Up until this year, I have been having my bow shop build my arrows... After watching a couple of videos about FOC by MFJJ of Podium Arxher, I checked my FOC and based on the minimum of 15% that is advocated, my arrows suck! (9%) Josh seems to really like Victory RIP which is one of the two arrows I have used with good success. My problem is this. I shoot 27 1/2 inch draw at 62 lbs. 350 spine) To get an arrow that has good FOC with the Victory arrows (RIP 8.2 GPI) RIP TKO (8.7 GPI) I can't seem to find a vane and shaft that I can build that gives at least 15% at less than 460 grains. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
I voted Gold Tip because that's all I've ever shot. Having a high FOC% is a good thing, but it's probably going to be difficult if not impossible to get to a 15% FOC and keep an arrow under 460 grains. My arrow set up for my 65#@ 29" V3 is 28.5" Gold Tip Hunter Pro arrows (300 spine - 9.3 gpi) that weigh 460 grains. They have a 50 grain insert and shoot a 100 grain head. That arrow has an 11% FOC. My set up for my 60#@29" Heli-m is quite different. I shoot 28.5" Gold Tip Velocity Pro shafts (300 spine - 8.8 gpi) with a 100 grain brass insert and a 125 grain head for a total weight of 530 grains and a 16.4% FOC. Like I said, a high FOC% is a good thing to have, but saying you have to have a minimum of 15% is just not accurate. That may be "his" personal minimum. I've met guys on the forums who would say 15% is not enough for them. Generally, the recommended FOC for hunting is 11% to 15%. If you really have your heart set on a 15% FOC or higher, you're almost definitely going to have to add more weight up front and adding enough weight to the front end of a 350 spine arrow will most likely make you underspined with your current arrows.
LC is spot on. I feel your pain, I also have a 27.5" DL. I shoot 65 lbs, so basically the same setup. My suggestion? Tune out that 15% FOC is some magical number and anything less than that will have your arrows bouncing off of animals or doing nothing but wounding them. My hunting arrows, for 25+ years, have been in the 390-420 TAW (total arrow weight) range. My average FOC is usually around 9.5% to 11%. I have ZERO issues tuning them with fixed blade broad heads so I get good flight and accuracy, or with getting good penetration through ELK. I could build a lot heavier arrow, but a balanced build is better for my hunting method. I hunt elk in the timber, trying to call them in, with lots of branches/limbs everywhere, and I will take unknown yardage shots out to 40 yards. I want balance, not a rainbow trajectory that brings more branches into the equation or causes a 5 yard misjudgement in yardage to mean I miss the lungs. If I solely sat in a blind or tree, had nice open shooting lanes, and always knew the exact yardage before an animal walked in, then I'd have zero issues putting together a 500 grain arrow with a higher FOC. I have played around with some pretty light setups for 3d arrows. It is my experience that I do not see any accuracy issues until FOC gets below 8%. Maybe even more like 7.5%. Other than accuracy issues with really low FOC, I do not see how there is going to be a detrimental difference between two arrow setups that weight the same, have the same broad head, are going the same velocity, but one is 15% FOC and one is 10% FOC. Build the arrow you want, be OCD about your bow tune, be OCD about your broad head blades being sharp, be picky about the shot angle (like we all should be), and go enjoy filling your freezer.
I'm a 28" 60# and I've been using Easton arrows with 50 gr brass insert to get more FOC. I know that's not one of your choices but my 2 cents anyway.
I'm a 27.5 dl, mathews v3 is set at 68lbs, shooting a black eagle renegade 300 spine with 120g ethic inserts/sleeve and a 125g head. Aae max stealth vanes (3). I could have cut weight with blazers but perfer max stealth vanes. I'm close to the 15% foc that they talk about. It is a pain trying to find a heavy spine shaft that is lower gpi (unless you want to go heavy arrows) for a lower total grain high foc setup. I decide to go a bit heavy (545g arrow) and glad I did. The shaftt hits so much harder with the higher foc, alot quieter out of the bow. Down fall is that they are slower. Everything is a give or take while tinkering with arrows. Good luck and keep us informed. Sent from my SM-G998U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
