I am currently shooting a Easton Axis 500 tipped with a Slick Trick 125 Magnum head. My bow is a Bowtech Allegiance 26.5" @ 63lbs. I am toying with the idea of going to a heavier arrow setup for next season. Any suggestions? Thanks
Depends on where you want the weight. My personal preference is to add the weight up front. You could maybe go to a .400 spine using a 100 grain insert and use the same BH. You could even go with a stiffer spine and keep the shaft length long and add the 100 grain insert and perhaps a heavier BH. Or you could get a heavier shaft, maybe a FMJ, and go with a similar arrow config to the one you already have. Depends on how much weight you want to add and what you feel like changing, buying.
It almost sounds like I wrote this a couple years ago...I did just what you're talking about. I thought I was really helping overall penetration, but have noticed some backlash from it. There are a number of articles on the web/posts on here about kinetic energy and the whole idea of a arrow that is heavy...but also fast. You can have a light fast arrow that doesn't penetrate...and one that's too heavy to be fast...and thereby doesn't penetrate either. Good luck! I am, much like everyone does sooner or later, seeking the holy grail of arrow composition, weight, accuracy, and all else archery
I am in the same scenario and found that the .500 is a little too weak of a spine. I am switching to the .400s. How are your broadheads grouping? That's where your spine will make more of a difference.
are you doing it to hunt a particular critter bigger/tougher than whitetails? If penetration is your only reason I suggest adding the weight up front...with weighted inserts. I added a 100gr insert last year and was impressed how that one change impacted penetration...of course the downside is larger pin gap No biggie when i'm hunting whitetails as all shots are very close - but would rather have that happy medium if hunting out West with longer shot ranges. Good Luck!
unless your going to africa id keep it the same =[] if u want the extra insurance incase of a shoulder shot up the tip weight i know goldtip has some good inserts that range from like 25-100gr
First off, those .500 are WEAK unless you have them cut down to like 23", you should be using a .400 spine arrow anyhow, and that alone will up your weight a bit. I don't think you would want/need much over 375-400gr, which you'd get with a lot of .400 spine arrow and a 125gr tip....
I am not an advocate of either extreme, light or heavy. IMO a setup for Whitetails, Mule Deer, Antelope, Bear, etc would have a rugged super sharp broadhead screwed on the end, and have a minimum of 12% foc. Of course spine, tune to the bow, and components all properly installed/aligned is very important. I think shooting a compound an arrow weighing 6 grains per pound is more than adequate and provides more than enough KE & penetration potential for the animals mentioned above. Of course Trad gear does require more weight in the arrow to maximize KE. There are those who believe in super heavy arrows as well as though that prefer the super lightweight setups and that's all good, but I prefer something that gives me what I feel is the best of both worlds. Dan
I hear what you saying about a shoulder shot and understand, but IMO a Bad shot is still a Bad shot regardless of a few more grains of weight on the arrow Dan
x2 I am going with this guy. A happy medium that gives the best of both worlds. Well said... I have played with several of the calculators and gone up to over 500 in total arrow weight. The heavier the better if all you are looking at is momentum. However, trajectory suffers. I want to shoot on the heavy side but I still want enough speed on the arrow to be relatively flat shooting. If the bow is fast enough to give the desired trajectory with this arrow it is a win/win for me. In the event I make a bad shot I have the momentum to drive thru heavy bones of deer and hogs.
