[English Longbow] 11/32 or 5/16

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New member
Looking to make a new set of arrows for target shooting.....
LB is 57lb @ 30" what would be better 11/32 or 5/16 at 40-45lb spine?

I guess that a 5/15 shaft would be lighter for get out to 100yrds for a York. But also would be more fragile.
What do people use?
 

Birkebeiner

New member
I used to use 11/32 and 3.5 inch feather fletches at around that draw weight and found 70 yards a real challenge - arrows were pretty indestructible - the one weakness was sometimes breaking an arrow just above the point at crowded targets where it was hard to get a straight pull on the arrow (only happened on a few occasions on near targets), might be worse with 5/16s. 40+ spine on 5/16s is towards the max spine commonly available which, if I recollect correctly, is one of the reasons I chose 11/32s for a 29" draw. At 30" draw you might find that 5/16s won't give you the spine you're looking for, but if you do find some then they'd be better for getting to 100 yards with some small fletches. Do you think 40-45 is the right spine for your bow/draw weight?
 
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Deleted member 7654

Guest
I find 60# is the sort of change over point where either is ok. at 70# you really need the 11/32.
For distance the 5/16 is prob' better. but you might need a 150gn point to calm it down a tad. Too light and it can get a bit hand shocky/elbow jarring.
Bottom line is try it and see. Avoid the over large fletchings that some longbow archers seem to go in for, I reckon 3" is plenty. If it needs bigger fletchings to stabilise the arrow, the something el;se (prob spine ) is wrong.
Remember the shaft accounts for more weight than the point.
Note:- With 30" draw you may want to go up in spine.
Del
 

Simon Banks

Active member
I think the biggest advantage to using 11/32 is they are better at line breaking.. The GPI is only slightly different between the same wood 5/15 and 11/32. I made a set of 11/32 a while ago in an attempt to increase the weight and was very disappointed to learn there wasn't much in it unless I increase the arrow length. I shoot 100gr piles on my #45 5/16 arrows.. But then I rarely shoot much beyond 60 yards as I shoot field.


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Deleted member 7654

Guest
An 11/32" shaft should be about 1.2 times the weight of a 5/16 shaft of the same material.
Unless my arithmetic is letting me down.
The GPI (grains per inch?) difference may seem small but multiplied by 28 for the length of shaft makes it a lot more ... almost 28 times more! :shocked:
Del
 

Simon Banks

Active member
My rational is that even though the arrow shafts are thicker the density will be lower if the spines are the same. So I would be very surprised if 11/32 for a pine arrow would be more than a couple of GPI higher than a 5/16 in the same wood. Of course if it's a higher density wood like Ash for higher spines then the difference will be more. So I'm thinking for spine mat her pine or cedar arrows we are probably only talking an extra 20-40gr for the entire shaft.

That said I can't find the math I did but needless to say I do remember the Doh and Forehead slap ;-)


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Zhoo Zhoo

Member
You could always get 11/32 shafts and taper the nock end to 5/16. English Bowman recently showed a few of us how to do this with a simply made tapering jig lined with fine sandpaper, and an electric drill. There are videos on YouTube that show how to make one. Arrows do look more elegant when they're tapered.
 
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