The one I'm shooting now is my "budget Ashby arrow". It's a full length Gold Tip Warrior 340 with a 315 gr Tuffhead up front. Standard nock and insert, 3/4" 2117 footer for stumping, and four 4" feathers. The big feathers cost me some FOC, but this rig is 660 gr and 25+% FOC putting it beyond any of my previous hunting arrows. I've been using these arrows out of all of my bows, ranging from 35-52#.

Right now I'm shooting 45# the most. Last year I hunted with 43# and a 600 gr arrow and it worked very well on my buck, but I like how these arrows fly even more than the 600 gr one out of my different draw weights.

 

I am shooting very similar setups. I am shooting 3-49 Acc's with 315 g Tuffhead single bevel BH's. I like the flight of these arrows with the high foc. Like you, my shots are 25y and under for elk this fall, so I don't care about having a light, fast arrow setup. Ultimately, I would like to bump up to a .340 spine, so I can shoot a full length shafts. I would like to add Ethics heavy inserts and collars with maybe a 200g Tuffhead BH, depending on how they tune.

 

Im super new to traditional gear. But have been building high foc heavy arrows for a long while.
I have a set of border cv9 limbs at 48 lbs and max 6s at 46#.
Im leaning towards the max 6s as my hunting rig for this year. I had some 31.25 length optimus .300 shafts with 340 grains up front 5 inch wrap and lighted nock tuning fairly well with the border limbs. That build was 689 grains.
Waiting on a longer string right now for both limb sets.
My plan though is to leave some .300 optimus shafts at full length 32” and tune them with the max 6s. My goal is to stay in the 650 range.
I have a ton of work to do, but I feel that the equipment is completely up to the task of going into the elk woods with me this year.
I have not settled on a head yet. Ive got some 250 grain vpas, that Ive yet to get an edge Im happy with on and 2 blade 250 grain vpas. The 2 blades I took and cleaned up the bevel at 20 degrees then polished to 5k grit. Then took and cut in a micro bevel at 23 deg. or so. They pop hair so are in the running.
I am still looking at ordering a few more packs to play with. I see german kinetics make a 210 grain Id like to try, as 125 grains proved great from my compounds. I really like the looks of some of the longer 2 blades like simmons and grizzly. Will probably get those in soon to see what kind of edge I can get on em.

 

I'm just over the requirements. I'm shooting Border Hex 8's at 35 pounds. The arrow is 655 grains. ACC .500 shaft with a (160 STOS or SNUFFER broadhead) and a 125 grain adaptor, plus a 75 grain Woody Weight which equals a 365 grain tip (if you add that up there's probably 5 gr of glue).

That will go through stuff. Killed a close to 200 lb whitetail with that and I shot a moose with a similar set up at 39 pounds (HEX 7.5's), but the arrow was slightly under 650.

I think a better measurement for your question would be 'grains per pound'. I've seen tests where 10 GPP out penetrate heavier. But that's not with an SR. This summer I'll be testing 10 GPP vs my set up.

Bowmania

 

I use Axis shafts for everything cause I like the slim 5mm profile and .204 I.D. is easy to get all kind of inserts for.

.400 spine at just under 30 inches.

One set I use 100 gr. brass inserts, the other 60 gr. Top Hat stainless half outserts.

Cutthroat 190 glue ons with 125 gr. BH adapter on the 60 gr. insert arrows. (just got some Grizzly 185's set up same) Have these fletched with the A&A feathers.

Cutthroat 160 glue ons with 125 gr. BH adapter on the 100 gr. insert arrows. Have these fletched with Blazer vanes.

One bow is 53-54#, other one is 47#. 47# bow has more better limbs.

 

Started making some .500 spine Axis today for a future set up. The only tests I've been able to do are with a set of Border CXG's at 43# that made the .500's I had on hand show slightly weak. Probably means I'm going to have to get some lighter limbs, darn it! Right around 40-42#.

These Axis .500's will be 29" to the back of an Easton stainless 75 gr. half outsert. With 2-1/2" feathers and those Grizzly's at 315 gr. all the components on my scale come to 640 grains.

With a bit of tweaking these arrows could shoot out of bows in the high 30#'s to mid 40#'s depending on how efficient the limbs are, draw length, centershot, and all that.

Over the years I've messed with and tried lots of things, right now this is a lot of fun and I see a difference. Could be cause I'm better at tuning or just prejudiced in the decisions, don't care, I'm happy. Seems like there is a lot of new "heavy arrow" components on the market lately so don't think I'm the lone stranger here either.

 

Hey Bowmania, 80 years old is the new 60 and 13.5 GPP is the new 10 GPP. LOL I think Fred and all his minions got stuck there cause that's where the common components and wood/fiberglass limbs led them.

