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How much speed is needed to shoot a single site point out to 40yds?

3039 Views 38 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  Gabowman
Forgive my ignorance. My crossbow knowledge is limited and the only crossbow I have experience with is my cheap Barnett Gamecrusher. I made a thread about wanting a new crossbow and got lots of responses.

My main reason for wanting a new crossbow is to get as flat a trajectory as possible. I would like to be able to hunt without worrying about different sitepoints out to 40 yds and be able to use a rifle scope or red dot (will probably try both) and not worry about arrow drop at that distance. Is this even possible? If it is, what speed do you need to be at to be able to site in at say 30 yds, and have an arrow trajectory that doesn't affect shots into the "kill zone" from 20 to 40 yds? Is what I am looking for even possible? I don't know for sure but the IBO on the Barnett Gamecrusher is 330FPS so I am guess it is probably around 300FPS. I know it has to be a lot faster than that.

Thanks
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Your gonna get a buttload of different opinions. For me ,in a perfect world...xbow that shoots 425 gn arrow 400 fps. Real world,400 gn arrow 400 fps. Have you looked at tenpoint new invader 400. Wide enough to be legal where your at and only 6lb.
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A lot of folks have been shooting bows around 300 fps with a 400 grain of heavier arrow for years using a scope like a the Leupold shotgun scopes using a single reticle with heavy crosshair and zeroing at 30 yards then using the top post at 20 yards and the bottom at 40 yards.
That said, the faster the bow the flatter the trajectory.
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correct me if I am wrong, But I dont think there is any of the xbows out now that can do a 10 to 40 yard shot without noticeable decline or drop
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Your gonna get a buttload of different opinions. For me ,in a perfect world...xbow that shoots 425 gn arrow 400 fps. Real world,400 gn arrow 400 fps. Have you looked at tenpoint new invader 400. Wide enough to be legal where your at and only 6lb.
I feel like I have read and looked at them all. Really driving myself crazy. I did read about that bow but I don't think it is going to be fast enough to do what I am looking for but I actually don't know. It says in the Spec 370FPS with 435 grain bolt. I was assuming I would need to be over 400 FPS to be an inch or two high at 20 yds and only an inch or two low at 40 yds. I know my current crossbow drops like a rack much past 30 yds....
More speed ,less drop. Best you can do. Always gonna have to do some figuring if using single reticle scope. So ,probably 385 fps with 400 gn arrow. That is a significant increase over 300 fps. At$569.00 and only 6lb. Worth a consideration. You can always get yourself a. Nitro nxt and speed problem is solved. Just expensive as Hell.
correct me if I am wrong, But I dont think there is any of the xbows out now that can do a 10 to 40 yard shot without noticeable decline or drop
That is what I was wondering, if I am driving myself crazy looking and reading about crossbows and what I want isn't possible. If it isn't possible, I may just keep my cheapo and wait until our stupid laws here in NY change and then get something much more compact and not worry as much about speed.
I shoot the Deathstalker 130lbs. I use a red dot with Factory Fletched BEEs from Jerry. I think he said the weight was around 430 grains. I shoot middle mass out to 40 yards.
He are my trajectory numbers @ 350 fps.
20 yards +3"
32 yards +/- 0"
40 yards -4"
50 yards -9"
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I shoot the Deathstalker 130lbs. I use a red dot with Factory Fletched BEEs from Jerry. I think he said the weight was around 430 grains. I shoot middle mass out to 40 yards.
He are my trajectory numbers @ 350 fps.
20 yards +3"
32 yards +/- 0"
40 yards -4"
50 yards -9"
Thank you, this is what I was wondering about. I am curious how much those +/- numbers shrink/expand the faster the bow shoots.
More speed ,less drop. Best you can do. Always gonna have to do some figuring if using single reticle scope. So ,probably 385 fps with 400 gn arrow. That is a significant increase over 300 fps. At$569.00 and only 6lb. Worth a consideration. You can always get yourself a. Nitro nxt and speed problem is solved. Just expensive as Hell.
Yea, except we have a 17" limb width minimum here in the lovely state of NY
Yea, except we have a 17" limb width minimum here in the lovely state of NY
The Scorpyd DSs are NY legal.
FYI,

Here's my ballistic info:

402gr arrow, 408fps,,,

20 yds +1.2"
30 yds 0"
40 yds - 3.6"

Sent from my SM-T860 using Tapatalk
FYI,

Here's my ballistic info:

402gr arrow, 408fps,,,

20 yds +1.2"
30 yds 0"
40 yds - 3.6"

Sent from my SM-T860 using Tapatalk
Cool, thank you. That is interesting...So the difference between your ballistics at 408fps and dryforkbrady's at 350fps is only .4 inches at 40 yds....

Sounding like you would need some pretty serious speed to only be -2 inches or so at 40 yds which is what I was hoping I could stay at. +/- 2 inches so a 4 inch total variance from 20 to 40 yds...

I wonder how much the 20 yd group would spread out if you sited in at 33 or 35 yds....does anybody do this?
There is about 30 gn difference in their arrow weights. That alone using the same xbow would make a difference.
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How accurate do you want to be....? There is not a xbow made that will have the same POI from 10-40yrds...you need to be shooting around 1000fps to accomplish this in reality.....we are pretty far away from this with any.modern bow.
One is sighted @ 30, the other @32 yds.
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Cool, thank you. That is interesting...So the difference between your ballistics at 408fps and dryforkbrady's at 350fps is only .4 inches at 40 yds....

Sounding like you would need some pretty serious speed to only be -2 inches or so at 40 yds which is what I was hoping I could stay at. +/- 2 inches so a 4 inch total variance from 20 to 40 yds...

I wonder how much the 20 yd group would spread out if you sited in at 33 or 35 yds....does anybody do this?


As SEW has pointed out, the sight-in distance is a little different. 30 vs 32. However, my total variance is 4.8".


Using my ballistic software, if I change my sight-in distance to 32yds, I get the following:

20 yds +1.5"
32 yds 0
40 yds -2.9"
...a 4.4" total variance



Sent from my SM-T860 using Tapatalk
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I shoot the Deathstalker 130lbs. I use a red dot with Factory Fletched BEEs from Jerry. I think he said the weight was around 430 grains. I shoot middle mass out to 40 yards.
He are my trajectory numbers @ 350 fps.
20 yards +3"
32 yards +/- 0"
40 yards -4"
50 yards -9"
Sounds about right. On the Hawke ballistics sight at 380 fps with a 34 yard zero, it’s +2.6” high at 20 and -2.8” low at 40. I would think a single crosshair with a tad bit of Kentucky windage would put it in the boiler room out to 40 yards.
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It was a good read, however, the 1 fps per every 5 gr is a bit low, IMO. With my Scorpyd Orion, it's 1 fps per every 2.35 gr. It's dependent on the efficiency of the bow and arrow combo. Generally most folks use a ratio of 1 fps per every 3 gr.

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