My bro came down from out of town and we shot our bows for the first time together. I just bought some low dollar cabelas arrows on sale just to get my feet wet and he had some left over from years ago when he target shot where he lives. He has some arrows with a much smaller diameter shaft, has something on the end that brings the arrow back to regular diameter for putting on a tip. He was getting about 4-5 inches more penetration on my target than I was. I have not idea what weight his arrows are compared to mine. We both have 70lb. pulls, he shoots a Pearson and I shoot a Bowtech. I dont know if its the bows that are making the difference or the smaller shaft on his arrows that are following the field tip. Anyone have experience with these? Are they good for hunting? I am willing to try some if they offer advantages out in the field on game. Thanks for any information provided.
I personally shoot Bemin. But my grandpa shoots easton axis and loves them. its comes down to what you feel confront able shooting, people all have there personal opinions about penetration.
I have heard that smaller diameter arrows are better for penetration, but I'm not sure if it's true. KE (kenetric energy) is a strong determining factor for the penetration. Arrow weight and speed are factored into the equation. weight*weight*speed / 450240 gives you your total KE. The fact that both of your bows are on 70lbs has little to do with how much penetration you will get in comparison. For example, a PSE Omen set on 60# at a 29" draw will still shoot faster than my Element even on #70 at the same draw. You would need to know the total grain of your arrows (inserts, nock, gpi*inches, vanes, field tips) and you would need to get an average FPS on a chronograph and then use the formula above to determine who should be getting more penetration. Again, I've heard that smaller diameter arrows have been penetration (hence why carbon is better than aluminum).
I'm no expert, but I can tell you that my Dad and I shoot together often; he with his Mathews DXT and me with my Bowtech Ally. We both shoot 62# and draw 29"... but my arrows (same diameter, both using Eastons) penetrate a good 4-5 inches deeper on the same targets. For whatever that's worth..
I have done some extensive testing on arrow diameter related to penetration. My conclusions are that yes, you will get some added penetration from the small diameter arrow; BUT where you get it the most is the FOC or weight forward. The small diameter arrows will out penetrate regualr .245 dia arrows because more often than not you have some sort of heavy outsert on the end which adds weight forward. I love the small diameter arrows such as the Victory VAPs or Balck eagle deep impacts or the Harvest time HT-1's with the the 45 grain outsert on the end. BUT one hing that is bad about those is that the outserts are easily bent especially when shot into bag targets or the ground on the other side of deer. What I have recently found is that Dorge the owner of Firenock LLC has recently come out with an outsert that will NOT bend and slides over the outside of the arrow sort of like a collar. This also weighs a little less than other in the past at 33ish grains. A small diameter arrow tipped with the Aero outsert is in my opinion one of the best arrows you could get as far as staying in the 350-400gr range and getting the most penetration possible out of your set-up. The small diameter arrows also fly better at long range due to the fact they are not influenced by the wind as much.
I've heard amazing things about the VAP's in particular. However, I can't see how the penetration is that much greater than standard diameter shafts. I believe InnerX is on to something there. I believe that concentrating the arrow's energy on a smaller point (diameter) of the skinny shafts, contribute to this. Rather than spread the energy out, over say 3/8" of an inch diameter, all of this energy is forced into a 1/4" area instead. Makes sense to me anyway. Those measurements are not accurate by the way. I believe the difference is so small, that it won't make that much of a difference. I think the absolute best thing any of us can do to guarentee penetration is to make sure you're shooting a well tuned rig, with the correct arrow and good weight. If your arrows are hitting the deer sideways, you're losing a lot of energy. If your arrows fly like darts to the target, you'll get maximum results.
