Arrow question for the Hill style shooters.

[TX FLY CASTER]

I recently built myself a Hill Style bow , 54# @ 28" and I draw 28". Does 45/50 cedars @ 29" with 225grains up front sound right ? These are weighing about 11gpp .Just curious to see what others are shooting.

How do they shoot? I have some 45-50 Wapiti cedars that I shoot out of two bows, my lefty 53 Morningstar and my right hand 54 yew/glass, that are 27" bop with 145 grain Grizzlies. Out of the yew with a B50 string they were good when I went to a string from Chad, they were a bit under spined and flew better with 125 grain points.

[TSP]

Every bow is different but my guess is that the arrow you mention might be underspined.  A 29" (BOP) 50-55# or 55-60# cedar with 125 gr. point might perform better for you.

[monterey]

In a 43# hill style cut 5/16 from center I shoot cedar 55-60 at full length with 190 points and get good flight.  The same bow is bare shafting nicely with 70 rated cedars full length.

So, go figure!  Like Pavan said, how do they shoot?

[Blaino]

225g up front?.... do you mean 125g?  if so, that sounds right.

[TX FLY CASTER]

Well ... when I say Hill style its not really , I built it close to a Hill but I cut it to center. I was correct on 225gr up front.

[TX FLY CASTER]

With 125's the gpp drops down to around 8...Just not heavy enough for me. They seem to fly well but I have not glued broadheads on them yet. I was just wondering how some other setups were , to see if this was typical or not. I know with the bow cut to center it will open up the range of spine that it will tolerate. I even ran some 29.5" 2018's with 235 grains up front through it and the fly well just to slow for me at almost 13 gpp. I really want something around 10gpp for this bow.

[moebow]

TX F C,

For what it's worth.  Most wood shafts will not stand the stresses of very heavy heads -- they will break just behind the point.  125 grain points are the OLD standard, up to 175 will work OK BUT the idea of EFOC and UEFOC is a carbon shaft thing and  200 plus grain heads will reduce, substantially, your arrow life.

What you list in the original post will be way too weak for a bow that performs "similar" to a Hill style.  I'd suggest finding your arrow weight in ways other than point weight, I think you will have better luck.

I'd suggest 50-54 or 55-59 spine POC shafts with 125 grain points. IF you want heavier arrows look to Douglas Fir, or some of the Forrester shafts.  Increase arrow weight with shaft material, not point weight.

Arne

[Fletcher]

TX, I ran the numbers thru my system and I estimate a 74 lb spine.  The exact spine you will have to find by shooting; paper tuning works best for me.

I'll be the last guy to argue with Arne, but I and several others are shooting 200+ grain heads on wood arrows, mostly fir, without any breakage issues.  My biggest challenge with heavy heads is keeping the total arrow weight within my range.

Good luck with the Tuffheads, they have been working great for us.

Call Surewood, and go with the broadhead you like, they will put you on the right shaft if they have your cut to center info, bow style and poundage.

[SELFBOW19953]

"I even ran some 29.5" 2018's with 235 grains up front through it and the fly well just to slow for me at almost 13 gpp."  

That's the nature of the beast.  Hill style/straight limbed longbows are not speed demons, but they handle heavy arrows very well.

[TSP]

Cutting the bow to center basically removes it from a Hill style comparison, it's a different animal.  Not sure why the superheavy point weights are of special interest to you, but if wood arrows are what you want you'd be better off handling the testing as if the bow were a 54# hybrid.  

If aluminum is of interest, a 2115 with 145 gr. point might work and should also be near the 10 gr./lb. of draw wt. range that you seem to want.

[Looper]

I'd say you are way, way underspined with 45/50 and 225s. That would equate to around a 25-30 spine. A closer to center cut will require a stiffer spine than a normal Hill.

As a side note, if you are just shooting field points on fletched arrows, you can get away with shooting a pretty wide range of spines and still get decent accuracy. You won't have perfect flight with all of them, of course, but inside 20 yards, they'll all hit pretty close to each other.

The real way to see how close you are to the perfect spine is to shoot a bare shaft or with a broadhead in place of your field point on a fletched shaft.

I'd bet that if you put a 225 grain broadhead on that 45-50 grain shaft, it wouldn't hit within 2 feet of your aiming point at 20 yards.

[David Mitchell]

I'm with Looper, I think you are pretty much underspined.  The extra inch of shaft beyond 28" reduces your dynamic spine by 5#--now down to 40/45.  Then add the heavy tip and you're down to somewhere in the 30-35# spine at most is my guess. So no, it doesn't sound right to me. Hope one doesn't snap on you at release.

[lovethehunt]

I bet you will need to be closer to 60-65. I shoot a cut to center straight limbed bow I built that is 49@28 and need 65-70 with 160 heads. Bare shaft is the true test.

[lbshooter]

I would also say you were under spined if you were shooting a Hill bow. At your weight and draw length I would likely be shooting a 28" 50-55# cedar with a 140gr head, 11/32" with 5' feathers.