FOC Help. To cut or not to cut?

[kongzilla]

My bow specs are:
26.5 draw on a Traix
60 lbs draw weight
400 spine arrow is 8.6 GPI
300 spine arrow is 10.1 GP

I have some 300 spine arrows at 28 inches in length. Should I just shoot that length or should I cut them down to around 26 to 26.5 inches? My biggest concern before cutting that is I don't want to be overspined and there is no turning back after I cut them shorter. I know that if I cut them shorter that just makes my arrows even more stiff. Currently I shoot a 400 spine and have 225 up front. The 400 spine are cut at 26.5 inches long and I have them tune, they fly pretty true to FP.

 

[peteherbst]

Quick question. You have a 26.5 draw and Your 400s are cut to 26?

Typically, longer the arrow, it should tune better. Also keep in mind that you don’t want to cut too short if you’re planning on single bevels as you don’t want to clip a finger.

 

[TNbowhunter]

I would be very wary of cutting your arrows down if it will put your bow hand at higher risk of getting cut. Much cheaper to buy a new set of arrows (or even a new bow!) than to pay up for an ER visit, stitches, and possibly surgery. If you can cut them down and still keep your broadheads out in front of your bow hand, it doesn't seem problematic to cut a couple down for testing purposes and see what happens.

 

[elk yinzer]

I was always under the impression you can't technically overspine with a drop away rest. Did I miss the latest talking head fad saying otherwise?

 

[kongzilla]

Quick question. You have a 26.5 draw and Your 400s are cut to 26?

Typically, longer the arrow, it should tune better. Also keep in mind that you don’t want to cut too short if you’re planning on single bevels as you don’t want to clip a finger.

sorry my 400 spine arrows are at 26.5, same as my draw

 

[Hunter260]

Very unlikely to overspine with modern bow. But I probably wouldn’t be cutting anything 2 weeks before season

 

[kongzilla]

My main question is cutting

I was always under the impression you can't technically overspine with a drop away rest. Did I miss the latest talking head fad saying otherwise?

im probably just overthinking things, wanted confirmation from more experienced hunters

 

[woodsdog2]

I would leave them at 28". I have a 27" DL and have bare shaft bullet holes with GT Hunter XT's at 28" carbon to carbon, 100 gr ethics inserts and 150 grain heads. My pre heavy arrow years my arrows were over an inch shorter because I used mechanicals. If you leave the little extra length it gives you some great broadhead length options in which to choose from. I'm going with zinger fletches for a TAW of 527 grains with 21.7% FOC. Anytime you have a longer shaft its a bit harder to get higher FOC but that 28" is a good arrow length in my opinion.

 

[kongzilla]

I would leave them at 28". I have a 27" DL and have bare shaft bullet holes with GT Hunter XT's at 28" carbon to carbon, 100 gr ethics inserts and 150 grain heads. My pre heavy arrow years my arrows were over an inch shorter because I used mechanicals. If you leave the little extra length it gives you some great broadhead length options in which to choose from. I'm going with zinger fletches for a TAW of 527 grains with 21.7% FOC. Anytime you have a longer shaft its a bit harder to get higher FOC but that 28" is a good arrow length in my opinion.

thank you, was debating if cutting the arrow would make or break, ill try it at 28 with the 125 ethics inserts and 100 head

 

[woodsdog2]

Also remember to nock tune your arrows because you can get severe horizontal rips with shooting the same fletch "off the ridge" of the arrow and get a nice bullet hole the very next shot by turning the nock a quarter turn each time until you achieve a nice bullet hole, form flaws notwithstanding. I will spend the time to tweak each bare shaft through paper until each is shooting a very nice hole. It can get tedious but its worth it. I need to invest in a spine tester but at least shooting all those shafts gives your shot muscles a good work out in prep for the season. You don't have to worry about this step with good aluminum arrows but there are not a lot of insert options available for aluminums and we would have to teach a whole new generation of bowhunters how to inspect their arrows for barely apparent bends again too!!!

 

[Kurt]

I was always under the impression you can't technically overspine with a drop away rest. Did I miss the latest talking head fad saying otherwise?

It's not so much the drop away, but the center shot. The arrow doesn't need to flex to clear the riser. The drop away is gravy for clearance. Over spine isn't an untunable issue with compounds or trad that are center shot and NOT shot off the shelf.

 

[ZHunter]

You really can't have too stiff of a spine on a compound bow, and in fact it is better in my opinion and here's why. From a physics standpoint, the stiffest spine would best. Once the arrow starts to flex, some of the energy is now being lost in motion perpendicular to the direction of travel. In a stiff spine that allows no flex, all of the energy transferred from the bow is in the same direction of travel. My second reasoning is for aerodynamics. As soon as an arrow starts to flex, the broadhead will start to catch more air and in drastic circumstances pull the arrow off course especially with large fixed blades. That is also eliminated with the use of a stiff spine. My last thought on this is for durability. Even though carbon arrows are made so that they can flex, they will still slowly break down. Even springs eventually break after continued use. In a stiff spine that does not flex, the binding properties of the shaft are less likely to break down over time.

The one exception to this ideology like Kurt said is trad bows that require the arrow to flex around the riser.