New way to add tip weight

[MikeP in WV]

Gang,
Just thought you might want to know about a new way that I thought of for adding tip weight for aluminum arrows. Depending on what size shafts you have, you can glue some center-fire rifle loads in behind the insert and it works great. I bought some Easton Legacy 2020s and soon realized that they were too stiff so I took some 110gr .243 bullets that I had never loaded and glued them in to get about 235 grains up front (plus the insert) and they made a huge difference in the way the arrows fly and added about 6 inches of penetration into my Buckmaster's 360degree layered target. It took all of about 10 minutes to do four arrows and I was back outside shooting again.

[Matabele]

Great idea Mike!

[JEFF B]

pics please  

[Big_Al]

Pretty slick, Mike!  Supposedly they do the opposite of that down in Wyoming county ;-)

[Bonebuster]

You wont get good bullet performance if they are only hitting the target at 180 fps.   :p

[ozy clint]

must be really heavy arrows though, high gr/#???

[MikeW]

I've never done it but I thought you could melt lead and pour it in an old shaft say 12" long or so then remove it and cut pieces from it to obtain the weight you want and glue those in your shaft.

[bearbowfan]

good idea im gonna tryit

[Teacher_of_the_Arcane]

Hi All,

Don't let those ATF guys know...you'll end up paying a tax on your special ammo!!

[MikeP in WV]

Well, for HO'NEHE JEFF, I have no pictures but I can outline the process a little more.
1. The arrows were Easton Legacy 2020s cut to 29" and are 13.5gr per inch.
2. I heated the tip with a propane torch and removed the insert.
3. I then held the .243 bullet with needle-nose pliers and heated it up briefly and covered it up with hot-glue and inserted it with the flat end facing the insert, pointy end toward the nock.
4. I then heated the insert back up and covered it with glue and gave the shaft tip another quick visit over the flame and then pushed the insert back in against the .243 bullet until it seated and then stood the arrow on it's tip for about ten minutes until everything cooled down and adhered tightly.
  I tried this with Gold Tips last month but it's too hard keeping things heated up until you can get the bullet and insert set in place before the glue sets up and adheres and I didn't want to risk putting the carbon tip into the flame...didn't think that was a good idea...If my calculations are correct, including the shaft weight, tip weight, bullet weight, fletching and nock weight, I'm at about 660grains now...I don't have a scale.

[Cherokee Scout]

Why go to that much effort when you can buy weights already made that will screw into back of insert?
Gold Tip make a weight with a hex head and they have a 3' allen wrench so you can add the weights and remove them as desired. With the various weight sizes they offer, you can perfectly tune the shaft to your bow.

[McK]

I have done the same thing with goldtips, pulled the 40 gr bullets from 22shells (much cheaper) then squeezed them front to back with pliers till they were snug fit and epoxied them in followed by the insert.  seems to work well.

[BD]

I do it the way Sipsey River suggests and it works great.

[Bear Heart]

Bad news. 2020 is the only one they dont make screw in weight for.

[Dave Worden]

MikeW, I have tried it.  It works fine.  Just pour into a shaft that fits inside your arrow shaft and cut/sand to length/weight.  Be sure to glue the "inserted shaft piece" inside your shaft when putting the insert back in.  You don't want it to slide.  Should you ever want to remove it, remove your insert, let cool and drive a drywall screw into the lead, heat the shaft a bit and pull it out.  There's a chart in the How-To section that tells what aluminum shafts fit inside each other.
Dave

[Shawn Leonard]

With brass inserts and the weights ya can add to the back of inserts I have to agree with above! Why go to all the trouble? You can even buy points that weigh from 40 to 300 grains now. Shawn

[Dan Chamberlain]

I think it was a terrible idea!  Everyone knows the .243 is too small for really big bucks!

Dan