Matteo Campagna
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A recurve competition arrow weighs about fifteen grams, is some sixty centimetres long and leaves the bow at around sixty metres per second

12 studies · 39 archers measured

ForContextAgainst199019952000200520102015202020252025, context, n = 592017, context, n = 391990, context1998, context2001, context2009, for2012, for2012, for2012, context2013, context2015, context2018, context2022, against
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

Two figures out of three hold up; the weight depends on the shaft. The speed recurs in every measurement, whether an archer or a machine does the shooting: arrows leave at between about 57 and 65 metres per second, and at 70 metres those of 39 elite archers arrive in 1.24 seconds, an average of about 56 metres per second over the whole flight. The length sits in that range too, between 62 and 76 centimetres in the arrows measured, with an average of 64.4 declared by the same 39 archers. The weight, on the other hand, splits in two: about fifteen grams is the Easton A/C/E, 14.3 grams complete, the arrow the Japanese laboratories have used as their reference since 2012, while X10s, the thinner shaft used at the highest level, weigh 19.7 to 21.2 grams on the bench and, cut to 81 centimetres for a 52 lb machine, reach 27.25. These are figures from a handful of arrows, nearly all measured by the same research group, and nobody has collected the weight, length and speed of the arrows of a sample of archers.

Also phrased as: "how much does a recurve arrow weigh"; "recurve arrow speed"; "competition arrow length"; "competition arrow specifications"; "weight of X10 and A/C/E arrows"

In practice

On courses and in conversation at the range the recurve arrow's figures are quoted from memory, about fifteen grams, some sixty centimetres, some sixty metres per second, as if they applied to any shaft.

Evidence

  • 1990
    Context Model Published later

    A model of the first stage of the arrow's motion on the bow, checked with an arrow-shooting machine and high-speed footage, using the aluminium competition arrows of the 1980s: the test arrow is a 17/64 inch tube 26 inches long, that is 66 centimetres, and the point weighs about a fifth of the whole arrow. In the shaft selection example an archer with a 28 inch arrow, 71 centimetres, and a bow drawing 18 kilograms should use a 19/14 shaft. It gives neither the total weight nor the speed of the arrows in use.

    Experimental and theoretical research in archery · Roman Pekalski

  • 1998
    Context Model Published later

    The model of bow and arrow interaction takes as its standard competition arrow an Easton X7 1714 in 7178 aluminium: 0.67 m long, 6.75 mm outside diameter, 0.356 mm wall, 18.5 g in all, of which 13.5 tube, 4 point, 1 fletching and 4 nock.

    Bow-arrow interaction in archery · B. W. Kooi

  • 2001
    Context Model Published later

    For FITA-type target bows the author gathers the parameter ranges: full-draw force from 121 to 244 N, arrows from 622 to 826 mm and from 16.6 to 23.8 g, with mean values of 700 mm and 20 g used in the calculations. With a 202 N bow two 660 mm arrows leave at 62.6 and 59.5 m/s.

    Lateral deflection of archery arrows · Zanevskyy

  • 2009
    For Equipment tests Published later

    29 inch Easton A/C/E 470 arrows shot indoors by a shooting machine with a 44.8 lb recurve: mean speed between 212.4 and 215.9 feet per second in every configuration, around 65 m/s, measured one metre from the rest.

    Performance analysis based on an emulated archery machine · Kuo-Bin Lin, Kun-Shu Huang, Chi-Kuang Hwang, Chia-Wen Wu

  • 2012
    For Equipment tests Published later

    Wind tunnel and flight tests on an Easton A/C/E arrow: a tapered carbon shaft, mean outside diameter 5.25 mm, length 625 mm, 14.3 g complete with point and 1¾ inch spin wing vanes.

    Aerodynamic properties of an archery arrow · Takeshi Miyazaki, Keita Mukaiyama, Yuta Komori, Kyouhei Okawa, Satoshi Taguchi, Hiroki Sugiura

  • 2012
    For Equipment tests Published later

    Free-flight tests: an A/C/E arrow shot by a female archer travels at 57 m/s, with a Reynolds number of 2.0 × 10⁴, in the turbulent regime. Proceedings of a national symposium.

    117 Aerodynamic Properties of an Archery Arrow : Free Flight Experiments and JAXA's 60cm MSBS Experiments · Kyohei Okawa, Yuta Komori, Takeshi Miyazaki, Hiroki Sugiura

  • 2012
    Context Model Published later

    The recurve model uses an X10 600 arrow with a 705 mm shaft and 21.65 g in all (shaft 12.38, point 7.78, nock and pin 0.78, vanes 0.71), with the centre of mass 460 mm from the nock, shot from a 166 N bow, about 37 lb: the exit speed is 57.7 m/s. An X10 on a modest draw weight already weighs more than twenty grams.

    Arrow behaviour in the lateral plane during and immediately following the power stroke of a recurve archery bow · James L Park

  • 2013
    Context Equipment tests Published later

    The same A/C/E arrow in the drag measurements in the wind tunnel and in free flight: 0.626 m, 9.4 g without the point, mean diameter 5.24 mm, a barrelled tube thicker in the middle than at the ends. Same group and same arrow as in 2012.

    Free Flight and Wind Tunnel Measurements of the Drag Exerted on an Archery Arrow · K. Okawa, Y. Komori, T. Miyazaki, S. Taguchi, H. Sugiura

  • 2015
    Context Equipment tests Published later

    Magnetic suspension wind tunnel: the complete A/C/E reference arrow measures 62.6 cm, weighs 14.3 g, has a mean diameter of 5.24 mm and an aspect ratio of 119. Same group and same arrow as the earlier measurements, in the proceedings of a national conference.

