MY Ultimate Arrow Build

[HartHeart]

What does the perfect hunting arrow look like? Well, that would vary from person to person; and even between bows. Ask that of seven different people and you'll probably get eight different answers. So, what does MY perfect arrow look like? Well, first of all I think of arrow weight. A common rule for trad bows is 10 gpp. I personally prefer a little bit heavier of an arrow because 1) it more efficiently uses a bows strength and 2) it can help quiet a bow. That being said, my prey are black bear, deer, turkey, and smaller critters so penetration shouldn't be an issue. Too heavy can be a con, primarily the negative trajectory it causes which in turn prohibits accuracy; of which I place much importance. So, I'm shooting for roughly 12gpp or so...Btw, I am pulling about 52ish# @ 27.5" out of my 52" Elkheart so I feel that I've got plenty of punch. Ok, so 12gppish for weight which puts me at about 625 grains. Hmmm, Dr. Ashby says that 650 grains is the threshold for reliable bone breaching penetration. Maybe I'll have to go a touch heavier.  Then there is FOC. This is not intended to start a discussion on how much FOC an arrow should have. But from everything that I've seen more is always better. Now would be a good time to try for uefoc, without sacrificing moderate arrow weight and durable/reliable arrows. So, I will be limited; but I think it should be possible to build a sub 700 grain arrow into the UEFOC range. Stay tuned, and let me know what your current arrow setup is...

[HartHeart]

I should have mentioned that I already have broad heads chosen for this UAB, which would be Bishop 315 grain, single bevel, two blade broad heads. Might seem a little extravagant, but then again I bought them secondhand for a really good price(almost felt guilty) and they are the same cut diameter as the RMS Gear Cutthroats which are popular amongst trad folks. Should also mention, that I want this arrow to be universal. In other words, this arrow I will use for target practice, deer hunting, stumping, turkey hunting...etc. etc. I will use the same arrow for everything. Why? Consistency, and eventually better accuracy. Btw, 300 grain field points and stumping points are readily available so that is a plus...

[HartHeart]

[acedoc]

I use my gear for foam but hope to hunt and am setting up arrows that way.
Currently using a full length Beman ICS bowhunter 340 @9.3 gpi with 2 inches of aluminium footing , 100 grain brass insert with 145 grain field point for a total of 583 grains.
Also use axis full length 32 inch @ 10.7 gpi with stock insert and 165 grain heads.
My arrows weigh around 600 grains and I see no marked variation adding 50 grains either way.
Only when I add field points exceeding 200 grains do i see a major drop in trajectory.

[HartHeart]

FYI, if you weren't aware UEFOC stands for "ultra extreme forward of center" and I'll be interested to see if it is as good as it is supposed to be. If I remember correctly EFOC starts at 20% and UEFOC starts at 30%. I believe that 18% and higher FOC is when it really starts to make a difference for penetration. Also, the performance gain of going from 30% to 32% FOC, is greater that the gain from between 20% and 22%. So, the performance gain increases exponentially. According to Ashby, a 30% FOC 655 grain arrow will out penetrate a 15% FOC 900 grain arrow. I really hope so, time will tell...As you can see I chose Victory RIP 400's as my shaft to build upon because 1) they are tough 2) they are fairly lightweight, a necessity for building a UEFOC arrow without going over 700 grains. Removing 5 grains from the back of a shaft does far more that adding 10 grains to the front of a shaft for more FOC, therefore as light a shaft as possible. These are 7.5 gpi and have pretty good reviews on durability...the aluminum arrow beside is a 1916 which happens to be the perfect size to externally foot the RIP 400 further aiding with toughness and increasing FOC. Stay tuned...your setups??

[HartHeart]

^^acedoc   Nice! both arrows look great. It's hard to beat a 100 grain brass insert in a standard shaft for a simple way to increase FOC. I know the GT inserts are threaded 8-32 in the back so it's easy/cheap to add weight by simply installing 8-32 screws before glueing the inserts in.

[HartHeart]

You know just struck me, rather ironic that arrow manufacturers are starting to cater to us traditional folks with heavier gpi arrows while I'm going the other way; trying to find as light a shaft as possible!! If one was to build an uefoc arrow with Gold Tips Traditional Classic shafts you'd be looking at an 800 grain arrow minimum!

[acedoc]

If you are looking at ufoc or efoc setups , get a compound type arrow and play with it. There was a post by some one who had the name of the specific arrow type and manufacturer who had light weight heavy spine shafts.
I think you will be served well by arrows like oz Clint was shooting.  Look a few posts down,  post is pertaining to broadheads.

Another Idea you may like is to make an epoxy mixture of lead shot or cast a lead slug of same if as
Insert , that should give you weight where you want it.
APOLOGIES you are already set up with the same arrow type as I recalled.

[HartHeart]

[HartHeart]

Another reason for choosing the RIP's is that they are a .204 id or size 'X' arrow which is my favorite size. Skinny but not too skinny. This allows me to use the same insert that Gold Tip uses in the traditional classic shafts; the SS Accutough insert/outsert. Notice the shiny outsert part? Well, that's because to get it to match the od of the RIP's I had a machinist friend of mine turn in down to the correct diameter which is .258" btw. This allows me to slide a 4" piece of 1916 shaft right over top tying everything together. I also installed a 2" 8-32 machine screw into the back of each insert-they come prethreaded-and cut the heads off for a little more weight up front where it counts. I should have weighed that but I think that combination gives me around 125-150 grains of insert weight. Also, that threaded rod in the back should give more surface area for the epoxy to bond everything together...

[HartHeart]

[HartHeart]

[acedoc]

Looks cool,
Lot of work and effort went in to it all buddy.
Post results even subjective ones and objective if possible.
Would love to see a comparo of penetration with normal traditional arrows and the uefoc build you have there.