Arrow setup for new recurve?

[Jagger0502]

So I have been told by every calculator and most bow shops that my arrow setup for this bow is wrong and I have two much FOC for a micro diameter arrow on a 48lb recurve. Problem is, all my fletchings are chewed up I lost six nocks this past week shooting targets between 15-20 yards… so they fly well for me. Why is everyone telling me they are not the right setup? Can someone school me as to why everyone says these are wrong but why I am getting such good arrow flight?

I am currently shooting a Striker sport 48lb@28”. My arrows are Black Eagle Instinct 400 cut to 30” (30.5 with outserts) with outserts at 100 grain and 150 grain tips, 4 feather 3” and 4 feather 4” both flying the same.

New bow is South’s Coyote FXT with ACS longbow limbs. One set of limbs at 50lb and another at 60lb. Will my current arrow setup work? I am hoping at 50lbs they will work but when I plug the arrow info into the 60lb calculators it shows it as an even worse option. Should I go ahead and redo my fletching and knocks and get them ready for this new bow or should I start from scratch and build a new arrow specifically for the new bow according to what everyone else and the calculators says I should shoot and not waste my time rebuilding these arrows? I do plan to test these arrows along with some Gold tip 400s and FMJ 340s I have on hand to see which fly the best as a test but hoping the black Eagles fit the bill.

 

[kbetts]

I don't use calculators. If they're flying good and you're chewing up nocks and feathers then it's working.

I don't see anything extreme about your arrows. Sounds pretty close to what alot of guys shoot. Maybe play with point weight?

 

[HuumanCreed]

Dont worry about what other are saying as long as your arrows are flying straights. The only think I would look at are the arrows flying as well bareshafted.

The centercut of the riser can affect the spine a lot. But again your arrow setups does not sound that out of recommended specs. Are these shops telling you that you need new arrows? *hint hint*

 

[Blacksmith]

KBetts is right. Dont worry about the charts. They're just to get you started. Everything you do with your shot is probably just a little different than the next guy. The way you grip, the way you release, type of rest you use. Just try one arrow and add wt to the nose or trim 1/4" off at a time to get it perfect. Use the same wt as your broadheads. When it works cut them all the same. Wranch Fairy has some good tuning vids, even if you don't like him...

 

[redhawk]

Bare shaft tuning is KING with traditional. As the gents stated above use the point weight you want with an arrow close to the spine recommended and shoot, the arrow tells you when to shorten the length. Repeat until your arrows fly like darts! I usually make a cross out of black tape over my bag, aiming for the middle where the tape connects and this will let you know if your nock height needs to be corrected as well. There are a lot of good resources on Youtube for your learning as well. Remember to keep it simple, do not over complicate this process, let the arrow tell you what needs to be done.

 

[Jagger0502]

Thanks fellas, the calculators say I should be shooting a 300 spine with that much weight up front. If I drop down from 250 grain to 200 grain up front it shows a 350 spine. Maybe I am off with the 400s and should go stiffer and never knew it… if I get even better arrow flight I wouldn’t be unhappy but it seems hard to improve the way it is shooting right now.

I will wait for the new bow and try to get my hands on some stiffer arrows to test out a wide range. The 50 lb limbs shouldn’t be two far off my 48lb bow now. With The 60lb Limbs they show 250 spine arrows which just seems to high but it’s worth testing. Not sure if I will be ready to use them this season anyway, 60lbs is a lot of weight that I will need to work up too.

 

[kbetts]

I'm shooting 60-64# with standard 400 Gold Tips. 100 grain insert and 175-200 up front. 29" from nock point to insert. My micro diameter GT's are same length with 125 steel inserts. I don't think you need heavier. I've played with 340's but they're ungodly stiff at my arrow length.

