First, I happen to agree with those who said forget the chronograph. If you were happy before, be happy now. As a side note; my suspicion is that the chrono is question is a little off the mark. A Black Widow at 10 gpp sould be in the 180's, not 160's. But, assuming you still want to change your arrow...
Originally posted by crandog:
My arrows now have a FOC of 16% and around 10 gpi. This is where I've always read I should be.
According to whom?
But I don't want to go too light. I hate a loud bow.
Going to 8-9 gpp doesn't necessarily mean you'll have a loud bow. There are a lot of ways to shoot a reasonable arrow weight, get good speed, and still be quiet.
So I'm looking for new shafting. The trad only shafts from 3 Rivers look good but there little feed back on them yet. I thought they might be what I'm looking for.
The shafts in question are relabeled Beman ICS Classics. You can get them most anywhere online for about $60/dozen. Like all Beman ICS shafts, they're good quality.
I used to shoot 2117's out of my bow with great results. They have a deflection of 400 same as these carbons. I would like to wind up a 530 grain arrow with 10- 15% FOC a 5/16 diameter arrow without weight tubes, maybe a 50 grain brass insert and 125 grain head. Am I asking too much?
You won't get 530 grains out of a Beman ICS Classic with a 50-grain insert and a 125-grain head. I have some full length Beman ICS Camo Hunters (same specs as the Classics, only camo instead of wood grain) in my bow rack that are full length with 25-grain inserts and 125-grain heads. They weigh in at 475 grains. Even with a 50-grain insert, you'll still only be at 500 grains, and then you've got to figure you'll lose about 9 grains for every inch you cut the shafts down from 32".
In the end, to ease your mind, I'd suggest shooting through a different chronograph before you make any changes. You may find that you're really a lot closer to 180 fps than you think.