To much weight up frount?

[Bldtrailer]

I shoot 55@28 recurve d-97 string 8 strand with a draw of 271/2, 35/55 goldtip trads cut to 291/4  with 100grn insert 25grn(2inch 2117 out sert) and 100grn pts(225 total) I'm thinking of going to 175grn VPAs with the above setup,      it would put the weight at 300 up frount. Is this to much weight?

[Troy Breeding]

In my book there is no such thing as too much weight up front. For your arrows I can't say. I'd suggest you bareshaft and see what happens. To use that much weight you may have to go up in shaft spine/def.  If your shafts and draw allow for that weight, then great.

If it shows weak then you can either shorten the shafts if you have room to spare or build out your sight window. I had to build out my sight window and have no regrets. When I build my next bow the sight window want even be close to center cut.

Troy

[BowMIke]

I shoot 52@27" and shoot 29" Beman MFX 500 with 100 grain brass insert and 125 grain points, but this year I am going to be shooting MFX400 with brass insert and Centaur Big Game Head, which is a little over 200 grains. I have been stump shooting one of these and they still fly very well at 20 yards and under. (s/b around 625 grains).
IMHO you should be good to go. Try one out and check your arrow flight.

[tradorion]

My setup (Jeffrey's recurve) and shooting stats are almost IDENTICAL to you.

I shoot CE Heritage are 29" w/ 3x4in feathers and I shoot 100gr brass inserts with 200gr VPA's and it works very well.

[longbowben]

No that's almost the same setup im using.

[Terry Green]

I shot 300 grains out of several of my set ups.....in my back yard, but never hunted with them.  I just don't like the flight I get from anything over 250.  But that's just ME, not saying its not for someone else.  Someone else might like 300....and 300 might work great for someone else.


There are extremes in both directions, and at some point there's going to be a negative result...too light and too heavy....Yes, you can have too heavy.  Just tap a bowling ball and have a go with it as a blunt and see how well that goes.            

Anyhow, you gotta decide what works for you and your set up....and what flies and IMPACTS the straightest.  

For ME.....I really like the flight and straight impacts from 225 to 175, but will go 250 with a certain head I use from a heavy bow from time to time.

[rlc1959]

I agree with Terry . Too much up front will have a negative affect on your trajectory. Either extreme has negative affects. Stay in the middle.

[RM81]

I have a similar setup and have about 225 up front (14 insert, 12 al. footing, and 200 broadhead).  I agree that the best test would be to bareshaft some field tips and see where they hit compared to your fletched ones.  Also, I would check the trajectory at different ranges to see if it is acceptable.

[Night Wing]

I also agree with Terry. Too much weight up front and trajectory is going to be affected.

Just experiment and see it how it goes. But, it's getting close to bowhunting season so you need to find out fast if adding more weight up front is the way to go at this late date.

[sawtoothscream]

as long as you can tune them up then i dont see why there would be a issue.

[Bldtrailer]

Ok this year I'm using 100 gr razercaps( I can cheaply try the different weights) next I'll play with 175 VPAs     as pointed out to close to change for this year!

[KentuckyTJ]

My bows are a little lighter than yours and my point weight limit with my arrows is about 225 before they start making my arrows do bad things. It would be a little heavy for my liking. Knock the 100 grain brass down to a 50 grain for a 250 grain total with the outsert. Do give it a go though those are fantastic broadheads.

[Troy Breeding]

Well, right now I'm shooting 400grs up front for target arrows. After this weekend I'll be moving up to 450grs in the front. My target arrows have a 28% EFOC, my humting arrows will have over 30% UEFOC. Flight out to 25yds is about the same as it was when I shot 525gr arrows. Beyond 25 I do have alittle more arc in them, but thats why they call it archery.

Troy

[BUCKY]

300 works for me.

[gto_guy]

I think that will be too much for that shaft and it will be weak.I shoot a 50 lb (47lb at my draw)longbow with 35/55 cut to 29 and 200 up front

[Friend]

There has been ample knowledgeable advice provided, thus warranting your own investigation.
Once you have ascertained your own needs, the decision will be much easier, yet don’t lose focus in achieving a well tuned arrow.