 

31.5 inch Axis 400 spine, 75 grain brass insert, 25 grain iron will collar, 250 grain VPA 2 blade, 4 inch 4 fletch trad vane with 7 inch wrap. TAW is around 687 grains.

I'm shooting about 41 lbs, 31 inch draw, 64 inch Black widow PMA.

 

OP, so 650gr is magic, eh? A 550 or 600 gr arrow won't work?

I've seen hundreds of animals shot with an arrow...my advice; apply a little bit of common sense to some of these recommendations you are getting. Lots of guys can get focused on these Ashby numbers...and lose sight of what is important; A forgiving arrow with perfect flight.

A 2 blade BH on the end of just about any arrow is an amazing killer.....

My advice; don't go chasing down a rabbit hole of a certain magic number for weight or FOC ....shoot for perfect arrow flight and you are golden.

_____

 

I hear you. One of Ashbys most important 12 factors is arrow flight. He says without that the other parameters won't be as effective

 

The bow I am shooting right now is 54.5#@28 and about 56# at my DL. I am shooting ACC 3-49 (.390 spine) arrows with a 315 gr Tuffhead single bevel. The arrows are 600 gr with touch over 26% foc. Like Beendare said, I decided not to chase the 650 threshold. I found a setup that is tuned, forgiving and shoots well.

My second setup is 50#@28 and about 53# at my DL. Shooting the same arrow, except that the arrows are 3/4" longer. This gives me a 628gr arrow with over 25+% foc and they're topped with a 315 gr VPA three blade.

 

LBF, makes a good point about chasing the 650 threshold. In most cases, going through bone is not going to make the shot good. Hit a shoulder blade and it's just a bad shot and you're probably not going to recover the animal anyway. Anatomy of NA animals calls for a shot that can back off the shoulder blade. IN Africa they like them tight into that pocket.

Bowmania

 

Steep downward angle shot, 40# bow, 430gr arrow, 3 blade COC head....blew right through this buck and stuck in the ground solid, so he had to unpin himself to run off.

 

Steep downward angle shot, 40# bow, 430gr arrow, 3 blade COC head....blew right through this buck and stuck in the ground solid, so he had to unpin himself to run off.

View attachment 7173385

Nice buck ! I’ve got some new black eagle vintage 500’s that weigh under 500 grains and at 45lbs I know will blow through a whitetail, I’m looking forward to showing off this year!!

 

Look, if a guy wants to shoot a 650gr arrow, have at it....makes for a quieter setup is about the only advantage, IMO.

the point is there are thousands of deer killed every year with lighter arrows...you don't NEED a 650gr arrow to break deer bones or kill deer.

 

Ironically, moving up to a heavier arrow was in part for the improvements to my close range aiming. With a long draw and my facial structure, getting a PO under 30-35 yards was tough without going to a pretty hefty arrow. Tried everything else, then moved to weight. Out of 45# bows, I get about 25-30 yard PO with the 650+ gr arrows, which works pretty well for the close range hunting, target, and 3d that I enjoy. The quiet shot and stable arrow flight were a nice bonus, as well as the tougher arrows that comes from a heavier spine shaft point-loaded to match. I had avoided these extra-heavy arrows for years thinking that accuracy could be improved with a lighter, faster arrow and while that's true when distances get past 25 yards, the truth is that I simply don't have any interest in shooting past that on game and that's my primary focus.

Hitting the heavy bone threshold was a secondary goal for confidence more than anything, and it's not a particularly unreasonable arrow weight having shot 600+ gr arrows for most of my teens. Hunting in a somewhat suburban areas usually makes me nervous and some of my shots drifted too far back, worried that tucking too tight to the shoulder would lead to undesireable contact. Liver hits work but took much longer than I'd prefer. These heavy, Tuffhead-tipped arrows give me confidence and also fly phenomenally. As they say, shot placement is paramount so from my perspective this kind of combo offers that in numeruos ways.

 

Mine are still full length 2216 camo hunter bare shafts. I will use 200gr heads so these will be near 650gr. I always use 5" feathers for maximum forgiveness. Unfortunately I am having shoulder soreness and I'm not ready to shoot my heavier limbs yet. So I will be bare shaft tuning these in the heat of the summer. [emoji1304]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I'm new to the forum, but not to Beendare's advice and I generally agree with him about arrow weight vs arrow trajectory. That said, you asked about 650 gr arrow setups.

I shoot a full length Axis trad 340 with a GT steel half-out insert, 250 gr VPA heads, and three 4" shield cut fletchings. My arrows sit right around 650 grains. I'm shooting them out of a 61@32" Toelke SS recurve. I chronographed them at 180 fps, if you care for such things.

 

What do you think is ideal for a 40lb set up?