Arrow Questions and Recommendations

[MarylandHunter86]

I bought my second bow about a month ago, a V3 31, and i love it. My first bow was a $300 Hoyt Klash. I didn’t do any real research on arrows. I just got the cheapest hunting arrow that was shown to me and they were ok. I now realize there is more to selecting arrows but am looking for some guidance. Bow is 70lb draw that I have tuned down to about 65lb ( will push back up to 70 soon). Draw length is 28”.

1.) I am thinking of going to a heavier arrow with 15% FOC. Was thinking around 500 grains with a spine of 300. Does this sound appropriate? Also to get to there I see I will need weights that are inserted into the shaft. Are these inserts put in both the front and back of the shaft? Are they glued in?

2.) Will these arrows be appropriate for all game or do folks have different arrow set ups for whitetail vs elk? I mostly hunt whitetail but am planning an Elk trip.


3. I am considering Easton 5mm FMJ arrows. Any recs on arrows is appreciated

 

[Zac]

If your new to archery you probably just want to go to your shop and have them build you some that would be appropriate for your set-up. Your numbers at this point are fairly unrealistic. Especially at your draw and poundage. If you want to get in the weeds a little yourself, get a chronograph speed of an arrow you are very familiar with. Then take the arrow specs, and the bow specs and enter them into Archers Advantage. You can play around with this software and get a close estimate of what it would take to meet the parameters you referred to above.

 

[Arctic Hunter]

If your new to archery you probably just want to go to your shop and have them build you some that would be appropriate for your set-up. Your numbers at this point are fairly unrealistic. Especially at your draw and poundage. If you want to get in the weeds a little yourself, get a chronograph speed of an arrow you are very familiar with. Then take the arrow specs, and the bow specs and enter them into Archers Advantage. You can play around with this software and get a close estimate of what it would take to meet the parameters you referred to above.

Pretty much spot on. ’ve found the archery programs to only be kind of accurate when it comes to arrows with that much weight on the front. And usually, high FOC arrows don’t group any better than a shaft with descent point weight (typically they’ve shot worse for me, especially up close).

Trying to get 15-20% foc and getting the arrow to tune is a real pain. If you like to tinker, have the equipment (press, saw, room to do it) and money to buy arrows/inserts/tips/broadheads/tophats, and time to spend, it can be done. But 500-600 with your setup is heavy and not really necessary.

FMJs with with standard inserts and normal point weight will get you a good overall weight and will be fine for anything in North America.

 

[Beendare]

Maryland, welcome to the forum

there is hours and hours of information on selecting arrows and all sorts of good advice on this forum if you use the search feature with popular topics.

A lot of good guys giving the best advice might not chime in on your thread but you will be able to see their comments by searching.

...

 

[540-Virginian]

Follow all the above advice as it’s spot on. My advice as a fellow new shooter/junior member and having gone through the ringer and so deep down the rabbit hole I burrowed through the earth and came out in China, do not follow Ranch Fairy.



yeah I said it... if you stumble on that crazy Texan in YouTube, just wait a year or two until you’ve shot enough and landed some animals to maybe have better idea of where RF may or not be right.

I share as I wasted a lot of money with heavy arrow and FOC. A 10% FOC arrow, tuned bow, strong sharp broad heads, and good shooting will kill anything in the US except for maybe a 700lb+ boar.

however, I do still watch ranch fairy as he’s funny and I do like the guy. He’s the archery world equivalent of that crazy ex girlfriend you can’t stand but was a great ****, so you still call her sometimes.

 

[SIR_34:16]

Gold Tip 250 spine kinetic pierce platinums cut at 29" with insert, ballistic collar, 20 grain insert weight, 125 gr. head, and arrow wrap will get you to 516 grains and about 14% foc. They tuned okay for me but every setup is unique. Gold Tip has a handy foc calculator on their website.

 

[SIR_34:16]

To answer your second question, I used this setup for both elk and whitetail this year. After a bad experience with a deer's shoulder blade in 2019, I drank Ashby's kool-aid. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to serve any to game this year!

