I have received a few boxes of wood arrows that were my late grandfathers. Two of the boxes are Bear, one is Ben Pearson and the last is American Arrow.

Question is would these arrows be safe to shoot or should I just display them? They dont appear to have any cracks, but I have not looked them over really well. Keep in mind I have no experience with woodies. I was just concerned about the age.

Thanks,
Ray

I guess my concern would be how dry and brittle the wood may have gotten over the years. That and how they may have been stored.

David Mitchell probably isn't too far from you. Maybe Dave can help you out?

I think they will be fine but you might want to change the nocks.

Looks like Dave is roughly 100 miles from you. Not that close.  

Yep, about 100 miles between Charleston and Charles Town. Close sounding but not too close.  

Bud, thanks for checking into Dave for me. 100 miles is a little hike. You nailed my concern with the brittle remark. I really have no need to use these arrows, just thought it would be cool.

Gordon, new nocks was a good call a few of the nocks are loose in the boxes.

I have a few old Bear cedars from the 70s that I have shot a few times for old times sake. With the WV humidity, you probably are OK, seeing as how we are a much drier part of the country. A few half draw shots might ease your fears. Have fun!

Gordon hit it on the head! I would be more concerned about the plastic in the nocks being brittle than the wood.

Show some photos of the arrows...always neat to see arrows we started with back in the 60's.

I agree, the nocks would be the only potential problem.  They're most likely cedar, and cedar is very rot resistant and holds up well under most conditions.  Need to make sure they're spined correctly for your bow, of course.  Could break if they're severely underspined.

I will try to pull them out this weekend and get some pics. I know the one set of Bears has the Green Razor Heads.

Well I didn't even think to measure them. They are all too short for my 30.5" draw.

I will give them a good look over. Throw on some new nocks and a few half draw test shots. When they pass my testes I will let my daughter and wife shoot the field tipped ones if they would like.

Thanks for the input guys.
Ray

My only problems with old arrows has been nocks breaking upon release, resulting in a dry fire.

Not good!
Killdeer  

Dry fires are no good at all  

I like to use vintage arrows as templates for reproductions. Plus they are just fun to collect.

If they don't work for you, nor have sentimental value, list them in the classifieds with pics. Lots of folks collect these items and you will likely be able to buy lots of new arrows with the money you make. An empty Bear box goes on the auction site for..............!