This year I went to a lighter spined arrow. The last 2 years I shot 340 FMJ's while pulling 61lbs. My draw weight In my recurve has been declining the last 3 years and It dropped another 3lbs last year towards the end of the season. I noticed my arrows were kicking some here and there last year the last few weeks of the season. I thought It was just me but after my season was over I checked my draw weight again at my draw length and sure enough I had lost another 3lbs In draw weight which In turn caused my 340's to be too stiff with the set up I had. 2 years previous to this I had lost 12lbs of draw weight. For 12 years I was pulling 73lbs at 28 Inches. Man It had some get up and go! I blew through pretty much every animal I got. Fast forward to this spring I went and got me some 400 FMJ's. I went to the local archery shot and did some bare shafting and came up with what seemed like a good combo after shortening my arrows to where we thought we were getting the best flight. I had an FOC of 19%, 2% more then I had with my 340's. My 340's weighed In at 704 grains, my 400's weighed In at 672 grains. I was happy with dropping some weight being my arrows tended to nose dive just a tad at that 30 yard range. I haven't hunted yet this year but I've been shooting a bunch as of late getting myself good and ready for the deer season. 2 days ago It was fairly windy (25 mph). My arrows were kicking some and I thought what the hell. I tried everything thinking my form was bad but everything I thought maybe needed fixing didn't work. While hauling milk (I'm a milk man) the last 2 days I thought long and hard what was going wrong. Nothing dawned on me until last night while laying In bed. A thought came to my mind that maybe my spine Is on the weak side and with the wind blowing It helped It along enough to show the true colors. Well Instead of cutting my arrows to strengthen the spine I changed up BH's and went back to my old faithfuls that I shot for many years. The BH I've been using the last 2.5 years Is a single bevel 220 grain Outback Supreme. Awesome BH If you ask me! The BH I used to shoot 4 years ago was a 125 grain 3 blade Snuffer. I threw the Snuffer on this evening and did some shooting being It was windy once again. I shot both the Snuffer arrow and the Outback arrow. The Outback arrow kicked a tad again while my Snuffer arrow flew like a dart. I'll hunt this year shooting Snuffers again and come winter I'll re due my arrows and shorten them up some so I can get them single bevel Outbacks back on again. It did feel kinda neat putting my 125 grain Snuffers back on again. Shot many animals with them and had some outstanding blood trails with them. My FOC sure dropped which I knew It would. I'm down to 14%. I can live with that though. I hunted with 2216's for 12 years, had an FOC of 8%. Over 95% were pass throughs. No complaints from me at all with the 2216's I shot. My arrow weight dropped a ton as well. I'm down to 577 grains. That tells you right there that I was under spined being I could drop that much weight and still get great arrow flight. I'm very Interested to see what this BH/arrow combo does on a whitetail with penetration. It should be a better set up then my 2216's were just going off of the numbers. Moral of the story Is, I NEED a new recurve. I just can't put the old girl away just yet.
Glad to see your getting it all figured out, Steve. Killed my first elk with a Woodsman, almost the same head. Curious? Why are you losing weight? Is the glass breaking down?
Not sure. A few years back the outside edges of my top limb was splintering a tad. I re did the whole bow by sanding It down and putting some glue where It was splintering on the edge of the limb. I don't think the splintering spot was the problem but rather the whole limb getting weak.
Steve , its good to here about your arrow problems and how you're resolving them . It gives me insentive to play more myself with length , BH weight and such to get perfect flight . I'm shooting using Alluminium Gamegetter 400's , with my 53# @ 27" Hoyt/Tradtech Longbow . With 3 x 5" shield cut feathers , 100grn insert , 125grn Outback Supreme or 125grn silverflame BH and cut at 28 1/2" . I'm getting plunger rub towards the rear of the arrow ( around the front of the feather , on the wrap ) , is my arrow to weak or to strong . Would a longer arrow arradicate the rub , or do i need to drop broadhead and insert weight ?
Sound like youve gotten your fair share of deer with that old bow. I say treat yourself to a new one! Once you get warmed up to it you'll be glad you did. IMO
I'm just assuming but If I recall a 400 spine aluminum arrow Is the same as a 2117 correct? If that's the case I'd say your arrows are too stiff and not bending around the riser. Do they kick at all In flight?
Hey Steve I flung a full length arrow today with point and 100grn insert , stuck in target point right , nock left ( underspined ) . So do i start trimming arrow to length now ?? Or change arrows ??
Shorten one up little by little and see how that goes. It may not take much so cut In small Increments.
You got that right Kent. Been hunting doe's as of late. Can't get one with In 20 yards right now. Lol!!
Hey Steve , I did the Paper tuning and the bareshaft tuning and seriously , my arrows are putting bullet holes in paper and flying straight to the target bareshaft ( fletched they fly like darts ) ........ BUT , my arrows are cut at 26 1/4" to achieve this . Remember I'm shooting Easton Gamegetter 400's as somebody recommended , with 100grn brass inserts and 125grn Broadhead ( G5 Montec ), with 3 x 5" feathers guiding the missile . I'm gonna change to Wensel Woodsman broadheads , as my Outback Supremes will not draw back as the arrows are to short and hit the riser now . I'm shooting a Hoyt/Tradtech Longbow , 53# @ 27" .
That's what I thought , I've normally left it to the shop to do my arrows , I'm not shooting off the shelf , I'm using a Cavelier Champion II Rest and also my arrows have a brass insert which adds nearly 1/4" ( which is not counted on my arrow length ) , with this added , my arrow length is only 26 1/2" ( without broadhead attached ) . The pro shop told me my draw was 27" ??????
That bites. Them arrows are to short In my opinion. Yes It works but you have no room for error. I wonder If you would be better off starting over with a full length arrow and not use the 100 grain Insert but Instead go with a 50 grain Insert. I bet you wouldn't have to shorten your arrow as much.
Think you're onto something there Steve , I may have gone too far with wanting weight forward , will get some 50grn inserts ordered right away I think .
I'm struggling to find a 50grn insert for the Gamegetter 400 arrow , I'm finding 100grn easy , but not 50grn ??? ..... Any Idea's Buddy ???
Here's some Info I dug up Dave Inserts that you can add weights too- http://www.kustomkingarchery.com/Adjustable-Converta-Point-Insert/productinfo/ACPI/ The weights you add to the Insert- http://www.kustomkingarchery.com/Insert-Weights/productinfo/4420/
Well Steve , I wasn't happy with the results of my arrow tuning , so I went back and started again , this time I also adjusted my plunger "DUH" and lets just say it changed things a little . My Arrows are now 28 1/2" , shooting straight and weigh in at 585grains ( and I still get to use my Outback Supreme's ) . I'm learning more and more as time goes , mainly through trial and error lol , but I'm getting there :P
