I've been lurking here for about a month now and have been lapin' up the good info like a hound. I just picked up a Bowtech Assassin on Saturday and so far I love it. I have about 100 arrows through it so far. Right now it's set to 60# as since I am just starting I was worried about having to much weight to pull. Turns out I am thinking I am going to be ready sooner rather than later to turn up the poundage, but in so doing I think I'm going to need to make a shift in arrows. I should preface this by saying that my draw length is 27". I'm currently using 26" Flatline 400 arrows with 2" Blazers. I really like the Flatlines and would like to use them at 70# eventually. But, unless I'm mistaken, I need a 350gr arrow and at my arrow length that is going to be hard to come by with the Flatlines. I'm using the chart found here at the bottom of the page. http://www.huntersfriend.com/carbon_arrows/hunting_arrows_selection_guide_chapter_3.htm So what I am wondering is, can I get away with (at 70# draw) The Flatline DOA 340s with a 26" shaft length with 2" Blazers and 100gr tip? This would give me a 351gr arrow which meets the weight requirement, but I'm afraid I would be over spined. The chart says for bows with IBO speeds over 330 to move down one and right one which puts me in the "technichal" range, but just only, and .340 deflection is at the other end of the range. Seeing as how it is talking about arrow length and not just shaft length, my arrows would end up about 26.5 putting me farther to the right on that chart by a tiny amount. What do you think?
You can shoot the 400 spine out of a 70 pound bow. Do you know what the weight is of your current setup? That is very close to the 5 grains/pound "rule". I have the flateline 340 and love them. Two other options if you do purchase new arrows, is to put a 125 grain tip on the 340 flatline giving you about 376 grains, this would be an awesome weight for speed and a very good FOC. Also, you could simply add an inch. In my opinion, 26 inch arrow on a 27 inch draw is a little short, however, I know it's not at all uncommon, especially depending on the bow. I would look strongly at the first option, that would be a pretty killer setup.
Right now it's set to 60# draw. I forgot to have my proshop weigh my arrows before I left (and so did he) but using the calculator on Hunter's Friend http://www.huntersfriend.com/carbon_arrows/hunting_arrows_selection_guide_chapter_4.htm It says I'm at 327gr 13.7% FOC. So I think I should be fine for now. The reason for the change is for hunting I want to bump it up to 70#. I plan on hunting boar late in the year and I have a shorter draw, so the extra poundage will help keep the kinetic energy up. Which with my hopeful 351gr Flatline 340 at 70# I calculated to be 69ft-lbs (at 298ft/sec). I started out with 60# because I wasn't sure how hard it would be to repeatedly shoot and I wanted to (and have been) shoot a lot. I want to make sure I am very proficient by the time the season starts. So far I've been able to get out every day. It has been a lot of fun seeing things progress. Originally it was very hard to hold the site very still on target (I'm thinking to myself, holy crap this is going to be tough to "know" I'm going to get the kill!) but the more I'm practicing and using the necessary muscles the steadier the site has been. Funny thing, when I went to the shop it was my first time with a modern compound bow and decades with any bow at all. The pro set me up and I was surprised how well I did seeing as how the first shot was a flyer (still on the target though) and the next 5 where in about a 5-6 inch group at 20 yards. After shooting a few different bows putting a ton of shots through the results were about the same. Feeling rather confident I get home and set up the target in the backyard, go out 20 yards, and being so concerned with form I failed to pay attention to what pin I was using and THWAP. Apparently the 50 yard pin is of no use at 20 yards besides donating an arrow to the field gods behind my house. That was a very humbling shot lol. All has been good since then, except when I anticipated a shot, pulled on the release (not the trigger) just before the shot tweaking the bow to the right and donated arrow number 2 to the field gods. They are going to be really well equipped come hunting season! But each of these have have been great learning experiences, and feeling parts of the pre-shot "checklist" become automatic has been exciting.
