Most of us probably shoot in the 9-11 gpp range. Personal pref and bow style seems to have much to do with it. I normally shoot mild D/R longbows, 50-55 lb, and like arrows around 11-12 gpp.

500 gr is about the minimum I would consider for deer size game, more for bigger critters.

Fletcher, how does grains per inch compare to grains per pound of bow weight? I don’t hear of grains per inch very often but I’ve seen the standard 9 or 10 grains per pound of bow weight. Can you help me understand the difference? 😆

What Fletcher says is right on as mins in my and most other shooters’ books. For larger game the Ashby Study has shown 650 grains — at any bow length or weight — is minimal to assure killing penetration on heavy bone hits (and only then with a good solid head). That’s what I strive for all around as I find it increasingly difficult to get consistent accuracy with heavy arrows for elk, lighter for deer and prongy, lighter yet for turkey etc. My eye-brain coordination just can’t keep up with it any more. Right now I’m shooting around 680 with 25%+ foc with carbons, and a little over 700 with around 15% foc with woods. If you can handle 650 grains with accuracy that’s what I would shoot for, personal preference. dp

Well, I guess the biggest thing about gpi vs gpp is that I shouldn’t be posting so late in the evening. Those should all read gpp and I will edit my post. Sorry for the confusion.

I use grains per inch, gpi, when figuring the finished arrow weight from a bare shaft.

Crystal, to a some degree what arrow package you shoot depends on what, where and how you are hunting. Earlier this fall, I was out in SoDak trying to spot and stalk a mule deer. I was shooting my 55 lb Robertson LB with 560 gr arrows, considering the real possibility of a 20-25 yd shot. Now that I’m home in IL hunting whitetails mostly from treestands and closer shots, I’m back to my 600+ arrows for better penetration performance from the same bow. Later in the season when it gets colder, I may drop to my 50 lb Great Northern and a little lighter arrow. As long as I keep the GPP about the same, both bows shoot the same for me.

We haven’t discussed FOC here yet, but so far, the more FOC I have the more I like it.

Crystalshrimp wrote: How many grains per inch on an arrow would be reasonable for a 62″ 55lb. bow. I know there are lots of suggestions out there and I would like to hear your input.. 27″ DL….Send your suggestions my way….Should I be looking for total arrow weight or just load the tip up? Is 500grns. gonna be the safe bet on any hunting arrow set up.

Total arrow weight is what I look for, but gpi can give you an idea of where you’ll end up. If you end up with a finished, well tuned arrow that’s too light for your tastes, DO NOT simply load up with more tip weight. That’s a great way to end up with a heavy, poorly tuned arrow.

You asked if 500 grains will be a safe bet for a hunting arrow. In my experience — from deer to hogs, elk, and moose, absolutely.

I agree with what JWestbrock said, total arrow weight.

I think the GPI of a particular shaft is used in a formula to determine the weight of the shortest, lightest shaft one can safely shoot from a compound bow. This may be of importance to the wheelie crowd but your draw length, spine, and overall arrow/head weight is more important to us Traditionalists.

Duncan

With carbons I pick my arrow shaft on grains per inch,and like them to be around 8gpi which seeing as I shoot 45lb and 50lb bows is not always easy to find in the .500 spines I shoot.
Once I have the shaft I want I then start thinking in Grains per pound of bow wheight because once I start adding up front wheight that simply becomes easier to think about as I then do have my true end wheight,which I know from past experience is going to be very close to the 10g per LB That I prefer.

With wooden arrows I don’t even think about it,,a Northern pine shaft with a heavy broadhead simply kills everything that gets in it’s way,where as a Cedar set up the same has always seemed a bit light to me.

Having said all that,,I prefer my arrows to be around 500g for the bow wheights I shoot.