Switching to carbon help

[Aaron Rushton]

#3132

Hi,

this is my first post aand i’m pretty new to traditional archery. I’ve been shooting my Bear Kodiak magnum for about 5 months now with my own cedar arrows and i’m happy with how they fly and the accuracy i can get with them but the problem is i do a lot of sutmping and trick shooting and i end up breaking a lot of these and it’s becoming a bit expensive to replace them all the time. So i’d like to make the switch to carbon. I’ve been making wood arrows since i started so i have a jig and fletchings. I have been using 40-45lb spined POC sahfts with 5″ fletchings and 100grain points and these have worked pretty well with my 40lb bow. I’ve decided to go for gold tip trads as my shaft as they seem to have good reviews. What spine and weight points would you recommend for me? I’m looking for a pretty heavy arrow as i would like to try out hunting next year. I am not in the u.s and there are no good archery stores near me so i was thinking of ordering from 3 rivers and jsut make it a big order to be worth my while. I draw to 28″ and i’m using a standard dacron string. I was thinking of getting 29.5″ 3555 g.t shafts with a 11gr insert and 145gr point? do you think this would be a good settup? Obviously shaft testing would be a better option but i can only really make one order 🙁 any advice would be appreciated

Thanks

Aaron

[Jason Wesbrock]

#17143

PM sent.

[archer38]

#17190

Hi there I shoot almost exactly that combo with my 40# Martin X-200. GT expedition hunter, 11gr insert, 5″ feathers,145gr bear razor head. They fly perfectly from my bow. Only difference is I draw to 30.5 so my real weight is more like 46# but I’m sure you will have great success with these arrows AND it will be a LONG, LONG TIME before you break one.

[lyagooshka]

#18379

Something similar I was wondering was how a 170 grain broadhead would effect a carbon arrow, when most of the weight is up front. Any thoughts?

Alex

🙂

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#18475

lyagooshka wrote: Something similar I was wondering was how a 170 grain broadhead would effect a carbon arrow, when most of the weight is up front. Any thoughts?

Alex

🙂

The heavier the point, the more it will weaken the spine.

I’m currently shooting 325gr. heads on a 5575 carbon shaft, from a center-shelf cut bow. They fly like darts – but if you think about it, darts have most of their weight up front too…go figure.

Check the “FOC” forum for lots of info to get you started.

[lyagooshka]

#18948

Thanks for the tip. That’s what I was thinking, but I wasn’t sure. I was also worried about arrow spine and if there needs to be an adjustment as you go to a heavier broadhead. I believe I will get 3555 for my longbow (50#@28″) with my 170 grain simmons sharks. How different is a 100 or 125 grain field point, or doesn’t it really make a difference?

Thanks again.

Alex

🙂

[tombow]

#18969

Check out Stu Miller’s Dynamic Spine Calculator to see how the 100 vs. 125 gr. point effects the 3555’s on paper. You probably won’t see a big difference in flight, unless one of the combinations is very close to what you need. Of course, shooting one head, then switching to the other and shooting will tell the tale. Best of LUck!

[Aaron Rushton]

#19055

thanks for all your help guys! especially Mr. Wesbrock, the message was very helpful. So, having looked at the spine calculator, do you think a 1535 shaft cut to 29″ with a 145 grain point do the trick? the only reason i’m going for a heavier point than 125 is that as i said i’d maybe like to hunt with these arrows next year and 360 grains (spine calculator) is a bit under 10 g.p.p which i thought was the minimum for a hunting arrow? although with the 145 grain point i’m still 8 grains under 10g.p.p

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#19134

AaronRushton wrote: So, having looked at the spine calculator, do you think a 1535 shaft cut to 29″ with a 145 grain point do the trick?

Honestly, I think that’s a really hard thing to determine over the interwebs, without knowing shelf cut, and a number of other variables. The bottom line is you’re going to have to experiment a bit until you find what flies right. Spine calculators, etc. may help get you in the ballpark, but the devil is in the details. However, I will say that that set up strikes me as being on the light side for a #50 bow.

