So I ordered a new bow the other day and I’m starting to work up a new arrow. My goal is to be with a final weight of around 500 grains. This will be primarily used for deer so I know it’s overkill but I really like the benefits a heavier arrow can provide The bow will be a Mathews Halon 32 7 with a 31.5” draw so about a 30-30.5” arrow set at 56 lbs. I know arrow length is very important but I’m just kind of ball parking at the moment and I can’t get a final measurement till my bow gets here. I shoot 125 Slick Trick fixed heads. Been thinking a lighter 8 GPI arrow with a 75 GR insert would get me there but get kind of hung up on spine because of my relatively light draw weight. So what’s the best way to go about getting to that 500GR weight and a descent F.O.C. with a long arrow?
Axis 340 with 50gr insert. Cut the length to fly best from your bow - Free trial of shaft selector at pinwheelsoftware.
BEA Spartans 300’s ...about 525 total weight 30” .. 270 grains Insert 26 grains Brass weight 75 grains Blazer 15 grains Nock bushing and nock 15 grains Broadhead 125
Not sure you were ever well advised... with a longer draw like yours, I'd have stayed with a longer bow.... No real benefit to using a tiny bow as the clearance of the limbs will be dependent upon the height of the shooter, and unless you're a gorilla, with that DL, you're at least 6'2" or have abnormally long arms, or were not measured correctly... In the overall realm, you don't want an arrow any shorter than an inch of what your DL is, therefore you are looking for a longer arrow, and because you are shooting a lighter weight, that means you can use more popular and tunable arrows... No real reason to be trying to get a "500 gr arrow," when you can accomplish just as much with a 425 gr arrow, that is perfectly tuned to what you really need, and will improve your accuracy... For that set-up, I'd waiver between a .300 and a .340 spine at at LEAST 30", and tweak the tip weight to accomplish the best tuning to make you optimally accurate with fieldpoints and BH at 40-45 yrds....
Yeah. Honestly when I went shooting I was was looking for something 34-36” ATA, something like that. But at the same time had the shoot everything and try not to have any preconceived notions about it mentality. I went to 4 different places to shoot (multiple times) bows and shot about everything available in my area. I kept coming back to the Mathews Halon 32 and the Prime Centergy Hybrid and the PSE Evolve 35 pretty much in that order. In the end it basically came down to draw cycle for me as the string angle was actually very nice on all the bows especially once I took the advise of a couple of techs and considerably shortened my release. Made coming to my actor point much easier. You are right on my height. I am 6’6” and have always been put into bows with 30” or 30.5” DL. Went longer this time and with the Halon set up with a 31.5 mod it measures closer to 32 on the draw board and has my bow arm in a much better form position. The guys did comment on how for my height I have a bit shorter DL than he expected. Narrow shoulders and a little head I expect leads to that. As far as the arrow I’m guessing on the length. I’m just ball parking so I have an idea what I want when I go in then we can fine tune once my bow actually gets here and I see how my rest goes on and all that. The reason I’m looking at a heavier arrow is basically because I want to. Never have gone over 440 and so I just figured I’ll try it and see how I like it. I realize it’s overkill for my intended game and a 425-440 arrow will do whatever I want. I’m sure it will be at least 30” probably more like 31 but as I said I’m ballparking at the moment. Also, I don’t dis credit anything you said. I’m fully aware that it’s a bit shorter bow, but after shooting 15-20 bows and talking to a lot of different techs and things I really feel good about the decision
Just an update. I got my Halon 32 towards the middle of January and have been shooting it for a bit now. Basically I’m in love with it. I can actually shoot this bow better than I really felt was within my ability. I’m putting together 5-6” groups out to 80 yards and it’s just so consistent with a very forgiving draw cycle and release. Shooting groups inside 50 is a no no that just ends up with a busted arrow. Even when I know I pulled a shot it’s not nearly as far out as my Impulse was. Arrow wise I ended up with a Beman Carbon Defender in a 300 spine. These were the .004 straightness and I just bought a few to make sure they were going to broadhead tune fine. I didn’t add any weight in the front for now but they come in around the 470 mark at about 275fps on chrono at 55lb. I figure for deer and turkey this will be awesome. If I ever go elk hunting I’ll switch the inserts with some 100 grain brass to get to the 550 mark. I have since gotten some Beman Precision Hunters. Same shaft with a .001 straightness. Can’t tell up close but at 80 I can group those better. Also had to switch out veins. Blazers were missing the cable just by the skin of their tooth. If I tourqed at all they were hitting causing some weird flight. I switched to 3” fusions and it upped the forgiveness considerably. Wind seems to bother them less as well. In any case I’m very happy with my new set up so far. Can’t wait to get after a turkey or 2 in the coming weeks.
I too, have a long draw (31.5 , maxed out) Idk if you got to shoot it personally, but I shoot the bowtech boss. Great bow for long draw archers and plenty on the ATA. I shoot the 300 spine GT velocity XT arrows, no insert and shoot 100 gr heads. I'm around 425-430 grains and shooting around 318 fps @70lbs. Been shooting the GT's for the last few years and have zero issue. You may want to take a look at them sometime!
Yeah I did get to shoot the Boss. It wasn’t for me. Something weird in the last few inches of the cycle if I remember right just turned me off. Shot several Bowtechs and it just wasn’t the feel I was looking for. For me it really came down to the PSE Evolve 35, Prime Centergy Hybrid and the Halon 32. The Prime mainly got thrown out because of how they get to the longer draw length. Longer limbs which I was advised generally really changes the feel for the standard DL to the LD version. Didn’t want to order one and hate it. I think I would have been perfectly happy with the Evolve but the Halon did everything just a touch better IMO. It was really nice that I got a hold of a tech that set everything up as close as he could from bow to bow. It really let me feel the bows out knowing they were set at the same weights and DLs. When I went back the 3rd time to shoot I was only shooting those 2 and shot the Evolve first and really felt like that was what I was going to order. Then the very first shot with the Halon flipped that decision. I did look pretty hard at the Velocity arrows. In the end it boiled down to I have had better luck in the past batch to batch with Beman. I shot gold tips for two seasons but when it came time to buy new I bought the exact same arrows (GT Hunter XT) and they would not group together with my originals. Most frustrating thing ever. That was right when they moved to Mexico so maybe they got it figured out now though. It’s been several years.
im a 30 inch draw 65lb shooting axis 300 29 inch arrow 100 gr head with 50 gr added upfront, think im about 504 gr
