New bow/Arrow question?

[Michael K Miller]

Finally picked up my custom built recurve today, it's 60" amo 66# @ 28", I want to go with a carbon arrow set up.  I'm not a speep junky, I want them to fly straight and have max penetration. Any recommendations on a good shaft?? Also which feathers, half moon cut? Shield cut? 3 feathers vs 4 feathers?

Thanks

[SL]

In my recurve (64lbs at 27 inches) I shoot a 28 inch cx heritage 250 with a 100 grain insert and a 175 grain point. I pull 27 inches those arrows shoot fantastic. I lean to three 5 inch feathers however I have shot three 4 inch feathers just as well. I also like four 4 inch feathers. Parabolic seems to be more quiet in flight to me. There are lots of good arrows in the market and all will serve you well if you tune well. You may get a bit better penetration out of the thinner shafts like the axis. I shoot those from my lighter bows but I  dont really have a preference anymore. Heck I shot cedars way back when and never had a penetration problem with those either. Good luck and enjoy.
SL

[Michael K Miller]

Ok, I've been doing alot of reading about carbon arrow set ups and I see that the spine is very important in matching a good shaft to your bow.  I want to go with the bemam mfx's.  Do I get the 500, 400, or something else for my set up?? The specs are above I'm my original post.

[RM81]

Depends on your draw length and length of the arrow you want. If you're drawing around 28" at that 66#'s, then I'd stay away from the 500's.  They'll be way too weak.  I'd try a lower spine at full length and cut a little at a time.  What weight head do you want to shoot?

The more feather surface area the more your arrow will spin and stabilize (slower too).  Shield cuts look cool, but some say they're a tiny bit louder than parabolic or banana in flight.  If you're tuned properly and have a good release, then you don't need huge feathers to stabilize your arrow.  With a 4 fletch arrow you can use shorter feathers to get a similar result with 3 fletch with longer feathers.  Then there's offset vs helical.  And then right helical vs left helical.  Helical will spin your arrow more, slowing it down, but stabilizing it quicker.  Right helical vs left helical depends on what wing feathers you use and single bevel broadheads.  Don't use right wing and left wing feathers on the same arrow.  Personally, I like a right helical 3 or 4 fletch with 4" RW feathers.  I know that's a lot to think about, so I would suggest just try a few things and find out what you like and what works for you.

Smaller shafts do penetrate better.  If you're looking for carbons, I would try some Gold Tip Traditional Blems 5575 from Big Jim.  He's listed in the sponsers drop down.  Best price I've found and the shafts are great.

[KodiakMag]

If you're worried about penetration make sure your BH is extremely sharp. Don't make this difficult. With that weight and a sharp BH it will be just fine on Whitetails/ Hogs.

[Michael K Miller]

Matt, I would prefer 125 to 150 grain bh up front, haven't  decided on a head yet but it will be a 3 blade.  As far as the feathers I would either go with the parabolic or bananas, prob bananas just to be different. And for all the right wing left wing helical stuff, you lost me!!  I just want a good arrow with 3 feathers on it that flys true and hits hard.  I know so does everybody else right!  And it doesn't help that I'm new to the game and none of the local shops deal or know much about traditional, which is why I'm leaning to you guys for support, so thanks for the help and bear with me on any "dumb" questions I might have in the future.

[RM81]

Not a dumb question at all.  There are three basic ways you can fletch your arrows.  Straight which offer little stabilization, helical which curve your feathers around the shaft causing it to spin (higher stabilization but slower), and offset which is a straight fletch with a tilt (middle of the two).

Then you have right wing feathers and left wing feathers which are just that.  They're taken from either the right wing or left wing of the bird and will have the quill facing a different direction.  Never mix right wing and left wing feathers on the same arrow.  You can however mix them in groups of arrows as long as they're the same on individual arrows.  The only difference will be the direction of rotation.  And also you'll need to use a right helical fletching clamp for right wing feathers, and a left helical fletching clamp for left wing feathers.  Here is a link with some pictures that might help:    http://www.trueflightfeathers.com/guide.htm   (not plugging trueflight feathers. they just have an easy to understand guide)

Alot of people here feel your frustration with finding local shops that know anything about trad archery.  I went into a "reputable" store one day and asked for a longbow string.  The guy working the counter said yeah, all our recurve strings are over here.  I told him again that it was for a longbow, and he said you mean recurve?  He didn't even know the difference between the two.  I just walked out and ordered the string online from a sponser here.  

