David,
You might look at the AD Trad Lites. They are very spine tolerant and seem to shoot well from all my Classic Hunters, including the one I got from you. Of course, I have a 29.5" draw which increases both the draw weight and the length of the arrows and thus requires a stiffer spine than what you would ordinarily need. But because of the spine tolerance of the tapered shaft design and the fairly high point weight you are suggesting you would be using with the 175 grain VPA, I think the Trad Lites would work well for you. I also use the 100 grain brass inserts for strength and forward weight. If you wanted to go to a little heavier and stronger shaft that is all but indestructible when striking any object, the AD Hammerhead Lites are another good option. The only disadvantage is that their extra weight results in a lower velocity, but at 15 yards or less that is not a significant difference.
If I were you and wanted to shoot one of the AD Lite shafts, I would get one that is 30" long and glue in the insert with hot melt so you could see how it shoots. If it works okay and you still want a shorter arrow, then you have to heat and pull the insert and cut the shaft from the front because the tapered design will not permit cutting from the rear without increasing the inside diameter of the rear of the shaft and making it too large for the nocks. I also like to use Easton unibushing glue-in inserts and g-nocks instead of the push-in nocks that come with the shafts because the unibushings and g-nocks are so much tougher. The g-nocks themselves push into the unibushings and can rotate for proper fletch alignment, so you don't give up that ability. What you do lose is the ability to pull the nock and insert a drill bit or metal rod to knock out the insert if you use that technique. I have not had a problem with removing the front inserts through careful heating of a field tip to pull the inserts on my AD shafts. Some people have complained that the push-in nocks supplied with the AD shafts often do not fit well, but they have worked fine for me, just not as well as the unibushings and g-nocks.
After you have experimented with cutting down the shaft to the length that works best for your setup, I recommend you use a more permanent form of glue for the front insert. Slow set marine epoxy is what I prefer to use and have never had a problem with it. The five minute epoxy has failed me before under extreme conditions, so I don't use it for inserts anymore. Big Jim claims to have a hot melt glue that securely attaches inserts to carbon shafts. He should know.
If you are trying to develop an arrow that works well for your bow, make sure you start with only one shaft and cut it back as you go, rather than cutting a dozen arrows and then finding out you made them too short and ended up with arrows that are too stiff. Remember if you use AD shafts that they do not bare shaft well, and even the company that makes them does not recommend bare shaft tuning. Just fletch them and start shooting. I like 4 x 4" fletching on the AD shafts, and that has always worked well for me, but 3 x 5" is good too. When you have found the configuration that works on the development arrow, you can make them all that way. Most folks I have talked with find that they can change point weight significantly on arrows with the AD shafts without adversely affecting arrow flight. I have had the same experience. Terry Green shoots AD shafts too -- I think exclusively -- and he could give you more information on them. Joe Coots (JC) has had an issue with the AD shafts creating a spiraling effect as they fly towards the target, so he was not using them last time I talked with him. JC has a short draw too, like you, so that might make a difference. My son has shot your Classic Hunter and has about the same draw length as you do. My AD arrows seem to work fine for him at 31" length, but the arrows that always shoot well from his bows are the Carbon Express Heritage 90 arrows. I do have some concern that AD shafts may not work as well with shorter arrows and at lower draw weights.
For the best advice on arrows, I would recommend you call Paul Mattson at Badger Arrows or Ted Fry at Raptor Archery. Both of them have extensive experience with various makes of shafts, including the AD shafts, and they will know what will work for you. Besides that, they are both great guys whom you would enjoy dealing with. You could probably talk one of them into sending you a "test kit" of arrows to try so you could see what works best for you. That could be a little more expensive up front but would allow you to figure out what works best for you before you start buying a dozen arrows that are not what you want and wasting a lot of time and money.
Allan
Topic: What size Carbon for my Shrew??? (Read 351 times)