 

[Brendan]

At 28/70# - you don't need a 250 spine. 300 is plenty.

I think a great arrow would be the Black Eagle Rampage 300 spine. You can put a 75 grain brass HIT or Iron Will HIT in the front, then play around with different tip weights and Iron Will collars to get the profile you want. I run a similar arrow at just under 500 grains.

Easton Axis 300 would be another choice, but will be slightly heavier (and slower). I run a similar arrow at 510-520 grains.

Your speeds with the axis will probably be 260-270, with the rampage 270-280 depending on how you finish each out.

I personally see no reason to use the FMJ.

If I was considering Micro Diameter arrows, I would only run Iron Will components and broadheads, and I would not run lighted nocks. I do like the Gold Tip Pierce Platinum in this category.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

1) 300 spine should be about right. You might be able to go 340-350 depending on how short you trim the arrow and how much weight you put on the front end. You'll need to add weight to the front in some fashion to achieve the total arrow weight and FOC numbers you're targeting. The extra front weight could come from any number of combinations of heavier head and/or heavier insert, but you'll definitely need something heavier than the "standard" combination of 100 gr head with 12 gr aluminum insert.

2) A wide range of arrow weights are suitable for whitetail and elk (and many other animals). There's no definitive threshold for minimum lethal weight, just some qualitative rules of thumb to consider: heavier arrows tend to penetrate better but sacrifice some trajectory, lighter arrows tend to fly flatter but penetrate less. I'd recommend testing out different arrow weights to see how heavy you can go and still tolerate the trajectory out to your maximum effective range. A field point test kit and/or Gold Tip FACT weights are good tools for testing purposes.

3) FMJ's are pretty dense shafts (high grains per inch), which makes it more difficult to achieve high FOC. A 300 spine 5mm FMJ (12.0 gpi) cut to 27" with 6 gr nock and three 7 gr vanes would require around 180 gr of total point weight (head + insert) to achieve 15% FOC, and total arrow weight would come out around 530 gr. By comparison, a 300 spine 5mm Axis (10.7 gpi) with the same length/nock/vanes could achieve 15% FOC at approximately 165 gr point weight and 480 gr TAW. I'm not suggesting that you should chase a particular FOC number (although I generally believe that more is better), just pointing out how shaft choice affects FOC.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Gold Tip Hunter or XT Hunter with an insert and broadhead weight of your choice would be a solid option.

Black Eagle Carnivore arrows and their like(lower gpi) are another great option to allow you to increase your FOC without getting too crazy in the total weight.

Should be pretty easy to get what you want.

Good luck and enjoy your new bow.

 

[Billy Goat]

Follow all the above advice as it’s spot on. My advice as a fellow new shooter/junior member and having gone through the ringer and so deep down the rabbit hole I burrowed through the earth and came out in China, do not follow Ranch Fairy.



yeah I said it... if you stumble on that crazy Texan in YouTube, just wait a year or two until you’ve shot enough and landed some animals to maybe have better idea of where RF may or not be right.

I share as I wasted a lot of money with heavy arrow and FOC. A 10% FOC arrow, tuned bow, strong sharp broad heads, and good shooting will kill anything in the US except for maybe a 700lb+ boar.

however, I do still watch ranch fairy as he’s funny and I do like the guy. He’s the archery world equivalent of that crazy ex girlfriend you can’t stand but was a great ****, so you still call her sometimes.

It ain't no ex, it's a train wreck.





More aptly a nascar race, it goes around in circles, and you're only watching for the epic crash and burn.
Wait, maybe I'm confusing him with other members.

 

[wesfromky]

If you want to dig in a bit deeper about building an arrow, via Aron and Kifarucast.

 

[540-Virginian]

About a few months into shooting I learned how to fletch my arrows as you’ll lose some fletching when you start shooting really tight groups. I just order my arrows precut now and install the inserts and fletch myself. It’s easy and you can’t go wrong with a bohning blazers, some AAE max bond glue, and a cheaper fletching jig. Plenty of YouTube how to’s.

