Longbow arrows

[Don Armstrong]

I just got a Cold Mountain longbow today. I have heard that you should go with a little weaker spined arrow on longbows. This is a 51 lb. @ 28" bow. I am probably pulling around 49 with this bow. It has a high performance string and seems as fast as a recurve at the same poundage. Would I need to go with something in the 45-50 or 50-55 spine. Thanks, Don

[ISP 5353]

Don,  Congrats on the new bow.  Longbows are a little harder to tune sometimes.  Much depends on how close to centershot your bow is.  If it is pretty close then you will have an easier time tuning your arrows for it.  I would probably start with 55 / 60 and see how they flew and go from there.  .500 spine carbons with about 300gr. up front should be close, or some 2016s with about 150gr should be close for aluminum.  Good luck and Merry Christmas.

[Don Armstrong]

Thanks for the info. This one looks to be way off on center shot. I shot some 50-55 woodies and I was grouping, but about 6" left and about 6" high. This is the first trad bow that I have been able to group with. When you group left or right, doesn't this mean you have a spine issue or that your just a crappy shooter    Merry Christmas, Don

[dagwood64]

Don, I shoot a 66" 47#@28 Longhorn Elite Longbow,by Belcher Bows. The POC arrows are spined at 55-60. They are cut 29 3/8" BOP, with a 125gr point and they shoot straight as an arrow (HA HA pun intended).  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[NoCams]

Don,
Give the gang some more info to help you.... ? What length are the 50-55's ? What tip weight are you shooting ? The only way for sure to know if you are spined correctly is to bareshaft. I know it is painful to cut the feathers off perfectly fletched arrows, but ya got to do it. Cut the feathers off three and shoot them with 3 fletched shafts and see how they fly and impact with the fletched shafts. I would just about bet you are too stiff right now and need more point weight, or more length on your arrows. I realize you cannot add to length of these 50-55's, they are what they are, but if you wanted to try more you could start with a given point weight and full length shafts and start cutting them 1" at a time until they were spined correctly. Just remember heavier tip weakens the spine as well as longer length. Lighter tips stiffens the spine as well as shortening the shaft. You will also need to set your brace height to what the bowyer recommends and keep it there for tuning your spine. If it changes by 1/4 -1/2" it will affect your spine. Also make sure your nock fit is perfect, a light bump on the string should make the arrow fall off. Do not forget to hold the bow as close to vertical while bareshafting for spine as well. A cant will give you a false reading sometimes. As you cant the bow you are also involving the nock point setting and can cause a false reading of spine. Nock point setting is what controls the up and down flight of the arrow. Most bows shoot well at 1/2 to 3/4" above square. If it is too low then the arrow will bounce off the shelf and cause porpoising and noise. If you shoot 3 under you will need 3/4" above square most likely. I am no expert , but just my humble opinion and what the gang has taught me. Hope this helps.

nocams

[laddy]

consistently 6'' to the left may mean nothing more than you are shooting with the same form you used with a more center shot bow.  Cant the bow, tilt the head anchor at the corner of your mouth with your middle finger, with standard release.  Get your right eye over the arrow and see if flies inline, I bet it does.

[NoCams]

laddy is correct as well about the fact of switching from a centershot recurve to a longbow. I have both and it takes about 5-10 arrows to get the lefts and rights squared away sometimes.

nocams

[Don Armstrong]

Thanks guys, I am getting ready to set up some 35-55 Goldtips and have 125 grain points so I will start with full length shafts and go from there. I may pick up some woodies 50 to 55 for the longbow and use the Goldtips on my Gamemaster recurve. I have some 145 grain points for wood arrows. Do any of you guys use 4" feathers or stick with 5". Sorry about all the questions. Thanks, Don

[Molson]

I'm a fan of larger feathers, especially for hunting.  With the woods, be careful bare shafting.  The woods can get stressed from hitting the target at angles.  This can make them act different and you can fracture the wood without knowing it.  Best to bare shaft only after you gain some experience with wood.

Put a large broadhead on a fletched shaft and you can tune pretty much the same as if they were bare.  Following OL's method with the broadhead and fletched shaft is a much safer route.

[30coupe]

I agree with Molson, bareshafting is great for carbon or aluminum, but it's hard on woodies. I can usually dial them in with feathers, even with field points. If they hit where you look consistently, you are pretty much done tuning. I agree also that your arrows may be tuned and you need to adjust to the bow...been there, done that, but I don't think I'd go up from the 50-55's unless they fly erratically. Weaker spines usually shoot better from non-center shot bows for me anyway.

[Tree man]

Significant arrow tuning fact #4-limb style, string material and bow efficiency are relatively unimportant-the most significant issue is degree of centershot. I'd start with 45-50 AMO spine arrows cut long and trim down or change point weight until I was dialed in. With 125 grain points I'd expect 28.5 inch arrows to shoot perfectly.