Wooden arrow question

[Churchill103]

Have been shooting longbows for about 5 years and have now started to make woodies. Have made a few board bows but not arrows. Normally shoot wooden arrows at 500 grains including 125gr points. Looking at the shafts I have and some are slightly heavier.. Is it better to try and stay within the 500grains total By using a 100 grain point on some to achieve 500 and 125gr point on others to stay at 500 gr total. Or just put 125 gr on all and go over 500…? Thanks  in advance

[McDave]

Welcome to TradGang!  This is a question better posted on the PowWow forum, because they deal with equipment related questions over there.  Maybe a moderator will move it over there for you, or you can just copy your post to a new post on PowWow.

That said, I’ll throw in my 2 cents worth although there are people far more qualified to answer wooden arrow questions than I am.

Weight and spine are two different things, and you can't really correct one by adjusting the other.  In other words, if you were pretty sure that your arrows were in tune with your bow with 125 grain points, you really wouldn't be solving anything by using a 100 grain point or a 150 grain point to solve a weight problem.  Your overall arrow flight would probably be worse after you changed the points, even though you might be closer to the weight you wanted.

OTOH, if you just picked 125 grain points because they appealed to you without testing to see if they were what you needed to tune your arrows, that complicates the problem.  A lot of people who shoot wood arrows never tune them because the wide variation in weight and spine in a typical dozen wood arrows makes them difficult to tune.  So they just use some kind of spine chart and leave it at that.

But really, a 25 grain difference in weight among wood arrows is not very significant, especially on shots 20 yards and in.  So I would just keep the points consistent unless you think a different point weight will improve the tuning, and then change all the points at the same time.

When I used to shoot wood arrows, I would buy 2 dozen shafts and hope to get a dozen arrows that were fairly close in weight and spine.  The other dozen I would use for fun shots and roving.

[Churchill103]

Thank you. The wooden arrows I  use are tuned at 500 grains (give or take 10 grains or so) with 125 gr points.
I just tried 4 arrows at 100 gr points (to stay at around 500 gr for total weight) vs  also the tuned 125 gr points and saw no real difference at 20 yds and under. So since I only shoot 3D.. So will continue to test. Thanks again.

[Terry Green]

Moved here from Shooters FORM Forum....

[Orion]

You won't notice the difference in 25 grains of weight at 20yards and in, though it will start to show at longer distances.  25 grains usually isn't enough to affect the tune either, unless you're already on the edge.  Given that your goal is 3D, it's probably best to go with the lighter arrow for flatter trajectory at longer ranges..

[Stumpkiller]

I shoot 125 gr points on 11/32" Douglas fir shafts and fletched up they come out at around 620 grains.  I taper the last 10" down to 5/16".  I like the slightly heavier shafts and taper as very often I get full penetration.  I mean reuse the arrow after cleaning the dirt off the head and resharpening penetration.  Not just a second hole on the off side and a snapped shaft as the deer bolts (though that is good as well). 

With bullets speed kills.  With arrows penetration and bloodletting by sharp edges kills.  Don't get hung-up with lighter and faster.  Get hung up with accurate shot placement and sharper edges with two holes in the critter.  (At least that is my philosophy).

[dnovo]

I make my own wood arrows and also for a few other people. I've been doing it for close to 40 years now. So I will say that for me I try to build a set of arrows matched as close as possible. I try to keep weight within 10 grains but not always possible. So I've found that 20-25 grains weight difference is not noticeable to most people at our ranges.  If you're an exceptional archer you might tell after you get out to 30 yards or more.  Also for my personal experience I can use 125 gr points, 145 and 160 on my arrows without a change in impact. Now if your arrows are on the edge of being correct spine that might not work for you.
When I'm building arrows I might sometimes dip some an extra coat to add a little weight to match the others.