 

[Hunt_UP]

Lots of great remarks here. I second getting a fletching jig, I prefer the bitzenburger since it allows for 3 or 4 fletch and lots of other adjustments. The cost of fletching pays for it after a few times and it’s just fun. Don’t forget arrow straightness, haven’t seen that yet on this thread. I usually run .001 and no more than .003. The other is weight difference. Some of the cheaper shafts will vary greatly within a dozen. When you start shooting longer distance, fixed broadheads and looking for accuracy, the details matter.

 

[Zac]

Follow all the above advice as it’s spot on. My advice as a fellow new shooter/junior member and having gone through the ringer and so deep down the rabbit hole I burrowed through the earth and came out in China, do not follow Ranch Fairy.



yeah I said it... if you stumble on that crazy Texan in YouTube, just wait a year or two until you’ve shot enough and landed some animals to maybe have better idea of where RF may or not be right.

I share as I wasted a lot of money with heavy arrow and FOC. A 10% FOC arrow, tuned bow, strong sharp broad heads, and good shooting will kill anything in the US except for maybe a 700lb+ boar.

however, I do still watch ranch fairy as he’s funny and I do like the guy. He’s the archery world equivalent of that crazy ex girlfriend you can’t stand but was a great ****, so you still call her sometimes.

RF has a lot of great material. If you are a DIY guy that would rather tune the arrow to the bow than purchase a bow press he can be a great resource. You just have to keep everything in perspective. Even RF has stated that a moderately heavy arrow with a sharp broadhead is sufficient. However the more rational principles on his channel seem to get drowned out by all the noise. I would watch every bit of material available to you and pull out of it what you believe is applicable to you. If not it's communism .

 

[Brizzle]

Disagree... overweight arrows and high FOC is a fad. Unless you shoot trad, those guys will always be doing something goofy, but I guess that’s half the reason some of us own stick bows... at least for me it is. The energy your arrow creates is a combination of speed and weight, too much or too little of one or the other will not hinder performance. 15% FOC is very high and unnecessary, at 70# a 500+ grain arrow will be too slow and drop 20”+ more than a 400g arrow at 60 yards. The best thing you can do is refer to your pro shop and ask them for advice before getting into custom builds. If you’re looking for better flight, get a jig and play with different fletching patterns before playing with arrow weights and foc. You’ll gain more from that in the long run.

 

[540-Virginian]

RF has a lot of great material. If you are a DIY guy that would rather tune the arrow to the bow than purchase a bow press he can be a great resource. You just have to keep everything in perspective. Even RF has stated that a moderately heavy arrow with a sharp broadhead is sufficient. However the more rational principles on his channel seem to get drowned out by all the noise. I would watch every bit of material available to you and pull out of it what you believe is applicable to you. If not it's communism .

Lol i did appreciate his piece on broadhead sharpening and his anatomy lessons. Especially the parts on sharp blades and how they cut vs push veins and such. Schooled me! I can cut air with my heads now.

I agree you take some good with the bad.

 

[Zac]

Lol i did appreciate his piece on broadhead sharpening and his anatomy lessons. Especially the parts on sharp blades and how they cut vs push veins and such. Schooled me! I can cut air with my heads now.

I agree you take some good with the bad.

Yes I agree. There are way too many good nuggets on that channel to totally avoid. The quartering to videos were awesome.

 

[Brizzle]

I’ll agree, there’s some good info out there, I didn’t mean to sound like every thing he posts is bad or incorrect information

 

[bjfoxhoven]

I’ve never been a fan of FMJ (haven’t shot them though) because they bend. I like to shoot a lot at a lot of random stuff, great way to get better, and I don’t think those arrows would hold up to the abuse I put mine through. That is why i shoot an all carbon. Easton axis shafts are solid. Hardest to break seem to be day six arrows. If you do a lot of stumping and shooting random stuff, I like to have collars. They have their benefits and drawbacks. Just do a little digging and find what works for you.

I loved my rampages, best flying arrows I’ve shot. However, I broke several of them pretty easily. Could have been a fluke, but something I take note of.