So I called a LARGE outdoor store yesterday and spoke with a guy in the archery department about getting my first set of arrows.  I told him I'd like to start with some carbons and told him my longbow's 65# draw & will likely end up between 60-65 after finish sanding.

He suggested I pick the 45-60# spine because they're figured for compounds, not longbows.  He said others would tell me to pick a heavier spine, but that's not correct.  I figured I'd check with you all since it seems you have more experience than he might?

Also, I'm planning on the 10 or so gpp rule, putting me at around a 600 grain arrow.  Would it be a good idea for me to grab the heavier brass inserts to have put in instead of the light aluminum ones that come with the arrows?

Thanks in advance for the help


Jeremy

what weight broadheads/points are you wanting to shoot?

We need your planned finish arrow length...?

tradtusker-

I was hoping to get the same weight heads on my different tips so everything stayed 'the same' when shooting.  That being said, I'm not certain how to make that happen...  I want field tips, judo's, and broadheads.  I'm looking at the Eclipse 2 blade, single bevel (they're made locally here) and they're offered in either 125 or 145 and I can get 25 grain screw in adapters for them.  With that in mind, I'm not sure how to match up the other points?  Is it common to have differing weights?  Does it change arrow point of impact much to do so?

Sorry for the dumb questions, but thanks for the advice    .


Jeremy

John3-

I was shooting a friend's arrow the other day and I think it was 30" total-I've got about a 28.5" draw length.


Jeremy

If I needed arrow help this is the first place I would've asked.95% of the help in those stores are usually challenged for wheel bows...I could only imagine them with trad bows.        

I would start with a 55/75 or a .400 spine carbon. Depending on variables you may need to go to a heavier spined shaft.. Try the 55/75's first...

Buy the 5/16" brass weight inserts so you can super fine tune for perfect broadhead flight... Also if your wanting to set up at home to build arrows buy the "mini" cut off saw from Harbor Freight..  30$ well spent to super fine tune your own arrows at home...

John III

Jeremy,

If you are local to the Boise area, get yourself to the Idaho Traditional Bowhunters meeting on the Wednesday after next (every second Wednesday).  They meet at Cabelas @ 6:30PM in the meeting room.  They are an experienced bunch of guys and if I were closer I would be there every month.  You should be able to get your tuning worked out and have some good guys to shoot with if you can get together some time after the meeting.

http://idahotraditionalbowhunters.com/index.htm

They are seldom right.Buy some shafts of different spines and bare shaft them,you must find what you need if you have a good shooting form.

Weight has less impact than spine-spine is everything; also don't have a preconceived notion about shaft length-that will be adjusted later in the tuning process. What's the string type, and what is the make of the bow-do you know the degree of centershot? That is likely the most important bit of information to have when selecting shafts.
Also, get the shafting, feathers, and all the other arrow stuff from a sponsor here, and use that 'big outdoor store' for lawn chairs and canoes.

Well said Bjorn , I was going to suggest the same, let one of the fine archery( traditional) vendors on this site take care of your needs, they will take good care of you and know what you need

Like said above!  

the dynamic spine of carbons has a far greater range than alums or woods ... and you, as many other folks have found, may require weaker spined carbons for best arrow flight.  

sticking with 10gpp or more is a good thing, too.  also, i'd wanna have at least 15% foc, which is easy to create with most any carbon shaft.

Check out Stu Millers dynamic spine calculator. If you feed it the right info it should get you very close.

JW

Stu's calculator is fun playing around with and will put you pretty close. I use it to play around with different set ups and it has likely saved me several dollars on various hare-brained combinations that I thought would work well.

I also think that getting in with some experienced guys in your nearby area is also invaluable. Not to sound too haughty, but most of the folks in the archery sections of the big box stores know little (at best) about traditional archery.

http://www.heilakka.com/stumiller/

Thanks for all the help, guys-I sure appreciate it.  Looked a little at that spine calculator and I think I may be 'arrow challenged'...

John3 - The 5/16" brass weight inserts-dumb question here...do I assume correctly that those replace the lighter aluminum ones and get glued into the end of the shaft; what the tips screw into?  If this is the case, how do people go about changing the arrow length once an insert is glued in as some have mentioned?

Ray_G - You're probably right about getting to that meeting.  Unfortunately, I can't make those since I work nights.

Bjorn - The make of my bow is "self"-a laminated R/D that I just finished up (64" nock-nock, glass belly and back).  The string's B50 (Flemish style) and is already stretched.  I don't know my degree of centershot, but it's a ways from being there...

Thanks again to all


Jeremy

Yes these 5/16 brass weight inserts replace the "factory" inserts.. Do not glue/epoxy these in until you have your arrows tuned to perfection..  I use small pieces of the plastic ripped from a plastic grocery bag and "friction" fit the inserts in place in the shafts.. I have never lost a insert doing this. Matter of fact quite common I have to apply heat(to the field tip) in order to pull the tip and insert out of the shaft with pliers...

Now that makes good sense   .  Thanks for the tip.


Jeremy

To answer your question; technically the store guy is right.  Carbon arrows are stiffer, than wood spine, because of the way it is measured.  But, we all need much more info about you and your setup to provide more help.  Posing your questions to the wealth of experience here on the forum is a "BIG" step in the right direction.