I was playing around with the spine calculator last night and came up what appears to be the perfect arrow for my set up. It is a GT 35/55 full length (30") with standard components and a 125gr point. Right now I am shooting 28" arrows and they are flying good, but I am looking at getting some new shafts. Are there any advantages/disadvantages of shooting a full length arrow? Bow specs are:
62" Diamondback Venom II recurve cut 1/16 past center
45 at 28, at my draw of 26.5 it is 41.6
12 strand ff string.
Advantages - added weight, reduced effective spine (if less is needed), alters point-of-aim closer (if used).
Disadvantages - added weight, reduced effective spine (if more is needed), alters point-of-aim further out (if used), sticks out further in a quiver.
Your bow will tell you by flight whether longer suits you. I get 32" wood shafts and end up cutting 1/4" off the end and when tapered I pull the head to within 1/2" of the back of the riser - so I don't have much choice. I like to shoot only what is needed. The rest is just extra arrow.
When I first started using carbons I cut them to my desired length. That was both stupid and expensive.
Now if I get a different shaft I start messing around and cut off no more than 1/4" at a time as I am tuning.
I have several different setups that stick out about 2.5" past the bow at full draw.
When I started playing around with carbons I bought some used ones.They were alittle longer then my draw,I thought I could tune them to work with point weight.It was too an expensive lesson,would have been better off paying for the full length new shafts.I never just cut a carbon to length without shooting and tuning them from full length.I find a longer carbon will tune easier and seem to fit more of my bows just by changing point weight.My carbons usally end up 2" to 3" past my draw.This seems to work well on bows cut off center like most of my longbows.
I don't think there is a major downside or upside to shooting longer carbons. You can go shorter and lighter with a weaker shaft or go longer and heavier with a stiffer shaft. It's all up to what you want and like.
The downside to shooting a longer arrow, IMO, is the greater likelihood that it will get in the way while hunting. In bow quivers, they stick out further, often below the lower limb of the bow, often too far to make it possible to lean/prop the bow up against a tree or other rest. A minor inconvenience, to be sure. They're more likely to catch/hit brush when the bow is held in shooting position/shot. And in tight quarters, say having to move from one side of a tree to the other to get a shoot an an approaching deer, the extra length of the arrow on the bow can make it difficult, if not impossible, to move from one side of the tree to the other. At the least, it creates more movement.
Save some money leave then long if they still shoot good!I'm getting older and want to go down in lbs. wish I had longer arrows maybe they shoot out of lesser lbs.Just mo for carbons
I shoot full length heritage 250 out of my 68" 50# @28. My draw is right around 28.5. They seem to shoot fine but I'm still new to all this. I have played around with different point weights and 125 seems to work the best for me and my set up. What I have learned so far is to play around and experiment with your gear. Find what is best for yourself while using advice from others
In my (limited) experience w/ carbon arrows, it's best to start full length (at the appropiate spine & pt. weight) & cut to tune. If they shoot best an inch (or three) past the riser, I don't think they would limit you that much in a hunting situation.
Keith