    The relation between the boundary layer transition and the attitude of archery arrow · T. Matsumoto, R. Ando, J. Ortiz, T. Miyazaki, S. Taguchi

  • 2017
    Context Archers Published later

    39 elite recurve archers from four nations, ten arrows at 70 m: flight time 1.24 ± 0.06 s, measured with cameras at 200 Hz, an average speed of about 56 m/s over the whole flight. Arrow length, declared by the archers rather than measured, averages 644.4 mm.

    Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery · Wayne Spratford, Rhiannon Campbell

  • 2018
    Context Model Published later

    In the simulation of flight in wind the A/C/E arrow has a mass of 0.014 kg, a length of 0.626 m and an outside radius of 2.60 mm, and in free-flight tests it leaves at 57.3 m/s on average.

    Trajectory and attitude of an archery arrow in free flight:: estimation of the influence of the background wind. · Julio Ortiz, Masato Ando, Takeshi Miyazaki

  • 2022
    Against Equipment tests Published later

    Six competition arrows measured on the bench, two with X10 shafts and four with A/C/E shafts: the X10s have a diameter of 4.82 to 4.97 mm, a mass of 19.7 to 21.2 g and a length of 0.658 to 0.756 m; the A/C/Es a diameter of 5.24 to 5.49 mm, a mass of 14.5 to 18.0 g and a length of 0.638 to 0.730 m. The shafts used at the highest level are thinner and heavier, and about fifteen grams fits only the lighter A/C/Es. In flight, the two A/C/Es of 17.7 and 18.0 g shot by a competitive archer, 18 arrows each, leave at 59.7 and 59.2 m/s on average.

    Automatic image analysis of an archery arrow in free flight using high-speed video cameras · Riku Murakami, Hiroya Mamori, Takeshi Miyazaki, Naoya Takahashi

  • 2025
    Context Equipment tests Published later

    59 Easton X10 325 arrows assembled by a national-level archer and shot by a machine with 52 lb limbs: cut to about 81 cm, they weigh 27.250 ± 0.057 g, from 27.076 to 27.358. It is a machine set-up, with long shafts and a 325 spine, and it shows how far the weight of an X10 goes with a heavy draw weight.

    Improving the arrow selection process in archery: the stiffness variation pattern matters · A. Kuch, P. Laguillaumie, F. Durand, J.-F. Debril, T. Monnet

Status history

  1. 1990 Not studied The first work to touch on the dimensions of the competition arrow is a model of its motion on the bow, checked with an arrow-shooting machine: the aluminium test arrow is 66 centimetres long, the point weighs about a fifth of the total, and the shaft selection example starts from a 71 centimetre arrow. It does not give the overall weight or the speed of the arrows in use: there is still no evidence for the claim.
  2. 1998 Not studied The first weight comes from a model of the interaction between bow and arrow, which takes an aluminium competition arrow as its standard: 67 centimetres and 18.5 grams in all, 13.5 of them in the tube. It is the parameter of a calculation, not a measurement of the arrows in use, and there is still no direct measurement of the recurve arrow.
  3. 2001 Not studied A second model gathers the ranges of target arrows: 622 to 826 millimetres and 16.6 to 23.8 grams, with an exit speed of around 60 metres per second for a 202 newton bow. The speed begins to take shape and the weight already starts above fifteen grams, but these are still calculation parameters, not measurements.
  4. 2009 Reported The first measurement on equipment concerns speed: 29 inch A/C/E arrows shot by a machine with a 44.8 lb recurve leave at between 212 and 216 feet per second, around 65 metres per second. It is a single test, and it covers one part of the claim: reported.
  5. 2012 Reported The Japanese laboratories measure the arrow they will use as their reference from then on, an Easton A/C/E of 625 millimetres and 14.3 grams, and in free flight the same arrow shot by a female archer travels at 57 metres per second. In the same year a recurve model uses a 21.65 gram X10 on a 37 lb bow, but as a calculation parameter. The direct measurements point the way of all three figures and the status remains reported, with a first sign that the weight changes with the shaft.
  6. 2017 Reported The missing figure from the field arrives: the arrows of 39 elite archers take 1.24 seconds to cover 70 metres, so they travel at about 56 metres per second on average over the whole flight, and their declared length averages 64.4 centimetres. Speed and length hold up, while the weight is still measured on a single type of arrow.
  7. 2022 Contested A bench measurement of six competition arrows splits the weight in two: the four A/C/Es run from 14.5 to 18 grams, the two X10s, the thinner and heavier shaft used at the highest level, from 19.7 to 21.2. In the same work two 18 gram A/C/Es shot by a competitive archer leave at around 59 metres per second on average, and the speed still holds up. About fifteen grams fits one family of shafts and not the other, and on weight the direct measurements point in opposite directions: contested.
  8. 2025 Contested A test bench with 59 X10 arrows cut to about 81 centimetres for a 52 lb machine finds them at 27.25 grams, almost twice the reference arrow. It is a machine set-up, but it confirms that with X10s and heavy draw weights the weight moves a long way from fifteen grams: speed and length hold up, the weight remains contested.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). A recurve competition arrow weighs about fifteen grams, is some sixty centimetres long and leaves the bow at around sixty metres per second (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/recurve-competition-arrow-weight-length-speed

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_frecciagaracaratteristiche,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {A recurve competition arrow weighs about fifteen grams, is some sixty centimetres long and leaves the bow at around sixty metres per second},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/recurve-competition-arrow-weight-length-speed},
  note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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