Highest FOC wood arrow?

[Wandering Archer]

Well, I've been needing to build a new set of arrows, so I decided to try to go with a heavier, higher FOC arrow because I plan to start hunting soon.

I ordered some test shafts from Sherwood, and was able to get a 74# shaft tuned to a 300gr. point. With a 20" taper to 1/4", 2"x4 fletching, but not finished or crested, these were my specs.

710gr (converted from grams)
19.111% FOC

That barely breaks into EFOC teritory, but I'm satisfied with it.

Downsides:
Really high gr/lb with my 47# bow
Shoots noticeably lower and slower. I can get used to it, but it's really gonna mess with my 3D shoots...

My 1/4" taper jig didn't work all that well, broke shafts... So I'll probably just get regular 5/16 pre tapered shafts.

What do you guys think? Should I go with it? Or should I tune up some 225gr points and not worry so much about hitting EFOC?

I don't plan on going carbon, so we can just leave that out of the conversation.

What is the highest FOC wood shaft you've seen?

[McDave]

I frankly have a hard time imagining what you would hunt with a 27# bow and a 710 grain arrow. I don't even think that would be legal under CA hunting regs.

[Knawbone]

Because of the nature ( physical properties ) of wood, EFOC is not possible much past what you have attained. I shoot strictly wood arrows and find that a 15% foc is about perfect for an average weight hunting arrow. Nothing wrong with even 10% for target or hunting. Efoc arrows drop quickly much past 30 yrds. People experience better penetration with EFOC, but a finely tuned wood arrow has been getting things done quite nicely for thousands of years. The more weight you put up front, the more spine needed to keep a shootable arrow. Unlike carbon, with wood, there is a point of diminishing returns. Thats why you ended up with such a heavy arrow.710 grns is a lot of weight for bows of average poundage let alone a 27 lb bow.

[Wandering Archer]

Sorry, fat fingers... 47# bow

[McDave]

That's more like it. 15 gpp, which is a little on the high side for me, but certainly doable.

[SlowBowinMO]

I shoot very heavy, point loaded wood arrows out of lighter bows and love it.  But I find I am happier with points in the 200-225 grain range.

My 47# Firefly Messenger recurve I am 650 grains on average finished weight, that is with Wapiti 50/55 tapered Douglas Firs and 200 grain points.

My 42# Firefly FX Longbow also comes in about 650 grains finished weight, with Surewood Douglas Firs and 225 grain points.

You might have just a little too much of a good thing, you may find the trajectory and shooting characteristics more satisfying long term if you drop your finished weight a little.

My Firefly Bows are cut to center, not past so I really only need about 5 extra pounds of spine to shoot heavy points.  Surprised you need 74# spine, is that for a cut past center recurve or some such thing?

I don't know my actual FOC, but I know since I learned to tune woodies with the heavier points flight remains fantastic and penetration is notably better on game.  I have been shooting heavy point woodies since about 2008 and I will not be changing anytime soon!

[Cavscout9753]

I looked into FOC and EFOC at one point, mostly because I was forced to with some poorly researched carbons. As mentioned, with wood EFOC is a little trickier. Even Ashby I believe notes theres a limit of diminishing returns with FOC play. If I had to use a mid weight bow to punch into some tough game... Say a moose, EFOC is where I'd look. With most animals though a good FOC coupled with
The ability to shoot it well and quick is a time honored standard for reason. I do know that FOC/EFOC arrows fly farther than their counterparts, but not necessarily flatter or faster.  Is say with wood you're right about at the limit and it'll simply take your brain a little time to learn to adjust your POA/POI. The upside is you'll likely punch through whatever living thing you hit.

[Wandering Archer]

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I might try the 225s. I did tune up some 190s and they shot great, almost no change in point of impact for me.
While I do like to be able to say I hit EFOC with woodies, I have a feeling I'll like the 225s better.

No, not past center, in fact I even have a matchstick behind the strike plate. These did tune out pretty long 31" for my 28" draw weight, so I probably could have stepped down a notch. Plus, remember, I put a 20" taper to 1/4", so that probably dropped the spine a couple pounds on its own.