AaronRushton wrote: the only reason i’m going for a heavier point than 125 is that as i said i’d maybe like to hunt with these arrows next year…

Which is a darn good reason. 125gr may be the standard for the compound shooters, but honestly, I don’t have any use for anything that light.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#19429

PM sent again. 😉

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#19490

Aaron Rushton

Member

Member

June 29, 2012 at 10:10 am

Post count: 27

#19832

smithhammer- i am shooting a 40lb bow, and i will be definitely reading more of the ashby reports, there’s some things i don’t completely understand but they’re good reading.

When i was deciding on point/spine weight for my wood arrows i started by buying 35-40, 40-45 5/16 and 40-45 11/32 spine rated poc arrows and bought point weights from 75-145 grain and found i got best arrows flight with a 100grain and 40-45 5/16 rates arrows bareshaft testing. I would usually do the same here, but there are no places near me which sell carbon arrows (other than the low diameter. ultralight compound ones) so i am having to ship from 3 rivers and i’d kind of like to be able to only buy what i need. I can’t buy testkits then go back, i just don’t have the money.

[Aaron Rushton]

#19832

smithhammer- i am shooting a 40lb bow, and i will be definitely reading more of the ashby reports, there’s some things i don’t completely understand but they’re good reading.

When i was deciding on point/spine weight for my wood arrows i started by buying 35-40, 40-45 5/16 and 40-45 11/32 spine rated poc arrows and bought point weights from 75-145 grain and found i got best arrows flight with a 100grain and 40-45 5/16 rates arrows bareshaft testing. I would usually do the same here, but there are no places near me which sell carbon arrows (other than the low diameter. ultralight compound ones) so i am having to ship from 3 rivers and i’d kind of like to be able to only buy what i need. I can’t buy testkits then go back, i just don’t have the money.

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#19974

Aaron – my bad; I think I was confusing what poundage you were shooting with Lygooshka’s. But if you are thinking of hunting with a #40lb. bow, all the more reason, in my opinion, to dial in the heaviest arrows (or, more specifically, the highest FOC arrows) that your bow will still shoot accurately and consistently, within your desired hunting range. A light bow and light arrows is not a winning combo, imo, unless you’re only planning on using it for small game.

There are those that will tell you that they have taken larger animals, maybe even on a regular basis, with such light setups. But the other side of the coin that doesn’t tend to get mentioned is the many animals that get wounded and have a prolonged death, or even worse – are wounded and not retrieved, as a result of light setups combined with a less than perfect shot. There is simply nothing to be lost by maximizing the penetrating power of your arrows as much as possible, and I’ve never understood why anyone would argue otherwise.

I understand it’s hard, and can be a little costly, to play around with a bunch of different spines and weights to find what you need. Can you give a little more detail on the bow that you’re shooting, and how the shelf is cut? A center-cut shelf will tend to accommodate a wider spectrum of spine than one cut before center.

[Aaron Rushton]

#20007

Smithhammer wrote: Aaron – my bad; I think I was confusing what poundage you were shooting with Lygooshka’s. But if you are thinking of hunting with a #40lb. bow, all the more reason, in my opinion, to dial in the heaviest arrows (or, more specifically, the highest FOC arrows) that your bow will still shoot accurately and consistently, within your desired hunting range. A light bow and light arrows is not a winning combo, imo, unless you’re only planning on using it for small game.

There are those that will tell you that they have taken larger animals, maybe even on a regular basis, with such light setups. But the other side of the coin that doesn’t tend to get mentioned is the many animals that get wounded and have a prolonged death, or even worse – are wounded and not retrieved, as a result of light setups combined with a less than perfect shot.

I understand it’s hard, and can be a little costly, to play around with a bunch of different spines and weights to find what you need. Can you give a little more detail on the bow that you’re shooting, and how the shelf is cut? A center-cut shelf will tend to accommodate a wider spectrum of spine than one cut before center.

i’m shooting a bear kodiak magnum, 1973 i think, 52″ AMO, 1t’s cut just a little less than 1/16″ past centre.

[wahoo]

#21357

I’m new at this also and had a hard time understanding. I called 3 Rivs and they seemed to help me a lot. I ended up with 3555 with weight tubes 125 grn pts – finished weight of 550 out of a Selway longbow 54# @ 25 ” and I left the arrows full length . I don’t hear to many folks talking about tubes but they seem to work for me. They are easy to remove also so if I would need to go to a heavy head I could.

[Author]

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