Hello Gang,
I'm a new member and want to thank everyone in advance for your help and advice. I know that there is a lot of experience amongst this gang and I am appreciative of your time taken to help me.
I have very little experience in traditional archery. I have a Bear Kodiak recurve of a nominal 50#, 60"amo...16 strand dacron string... .340 spine carbon arrows, 32" long, 3x4" feather fletch. I'm 6' tall and don't know my draw length. I'm shooting fingers with a glove.
I want to make this work for a while until I can get practiced up and take more time to research/learn, but I don't know what size head I can get away with for now. I would like to shoot ~ 200gr. Is this a good number?
By the way, I have tried to do this research on my own, but I'm getting mixed results. If you could also include how you know the answer to my question so that I might learn for the future that too would be appreciated.
Sorry for the long read....thanks again!
http://www.3riversarchery.com/pdf/2011ShaftTuningChart.pdf
This chart should be able to help you. It is something that you have to tinker around with by shooting several different field points at different grains to see which one shoots good out of your bow. Good luck!!
Before you can make any decision you are going to need to figure out what your true draw length is. It affects many aspects of shaft selection, most importantly your actual draw weight. Your arrows may be longer than you actually need them. If your draw length is less than 31" (I'm guessing it most likely is) then you would have room to cut some off if needed.
Your arrows might work as is, but increasing point weight and/or cutting off some of their length can help you fine tune them. But before doing anything, figure out that draw length and thus your bow draw weight.
X2 Whip!! I forgot to mention that in my previous post. Thanks. :thumbsup:
Figuring out your DL is easy -get a helper with a marking pen, come to full draw and have your helper draw a line on the arrow furthest away from you (back of riser) then put the bow down and measure the distance to the valley of the arrow nock and that is your DL. Please let us know and Welcome to Tradgang!!
And before ordering broadheads, order a test kit of different weight field points to try. Let your setup tell you what weight points you need.
with a .340 arrow you are going to need a bunch of weight up front. Easy way to get your draw length is with a spring clothes pin. Put it on the arrow so that it is sideways and slowly go to full draw.
http://tuffhead.com/ They have some good info on their page about broadhead weight.
I wouldn't worry about broadheads now, just shoot field points until your form settles down. The reason I say that is that your draw length might change a bit as you learn to shoot and your form will definitely change. Both have a big impact on what is the "right" arrow and point weight. I'd put a heavy point on your arrows (.340 is on the stiff side) and practice until you have some consistency, then give tuning a try. These are a couple good links, the first is general set up and the second is arrow tuning:
http://acsbows.com/bowtuning.html
http://acsbows.com/bareshaftplaning.html
Arrows with field points are pretty tolerant of spine mis-matches but broadheads are another story. You might pick a broadhead and get lucky, more likely you spend more money than you need to. Once you can get a little tune on your arrows and they are flying nice and straight, then buy the same weight broadheads as your field points. If your form is relatively consistent and you bare shaft tuned like in the link your broadheads should hit the same spot as your field points.
It's very difficult to accurately recommend an arrow setup to somebody, there are too many variables. That said, with a 50# bow and a draw length somewhere in the 28"-29" range a .340 is on the stiff side, but 32" length and a heavy point might work for you...or might not. For comparison I shoot a 31" .340 with 250 grain points out of my 50#@29" recurve and I draw a little over 29". I'd start with 200 grain points if that's what you want to use and see how they work. Buying field points in several different weights will come in handy when you get to tuning.
You could pick up some 160 gr field points and 40 gr long bh adapters and see how they do.Only cost a few dollars.
ok guys I got home from work and measured my draw length....28"
thanks for your help...I look forward to hearing your advise!
if your 6ft tall, good chance you will eventually draw more that 28", the anchor point is not necessarily the corner of your mouth like is often quoted. The upper portion of your draw arm should be in line with your chest, this allows your skeletal structure to hold some of the draw weight. Just keep your elbow turning the corner till the upper arm is inline, where your hand is at that point determines your anchor point. For instance, me an my wife have monkey arms, she's 5'8" and draws an honest 29", I'm 5'11" and pull 31", but like I said we are freaks and have really long arms and fairly wide shoulders. If you practice getting your arm back like I said when you draw, you will be able to hold longer and aim better theoretically, my wife is good at that, me, not so much!