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Bow Shootout - which one will come out on top?

gunrunr

gunrunr

Life Member
I am working on a bow shootout, taking the top 3 bows from my top selling bow lines and testing them against each other at my specs. I am currently working on trying to get them setup exactly the same as far as draw weight, draw length and let-off. My goal is 60#, 30" draw and 85% let-off on all of them.
The bows we are testing are:
- Bowtech SR-350
- Hoyt RX-7 Ultra
- PSE Carbon Levitate

I am making notes on bare bow weight, factory draw length accuracy, let-off settings, and will be testing for speed and noise level as well as some subjective areas such as smoothness of draw, holding on target, feel at the shot, hand shock, etc. Anyone else have any ideas or thoughts on the subject? More data to come
 
Weight (Bare bow)
Bowtech SR 350 4.5#
Hoyt RX-7 Ultra 4.5# (without included stabilizer)
PSE Carbon Levitate 3.6#
 
gunrunr said:
I am working on a bow shootout, taking the top 3 bows from my top selling bow lines and testing them against each other at my specs. I am currently working on trying to get them setup exactly the same as far as draw weight, draw length and let-off. My goal is 60#, 30" draw and 85% let-off on all of them.
The bows we are testing are:
- Bowtech SR-350
- Hoyt RX-7 Ultra
- PSE Carbon Levitate

I am making notes on bare bow weight, factory draw length accuracy, let-off settings, and will be testing for speed and noise level as well as some subjective areas such as smoothness of draw, holding on target, feel at the shot, hand shock, etc. Anyone else have any ideas or thoughts on the subject? More data to come
Click to expand...
More thorough than my brain can handle !!! Very cool & interested to see results !
 
gunrunr said:
I am working on a bow shootout, taking the top 3 bows from my top selling bow lines and testing them against each other at my specs. I am currently working on trying to get them setup exactly the same as far as draw weight, draw length and let-off. My goal is 60#, 30" draw and 85% let-off on all of them.
The bows we are testing are:
- Bowtech SR-350
- Hoyt RX-7 Ultra
- PSE Carbon Levitate

I am making notes on bare bow weight, factory draw length accuracy, let-off settings, and will be testing for speed and noise level as well as some subjective areas such as smoothness of draw, holding on target, feel at the shot, hand shock, etc. Anyone else have any ideas or thoughts on the subject? More data to come
Click to expand...

Better throw a Darton Maverick in there if you want a real winner


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Observations:
- The Bowtech SR350 had too much let-off from factory for me - measured 89% so i added a single layer of heat shrink tube around the draw stop and it is now more like 86%
- The Hoyt RX-7 Ultra measured exactly 1/2" too long set to factory draw length chart printed on limb - shortened it 1/2" and is now exactly 30" draw - set it the the 85% letoff position on cam and that is what it is.
- The PSE Levitate is set to middle stop for let-off as the first and last positions were too much or too little.

Will be using 427 grain arrows - Easton 4mm Axis Match with 55 grain Titanium Half-outs - 340 spine with 100 grain tips - 15.5% FOC

More to come . . . . . .
 
Bowtech SR350 - 288 fps (in comfort setting - performance should be ~+8 FPS)
Hoyt RX-7 Ultra 277 fps
PSE Carbon Levitate 295 fps

All 3 were tuned to shoot bullet holes in a paper tuning test prior to testing
 
All tuned pretty quick - just a couple shots each to get to a bullethole

Speeds are pretty in line with what you would expect - hard to compare to IBO ratings since we are 75+ grains over IBO arrow weight. I know there are theoretical calculators but in my 35 years in the business Ive learned not to put any faith in their accuracy.
 
gunrunr said:
All tuned pretty quick - just a couple shots each to get to a bullethole

