arrow weight

oldnut

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a bit of a tricky one to answer I know but...I was at my club sunday and someone put out a target at 100yds. they were using a recurve. I thought I would have a pop, at max elevation I managed to get 1 to reach. I am thinking maybe my arrows are too heavy they come in at 34 grms . my bow is a bamboo backed trilam at 50# what is the lightest arrow I could get away with without it being like a dry fire?
 
D

Deleted member 7654

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Yes your arrows are too heavy. They are about 525 grains. (We generally talk in grains for arrow weight)
There is a lot of nonsense spoken about "you should shoot 10 grains per pound", but that is for just for hunting to provide some decent kinetic energy.
You can safely go down to 350 grains. (7 grains per pound)
Bear in mind, I'm entering the 50# ELB flight class at the end of the month and my flight arrows are in the range of 250 300 grains. Mind a bare shaft weighs about 300 grains.
For long range, taper the shaft front and rear, fit a 50 gn or lighter point* and short low profile fletchings it will make a vast difference.
Make sure you arrows are only as long as your draw length to the back of the pile (or maybe enough extra to allow them to be re-pointed in the event of a point snapping off)... use 5/16" shafts and don't shoot full 32" shafts, they are heavier and less aerodynamic.
One more thing, make sure you are getting to full draw and getting a good clean loose, most people I see shooting don't draw as far as they think they are!
Del
* use 1/4" points to go on a tapered shaft... Quicks do a 20 grain 1/4" OD brass bullet pile.
 

Lammas

Member
There is a lot of nonsense spoken about "you should shoot 10 grains per pound", but that is for just for hunting to provide some decent kinetic energy.
You can safely go down to 350 grains. (7 grains per pound)
That depends. Some Mariner bows (Chinese style horse bows) for example recommend a 12 or 13 gpp minimum for their bows.
If the manufacturer of the bow has a recommendation, go with it.
If not, try 7 gpp, and see if you feel a difference. If you sense notably more handshock, better go up.

And yes, high FOC is good for stability and quick correction, but not for maximal distance.
A lighter tip (less FOC) will worsen flight characteristics, but flatten the trajectory.
 

oldnut

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thankyou for the information. the arrows I used were 11/32 at 32" with a 3" feather, so def some some weight can be lost. I has some 5/16 arrows from my lighter bows and will cut them down and go from there. must suss this grain business
 

little-else

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I use the stiffest 5/16" I can get (usually 40#) and 40-50gn piles with no bigger than 2" fletches.
I have tried tapered arrows for distance shooting but found no appreciable advantage and find that you will smash your nocks with a bad release. Taking a razor blade to your fletches makes a bigger difference initially.
If you have a long draw length you at a disadvantage to someone with a short draw length as their arrows will be lighter (shorter) and have less drag. For the same nominal spine your arrows will be considerably more flexible and this will certainly be a disadvantage on a windy day with straw bosses.
 

oldnut

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I got myself some ally piles that are only 30 grn, feathers will be 'modified' a little.
 

Corax67

Well-known member
I’m shooting a Gary Evans quad lam 50# longbow @ 28” draw also bamboo backed. My aim point at 100yds is arrow tip around a yard over the top of the boss straight down the centreline.

My arrows are 5/16” POC shafts, 30-35 spine, 80 grain brass bullet points, 3” parabolic feathers, finished arrows measuring 28.5” - just weighed my current dozen and they come out uniformly at 25 grams / 385 grains fully made up.

I did annoy the absolute crap out of the owner of our local archery shop when I had him go through about 80 shafts to come away with 15 spine matched & weight matched to within 10 grains. It was totally worth the aggro though (well it was on my part) as these arrows give me the best response I’ve had on any of my longbow setups to date.

Good luck with lighter arrows.



Karl
 

Geophys

Member
I’m shooting a Gary Evans quad lam 50# longbow @ 28” draw also bamboo backed. My aim point at 100yds is arrow tip around a yard over the top of the boss straight down the centreline.

My arrows are 5/16” POC shafts, 30-35 spine, 80 grain brass bullet points, 3” parabolic feathers, finished arrows measuring 28.5” - just weighed my current dozen and they come out uniformly at 25 grams / 385 grains fully made up.

I did annoy the absolute crap out of the owner of our local archery shop when I had him go through about 80 shafts to come away with 15 spine matched & weight matched to within 10 grains. It was totally worth the aggro though (well it was on my part) as these arrows give me the best response I’ve had on any of my longbow setups to date.

Good luck with lighter arrows.



Karl
You're lucky Karl, Nick made me sit down with the bundle of Boyntons and measure them myself on his Bearpaw (since bought one). But I did end up with 24 perfectly matched spine and weight shafts.
 

Corax67

Well-known member
You're lucky Karl, Nick made me sit down with the bundle of Boyntons and measure them myself on his Bearpaw (since bought one). But I did end up with 24 perfectly matched spine and weight shafts.

That Bearpaw is an incredible bit of kit - the difference that a well matched set of shafts makes is huge.

I must have caught Nick on a quiet day :)



Karl
 

oldnut

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as this is a test I have used some old arrows, they are full length 5/16 with steel points. they came in around 400 grns, swapped piles for ally ones, cut shaft to 29" and swapped feathers for 2" ones. they now come in around 300 grns, I think the shafts are very light having been in my possession for a couple of years and I think are very dry, as long as they don't crackup first shot alls good
 
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