—jim
I made a 700 or so grain arrow for a hunt once, took the easy route and stuffed the shafts with weedeater line. Worked just fine and the arrows shot great.
I hope you share the story with us when you get back!?!?
3 rivers also sells a FP test kit ranging from 100ge to 300gr [I think] So if you want to manipulate your FOC or better....test for perfect arrow flight with different weight tips before completely committing.....its a fast easy way to do that.
I can tell you, if you use the heavy tubes you need to glue them in or they can blow out your inserts and noks.
I cut it to the length of my carbon shaft minus the depth needed on both ends to permit the inserts.
The fit was perfect for the ID of the GT's, .246", IIRC. Difficult to shove into the shaft, but figured it would pull through more easily.
Dropped a heavy thread through from the point end of the shaft, took a half dozen wraps around the insulated wire and pulled the lightly lubed (margarine rubbed and wiped) wire up through the shaft 'til it was the right depth to just allow for the threaded insert. The assembly went smoothly with the nock just filling the space left for it on the other end.
Total arow wieght came out to allmost excactly 750 grains, which was a gain of just a few more than 600 over the unfilled GT with fletches nock inserts and point.
Shooting it from 65# single-cam Browning at the time was interesting, but not dramatic.
I was looking for some dramatic increases in penetration on various targets, but found very little on any of my targets that were stopping my unweighted arrows within six or eight inches of average depth. There WAS a very noticeable difference in the distance the weighted arrow would continue when shot at a slight angle to the grass and allowed to slide to a stop. It consistently went much farther than the empty arrows shot at the same angle.
I had intended to rig some other test media like ballistic gel to get a more scientific answer as to hunting penetration to expect, but never got around to doing so.
The arrow flight seemed pretty much unaffected by the weight change, except for a very noticeable difference in speed. Penetration on my regular assortment of targets (foam blocks, excelsior bales, and dirt banks) was approximately the same.
My overall take from the experiment was that the extra penetration gained would be mostly found in soft tissue penetration that would have very little effect on the bow's effectiveness in making clean kills on deer and smaller game, and that the flatter trajectory would be of more benefit to me in placement. Might consider weighting another arrow like that to go bowfishing, but otherwise probably not. But it did seem to be a perfectly reasonable and inexpensive diy solution to the problem if the weight WAS needed, either for the hunt conditions or for regulations, or both.
After several sessions of shooting the weighted GT and noting the results, I decided to remove the weight and check for any movement that might be evident as having occurred during testing. There did see to have been a very slight compacting of the wire, as shown by a slightly wrinkled appearance at the ends, but there was no effect that I could detect on accuracy. I had readjusted the twenty pin for height and used it during the target shooting sessions, with no other adjustment needed. Of course my original spine stiffness was considerably overspined according to the charts for my 65# and 29", but I always found overspined hunting arrows to be my choice for consistent accuracy under hunting conditions. YRMV if your normal shafts are more closely aligned with the recommended ones.
Take that heavy arrow to the pool and shoot at a 45 degree angle. I think you will find that the heavy arrow will travel farther than the light arrow by a large margin.
Water isn't a "perfect" media, but it is much closer to animal insides than foam or other normal target media.
On the later experiments mentioned above, I was just trying to quantify the penetration advantage with heavy arrows to judge whether the loss of trajectory and a wider pin gap would be repaid by a sizeable difference in penetration on medium sized game. It does seem to make a lot of difference whether the target media is dense enough to make a very sudden stop or if it's softer.
My own choice in arrows for deer and anything heavier that I have had the opportunity to hunt has been a heavier and stiffer arrow than many guys prefer. And there have been a few times when it has made the difference between a clean kill and an "iffy" recovery prospect. So I was already somewhat in the heavier-is-better camp, but checking to see how far to push the envelope in that direction.
IMO, since the majority of well-hit deer are pass-throughs, the penetration advantage would be often wasted for most of us. Would be more critical for lighter draw bows and tougher game. Probably very critical for dangerous African game. The flat trajectory would not likely be of much benefit shooting from a hide at a waterhole, either, so the heavy arrow would almost certainly be a good idea even if not required for the OP's African adventure. Didn't mean to imply otherwise.
I think Pat's experiments while checking out various arrrow weights and head designs prior to his cape buffalo hunt a few years ago verified that it was a REAL good idea to have a heavy and sturdy setup if you were going to need to penetrate heavy muscle and ribs to get to the heart and lungs. Different critters and circumstances require different value "weights" when comparing the relative aspects.
On the later experiments mentioned above, I was just trying to quantify the penetration advantage with heavy arrows to judge whether the loss of trajectory and a wider pin gap would be repaid by a sizeable difference in penetration on medium sized game. It does seem to make a lot of difference whether the target media is dense enough to make a very sudden stop or if it's softer.
My own choice in arrows for deer and anything heavier that I have had the opportunity to hunt has been a heavier and stiffer arrow than many guys prefer. And there have been a few times when it has made the difference between a clean kill and an "iffy" recovery prospect. So I was already somewhat in the heavier-is-better camp, but checking to see how far to push the envelope in that direction.
IMO, since the majority of well-hit deer are pass-throughs, the penetration advantage would be often wasted for most of us. Would be more critical for lighter draw bows and tougher game. Probably very critical for dangerous African game. The flat trajectory would not likely be of much benefit shooting from a hide at a waterhole, either, so the heavy arrow would almost certainly be a good idea even if not required for the OP's African adventure. Didn't mean to imply otherwise.
I think Pat's experiments while checking out various arrrow weights and head designs prior to his cape buffalo hunt a few years ago verified that it was a REAL good idea to have a heavy and sturdy setup if you were going to need to penetrate heavy muscle and ribs to get to the heart and lungs. Different critters and circumstances require different value "weights" when comparing the relative aspects.
