For those that shoot GT trad 5575

[JCS]

I shoot a Samick Sage 50lb and draw to 29" or a little further. I shoot full length GT Trad 5575's with a 100 insert and 150 head.  I'm looking to do a little experimenting. What is the heaviest point+insert total weight you've used? Before I order anything or start cutting arrows down I wanted to check in to see if anyone has already been there done that. Thanks.

[Bladepeek]

My bows are lighter than that, so results are not comparable. I did fool around a bit with extreme FOC arrows using 5575s. They stiffen up in a hurry when cut back. I was up to 350 gr up front on a full length shaft before I could get it flying well out of my mid-40# bows.

The thing is, you don't need to cut down a batch of arrows to experiment. One arrow, cut back 1/4" at a time will tell you a lot. you can put in a 100 gr insert and start stack on point weight until you hit the magic combination. You could cut off quite a bit before draw length limits your cutting. If you need some heavy points, let me know and I'd be glad to send you 200, and 300 gr points to try.

[JCS]

Thank you kindly, Blade.  Yes, I didn't mean cut them all down, but just one. And only 1/4" at a time.  I know my current set up works fine now, but I like to tinker.

Looking at getting some Ace Super Express 200's with the 125 screw in adapters from RMS with my current 100 inserts.

[Alexander Traditional]

I have two bows that are 54@28,and that's what I draw. I shoot about 325 grains up front,and the arrows are cut to 29"

[J. Cook]

Food for thought - you'll end with a super heavy shaft for 53lbs if you run 425 grains on the point end.  If you're wanting to stay closer to 10 grains per pound of draw weight, you'd likely be better to find a light grain/inch .400 spine shaft as opposed to the traditional shaft.  

A GT Trad 5575 with 425 upfront, cut to 30" is going to weigh between 745 and 755 grains.  If you're pulling 53lbs, that's up over 14 grains per lb.

Now - I have one set-up that shoots extremely heavy, old-school Herter's Farbenglass arrows.  So a heavy shaft is not a bad thing.  I just wanted you to consider all options.  That arrow will be slow - but it will pack a serious punch at that kind of weight.

[Chain2]

I used to. Full length with a 50gr brass insert and a 250 gr head. This was out of my Bushbow 55 @ 32" I draw 31"

[BigJim]

Generally, a 400 spine shaft is a little stiff for your set up anyway. You should be able to  handle a good bit of weight up front without concern. If you do find out that you have over done it, all you would need to do is build out your sight plate a little until it shot well.

BigJim

[BWallace10327]

I've shot 400 GT trads for a long time at 30" with a standard insert and a 200 grain point.  I draw 29" and they shoot well in most 53-55# bows for me.  I'm reading about some point weights that are incredible; 425 grains up front??

[M60gunner]

Read here some time back about how much weight up front and diminishing returns. Sounds like your close, if I recall the consensus was anything over 13 gr. was over kill.

[Biathlonman]

I'm with Brent.  I shoot bows in the low 50s at my 29" draw.  A 30" GT5575 shoots great out of most of them with 250 grain points and standard inserts.  I do shoot SBD skinny strings.

[Friend]

Will likely be overspined based on the specs you have provided.

[JCS]

I greatly appreciate all of your comments. Big Jim, I'll be sending an order for more arrows soon.  Lost or broken all but 3 from the last order. I see you have the adapters too. Can they really work with the Aces since they are 11/32? I was told they do. I'll add them to the cart as well if so.  Thanks again.

[YosemiteSam]

I shoot a Samick Sage 45# drawn to about 27.  I started with GT Traditional 400s cut to 29" with a 50 gr insert and 175 gr heads.  Drawn to 26.5" was spined a little stiff (perfect with 200 gr heads, though).  I recently fletched up full length 340s (32") with a 50 gr insert and 200 heads.  Drawn to 27-27.5" (playing with my draw length) puts them pretty straight out of the bow.  They're a little weak at 27.5" drawn but the 5" fletching makes it barely noticeable.  They bareshaft out to 20 yards just a bit low from fletched (tad nock high).  It's a long, slow arrow for me but it still puts me point-on at about 25 yards, a 15" gap at 15 yards and about 8" gap at 20 yards so with my point on the belly of a deer, I'm "minute of deer" anywhere from 0-20 yards -- a good overall hunting setup as far as I'm concerned.

