I received a new longbow today. I took the full length 3355 GT traditionals I had out and shot a little.

They fly great but I feel silly since my draw length is 26" and full length for these arrows is 32.5".

Is there any advantage to shooting arrows closer to your actual draw length? Should I just not worry about how silly it looks to have 7" of arrow sticking out the front of my bow?

Don't worry about what LOOKS silly. If they fly well use them.  I shoot most of my arrows full length. The advantage. More weight. And if the end breaks a little. It's probably still useable.

length only matters if they are too short, and it doesn't look stupid having arrow sticking out. plus if you mess up the tip a little, you can cut them down and use a heavier tip and use for closer targets.

The 3555 GT are 30.5" full length. If you have great flight now, cutting them down will stiffen the spine significantly and they may not shoot as well. A long arrow also helps reduce point on distance if you are gapping.

Mine are 32.5" from the deepest bit in the nock to the insert. Just measured them because you made me doubt my memory.

Glad to hear what you're all saying. I like the flight of these things and it's less work.

Yes they now make them longer. Tuning and flight is all that matters concerning length.

For me with carbons or any arrow I let my tuning determine their length.

I have always cut my arrows to 1" longer than my draw. I don't purposely look at my arrow when shooting but it's there nonetheless. Any longer than that just looks weird to me in my sight picture.

Extra length in a backquiver makes a huge difference when navigating yourself through the woods. I've been wearing a backquiver for so long I don't ever snag on things unless I have a longer than normal arrow in the bunch.

I've been told a longer arrow aids in penetration, so there's a plus

There's no reason you need to shoot that long an arrow.  Pretty easy to select a spine that will shoot well when the arrow is cut about 1 inch past the back of the bow for broadhead/hand clearance.  

Unnecessarily long arrows are a pain for a couple of reasons.  First, if you use a bow quiver, you'll stick the nocks in the dirt every time you try to lean your bow against a tree.  In hunting situations, the longer shafts create more movement when being placed on the string, not only the arrow, but also your maneuvering to get the arrow to clear the upper limb when moving it from bow quiver to arrow shelf.  In a bow quiver, they'll hit more brush than arrows that are 6 inches shorter.  They'll catch on even more brush in a back quiver. In general, you'll just find them getting in the way more often than shorter arrows.

I feel that there may be some advantage to a longer arrow. This is totally subjective, but it seems that longer arrows tend to stabilize a bit faster, and I do enjoy the added weight. I have never encountered difficulties in handling the arrow from the quiver to the string. 3 or 4 inches of extra length just does not magnify the problem significantly. Granted, I spend most of my time in elevated stands or roomy ground blinds, so brush is not an issue.

I like a stalker type side quiver and I can't figure any drawbacks to do with that. If you're putting an arrow on the string in front of an animal, you've already failed.

I've been shooting full length shafts for years,no issues.Do what works best for you.
Leland

QuoteOriginally posted by Nativestranger:
The 3555 GT are 30.5" full length. If you have great flight now, cutting them down will stiffen the spine significantly and they may not shoot as well. A long arrow also helps reduce point on distance if you are gapping.

X2

I was always taught to have as short an arrow as possible...less material to flex means easier to tune. INMO I think the new lately modern ideas of tuning arrows by length makes shooters look silly, like they don't know how to cut an arrow correctly....and they look like African bush men who also shoot arrows way long.  I don't see the need...carbons can be cut and tuned just like alums. and woodies.....and I use a back quiver and enjoy short arrows in it...not spears..lol

Nate, what carbons are commonly available that are light enough to be cut to 27" for a longbow cut 1/4 off center at 50# draw? It comes out on the calculator to 38# dynamic spine and even GT trad 1535s calculate out to mid 40s. I may try some kids 1820 aluminums and see how those shoot. I can't buy tons of arrows just to try them all.

I'm not a carbon shooter, but can't you play with the tip weight/inserts to get the spine down where you need it?  They make lots of different weight field points.  Get one of the test kits that has a couple of each weight from 125 to 250 and change weight until you find the right one.

Check out this thread-sounds like you're trying to do the same thing.

http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=128638

One thing about carbons once you glue the insert in not much chance of removing it that's been my exsperance anyhow .....stabow

Cketh,  I'm not in the carbon game...but for example here's what my buddy shoots as far as spine goes....and he and I have never looked at any spine charts or stu miller's chart...just old fashioned arrow making knowhow from the old guys teaching us.  And my buddy is 62 years young...

He shoots 52#@26" hill style longbow.  Finding cedar arrows heavy enough to hunt with at that short draw is hard....so he shoots 80-85#spine arrows with a 225 gr. tuffhead broad head and ends up with about 570 gr arrows that fly like darts....and they are 26 1/2" bop....I would be willing to bet that you can get carbons way under 80# spine for your 52# bow at 27"...even with a moderate weight head....problem is..everyone nowadays wants to bareshaft tune.  Me and my buddy don't...we tune with feathers and can't understand all the tuning issues we see others having.  Bareshaft tuning isn't the final authority by any means.....