Velocity of Arrows

In trying to standardize the factors which enter into the problem of the velocity of arrows, I first determined a standard velocity by shooting 100 yards, on a calm day, and timing the flight with a shot watch.

Ishi, shooting his 45-pound bow with a 1-ounce hunt­ing arrow, required an elevation of 30°, and the time required for the flight is 3 seconds. Mr. Arthur Young, shooting a 50-pound bow with a 345-grain English target arrow, requires an elevation of 15° and 2 3/5 seconds of time. Mr. W. J. Compton, shooting a 65-pound bow with a 345-grain flight arrow, requires 8° elevation and 2 1/5 seconds of time, or a velocity of 125 feet per second. Mr. Compton, shooting a 50-pound bow with an English tar­get arrow, at 40 yards, requires approximately 1 second, or a velocity of 120 feet per second. This latter figure seems to be a fair average of an arrow's velocity. Shoot­ing a 75-pound bow with a 310-grain flight arrow at 45 yards, the time is approximately 1 second, or 135 feet per second.