[Fletcher]

Like Braveheart, I've spent some time and effort working on high FOC wood arrows.  The basic secret to HFOC is heavy up front and light in the back.  I've been able to achieve 23+%, but only when using Sitka Spruce shafts because of its light weight.  HFOC is also limited because as point weight goes up so does spine need and thus shaft weight until arrow weight becomes too much.

I'd recommend getting some high spine Sitka from Hildebrand tapered to 5/16.

I like fir and have settled on lighter fir shafts with 200 gr points for my hunting arrows.  It gives me good FOC without going to extremes.

[Wandering Archer]

Hmmm, would you care to share the specs on those 23% arrows? How much lighter is the Sitka? I might give the 300gr points another shot if I can get the finished arrow down to 600-650 grains.

[Orion]

Best I've been able to come up with is about 20% FOC.  I start with a 29 inch BOP 11/32 POC cedar shaft footed with wenge and a 9 -inch taper on the nock end, spined 75-80#. I use a 160 grain head.  A 190 grain head would give me another 1% FOC.  Arrows are in the 650-680 grain range.  They shoot well out of my 50-52# ACS longbows.  

The problem one runs into with really front loading wood shafts with very heavy heads and woody weights (I've also drilled out the shafts and inserted steel or brass rods) is that you run out of spine.  Or put another way, you can't get heavy enough spined arrows to handle all the front end weight beyond a mid-weight bow.  It takes 70-80# spined woodies if their heavily loaded to shoot out of a 50# bow.  If you're shooting 60# or more, you'll need 90# or more in spruce or POC, 100# or more in fir or hardwoods.  Not much of that around.

Of course, a standard 125-135 grain broadhead on a POC shaft that yields 7%-10% FOC has been killing critters for many, many  years.

[Hud]

I not sure the weight of the shaft is the issue. A shaft spined for your bow and draw length, with a ten inch taper and internal footing, or 4 pt footed shaft, with the right combination of broadhead, should give you excellent flight, without dropping like space junk falling out the sky. You should be able to get 20-27% and still be able to shoot a reasonable distance.  A 500 - $550 grain arrow with the desired FOC should shoot well for you and penetrate better. A super heavy arrow will limit your distance drastically, IMO.

[Steve B.]

I hunted this year with some custom trade points that went from 290-360 grns.  I ordered the test set from Surewood and started with 100# and went down.  The 100 didn't fly well and I attributed it to it being too stiff.  Everything below that flew well.
So I went as heavy as I could, depending on the exact point weight, and have a few in the 90# range.  
This puts my arrows in the 800+ grn range and 21% FOC, depending on how you calculate it.  I used Ashby's and Easton formulas and/or a combination and always came up above 20%.

[Green]

Like several of those above, I've chased this myself. Drilled/filled the front of the shafts with everything from bamboo to lead solder, then put a heavy head up front. I've used various types of wood for footing, etc.  In the end, I determined that wood arrows of 12-13.5 gpp setup at 14-15% FOC give me the best mix of speed, weight, cast, and penetration with a 160 grain HH head.

If I think I have a chance of running into a large hog, then I'll stick some of my 680 grain Ash arrows in my back quiver.....FOC doesn't matter much if you're hitting 'em with a freight train.    :D

[hvyhitter]

Several years ago I played around with EFOC woodies for awhile and came to he conclusion that wood just doesnt recover from paradox as consistantly as carbon. Some arrows flew pretty good others not well at all with all arrows as exactly the same as possible. Went back to a 200gr head on a 450gr saft for 650 to 700 total..........no problems with flight or penatration...........

[Bjorn]

For high FOC wood you need a certain combo or you will run out of spine very quickly. A very low pound bow or cut way before center-like a self bow, a short arrow and a very light shaft.
I only shoot wood and chased this a while myself; one was a set of 85# shafts with 7" of cocobolo before the splice-ran out of spine but the arrows were beautiful and shot well with light points.
Like others above now I am satisfied with 13 gpp and a 630 gn arrow-don't recall the foc and no longer worry about it.