[BigJim]

Yosemitesam, those 340's aren't weak.... they are so stiff that they are bouncing off of your riser and kicking left (if you are right handed) and looking weak. I would bet the farm on that.

anyway. sounds like you are happy with what you have so whatever suits you.

BigJim

[Friend]

Shoot well tuned GT 5575's out of a 54@28 hi performance Dryad with 300 gns up front...my draw is is a tad under 28"s and the arrow length is just under 29.

[JCS]

Well, my Ace's came in but the 125 inserts did not by Saturday.  I had to have them for that afternoon's hunt so a little redneck engineering was needed.  Took my 145gr field tips to my belt sander and took a little off until they fit just right in the Ace.  A little glue, lined them up, and a little target practice.  They shot just right except for a little lower of course.  Didn't see anything that day or the next morning, but picked a leaf and  shot from the stand. Dead on.  Slow, but quiet and dead on. Hopefully get a shot this afternoon.

[YosemiteSam]

BigJim

That's what we call "a high level of confidence" in my business.  

The 3Rivers Spine chart figures matched my bareshaft tuning.  But I wouldn't bet the farm on it.  What would be the best way to test your theory?  I have a 3D shoot coming up and if there's a tuning issue to resolve, I'd like to do so before then.  Any ideas how to test the false positive for weak spine?

[LittleBen]

Originally posted by BigJim:
Generally, a 400 spine shaft is a little stiff for your set up anyway. You should be able to  handle a good bit of weight up front without concern. If you do find out that you have over done it, all you would need to do is build out your sight plate a little until it shot well.

BigJim

Took the words out of my mouth. I would cut the feathers off one arrow first and bare shaft with increasing point weight. Add point weight until you're happy, and then build the side plate out until they tune.

Bare shafting is the only/best way to get a perfect tune. I think BigJim is dead on saying that the 340s are so stiff that they are kicking out left after smacking off the strike plate. Honestly I imagine they are so stiff that no amount of tip weight is going to fix it. But maybe if you put on like 300gr points and 100gr inserts, but I don't know.

I only draw 25" but often shoot full length shafts. I can tell you that full length 500s with 175-225gr up front is usually close enough for bows of 40-50lbs that I can get tuned by adjusting the strike plate a bit.

[JCS]

Went for a quick hunt this afternoon and wasn't in the stand 5 minutes before I heard movement. 3 does came out with the biggest being about 10 or 12 yards. Drew back and let it rip. The arrow made an odd movement but corrected and hit her good. She ran less than a hundred and piled up. Turns out my string grabbed a loop on my harness. Having that much weight upfront corrected the flight quickly and probably saved me a miss with my old heads. The other does just stood there wondering what in the world she was doing taking off like a rocket.

[Muttly]

Tried, tried, and tried some more to get 340s to work. 68" r/d long bow, 50 lbs at 31", arrows cut at 31 1/2", couple at 32.
Walked the front end weight up to 300 grains, kept showing stiff, whether paper tuning or shooting groups. Spine calculator said I should've been dead on at 225,I was not.
Asked some questions, figured if I wanted different results, better try something different.
Ordered up some .400 GT Traditional Classic shafts.
Forgot to pay attention to the 78 grain outserts, shafts were showing just a bit weak, cut at 31 1/2",.outsert effectively adds a half inch to the shaft, 32 is just a bit more reach than I have.
Cut back to 31",plus the outsert, back at my customary 31 1/2.. 150 up front, so far tight groups, bare and fletched shafts running parallel..
Had to get a new SBD for the different nocks, hopefully a little fine tuning and I,m off to the races!!