Your arrows are 50/55 ok, but what about your bow ….

Self, LB or recurve center shoot or not ? fiber or carbon or self bow ?

Draw weight ? and draw lenght ?

Also interesting to know bare arrow weight ……..:roll:

Well Jason you are about to get the advise of the experts. Check out the Ashby forum and read the reports. As I told you on our shoot Sunday past–woods look great–but when hunting we owe the prey the most ethical kill we can do with trad gear–and from my limited knowledge that means carbons with 28 to 31% Efoc.

Mike

Wojo — If you use the right spine arrows you can get your FOC up a good deal by going with heavier heads and, yes, tapered shafts. However you’re still well below Ashby recommended minimum arrow weight for assured penetration of heavy bones, 650 grains. If forced to a choice, I’ll go with total weight over FOC any time. But you can get most of the extra 125 you need simply by going to heavier heads and slightly heavier shafts, and likely increase FOC while you’re at it. Eons ago, when I first read Ashby’s early Natal Report, which did not get in to FOC but focused on arrow weight and broadhead design, I immediately started shooting plumb through elk, first time ever. My arrows were hickory and weighed in the 840s and the heads were only 125. My FOC must have been near 0. So right or wrong, my advice is always to get the 650 first, with as much of it up front as possible, then think about improving FOC. As Mike suggests, carbons make arrow lethality thus ethics easy. But I sure understand your wood love and am a victim myself. Experimentation with various arrow shaft materials and point weights is great fun and worth the investment in itself.

wojo14 wrote: OK, my bow right now is a 51 @ 28. 58″

It is a Striker reflex deflex long bow.

My draw is 26.5″

I know my arrow weight 525 gr built.

5″ trad cut feathers.

Dont get me wrong, the arrows fly great!

Just looking to increase FOC. I still want to shoot wood.

I love making them.

51 @ 28 must be around 42/44 Lbs at your 26 1/2 That is to say you shoot something like 12 grains / Lbs

If you hunt very heavy game that can be good, but you must shoot very close

On an other hand spine selectors for wooden shafts are the same from the old time when bows were only made with wood

To day with moderns bows you should choice 61/65 wood shafts

And find a better balance between straight fly and arrows weight

I killed european wild boars with 9 grains /lbs and 420pounds bear in Canada with 2117 alu and 125 grains Zuikey broahead

Bears are very little resistant to penetration and have very thin skin

45 Lbs with 400 grains arrows are enough for a 250 Lbs bear

In order of importance to have a fast and clean ( human ) kill

1 / Presicion Kill zone

2 / very sharp blade

3 / single blade

4 / arround 10 Lbs / bow poundage

You can get penetration with single bevel blade

without add to much weight

One of my friend killed 3 african buffalos with Dwyer LB set @ 65 Lbs and 750 grains arrows

His secret : he never shoots @ more than 12 meters !

I would say that with perfect arrow flight, arrow mass will trump speed every time.