Too little spine = loud bow?

[Al_D]

Hi guys, I think I have the answer already but just wanted to confirm.  I shoot a 47# recurve and use 30" aluminum arrows.  I probably shoot be shooting 2016s, but I ended up getting my hands on some 1816s for free.  I'm shooting well with them, but the bow is really loud upon the release.  Is it just a case of too little spine?

[Whip]

To little spine and possibly not enough weight either.  Do you know what the arrows weigh?   Shooting too light of an arrow is similar to dry firing the bow.

[Will Cocke 2]

Could be a lot of things.  To stiff can be loud as well.  What bow, brace height , nock point , arrow weight, need a little more info.


At 9.3 gpi and a 30" shaft you would need around 200gr head to be at 10gpp total arrow weight

[Charlie Lamb]

What Whip said!!

[Allen Boice]

Not enough weight, try adding something to increase the weight. I use weed eater line in my Carbon Express 150's. Should work fine for aluminum too.

[bigiron]

1916s will put you where you need to be.

[Al_D]

Finally got to sit down and calculate the weight.  My rough estimate for weight is probably 342 grains for these arrows (Easton Jazz aluminums, 9.3 grains per inch, with a NIBB point that's 63 grains).  

I've seen a lot of conflicting information on what the optimal arrow weight in grains to poundage though, ranging from 6 grains/lb (282 grains) to 9 grains/lb (423 grains).  I've been thinking more of the heavier end so I may need to look into some different points I'm thinking.

[Hermon]

Al_D-
I don't know of anyone that would recommend  6 GPP for a traditional bow.  8 gpp is as low as I would go myself. Personally I would try to find an arrow weighing 9-10 gpp or a total arrow weight in the  423-470 range, assuming you draw 28".  Your bow will be much quieter.  

As Whip said above, you are risking damage to your bow(IMHO) by shooting that light an arrow.

[Al_D]

Thanks Hermon.  Upon further research, I'm leaning towards 10 so I'll start adjusting accordingly.  Thanks again guys!

[Al_D]

Just to bump this idea off of you kind folks at TradGang...

If I'm looking at 10gpp for my bow (470g), I'm eyeballing 2216s at 30" to give me ~360g then with a 100g field point.  Does that sound pretty reasonable?  My bow shoots 47# at 28.5".

[Green]

Just a suggestion, but I would start with whatever weight broadhead you plan on hunting with.  There are very few heads at 100 grains.  From there, use the charts to get close in spine, and then final tune with arrow length and brace height.  Don't worry about hitting a gpp number to any great extent (unless it's too low like you had)....get good arrow flight and then ingrain your trajectory of that arrow through lots of shooting.

[mahantango]

2216 is very stiff. Somewhere around .300 or .340? I think you will find 2016 easier to tune.

[Al_D]

Thanks Green.  I'm looking at picking up some Zwickey Eskilites as my first broadheads which are 135.  I think that's really good advice.

Thanks mahantango.  I was looking at 2016s initially but I started thinking maybe they would be too light too after reading some of the g/lb recommendations.  I can see I was just confusing myself though.

[Caughtandhobble]

This may help and it may not. This is just my finding... No matter the bow, I strive for 10 gpp and 15-17% FOC (arrow weight front of center) on all of my arrows. This is on carbon arrows, but the same application could be used with aluminum arrows.

Basically this requires a stiffer arrow with more weight up front. I do have several setups that I use 125 broadheads but I have 50 grain inserts to weaken the spine of the stiffer arrow.

As you already know a very light arrow is loud, borderline dangerous, hard on a bow, and creates more vibration.

Traditional archery is like a never ending puzzle. Just when you think you are getting things figured out, well you know  

[Al_D]

Thanks Caughtandhobble, and you are 100% correct!  

[Mike89]

My arrows seem a little loud too- on release you can hear sort of a metallic donk....

I'm shooting 31" 2016's with a 40# grizzly at a 29" draw.  I ran them through the Stu Miller calculator and I thought they were about right.  

I think the arrows are around 450gr with 100gr field tips and FOC is around 10%

Did I screw up the calcs or might something else be at play to make the arrows loud?

[mike g]

2016's with 125 up front should work for ya.

[BRITTMAN]

I shot 2016 out of 47-50 lbs bows for several years and it is perfect for your bow with 125 point . I would cut them to 29in. If your draw length will let you and you could go up to 145 point , this was a deadly straight shooting combo for me and that setup took many deer .
Brittman

[Mike89]

Thanks, I will try 125gr points.  I will probably hold off on shorter shafts for now, just because my draw length is not real consistent yet and I don't want to worry about the point falling off the shelf