distance

[Kirby]

Just curious, whats the general rule for bolt weight? how many gr per pound?

Kirby

[rock]

Well I admit , a shot after 40 yds is pushing it , I like my animals to drop right away close shots do that, further shots create problems. I Don't shoot crossbows but do shoot a compound with pins and fingers.

[brotherjack]

I dunno about how many grains per pound or anything, but almost all crossbow makers will recommend you stick with 400 or more grains total arrow weight (some will even void your warranty for shooting lower grain arrows). Reason being, the heavier the arrorw, the kinder it is to your bow (be it crossbow or otherwise, though more for a crossbow because of the high poundage). This isn't a bad thing actually, because more weight in the arrow means you sacrifice some FPS for Kenetic Energy (KE). KE behind your razor sharp broadhead is more critical to taking down your animal than FPS.

All this translates to me, shooting about 485 grain total arrow weight in a 150lb recurve crossbow (Horton steelforce). That's actually a touch heavy for my setup I think, but not by all that much - I should be around 220 FPS and 48-ish lbs of KE. So long story short, in my book, a 450-500 grain arrow is pretty ideal for just about any crossbow rig, going heavier for the higher power bows (I might even go more than 500grains for some of the super-fast bows that are shooting 300+FPS).