Arrow weight

[obsessed1]

First try at trad archery. I have a 60" 50 lb at 29" bow. Plan on shooting a three feather fletching arrow for target and possibly Elk hunting. What arrow weight / broadhead/field tip should I be looking at? Plan to get a dozen for practice. I have shot a 60lb compound for decades now but am interested in doing this trad stuff. Thanks

[calgarychef]

Fred Bear liked 10 grains per pound of draw weight. 500 grains and up will work.

Do yourself a favour, ensure your draw length. You’ll have to remeasure as it will be different than your compound length. Find out if your bow is cut to center, past center or not center cut. Then go to 3 rivers archery and plug use the arrow selection program...it’s a cool tool that allows you to play with the parameters of arrow AND bow. You’ll have to tune the arrow to the bow and the bow to the arrow. The arrow program will save you months of anguish and give you a very good spot to begin.

Here’s what i shoot out of a 53# longbow, 27” draw and cut 1/8 less than center shot. Heritage express 150 spine, 28” long, 50 grain brass inserts, 125 grain broadhead. If I want a heavier arrow I use 250 spine, 300 grains (total) weight upfront.

[obsessed1]

My draw length measures out to be 27". I'll have to research all the other considerations mentioned. Does spine weight have as much effect with a recurve as it does with a compound?

[petew]

Don't get practice arrows, get the arrow you want to shoot. Spine matters, but … with different point weights , or changing the side plate thickness , or both you can usually make a good combination in a spine up or down one size.

Measure your draw on the trad bow, don't go by your compound draw length. It will be shorter on the trad. Draw to the corner of the mouth, not your ear., you are not trying to see how far you can pull back, you are looking to see how far a good draw, arm slightly bent , corner of mouth actually is.

50 @ 29 is unusual, it must be a custom made , or a typo , but in any case drop 2# for every inch you draw below the 29" marking, or 28" marking, what ever it is.

This will put you 46 to 48 approximately at 27" , so you are pretty much drawing what I do .

I shoot mostly 45 to 50# bows, and draw 27" on most of them.

Spine wise the majority I shoot are a 500 spine , heavy shaft , like a Carbon express Heritage series {heritage 90 spine is close to 500spine , 150 is close to a 400 spine.}, These days my shaft of choice is Bearpaw Penthalon Hunters with long inserts. Depending on the bow I will be using a 500, or a 400 spine with a point weight of 175 to 300 grains. I cut all my shafts to 29"
Unless you have a very high performing bow like a Border, or ACS I would bet a 500 spine will be a good choice for you with a 175, 0r 200 gr point. .

Order an assortment of points, they are cheap and make it easy to find the right spine shaft you need. Get at least 6 of each,125, 145, 175,200,250,300 grains. Points are cheaper than guessing on what shaft and spending money on shafts.

What bow do you have? I might be able to guess closer, to what you will find works. PM me if you want , or email pete@peteward.com

My total arrow weight is usually 500 grains and heavier , and sometimes up to 800 grains. The majority run between 500 and 625 grains. I don't shoot just 1 bow,

Pete

[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

My draw length measures out to be 27". I'll have to research all the other considerations mentioned. Does spine weight have as much effect with a recurve as it does with a compound?

Spine has a huge effect but like pete says you can adjust things to compensate. Adding tip weight softens the spine, shorter arrows are stiffer than longer arrows, building out the side plate can work wonders, adjusting your brace height works too.

It’s amazing how much tuning a trad bow actually takes. Once it’s all working together your shooting can get pretty good. I’ve seen people shooting trad for years who never got any better and it wasn’t their shooting it was poor tuning.

[petew]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Spine has a huge effect but like pete says you can adjust things to compensate. Adding tip weight softens the spine, shorter arrows are stiffer than longer arrows, building out the side plate can work wonders, adjusting your brace height works too.

It’s amazing how much tuning a trad bow actually takes. Once it’s all working together your shooting can get pretty good. I’ve seen people shooting trad for years who never got any better and it wasn’t their shooting it was poor tuning.

I have tuned a lot of trad bows to shoot diferent arrow combinations . It isn't rocket science . Its only dificult when you have pre conceived notions like wanting a certain spine , or point weight . This is why i say get an assortment of points. Let the bow tell you what it needs.

As for tuning a right hand shooter hitting right is to weak. Shorten shaft,lighter point thicker side plate. Hits left, to stiff , heavier point,thiner side plate, longer shaft.

Start with noc height. Up down flight is noc, move up or dow ti fix. Start 3/16 above level . Left right waging is spine. Add tip weight if it improves add more, if it gets worse go lighter. Pretty simple if you have lots of cheap points in diferent weights.

If you have circling flight it is spine and noc, fix noc height first . Do these at 40 yards or so so you have time to see the flight, 20 yards is to close to see whats hapening .

Every bow is acurate if it is tuned unless it has a massive screwed up limb or tiller . The most acurate bow is the bow that is best matched to its arrow . A $200.00 bow with an excelent tune will outshoot a $2000.00 bow that isnt tuned to a set of arrows that match it .

Tracey made a good note about brace height in tuning . It works. I prefer to find the lowest brace that is shock free, and quiet and build an arrow to match that for acuracy . But dont rule out brace height in tuning. It changes the noise, felt shock, speed and spine requirements.

Diferent diameter arrows also tune diferent in the same spine .thin arrows shoot as if the bow is more center cut, and noc is higher and shoot weaker in spine than a fat shaft . They may shoot fine with a simple point weight change, and nothing more than what the fat shaft likes.

Last thing is before tuning a freshly strung bow shoot about 10 arrows to settle in the string. Now the bow will perform consistantly . Typicaly a bow gains from 6 to 10 fps between the first and 10th shot after stringing it.

Pete

[obsessed1]

Just like anything this is much more involved than just flinging arrows. There is a decent bow shop in GP I'll see if I can make contact with a trad bow shooter in the area who can take me under their wing so to speak.

[petew]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

Just like anything this is much more involved than just flinging arrows. There is a decent bow shop in GP I'll see if I can make contact with a trad bow shooter in the area who can take me under their wing so to speak.

Pm me your phone number.

[ramonmark]

https://youtu.be/1E1vKkSSoNs

I highly recommend this video if your looking to learn some stuff and make practice a little more fun.