Arrow question

[Archer1977]

I have been shooting Beman Centershot 400s with 125g tips, full length. Many times my arrows do not stick in the target straight on, they are tilted to the right a bit. Is this normal?

I am beginning, and this is at 10 yards typically. Is it an arrow issue? Form? At 10 yards are the arrows still stabilizing?

Thanks!

[Orion]

You mean the nock is to the right?  I'd guess the arrows are too stiff for your bow. .400 spine is about 75-80 pounds.  If you're shooting a 48# bow at 28-inch draw, they're likely too stiff.  Might try softening them by increasing point weight.

[Archer1977]

Yeah the nock is to the right.

[Diamond Paul]

Depends on the bag you use; some bags will make the arrows look all woppy-jawed when they hit, regardless.  That's a pretty stout arrow, though.  Unless you are shooting some poundage or have a long draw, they are probably stiff.  Form has a lot to do with it; I watched a vid today where the guy, a top shooter, was shooting one spine group stiffer than you out of a 48 pound recurve at less than 28" draw.  They flew perfectly for him, so there you go.  They did hit a bit nock right bare shaft, but grouped center, and with feathers they were absolutely perfect.

[Archer1977]

My bow is 48#, my draw is around 27". So heavier point? Or "softer" arrow?

Another question I have is length. I know on my compound bow I had them at an inch past the rest. Does that rule generally apply here as well?

[Diamond Paul]

I'd start with a .500 spine, honestly.  You are only getting maybe 45-46lbs at that draw.  I like at least .75 of an inch past the edge of the riser, but more is probably better in case you get pumped and overdraw the bow, bringing the broadhead into your finger or cramming it into the riser.  That will break your concentration, for sure!  If you absoulutely don't want to buy arrows, you can buy the 100 grain brass inserts and then add point weight till it flies well, but it might take quite a bit to get there, and the trajectory might not please you, depending on how far you like to shoot.  The heavier arrow will make the bow very quiet, though, and will tend to penetrate better, too, so there's that.  Good luck.

[Archer1977]

Hmm. Ok I will look into doing this. I want to get proficient to at least 30 yds, but Im not there yet.

These Bemans do have brass inserts, not sure of the weight though. They seem to fly ok. I do not notice any erratic flight, they just impact odd often which led me to believe something is amiss.

[Brianlocal3]

Strip the fletchings off of one, step back to ten and shoot that arrow a few times. See how it flies and where it hits. Nock right would be stiff , nock left would be weak. Adjust accordingly.

Personally, I'd highly suggest picking up Byron fergusons Tuning for Extreme accuracy DVD and watching this video ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
 

[slowbowjoe]

My guess is you'll need to go with LOTS of point weight with .400's.
Probably more like .500, long, still with heavy points, or even .600's if you want to shoot less than 200 grains or so for points. No carbon expert here at all, just from my experience shooting
'em from around 45# bows.

[reddogge]

With carbons a lot of people are leaving them full length or doing minimal cutting to tune them. I do that myself, shoot a 30 or 30.5" arrow with a 27.5" draw. Cutting them short will require lots of point weight to tune those .400s to your bow.

[rwbowman]

Excellent video recommendation Brian!

[Diamond Paul]

A poor release can do that as much as the arrow (impact funny), maybe more.  If they do it every time, then it's probably the arrow spine.  Those arrows would normally be very stiff for your setup.

[bowhuntingrn]

I suggest you start here:  http://www.acsbows.com/bowtuning.html
I'm still a relative "newbie" compared to some here (been shooting almost 3 years) and still refer to this often. Stu's Dynamic Spine Calculator can also be quite helpful at finding a starting point, but it is only as good as the info entered. As far as Stu's goes, you can play with it on 3Rivers website ("Spine Calculator" near top right of page). That version of it is a little more up to date, but you can't save the data like you can on the downloadable excel based program.

[Archer1977]

Yeah I got these from a really nice pro shop, but they dealt mostly with compound bows.

Ill take a look at the calculator there.

So based on my poundage and draw, you guys think a .500 with what size point?

Im sure my release is less than perfect, ha ha.

[WESTBROOK]

Dwyer longbows are probably cut a 1/8" from center shot, and at #48 with a 27" draw you could probaly shoot a 600 spine carbon.

[Archer1977]

Well looking on 3 Rivers spine chart, I am thinking full lenth .500s, thinking 3 Rivers Traditional Only arrows, with 125 grain heads.

That sound like a better starting point?

Should be fine to small game and white-tail right?

[Diamond Paul]

He might be right on that.  I shoot 1916s, essentially a .600 spine arrow, out of my 45 @ 28" recurve.  I cut them 28.75" and use 150 up front, but could used 125, either or.  I draw right at 28", maybe a tad shy of that.  A stiffer arrow might be more forgiving of release flaws, possibly.  You'd have to see for yourself.  The beauty of the .500 spine is that you could leave them a bit long and play with point weight to spine them or cut them if you need to to stiffen them.  If the .600 is weak at minimum length, you are stuck.  It also probably won't take as much point weight if you are wanting to get mass for hunting.

[Archer1977]

Yeah that's what I picked up on with that chart. The .500s covered several point weights for me. I think that is what I will do.

[Archer1977]

I see a lot of people posting their FOC at around 25%. Do trad bows shoot higher FOC carbon arrows better? Or is that just how it is?

I know for my compound it was recommended to be between 7-15%. Should I try to build arrows out to try and achieve that?