War Arrow Distance Shooting

We all enjoy the thought of being able to shoot arrows the same type as the English War Archers would have used.
One has to agree on what a 'War Arrow' is.
There are currently two types of standardised war arrows being shot in competitions, the BLBS (British Longbow Society ) Standard Arrow and a War Arrow developed by John Holder and Simon Stanley, to be shot in the 'John Holder Challenge', we shall call this arrow the Challenge Arrow and the BLBS the Standard Arrow.

The BLBS Standard Arrow is ;
The arrow is a minimum of 52 grams in weight, 31 1/2 inches long,
a shaft diameter of 3/8 inch armed with a bodkin or type 16 head.
Fletches are 6 inch in length and 3/4 inch in height cut in a triangle,
horn insert to protect the nock.

The Challenge Arrow is;
The shaft must be a minimum of 12mm diameter, made of an indigenous
European wood.
The shaft can be bobtailed(even taper from nock to head) but not barreled.
The shaft cannot be footed with a different wood; however a repaired shaft is
ok as long as it has been repaired with wood of the same type as the shaft.
The nock must be of a self nock type and strengthened with horn.
The head must be of forged steel and have an outside diameter of no less than 12mm.
The fletchings must be a minimum of 8.5" long and no less than 5/8"and can go
to 3/4"high at the back edge, these are to be cut in the mediaeval pattern and all the
trailing edges must be left as nature intended.
Binding of the fletching is optional.
The overall weight must be no less than 74.5 grams.
The length of the arrow must be no shorter than 31.5" between nock and start of the head.

We shoot two war arrows per end and measure the furthest arrow.
We take it in turns to shoot the same arrows and the same bows so we can get a good average for each bow, arrow and archer. The idea is to improve one's own distance.

Please click here to
return to the Home Page.

Distances are in yards.

Stuart Mashford 6 feet 8 inch tall
14/08/09 34# bow BLBS 132 Challenge 117
1/08/09 53# bow BLBS 188 Challenge 151
14/08/09 53# bow BLBS192 Challenge 147
1/08/09 63# bow BLBS 204 Challenge 169
14/08/09 80# warbow BLBS 224 Challenge 178

Peter Burgess 5 feet 4 inch tall
1/08/09 53# bow BLBS 165 Challenge 128
2/08/09 34# bow BLBS 122 Challenge 102
14/08/09 34# bow BLBS 128

Brian Birkett 5 Feet 8 inch tall
2/08/09 34# bow BLBS 133 Challenge 104
2/08/09 63# bow BLBS 179 Challenge 154

Standard arrow on left, Challenge arrow
on right, lower left photo compares
point end of shafts. The Challenge
arrows are like tree trunks!
Chain Mail Piercing Bodkin BLBS arrow catches a twig at 190 yards, that would come keen if it hit you! Surprisingly the twig didn't bend out of the way, just shows how sharp the bodkins are.