 

[gcr0003]

When I visited @GCTerpfan we got to talking arrows while shooting. My draw length is basically 28”. I shoot a 44# bow with 300 spine arrows 30” in length, 300 grains up front, 600 grain total and they fly great. I first shot one of his 50 or 55# recurves and he had basically the same arrows set up on 400 spine and they were flying great. It was hard for me to believe 400 spine with that much weight on a higher pound would fly well, since I was shooting a lower pound bow with stiffer spine. Then I shot a longbow that he had that was 60# and I was getting over spined kick with my 300 spine 600 grain arrows. Some difference in the three bows was brace height and cut of the riser. One was also a longbow vs a recurve. It’s crazy how much difference it can make. I was playing around with my bow when I got back and I changed the brace height to be as short as it would go and then about as long as you want to go and it had a huge effect on my arrow flight. Brace height changes both how fast your bow will shoot which effects it’s bend, which effects whether or not it will clear your riser when shot. The cut of the riser (center, past center, .25” from center, etc) will also effect that bending dynamic to go around the riser. This is something I disregarded in my arrow tuning and only tuned the arrow to the bow, but something like brace height and your rest are both ways you can somewhat fine tune your bow with your arrow. I will remember it for future arrow builds for different bows.

I’ll echo what others have said. Calculators don’t take enough into consideration. You can use it to get close but at the end of the day the bow will tell you what you need to shoot. If your arrows are already cut and inserts added then you’re left with changing point weight, possibly brace height, and possibly bumping your rest out, depending. Don’t get too frustrated, I know I do sometimes!

 

[Jagger0502]

Thanks for the comments fellas. I can’t wait to get this new bow and give it a try. I hope I can piece everything together before the season starts or at least before a few trips I have planned later in the season. Worst case I will hold onto my current recurve or just go back to my compound for this season until I get it all figured out. I am happy to hear others with similar setups working. It was really confusing me having these bow shops or other shooters tell me tell me it won’t work, then I walk them out and drill 3 arrows together at 15 and they walk away still saying it shouldn’t work but don’t know why it does.

 

[Phopkins]

Calculators, smalculators. They're just a start point. I've mostly dealt with wood arrows and have seen people get the best flight 3 or 4 classes up or down from the chart. Too many variables to consider, number 1 being the individual shooting the bow.

 

[HuumanCreed]

We can all be wrong and are leading you astray. I think you should listen to those shops and buy a dozens of each spine, hundreds of points and inserts. Don't bother with these 'test kit', just buy as much arrows as you can and one will be the perfect arrow setup for you.

 

[BTaylor]

I got a coyote with ACS longbow limbs and an shooting the same arrow that I was shooting out of a 5# heavier recurve last year. Unless you have the strike plate adjusted out on the striker, the shelf is well past center. The one I have been around seemed like a pretty quick bow but the ACS limbs will send an arrow too. You may very well be able to shoot the same arrow with the 50# limbs but I also think you could move to a stiffer spine with both bows. That is not a recommendation to change at this point. I agree with everyone else that if your arrow flight is clean and you sound like you are shooting that bow very well, I wouldnt change anything for that setup. I also wouldnt buy new arrows until you get the new bow in and can shoot it some. You might only need to shorten the arrow a little if they start showing weak. I would save a full new arrow setup for after season.

 

[Jagger0502]

We can all be wrong and are leading you astray. I think you should listen to those shops and buy a dozens of each spine, hundreds of points and inserts. Don't bother with these 'test kit', just buy as much arrows as you can and one will be the perfect arrow setup for you.

Haha. Which shop owner were you that I talked to?…

 

[Razorbak66]

Personally I would cut 1.25” off the shaft (to stiffen up slightly ) then put the 100 grains outsert/insert combo and start off with 175 and BARESHAFT 10 to 15 yards find out what and where your arrow should go wether it’s higher or lower point weight that is needed and your nock should be slight nock weak and slight high then fletch up some arrows and fine tune your nock point cause if your eating up fletching then you got fletch interference as your arrow is hitting shelf and contacting feathers You might have to slightly turn your nock a degree or two. Easy way to find out is to spray your shelf with foot spray and see if contact is made



BTW calculator are hit or miss with stickbows shooters. Way to much variables and also most shop owners (compounds) don’t really know how to set up a stick bow shooter that chooses to shoot high FOC arrows and some and I mean some trad bow shops don’t know as well. Well least in my experience from talking to them. I been doing high FOC before their was a name for it for the last 30 years and I always like the increase penetration