Just an FYI…. My top scores exceeding a ‘9’ at 3D’s this year were with 350 gns up front(565 gn total) and my 3rd highest score was with 400 gns up front( 611 gn total).  Good scores are relative and these happened to be nice scores for me and didn’t hurt that they were winners.

I have not fared well when there were many targets over 25 yards. Last weekend there were ~8 targets from ~27 to 32 yards. The arrow drop appears greater than normal beyond 25 yards and in conjunction with my inept skills; the outcome did not bode well.

Note: Just my observation… some may perceive a much greater drop at closer distances since there set-up has not been tuned to that particular arrow and don’t pursue increasing up front weight. And there are those such as myself who have shot EFOC and Ultra-EFOC so long that the trajectory seems perfectly normal. Possibly, if I ventured back to hi FOC or normal FOC, I may notice the difference. Then I may not be happy if my engrained site window is significantly impacted.

You need to determine your own needs first. For me, if my shots were no longer than 15 yards, then I would pile on even more front end wt. relative to the draw wt’s and arrow designs I currently shoot.

Best of luck!

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Bldtrailer:
I shoot 55@28 recurve d-97 string 8 strand with a draw of 271/2, 35/55 goldtip trads cut to 291/4  with 100grn insert 25grn(2inch 2117 out sert) and 100grn pts(225 total) I'm thinking of going to 175grn VPAs with the above setup,         it would put the weight at 300 up frount. Is this to much weight?

all that matters is how consistently accurate you are with your arrows, how well the arrows fly, that the arrows are no less than 9gpp mass weight, how sharp the broadheads are - all the rest is nearly meaningless.

fwiw, my carbon arrows are 29.5", 300gr up front, 585 grains mass weight outta 50-55# longbows.  they do just fine if i do my job well.  

[vintage archer]

It has been my personal experience and conclusions drawn from visiting with others  that the reason most archers have trouble with high FOC arrows is they  have not taken the time to tune their arrows. Switching to high FOC weights generally requires a change in arrow spine  maybe even feather length and height. It is not for everyone mainly because most people do not like change and they are satisfied  with their set up .For those that want to learn more about their sport and are not satisfied with status quo, experimenting can be very rewarding Those who hunt and because of age , or injury have had to reduce bow draw weight FOC arrows in the 20% to 30+% allow the hunter to reduce bow weight and still hunt with  a extremely lethal arrow. Archers who hunt dangerous game already know the benefits of heavy FOC arrows.
The argument that heavy FOC arrows loose trajectory has validity. One has to weigh the advantages over the disadvantages. I believe that in ranges up to 25 yards it does not make any difference .Once one comments to a high FOC arrow they should only practice w1th that set up .If you shoot instinctively your brain adjust and compensates. Most game killed with a traditional bow is under 25 yds.
In order to shoot high FOC arrows it does not mean you have to shoot  extremely heavy over  all weight arrows. New carbon arrows have been developed that are high in spine and not extremely heavy. This allows the archer to place more of his total arrow weight up front and not use extremely heavy arrows which effect trajectory. On company making such arrows is Alaskan  Bowhunting  Supply a sponsor  here on tradgang. There probably other manafctures that I am not aware of.
 http://www.alaskabowhunting.com/GrizzlyStik-Momentum-Shafts-font-colorf5a50abNEWbfont--C59.aspx
I  am personally shooting a 750 gn total weight arrow from a 50lb longbow. Of that 750 grain 360 grains are up front. That is with a standard carbon arrow not the new “momentum arrows”
If experimenting with FOC  visit  http://tuffhead.com/education/formulas_FOC.html   for a explanation and calculator to help in figuring percent of FOC
One should keep in mind FOC is a advantage in soft tissue and may not contribute to penetration of bone. Keeping the total arrow weight above 650 grains will help if metal hits bone

[Bldtrailer]

Well call me crazy but I threw on some 175 field points and they seem to fly well(great groups) bow is less noisy and bare shaft seems to group with but lower(nock pt)need to play more later, but up to 25yrds(all I can shoot in back ya    rd) seems to work( & goes deeper into target)

[vintage archer]

Bldtrailer

Welcome to the world of FOC arrows, You have discovered two of many benefits of this arrow set up.
“Quieter bow and more penetration “.Keep it going you will have fun and discover more benefits