Heavy FOC wood arrow help

[Autumnarcher]

Im looking to put together arrows for an elk hunt,not sure on best option for shafting.
Heres kind of what Im thinking, and was looking to see see if anyone can point me in the right direction.

First, wood is what I want to shoot, I do not like carbon or aluminum, I just sont feel right not shooting woods from a longbow.

I want to mazimize penetration potential, looking at using 145 gt head, or more if need be. I prefer skinnier shafts over fat.

Im shooting a 56# @ 27' bow, so arrows will be cut about 28-29".

I was originally thinking lam. birch, but with a 125 they ti the scale at 630gr with a 125 head, thus adding more weight to the tip will push them upwards of 700gr. which might be too heavy.
Im hoping for right around 600-650, but want more front end weight.

Would I be better off going with a surewood shaft with more spine, say 60-65, and fromt weighting that? I have some surewoods now, but they are lighter than my hexpines by about 50gr, and if I throw a 190 tip on them they fly weak.(50-55 shafts).

Any suggestions?

[SlowBowinMO]

If you want a higher FOC woodie a heavy shaft is working against you.  Laminated birch would be great if you were trying to build a buffalo arrow, but with the finished weights you are looking for you'd be better off with a more modest weight shaft of higher spine.

I shoot Surewoods about 10# heavier than I would otherwise need with 220-250 grain points.  Flight and penetration is fantastic, finished arrows are about 730 grains in one set up and 630 in the other, again due to initial shaft weight.

Internal footings/weights or Woody Weights both work well.  Woody weights are particularly handy for tuning.

I'm shooting them out of center cut Firefly longbows, a cut past center recurve might need a lot more than an extra 10# spine to shoot those kinds of point weights.

[Birdbow]

How about a footed (with a heavier hardwood) shaft?

[Autumnarcher]

What weight broadheads are you using- you using heavy BH's, or a 125 with a woodyweight behind? I have some 75 gr woodyweights, those with a 125 head would likely do the trick. Guess I'll order some more shafts and play with it a bit. Shouldnt be too tough to dial it in. Thanks for your help. I was really surprised when I got that first dozen surewoods that they were so light.

[Zradix]

My arrow is 27.25 BOP.
It's a tapered spruce shaft.
I'm using a 200 grn Grizz

Total arrow wt is 510 grains.

My foc is 20.64% using Rob's calculator.
  http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000089  

The bow is a martin savanah 45#

The arrows are 55-60 spine.

You could add that 75 woody wt to a 200 grain head and still have shafts made from wood available in your needed spine.

Good luck!

[hvyhitter]

I would go with a reasonably heavy shaft with the last 10 inches tapered. Give you an instant FOC boost. Tried the woody weights all one summer a few years ago and only got so so results. It didnt seem like the wood shafts liked a whole lot of point weight(250+). I went back to heavier shafts and a 200 gr max point weight. Still try for only a max of 11-12 GPI overall.

[JJB]

I was also looking for a wood shaft that was heavy up front for elk hunting this fall.  I recently purchased some "stumpbuster" arrows and have been very happy with them, I've been shooting them for about a month or so now. They are a cedar arrow with a black aluminum footing making them heavier and adding some toughness on the front. I'm looking forward to trying them on elk and deer this year.  
-Jay

[Javi]

I'm shooting 11/32 60/65 shafts tapered to 5/16" 29.0" BOP with 160 grain heads from my 50lb @ 28" Sarrels Blackhills II with a draw of 27 3/4" to back of bow.. total weight is 563 grains.. plenty for an elk..

[Don Stokes]

If you want more FOC, go with the lighter Surewoods and go up in spine and point weight.

But remember, the most important factor in penetration is not FOC, it's having a perfectly tuned arrow and a scary sharp broadhead. And don't worry about shaft diameter, because the broadhead will open a big enough hole to let any size shaft through. Perfect flight and sharp heads trump everything.

[Jack Denbow]

John however you go you will find that you need to up your spine 5# for every 50 grains you add up front. I use a 100 grain tungsten rod internally footed with 145 grain points and have to use shafts 10# heavier spine. There is nothing wrong with a 700 grain arrow, it hits with authority.
Jack

[SlowBowinMO]

Originally posted by Autumnarcher:
What weight broadheads are you using- you using heavy BH's, or a 125 with a woodyweight behind? I have some 75 gr woodyweights, those with a 125 head would likely do the trick. Guess I'll order some more shafts and play with it a bit. Shouldnt be too tough to dial it in. Thanks for your help. I was really surprised when I got that first dozen surewoods that they were so light.

I'm shooting mostly 125's on 125 Woody Weights but I have a number of combinations, heaviest actual broadhead is 190 though.  Whenever you order shafts if you have a weight preference please let us know, DF can vary over a 100 grains in a given spine.  If you have a light or heavy preference we'll try to accommodate you best as we can if you ask.

Hope this helps, Tim

[Autumnarcher]

Thanks Tim, I ordered a test kit to play around with. Im looking for around 600-650 gr finished weight, gonna shoot for 175-200 up front. I cut my arrows usually around 28, but thats flexible depending on arrow tuning. Once I get a spine nailed down, I'll order a couple dozen from ya.
Gotta get 'em built so I can get shooting once my elbow is better. Should get the go ahead from the doc in couple weeks. So in the meantime I can build some arrows. I can shoot enough to get the weight/spine thing nailed down.

[Autumnarcher]

Got to rootin around down in the cave, and dug up an old 55-60 hexpine shaft. Stuck a 190 tip on it, total arrow weight was 624. Strung up Dark Timber and let fly, and it flew really good for a bow I havent even tuned perfectly yet. So Im on the right track. Still gonna tinker with a couple different spines, but that arrow hits like sledgehammer.