Arrow Questions and Recommendations

[Billy Goat]

You can find the same info RF puts out from other sources. I was turned off pretty quick from any of his stuff and never went back. The character was the biggest turn off to me and I choose not to support it.

To each their own.

 

[540-Virginian]

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.

I tried FMJ but they went bananas and were hard to tune past 40 yards. I think are meant for 70-80lb pullers. I pull 60. Anything under 40 yards i shot so good i broke 3 as they do not flex out of the way like carbon. I never shot groups at one target after that cause so expensive to replace.

 

[540-Virginian]

You can find the same info RF puts out from other sources. I was turned off pretty quick from any of his stuff and never went back. The character was the biggest turn off to me and I choose not to support it.

To each their own.

lol yeah, for someone who claims to be doing research he pretty bad at avoiding confirmation bias.

 

[Vital]

Tag

 

[Billy Goat]

lol yeah, for someone who claims to be doing research he pretty bad at avoiding confirmation bias.

Someone else said it, but Easton has had engineers paid for many years determining arrow flight and characteristics. What they publish on foc for target and hunting arrows I tend to believe.

It's easy to come out and promote something that makes people think you are revolutionizing things, but it's hard to reinvent the wheel. Flight characteristics haven't changed. I'm not sold on skinny arrows either. Shoot something smaller than the ferrule of your broadhead, after that it's not going to amount to much on penetration. Wind picks up on your fletching and your broadhead way more than your arrow diameter. It was big advancement in my opinion when they got carbon to a size that could use inserts versus the aluminum hunting arrows we use to shoot, since then it's been mostly marketing.

Now they are reverting back to old carbon shaft technology it seems. I hated outserts then, and I still do. .246-.204 I.D. is where it's at in my opinion. Field archery with glue in points you can go smaller diameter, that's a different game tho. Just like shooting 23's indoors.

 

[Brizzle]

Nailed it

 

[bojangles808]

for a good value setup i like the easton bloodlines with the 75 grain brass insert. skinnier you go the iffier the component systems

 

[MuddyBoots]

I'm shooting a similar setup, 70lbs VXR 28"DL with a half turn out of each limb bolt. I've shot 5mm FMJs for years after seeing emergency room photos and scars a carbon arrow inflicted on a fellow archery club member after it exploded on release and was driven into the back of his hand. Back before the high FOC craze struck when FMJs were new the archery shops touted them for their great penetration due to slick aluminum exterior and smaller 5mm diameter. In reality I think it's the extra 75+ grains of arrow weight that matters. In my opinion for bow a total arrow weight around 500 grains is a good compromise between trajectory and penetration and is up to the task with a fixed blade broadhead on elk. The quietness of a heavier arrow is also nice. Before I switched to FMJs I rarely got a pass through with a 400ish grain arrow and 70lbs bow.

My take on the questions you asked:

1. I'm not one to concentrate on FOC specifically. For me I want a 480-515 grain TAW that will group broadheads in a target beyond my effective range in the woods. 300 spine should be right for you. I would recommend picking either the Gold Tip FACT arrow weights or the Victory Archery backweights and the corresponding wrench. You screw the weights into the back of the inserts by pulling the nock, dropping a weight(s) down the shaft and tightening with the long wrench. The weights are a quick and easy way to adjust FOC and total arrow weight until you decide what you like. They are definitely the way to go if your going to have the a shop cut and build arrows for you. You can decide to swap out the back weights for heavier points, inserts and/or collars if you get setup to build your own arrows and like to tinker. I wouldn't recommend trying to tweak weight at the back of the arrow unless you are already well versed in tuning and enough of a crack shot that you might be able to see any potential benefits.

2. Stick with one setup for both deer and elk. Get one setup tuned with fixed blade broadheads and spend more time practicing and maybe working out or scouting more.

3. 300 spine 5mm FMJs should put you right around 500 grains with 100gr head and standard components. But you'll need to forget about the 15% FOC. Use the Gold Tip FOC calculator: https://www.goldtip.com/Resources/Calculators/FOC-Calculator.aspx You'll see that an 8.5-9 gpi arrow will make it feasible to build a 500 grain arrow with 15ish% FOC. If you go too far with the light arrow and heavy point weight you need push into a stiffer spine arrow.

I'm in the process of building out arrows that will allow me to use a heavier (sturdy) cut on contact for elk and backweights for broadhead tuning to optimize long range broadhead flight. If everything works according to plan 300 spine Black Eagle Rampages will end up right around 500 grains. I'll lose the protection of the aluminum shell and won't be shooting groups at less than 30 yards and will religiously flex shafts whenever they impact one and other or have an off target excursion.

 

[John.45]

A lot of great information on here. I too am relatively new to being serious into archery. The advise on having an archery shop build an arrow setup more specific to your bow setup is solid advise. Where I live I don’t really have much close, some small shops 90 miles away or so. I listened to some podcasts with DCA Custom arrows and liked what research he has done with arrows and had him build arrows for me this year. Definitely worth checking out. He has a website and can search for him on podcasts too.