Speeds are pretty in line with what you would expect - hard to compare to IBO ratings since we are 75+ grains over IBO arrow weight. I know there are theoretical calculators but in my 35 years in the business Ive learned not to put any faith in their accuracy.
Click to expand...
Yes, IBO speed ratings are pretty much worthless.
I have watched many bows chronoed at IBO specs and they usually shoot 10-20 FPS slower than rated.
Not to mention that 350 grains is usually a weak spine for 70 pounds and 30" draw.
 
bluedog69 said:
Yes, IBO speed ratings are pretty much worthless.
I have watched many bows chronoed at IBO specs and they usually shoot 10-20 FPS slower than rated.
Not to mention that 350 grains is usually a weak spine for 70 pounds and 30" draw.
Click to expand...
Spine of the arrows was perfect - they were all set to exactly 60 # and shot beautiful bullet holes in a paper tune
IBO speed ratings are based on 70# bow @ 30" draw with only a 350 grain arrow - way lighter that most use to hunt.
I used more real world specs based on arrow weight and draw weight closer to what my average customer uses so they can make their own interpretation of the results.
 
Yes, we all get it.. IBO is a benchmark for speed at a certain draw, arrow weight yada yada...

Good to know how your actual setup does vs IBO. Some closer to claimed than others. Hence the reason I asked. Chrono with same arrow setup gives the true comparison.
 
gunrunr said:
Spine of the arrows was perfect - they were all set to exactly 60 # and shot beautiful bullet holes in a paper tune
IBO speed ratings are based on 70# bow @ 30" draw with only a 350 grain arrow - way lighter that most use to hunt.
I used more real world specs based on arrow weight and draw weight closer to what my average customer uses so they can make their own interpretation of the results.
Click to expand...
What are your thoughts on backing off weight as we get older? At 52 years old I am looking to back down to 60 pounds next year from 70 to prevent any shoulder damage. Is it better to buy a bow an actual 60 pound bow or just crank down a 70?
 
madplotter said:
What are your thoughts on backing off weight as we get older? At 52 years old I am looking to back down to 60 pounds next year from 70 to prevent any shoulder damage. Is it better to buy a bow an actual 60 pound bow or just crank down a 70?
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I'm interested in this as well. I only take close shots, so don't need long flat trajectory. Plus, I think easier draw would allow me to get to anchor in weird positions. With today's technology, how much does one lose going from 70 to 60?
 
We sell way more 60# bows than 70 and quite often I sell 50# bows for people who cant pull what they used to. I myself have shot a 60# bow for close to 20 years. I get 280 Feet Per second or more out of a 427 grain arrow and it is VERY RARE that i don't get a complete pass thru. I cant think of one single instance in those years where i wished i had a 70# bow, the deer, elk, antelope, hogs, etc that dropped to my 60#er had no clue what they were hit with and 95% of the time i had a complete pass-thru.
 
madplotter said:
What are your thoughts on backing off weight as we get older? At 52 years old I am looking to back down to 60 pounds next year from 70 to prevent any shoulder damage. Is it better to buy a bow an actual 60 pound bow or just crank down a 70?
Click to expand...
if you want to shoot 60 it is best to have a 60# bow. I recommend shooting a bow in the top half of its weight range for more efficiency and quieter operation. While you can back most bows down 10# or more it changes the geometry of the limbs, cams, strings, etc. ever so slightly from how it was designed. It will not hurt anything to back them down that far but for long term use, its best to switch to a bow that matches the poundage you plan to shoot long term.
 
madplotter said:
What are your thoughts on backing off weight as we get older? At 52 years old I am looking to back down to 60 pounds next year from 70 to prevent any shoulder damage. Is it better to buy a bow an actual 60 pound bow or just crank down a 70?
Click to expand...
I shot 85 lbs for years. Now I shoot about 60. Why? My 2008 Hoyt Katera XL shoots the same grain arrow that my 85 lb bow shot at the same 287 fps.

More importantly learn to draw properly. Bow high and draw arm up high. It looks like sky drawing but it isn’t. I’ll post a video to show it.
 
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