also a decent speed with a 530 grain arrow. They are known to be quiet, not speed machines. Super recurves, ILF, carbon fiber, etc. will add 30-40 FPS but the sound becomes the challenge. Love the red and black detailing, good luck!


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## Bwill (Mar 2, 2013)

Awesome bow. It looks fast. I bet it's super quiet


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## hingefracture (Mar 14, 2019)

Widows have killed a pile of animals, don't get hung up on speed. beautiful bow!


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## GCook (Aug 22, 2016)

Buff killed an elephant with a Black Widow. Lions, Cape buffalo and tons of other game. His packed trophy room is as big as my house. He is a humble man with outstanding shooting and hunting skills. Black Widow bows have been deadly in his hands for decades around the world.
It isn't that 5, 10 or 20 feet per second that kills them. It's the hunter's heart.

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## Bigjono (Apr 21, 2009)

Roof_Korean said:


> Do you have examples of better performing bows?


Well for recurves the list is long but Dryad, Border, Striker, Morrison and Blackbrook spring to mind, for longbows Fox, Timberpoint, Centaur, Toelke, Javaman to name a few. As others have said, you don’t buy a Widow for speed, you buy it for other reasons. 


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## HonkAddict (Oct 18, 2011)

You want to speed a Black Widow up? Shoot a Hill style bow for six years then try a Widow.... I can't believe how much faster and efficient these are! Anyone want a Hill Style?! 

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## roosiebull (Oct 3, 2010)

Stub said:


> Ive tested a lot of different ilf recurve limbs through my Prochrono and your numbers are on par with what I see. I dont think that's slow at all when comparing them to other conventional recurve limbs.
> 
> If you were drawing 27" pulling 44#. That puts your 530gr arrow at the 12gpp mark. I draw 28" and here is a picture me shooting a 12gpp arrow at 160 fps also. I'm shooting a 17" Titan and RC wood limbs.
> 
> ...


is that chrono for sale? sounds like a great one to own:wink: I seriously doubt I will ever shoot through a chrono.... did that once with my compound several years ago, which was dumb and irrelevant... I have no desire to know my recurve speeds. all I need to know is that it's slow enough to see, and fast enough to kill stuff.


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## Evincen3 (Sep 1, 2013)

I feel that trad bows are always shooting 150-180 no matter what I do


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