grizzly stiks

[DGEsposito]

recently purchased 1/2dzn grizzly stiks need some advice in tuning them. I will be shooting them out of a black widow 65# at 30".Does anyone know how much these alaskans weigh per inch?

[Scott J. Williams]

I know if you go to the Alaska Bowhunting Supply site they can provide that information. You will also likely find it on the 3Rivers site. I have some that are coming in at 630 grains with my 175grain points.

Regarding tuning, I do it the same way I do all the other arrows I shoot.  I perfer the bareshaft method, however I fletch a shaft or two and the cut the feather off leaving the quill.  Rotate the nock to get the best launch without making undue contact with the rest materail. I would suggest that if you are shooting arrows with wraps or crowned that you do that before hand, any weight to the back of the arrow will make the arrow stiffer.

These arrows will almost tune themselves as they are "Weight Forward" by design.  The heaviest Widow I have is about 62 pounds.  I don't have a draw length as long as yours, but I can not see where you would have problems with your choice.

I add weight behind the brass inserts, ten to twenty grains, but at your arrow length you most likely won't need to.

The most difficult thing that I have run into in tuning Stiks is in the area of nock point height. Tapered shafts require a little different set up from regular arrow shafts.  If I had one word of advice this is it,  the nocks on the Stiks in my mind are a little too tight on most strings,  I would suggest that you make sure they are not too tight.

I have taken the liberty of cutting off the serving and using thin mono, or nylon serving. This allows for a looser nock to string release.  I am convinced that nocks being too tight are the greatest reason many people have trouble in tuning.  It can make an arrow that is the correct choice, give you flight characteristics that are less than acceptable, even when the shaft is the right choice.  This is true regardless the shaft material you are using.  

I perfer to re-serve, as opposed to the filing, or heating the nocks in hot water.  Both have a tendency to weaken the nock, and are questionable regarding uniformity.  Just my opinion, I hope this helps.  

I know of no better arrow for hunting, I even shoot them in 3D with no ill effect.  O.L. agrees, and that ain't bad company.  Oh, I use steel wool to dull the finish for hunting, if we could just get them to use a flat base coating(or no coat) I would have no complainants.

Remember, like all carbon arrows(yep, all), they are matched by weight by the dozen, or in Stiks case, the half dozen.  You might find that one set is a little heavier or lighter than the other. NOt to mention that they can vary from shaft to shaft.  I have found this not to be a problem.  If it is, I would suggest that you shoot only aluminums as they are the only true weight to spine consistant shafts available.  No carbon has been able to come close, we can only hope that one day they will. I will not hold my breath, and neither should anyone else.

Having said that, it is not too hard to match them up, like wood arrow shooters.

[Doc Nock]

Great post above. All I'd add is perhaps 2 notes.

One, Carbon are so much more spine forgiving that the small weight variances and even straightness variance seems to be absorbed by the inherent forgiveness of the shaft material.

Second, w/ Black Widows, they're risers are/were cut pretty far past center, as are Morrisons. Consequently, they require a stiffer arrow per pound of draw weight.

I can't front weight my Griz Alaskan's like the GT's as they bare shaft weak quickly.  I'm only shooting 54# from a morrison cut 3/16" past center at 28-29" draw! Friend's long bows cut 1/8" shy of center and drawing same length arrow, but up to 68# draw, show stiff...gotta be the amount of center cut on riser!