Arrow Weight classifications

[Tree man]

Terry Green had started a thread on this subject. There wasn't anything nasty on it when I started to type my reply but when I entered my response the topic had vanished. I think it is a good topic to consider.

We often speak of arrows in "grains per pound" This is a good criteria for comparing the cast of various drawweight bows but it gets a little silly as a standard for hunting arrows-To whit: We all applaud a guy with a 40 lb bow for shooting "heavy arrows" of 440 grains(11 grains per pound) but will likely  rake over the coals the next guy who shoots 440 grain arrows out of his 73 pound bow(a mere 6 grains per pound). IMO That is rather silly. Surely none of us believe that the 73 pound bow shoots the 440s with less force than a similarly designed 40lber. (I realize that the 73 lb shooter isn't getting top efficiency from his bow and may have noise issues etc. But....)

Anyway, my own observations of shots on game seem to indicate that arrow weight has more to do with penetration than drawweight within the "normal"range of 40-65 lb drawweights.
I tend to think of arrows below 370 grains as ridiculous
370-465 grains as  Light.
465-600 as medium
600-800 as heavy and
over 800 as superheavy

[Molson]

Same happened here. Topic disappeared while I was posting.  

For hunting arrows, less than 550 light, 550-700 medium, over 700 heavy.  Bow weight means nothing to me when considering what's light, medium, or heavy in a hunting arrow.

For arrows in general, less than 450 light, 450-650 medium, over 650 heavy.

[longbowman]

I had posted earlier and was very interested in what others had to say on this topic but like you guys, it was gone.  My classification was exactly the same as Molsons.

[Tree man]

Wow this has turned into a riproaring weigh in.