I ordered from 3 rivers archery a dozen of their pre- finished wood arrows. Was wondering if anyone knew roughly what the grains per inch of these arrows are? I know that they won't be exactly the same weight. I had them cut to 30 inches and I put a 125 grain field point on them. I would like to try to hunt turkey with them and got a half dozen ace standard 125 broadheads. I just want to make sure they aren't to light to be shooting out of my 67 Kodiak Hunter which is 43# at 28 inches. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I am sure if you call 3 Rivers they could/would help you. Most times wood shafts are marked spine and weight.
On the 3 Rivers web site there in the arrow buying section, watch the video about staightening wood arrows. You may or may not have ordered ones that are checked for staightness. No big deal just watch the video and it shows you the way to adjust each arrow.
It can vary a LOT with wood arrows. Not unusual for shafts to vary over 100 grains.
Grains per inch is a carbon arrow thing. It would be difficult if not impossible to list GPI for wood as it is not that standard (homogeneous) in weight. Wood shafts are generally purchased for a total shaft weight + or - 10 grains. The only reliable way to figure shaft weight for wood is to weigh them.
I'd bet that your arrows are heavy enough for your 43# bow. If you don't have a grain scale, find some one who does. Reloaders always have one that measures in grains.
Arne
I have a set of very straight grained 60-65 Acme cedars with 160 grain broadheads that weigh 495 to 500 grains. I have a set of Wapiti 45-50 cedars with 145 grain broadheads that weigh 455 to 460 grains. I have 3 sets of 50-55 wapiti cedars with 160 grain broadheads that weigh, my standard cedars, 515 to 523 grains. They all have three coats of poly for a finish. Cedar arrows can vary, it really helps to try to get wood arrows from batch to batch that are identical, but one needs to rely on the supplier to get that done. The doug firs that I get from Surewood are the same weight and spine range, as I run out of cedars and 1918s they will become my standard shaft. Except for the problem that they shoot so nice for me, I neglect my others so running out of the others will be unlikely.
Thanks for info, it looks like my next purchase will be a scale.thanks again the feedback is greatly appreciated
Yup, a simple scale that weighs grains is pretty handy.
As far as whether your arrows might be too light - I also think it's highly unlikely a set of woods will be too light for your bow. Shooting around the same bow weights, I find it's harder to find shafts that aren't HEAVIER than I like.
A light set of Doug Firs usually end up around 11-12gpp, spruce I can get down to 10. These approximate weights are with 100 or 125grn points.
As one who has weighed hundreds of shafts I can tell you there is quite a range. Typically 30-35s will range from 280-360. With 75-80's you will find a range of 400-550 and possibly wider. Another factory that plays is the variability within a shaft. Just because the 32" shaft weighs 320 grains, doesn't mean it will weigh 300 grains if I cut 2 inches off.
Harbor freight sells an accurate little digital grain scale for @ 10 bucks. I'm sure your arrows are heavy enough though. Good luck.
Of course, when you order your shafts/arrows, you can specify the weight you want. Most suppliers will group them within 20 grains or so, some to 10 grains. Always good to have a grain scale though to check that you got what you ordered.
Thank you for the feedback I just ordered a scale today.
I'm quite excited to build my own arrows,tapering the point and nock end. Is the woodchuck taper tool the best way to go.
Woodchuck is good. If you have a table saw or disk sander, can make your own jig to do the same thing.
As the great bowyer and Howard Hill protege John Shulz has said, chose arrows of the proper spine and they will be just fine for weight.
I've always maintained the same and my experience has found it to be true.
I sand my arrows near each end to get them down in weight, and sand them in the middle to get the spines down a few pounds.
I am often confounded by questions like this that could be simply answered by purchasing a 25 dollar digital scale...you will find many uses for such a scale and they will last a long time
DDave
Thanks everyone for the feedback!
POC. 18 grains
Walnut. 22 grains
Birch 24 grains
Hickory 24 grains
these are 23/64 th shafts