The logical way to go with carbon shafts ...

[Mick Smith]

I realise there's not a lot of interest on this site with carbon shafts, but for those who may be intending to buy some in the future, here's a few random thoughts on the matter.

The biggest problem with carbon shafts it that they are too light for most of us. Most hunters want heavier shafts to ensure deep penetration on game. Some competition shooters favor a heavier shaft because they recognise some benefits of shooting with heavier arrows, ie, smoother flight and less subject to minor irregularities of form.

I've read all sort of things about the best way of weighting carbon shafts. The methods range from slipping all different sorts of materials up the inside of the hollow shaft, things like fly wire tubing and 6mm black plastic irrigation tubes, to even using lengths of rope. I remember one person actually filling up the inside of their shafts with salt. All these things will work OK, but there are better solutions.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the benefits of having particularly high weight FOC carbon arrows. Many experienced archers are successfully shooting extremely FOC arrows with pleasantly surprising results. I decided I'd give it a go myself with my last set of carbons. I bought some 100 grain brass inserts from the US. The weight of the inserts, plus the 125 grain field point, made my 35/55 Gold tips fly straight and true. They shoot very well indeed with 225 grains up front and with very little weight at all in the remainder of the arrow. They stabilise very quickly and shoot much better than I can.

The trouble with the brass inserts is though, they don't allow you much flexibility. I mean, I can't reduce the weight by very much at the point end, if I want to shoot a faster, lighter arrow and I can't add much weight to the point end as once you add anything much heavier than say, 125 grain points to the already 100 grain inserts, you quickly end up with too much weight. The whole system lacks flexibility.

I've decided that, for me, I'm much better off simply using the standard aluminium inserts in my carbons and having a full range of differently weighted points at my disposal. You can buy screw-in field points in any weight from 100 grains right up to 250 grains. You can adjust the spine of your carbons simply and easily by just selecting the appropriate field point, a very flexible solution. If you're a hunter, you can do almost as well by buying a selection of differently weighted broadheads, or you can buy some of those 100 grain steel screw-in broadhead adapters to add weight to your glue-on broadheads. This means that with just one set of carbon arrows, you could conceivably use several different draw weight bows and get almost perfect performance every time by simply changing the weight of the points to suit the occasion. It's so easy.

It's taken a while for this concept to sink in to my brain, but now that it has, it's made life just that little bit easier for me. Just today, I took a set of unweighted carbon arrows to my backyard butt and with just a little fiddling around I was able to achieve almost perfect arrow flight by simply trying out 4 or 5 differently weighted field points (100 grains to 250 grains), before settling on the one weight that gave me the best possible performance from those particular shafts and from that particular bow.

I just thought I'd like to share it with you, for whatever it's worth.

Mick

[buzz]

I think the current Archery Action magazine has Ed Ashby's musings on "extreme" FOC and has some penetration comparison charts as well.

[ssga]

Thanks Mick,

Some of the higher grade arrows come with a fibreglass insert which is cut to length to add arrow weight (PSE Carbon Force). But the extreme FOC theory is being well tested in the US at the moment (not that they are the be all) and it is proving that for trad bows the weight up front is improving accuracy and consistancy, which is what we all strive for. On a side note did you notice any speed difference and the bow make any less noise using the different weights?

SSGA

[Mick Smith]

Thanks Buzz, I'll have to try and find myself a copy of it.

Yes ssga, there's a noticable difference when shooting the different weight field points. With the lightest points (100 grains) there's plenty of string noise along with plenty of vibration. The arrows seem to shoot reasonably well, but I believe there could be a danger to your bow as most manufacturers recommend shooting arrows no lighter than 8 grains per pound of draw weight. In my hands, the performance is somewhat erratic as well. You might get 1 or 2 arrows on target and then the next will deviate seemingly without reason.

When you select the "right" field point (with unweighted shafts, this was 200 grains with the bow I was using), you can immediately tell the difference. The excessive string noise is gone, as are the associated vibrations. You can sort of feel the bow pushing the arrow out. It sometimes seems as though it's happening in slow motion. The arrow flies straight and true without the fletching waving goodbye to you. Most importantly you get good consistent groups.

I tried some very heavy field points, just to see how they'd go. The 250 grain points shot fairly well, but they landed a lot lower on the target at 30 metres than the 200 grainers. The weren't quite as good in the flight department either. My fletching was wobblying around a bit (in a sort of spiral pattern). I believe the fletching may have been struggling to stabilise the massive weight up front, that plus the spine of the arrow might have been slightly weak with the heavy point.

You can buy yourself an assortment of different weight field points quite cheaply. I bought mine from Kustom King in the States for US$3.95 a dozen.

I've matched up some of my best shooting carbon, field point/arrow combos, with broadheads the same weight as the field points, with encouraging results as well.

Mick

[MrRecurve]

Carbontec Rhinos come in 8, 10 and 12 grains per inch. Couple this with a 3 rivers 250 grain field point, or a 3 rivers heavy broadhead adaptor and the broadhead of your choice, you have a carbon arrow of appropriate weight with fantastic foc penetration characteristics.

There is nothing difficult or mystical about it, just pick the right gear. Imo, the rhino is the toughest hunting arrow money can buy, that isnt ridiculously heavy ie alaskan grizzlystiks.

I love my timber arrows, but they are difficult to come buy in the right spine/weight combination to suit my bow, and they also get destroyed pretty quickly with regular use, so I tend to save them for hunting or trad shoots.

Carbons are fantastic with trad gear when set up correctly, so dont be put off them because it all seems too hard.

[LBR]

Hey Mick--you have another option. Some (all?) inserts are threaded on the back side, allowing for screw-in weight systems. A cheap alternative is threaded rod, or "All-Thread", which can be cut to the size/weight you prefer.

Chad