I've been reading posts from Tradgang for a long time, finally joined up. Time to ask my own questions.
This summer a friend of mine gave me a Mathews Heritage Hawk R/D longbow 55# @ 28" (good friend). I finally got some arrows made up for it and have been shooting for a week now and I'm hooked.
I couldn't make it to the bow shop to get arrows made so I had a friend get them for me. Shop cut them funny (I asked for 29", they measured from back tip of knock to front tip of field point, crazy). They are GT Traditional 5575s with aluminum inserts and 125gr field points.
The arrows fly great. I am shooting good groups (new to trad, but not archery) but the more I have read on here about arrow weight the more I worry if a 125gr point will be too light. I was planning on buying some 125gr Muzzy Phantoms.
With my set-up do I need heavier tips for whitetail? I draw over 28" but haven't been to a bow shop to measure weight at my draw. Also, will heavier tips make a big difference in my arrow flight? Thanks in advance for the help.
If your arrows are flying well now, they should fly well with the same weight broadhead. The set up you have should be fine for deer and like sized game! You can experiment with other arrows and and heavier tips, more weight forward, but that can come down the road!
If you go with the Phantoms (or any other cut on contact broadhead) I think you are fine for deer sized game. If you are shooting well with the set up I would stick with it since deer season is upon us. Arrow placement is more important that arrow weight. If you stick with trad you will probably move to a heavier arrow down the road but if it isn't broke don't be in a rush to "fix it"
Do you have a longer arrow on hand to make some measurements with? To measure your draw length, you can take an arrow shaft and draw a ring around it at various distances from the valley of the nock. I'd use different color sharpies and start at 27" and draw a ring every 1/2" out to 30".
You'll need someone to watch you shoot. The different colors will make it easy for them to see how far you're drawing the bow. Shoot several times and have them take note of the color ring you pull to. Just standing, pulling the bow back, and having someone mark the shaft on the back of the riser might also work, but it's much better to see what you pull when you shoot.
As to your arrows, you're probably going to have to go with a much heavier head. And, unfortunately, the arrows are probably too short for you to use broadheads. It's a good idea to get shafts that are at least 1/2" longer than your draw for broadheads, but 1" longer is better.
We need to know what your draw is to make some accurate suggestions, but I can tell you that a 28" 5575 with a 125 grain point spines out to around 97-99 pounds. That is really too stiff. Not to mention that they are really light. If you pull that bow to 29", you'll need a 30" arrow, and probably a 150-175 grain head. To get the arrows you have to work, you'll probably need to use a 225 grain point. Again, they'll be too short to use broadheads on. You don't want to have a broadhead hitting your riser.
It would be good to find a scale to accurately measure the poundage of your bow, but if you can't, you can figure that a bow will gain around 3# for every inch of draw over 28", up to a point. Some bows will start to stack at longer draws. If your draw is 29", you should be okay.
For a hunting weight arrow, you really want to try and have your arrow weight around 10 grains per pound of draw weight. So, if you're pulling 58# at your draw, you'll need at least a 580 grain arrow. Your current 5575s will weigh around 530 grains with a 225 grain head. That is a little over 9 grains per pound. I wouldn't recommend going lighter than that. Going too light in weight can harm your bow, too.
I have a feeling you're going to have to go with a different shaft. Personally, I'd recommend getting some Arrow Dynamics Traditional shafts. They are a very forgiving shaft and will allow you to use a variety of weight points. They're heavy enough to get you the weight you need. They're also pretty tough, too. I've got a bunch of GT 5575s and GT 7595s, but pretty much the only carbon I use are the Arrow Dynamics shafts. They are just so forgiving and easy to tune.
Thanks for all the help. The Arrow Dynamics are what was recommended to me by my friend but I couldn't find a shop anywhere within several hours that sold them.
A few more numbers that might be relevant. The bow is listed at 63" and currently the brace height is 5 1/4". Does that seem correct? I don't have any paperwork and I have come up with nothing from my internet searches for brace height for this bow.
Last, will these field tips fit those arrows?
http://www.3riversarchery.com/Broadheads+Points+Screw-In+Steel+Field++200+Grain+%26+Up_c57_s71_p99_iCF581X_product.html
If your setup is flying good than I say shoot it. As for broadheads with a 55# bow and a 550 to 600 grain arrow bh's are just a personal choice. Yes those field tips will fit.
Well, even if his arrows are flying good with 125 grain heads, he's still only shooting around 7.4 grains per pound. That's too light. And, while his arrows might work with field tips, he won't be able to use broadheads. The arrows are too short. He's probably pulling the field tip onto the shelf as it is.
Chase, you can get Arrow Dynamics arrows from 3Rivers. They even have a test kit, so you can get a Trad Lite, a Trad, a Hammerhead Lite, and a Hammerhead. It might be a good idea to get that to see which one fits you the best and gives you the weight you want. The Hammerheads are a great shaft and are the toughest carbon shaft I've ever seen.
That brace height does sound low to me, but I'm not familiar with that bow. I'd think it would be better around 7.5", maybe even 8".
Yes, those tips will work. I think the threads are the same on every tip. One thing you want to do is get the field tips the same diameter as your arrow shaft.
If you like the gold tips then just get the weight tubes from 3 rivers
I am running the 5 and 8gr per inch tubes in a couple of sets of gold tips for my different bows. For my heavy bows a 8gr tube and 200gr head with 100gr insert is totaling out 865gr arrow that flies great and penetrates like crazy. My lighter bows get a 5gr tube and 200gr heads for 550-560gr total weight. I really like the weight tubes.
For 125's and deer the Phantoms are hard to beat. They sharpen quick with redi edge or any carbide quick sharpener. If you want heavier they make a 190 grain phantom as well. I've used Phantoms on thin skinned game for 15yrs - long before Muzzy bought them out. Great heads - thick blades that hold up.
The brace height "seems" a little low to me too, but if it works, then go for it. All of my R/D longbows like brace height between 6 1/2 and 7 1/4. I would also suggest a longer arrow if you're using broadheads. Here's a link that might help with tuning. http://bowmaker.net/tuning.htm
Welcome to TG. :wavey:
Being form the panhandle and there not being many traditional shooters out here I have had to learn a few things by myself. Even with spot and stalk hunting here I hunt/shoot with heavier broadheads (150-200g)) to increase penetration and stability. Out to 30 yds I really do not see any difference in point of impact of my arrows whether shooting any of my bows with weights from 50-60#. I do see a great increase in penetration due to the heavier heads. Flat shooting doesn't mean anything if you cannot make clean harvest with the setup.