Archery is a sport that has few set in stone truths. Offhand I would say 10 grains wouldn’t affect nadda and likely most times I would be right. But that being said I have seen startling changes in arrow flight from such little things including brace hieght, nocking point, orientation of the cock feather, and even an inch or under change in silencer placement. Only way to tell for sure is to shoot em and see.

wildschwein wrote: Only way to tell for sure is to shoot em and see.

And that’s the truth. There’s no substitute for a little “real world, outcome driven testing”; were it not so there wouldn’t be any test pilots!

Ed

When I was using my recurve it seemed like any tiny change made a big difference. With my longbow, a Stewart Slammer, it takes a lot of change to make a little difference.

dwcphoto wrote: When I was using my recurve it seemed like any tiny change made a big difference. With my longbow, a Stewart Slammer, it takes a lot of change to make a little difference.

I would venture to say that the reason for the difference in the two bows would be in the sight window. I’d suggest checking this and if they are different, then build out the window of the bow that is cut in the most until they are as close as possible. Depth of a sight winow is something I have found in the past couple months to have major effects on arrow flight in different bows that are the same in all other aspects.

Troy

Thanks for the insight. For now, I’m going to be a one bow guy. The longbow is working well and I have some carbons to tune, as soon as the rest of the components come in. That will keep me busy enough for now. I do look forward to someday getting back to the Wasp, as I love the bow, and I’ll keep your ideas in mind. The path…
Thanks, dwc

It might because the 100 gr insert is longer than the standard aluminum, although only 3/8″ of an inch. But the insert takes that section of arrow out of the spine equation and a 100gr insert would make the same length arrow slightly stiffer than the arrow thats using a standard insert. At least thats how I understand it. Will it make a difference in arrow flight? maybe maybe not? I would try it and see.

I hadn’t considered the length of the insert before. I’m glad you pointed this out. I’m going to work up some carbon shafts, Beman ICS Bowhunters in 400. I found good reviews on these shafts, they’re light at 8.6 and made in the US, so I decided to give them a try. I went to little stiffer shaft so I can work up a heavier front end. I wonder if I needed to do that, considering the length of the insert. The carbons show a wide range though, so I’m optimistic.
I’ll give it a try and let you know.

dwcphoto wrote: I hadn’t considered the length of the insert before. I’m glad you pointed this out. I’m going to work up some carbon shafts, Beman ICS Bowhunters in 400. I found good reviews on these shafts, they’re light at 8.6 and made in the US, so I decided to give them a try. I went to little stiffer shaft so I can work up a heavier front end. I wonder if I needed to do that, considering the length of the insert. The carbons show a wide range though, so I’m optimistic.
I’ll give it a try and let you know.

Beman Bowhunters are great shafts, been using them for years.
Beman has another shaft on the market this year that i think will work as well and is even lighter in weight. It’s called “Speed”. As you stated the Bowhunter 400 is approx. 8.6GPI. the Speed 400 is something like 7.5gpi.
Lighter shafts allow for better FOC.

Troy

Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind, too. I have to say that one of the reasons I bought the Bowhunters was the price. Thanks are tight so that’s part of the equation. I definitely would not have bought something with poor reviews, but these were about half price of some of the others. The tapered shafts looked really interesting, too. One of the reasons I’m switching is that I was using aluminum that I was finding really cheap at auction. Many of the deals I was finding a year ago aren’t happening these days. I’ve been bending and splitting the shafts stumping and decided to spend the extra up front for more durability and save in the long run. The happy add on is I can try for more FOC with the carbons. I was getting about 20% with my aluminum shafts and hunting whitetails, so I wasn’t worried by that. This should be a bonus if all goes well. Thanks for your comments. dwc

Another good arrow to try is the Victory VForce HV’s. The 006’s are pretty reasonably priced. They are 31″ uncut and out of my 52# longbow cut 3/16 past center add shelf material and its about -1/16 past center. On a 350 I use 3 4″ feathers, 50gr brass insert, 300 gr Tuffhead for a total arrow weight of 575grs. Foc is 28.5%. For a bow that is +1/16 you’d have to add more head weight to get the spine right and could easily get into the 30’s for foc. I am going to experiment with 300 spined shafts at some point.