Arrow Education needed

[returnofsid]

As you'll find out, I'm very new to archery.  My kids bought me a bow for Father's Day! A Matthews SQ2, 28" DL and 70lb.  It's currently set at about 68 lbs.

Well, I went to Wholesale Sports, which was going out of business, to purchase arrows.  I couldn't make heads or tails of the charts but felt I made the correct purchase.  I purchased a dozen Gold Tip Expedition Hunter 5575.  With my draw weight being 65-70, my choices fell right in between the 5575 and 7595.  I'm shooting 100 grain field tips and 100 grain Muzzy MX-3 Broadheads.

A few days ago, I purchased a second bow, an 07 Hoyt Vectrix, 60lb and 29" DL.  That bow came with 18 HIT Easton Slim Tech Axis 400 Full Metal Jacket arrows.  Some of these arrows have field tips, some have broadheads.  I don't know the weight or brand.

Both brands of arrows are cut to 27 1/2" (from insert to where string would sit in the knock.)

The Matthews bow shoots the GT arrows just fine. The Hoyt also shoots the GT arrows just fine.  In fact, I've shot a robin hood with both bows, shooting the GT arrows and actually ruined 2 GTs yesterday...GRRR.  The Hoyt also shoots the Easton arrows very well, though low of my aim point.  Very tight groups, low.  Both bows are sighted in using the GT arrows.  Do I need to sight in the Hoyt using the Easton arrows?

Now, I know absolutely nothing about "spine" but have read that arrows need to be properly spined for your bow.  What's got me confused is that when I purchased the GT arrows, I didn't see different spine ratings for the 5575.

Yesterday, while at our local archery club, for the first time, talking with another archer, he explained that my GT arrows may be too light.

I keep reading about a specific grain/gram per pound of bow weight but I have no idea what that means.  I have also not weighed my arrows, though I think I do have a kitchen scale that will weigh in grams.

Can someone please explain all of this to me!?

[demontang]

Your arrow spine is how much it will flex when shot, heavy draw weight and long draw needs stiffer spine . Your arrow spine sounds right you just have a heavy arrow and a lite one. Washington requires min weight for hunting 70# = 420grain arrow min, so at 27 1/2" in the gold tip might be under that by a lot id bet with a 100gr head your 50+grains under leagle

[biggfish]

Arrow weight is done in grains so if you use your gram scale multiply by 15.4 its rounded of so you get just a little under your actual weight.  In case your a perfectionist the exact number is 15.4323584 grains per gram.

[returnofsid]

Your arrow spine is how much it will flex when shot, heavy draw weight and long draw needs stiffer spine . Your arrow spine sounds right you just have a heavy arrow and a lite one. Washington requires min weight for hunting 70# = 420grain arrow min, so at 27 1/2" in the gold tip might be under that by a lot id bet with a 100gr head your 50+grains under leagle

UH OH, you're right.  Looking on the box, my arrows weigh 8.2 grains per inch, equaling 225.5
Nock is 11.5 and insert is 11.4, bringing me to 248.4.

The 100 grain Muzzy brings me to 348.4 with the GT arrows.  Even with 150 grain tips/broadheads I'd only be at 398.4 grains (legal with the Hoyt @60#s or the Matthews if I dropped it to 65#s.)

Even shooting the Hoyt @ 60#s, I'd need to shoot an arrow weighing 360 grains. 

The Easton arrows, given approximately the same weight of insert, nock and broadhead, weigh 394.25 (they say 9.9 gpi on the shaft), which would put me over the requirement, IF shooting out of the Hoyt @60#s.

Ugh...now I need to do some thinking...lol

1. Should I be shooting 150 grain fieldtips and broadheads, on the GT arrows, to bring the total weight up to 398.4 grains? This would meet the requirement at 60# or 65#.
2. Should I be shooting with the Easton arrows instead, with 100 grain tips/broadheads OR 150 grain tips/broadheads, which would put me at 394.25 grains OR 444.25 grains, still legal at 60# or 65#.

3. In the future, when I purchase arrows, should I have them cut longer or get heavier arrows?

So, the only way to be legal, with the GT arrows is to shoot 150 grain broadheads.  If that's not the best option, what do I now do with the GT arrows?  I suppose I could cut them down for my daughter to use...

[returnofsid]

Arrow weight is done in grains so if you use your gram scale multiply by 15.4 its rounded of so you get just a little under your actual weight.  In case your a perfectionist the exact number is 15.4323584 grains per gram.

My scale measures in grams.  I just weighed the Easton arrow, without a tip, which weighed 20 grams=308 grains.  With a 100 grain tip/broadhead added I'd be at 409 grains.

The GT arrow, without tip, weighs 277 grains so 377 with the 100 grain tip/broadheads.

[biggfish]

That sounds about right with the shaft weight you listed plus nock insert and fleching, 409 seems pretty light if you're going to hunt at 70 lbs draw you might consider aluminum or maybe full metal jackets to get up in weight without changing heads

[returnofsid]

I won't be hunting at 70 pounds.  The Hoyt is set at 60 max and I'll bring the Matthews down to 65.

[demontang]

Theres a lot more to it then just changing the tip weight. By going from a 100 to a 150gr head you change the spine of the arrow to. The bow is going to flex the arrow more with the heavier head on it. You will see a difference in flight by doing that, youll want to get a heavier arrow of the right spine over switching points to heavier points. Best thing to do is find a set up that shoots good and stick to it unless you shoot 3d or target use the same arrow same head weight all year

[returnofsid]

Theres a lot more to it then just changing the tip weight. By going from a 100 to a 150gr head you change the spine of the arrow to. The bow is going to flex the arrow more with the heavier head on it. You will see a difference in flight by doing that, youll want to get a heavier arrow of the right spine over switching points to heavier points. Best thing to do is find a set up that shoots good and stick to it unless you shoot 3d or target use the same arrow same head weight all year

This is what I'm figuring out...

So far, I've put the Gold Tip arrows away and got out the Easton.  Unfortunately, the 100 grain field tips I had in the Gold Tips don't seem to want to fit in the Easton arrows.  The Easton arrows came with the package I just purchased and most had broadheads on them.  I found a bunch of field tips in the bow case that fit the Easton arrows but they're 125 grains.  Oh well, it is what it is for now...

I'm not sure why the 100 grain tips I had in the GTs won't fit into the Easton arrows!?  Does this mean that my 100 grain Muzzy Broadheads won't fit the Eastons either? 

Since I purchased the GT arrows new, I have the box.  The box recommends 5/16" Field Point Size.  I can't find the recommendation for the Easton arrows...

[demontang]

So the heads wont screw in at all or are they over sized? The axis should be 9/32" outside so a 5/16" head would be a little bigger.  Now if they dont scew in id bet they have the deepsix insert in which means youll be stuck with deepsix heads only. The deep six has a different thread and the heads tend to taper toward the arrow at the back.

[returnofsid]

They don't seem to screw in at all.  The Easton arrows are labeled as HIT, which I've found means hidden insert technology.  This means absolutely nothing to me...lol

[demontang]

You probly have the deep six inserts in those arrows then. The axis can have the standard insert or the deep six. So your limited to the special head style with the axis.

[Cascade_fisher]

The "arrow university" on hunters friend.com is pretty good at explaining FOC and making changes. They also have a more accurate list of real deflections by manufacturer.