There are a ton of great sponsers here to get trad stuff from.  Big shops like 3Rivers have a lot to choose from and then there are smaller companies that specialize in just strings or just quivers that are great too.  You can search the sponsers classifieds and then search the sponsers name on the forum and you should get some good honest feedback from those who have bought from them.

And the folks here at Tradgang are the best around.  Do a quick search to find answers.  Most likely someone had the same question at some time.  If you can't find an answer don't hesitate to ask.

[Michael K Miller]

Thanks Matt,

  Can you recommend a bowyer or a sponsor on here that I can call and talk to over the phone to help me with getting some arrows on order?

[RM81]

Sorry, I can't personally recommend anyone.  I've never ordered fletched arrows from anyone b/c I fletch my own and just order the bare shafts.  The other problem you'll probably have is finding the right length.  In the tuning process it's recommended to find a suitable spine and start with full length shafts (that are a little weak in spine).  The more you cut off the shaft the stiffer the shaft will get.  You can also add or subtract point weight to change spine.  Adding weight will weaken the spine, and subtracting weight will stiffen it.  You can also add a little bit of thickness to your strike plate if your arrows are a little weak.  And take away some thickness if they're too stiff.  Here's a link to a great tuning guide that explains it in detail:
 http://bowmaker.net/tuning.htm

Without an arrow saw or a way to cut arrows it will be tough.  I would try to find a local traditional archery club and I'm sure there will be someone there that can help.  I would help, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to ship the arrows back and forth a bunch of times.

[Michael K Miller]

Ok, on the 3 rivers website the arrow chart is telling me to go with the 340 MFX, does this sound right before I order a dozen of them?? Remember my set up is  a 60" recurve 66# @28" but I'm probably drawing it a little closer to 29"


Thanks

[RM81]

I don't want to tell you the wrong size, so I would call that number at the top of their page and talk to them.  Tell them your setup and they can do their best to get you a good arrow.  I'd also suggest only ordering a 1/2 doz in case it's the wrong size.  If you're going to hunt with those arrows, then you might think about a stiffer spine so you can add some more weight to the front.  According to their charts you could go with a 340 and lighter head or 300 and add some weight up front.  I still suggest looking for a local archery club.  The odds of you ordering a set of arrows that is exactly tuned for your bow without any cutting on the first try are pretty low.

I'm sure someone will read this with a similar setup as yours and can give you their experiences.  The heaviest bow I shoot is 60#, and I shoot a 400 spine Gold Tip from it.

[Hard Times]

MFX 340 should be correct spine, I shoot 63# @ 28" and 400 is too weak, I'm shooting 340's, 31" from deepest point of nock to BOP. Order them a little long, you can always trim them down while tuning.

Rod

[Hard Times]

Should have mentioned it's tipped with 175gr BH

[Michael K Miller]

Alight guys a little up date and some interesting information.  So I got to go to a local traditional archery shop today " bayou traditional archery" owned by Mike Harbison in search for a carbon arrow set up for by 66# recurve.  Now in my research I have come to believe that a 340 spine maybe even a 300 spine carbon is what I would need to get a good flight out of my bow, Harbison is a gold tip dealer so this is what we did our testing with.  We go set up at 20 yards and he gets up above me standing behind me so he can observe my arrow flight as I shoot.  First I knock a 5575 29 1/2" long 150 up front, shot it a few times but it had a noticeable "side whip" in flight.  Next we shot a 5575 29" long with 125 up front with a weight tube, shot s few times with still a little "side whip" in flight not as bad.  So we put a broad head on it and shot a few more times trying to get goog flight.  Not 100% satisfied mike went back into the shop and came out with a 3355 cut 29" with 125 up front, and he said let's just try this and see how it flies.  I knocked it, he stood above me and I let her fly, and we both said it at the same time holy sh"& that thing flew like a laser beam dart.  Shot it a few more times and every time we were amazed, or atleast I was. So we looked at our options and decided a 3355 with a weight tube cut 29 1/4" long with 125 up front gave me a total weight of around 580 I think, which is a little lighter than I would like but they fly like darts and hit like a sledge hammer, I was sinking them about 5" from the fletching into s styrofoam block, this is with a broad head now.  So just wanted to let y'all know about my experience and see what y'all thought about it.  But one things for sure Mike was a huge help and runs a nice shop, he builds custom strings and fletched and crest some beautiful arrows.

[Michael K Miller]

Also, what diameter field point will match up with the 5535's??