# 100 grain Field Tips / 100gr Broadheads ?



## Captain837 (Mar 29, 2015)

My bow was tuned by the guy that made it. He had a chart that specified exactly what spine arrow to use, what weight tip (broad head or field point). This was based on the weight of the bow and my draw length. My bow is 53lbs at 28" but I draw closer to 30" (which i believe increases draw weight by 10-14lbs) so I was on the border between 400 and 340 arrows. 100 grain tips worked with either but I believe I can go slightly heavier with the tip on a 340 as opposed to the 400's. It is my understanding that the lower the spine number, the heavier the arrow thus the more weight it can handle at the tip. 

If you are seeing excessive fish tailing I would guess the arrow is too light for the tip you have on it. If you want to use heavier tips you will need heavier arrows but you need to make sure your bow weight and your draw are appropriate for that combo.

Hopefully someone that knows more than me will chime in but I think this is correct.


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## DixieStick (Feb 6, 2015)

If your setup is shooting good like it is I would leave it alone. I wouldn't worry about 25 extra grains. If you want to shoot heavier heads ide jump up to 145 or heavier and shorten the arrows, play with brace height, shoot a faster string there's a lot of things you can do to stiffen your spine. How long are your arrows now?


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## DixieStick (Feb 6, 2015)

If your setup is shooting good like it is I would leave it alone. I wouldn't worry about 25 extra grains. If you want to shoot heavier heads ide jump up to 145 or heavier and shorten the arrows, play with brace height, shoot a faster string there's a lot of things you can do to stiffen your spine. How long are your arrows now? The fishtailing could also be caused by several things. Have you paper tuned your arrows?


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## rimrockhunter (Feb 19, 2015)

31.5" I have a 31" DL

I shoot a Dyna Flight 97 string


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## MGF (Oct 27, 2012)

Tune with field points and then use the same weight broadheads...and then check tune again.

Just because your fletched field points seem to fly ok doesn't mean that you are "tuned" or that the same arrow will fly well with a broadhead.


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

Captain837 said:


> My bow is 53lbs at 28" but I draw closer to 30" (which i believe increases draw weight by 10-14lbs) so I was on the border between 400 and 340 arrows.


If your bow is gaining 10-14# in two inches, you should get a better bow. Most good bows will only increase 2-3# per inch of draw from 28" to 30".

Rim, as others have said don't mess with it. Lots of people like 125 gr tis. Stop messing with stuff. Those of us who shoot heavy points went in knowing what broadhead we wanted, and bought arrows accordingly. We then tuned with the heavy field points from the get go. There's no NEED for a heavy point though. It's just personal preference.


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## Captain837 (Mar 29, 2015)

kegan said:


> If your bow is gaining 10-14# in two inches, you should get a better bow. Most good bows will only increase 2-3# per inch of draw from 28" to 30".
> 
> Rim, as others have said don't mess with it. Lots of people like 125 gr tis. Stop messing with stuff. Those of us who shoot heavy points went in knowing what broadhead we wanted, and bought arrows accordingly. We then tuned with the heavy field points from the get go. There's no NEED for a heavy point though. It's just personal preference.


It has not been measured beyond 28", I was guessing based on what I read most bows average beyond 28". I will call the guy that made it and get the exact numbers from him. I have had no issues with the draw weight or stacking so if those numbers seem off, they probbably are. I am fairly new to traditional archery so most of what I do know is either what I have read up on or experienced in the last few months. This is precisely why I added that disclaimer to my original post.


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## patrick2cents (Jan 26, 2014)

you really won't know exactly what your tune is like until you bareshaft tune your bow..... field points and big feather fletching can cover up a lot.


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## Beendare (Jan 31, 2006)

My bow has a sweet spot where I can gain/lose 20 gr either way and it still shoots well. 

I shoot a 31" arrow [30"] draw about 53# right now- but with the heavier inserts to pump up my hunting weight arrow [Axis 340's, 75gr insert, 125g head]. To give you an example; my bareshaft arrow above shoots right with fletched- showing minor variations when I pluck or do one of my many other form flaws. When I go up to 150 gr I can get those bare shafts to shoot good with perfect form but any flaw and it throws them much worse.

IMO, That sweet spot is what matters as its more forgiving, more accurate, quieter and just overall better arrow flight which is really what its all about.


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

Unless you are using bare shafts or paper to tune you never really know how well your bow is tuned 

For me a bare shaft is a wonderful tool


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## Captain837 (Mar 29, 2015)

I just got off the phone with the guy that made my bow. He said his bows average 3 pounds per inch beyond 28" so I am probbably around 59-60 pounds at full draw (the bow was exactly 53.5 at 28 when tested). I am currently using 340's with 100 grain tips but he said I could use 125 grain tips with those arrows and not have any issues. 

Sorry for the misinformation posted earlier.


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## MGF (Oct 27, 2012)

Captain837 said:


> I just got off the phone with the guy that made my bow. He said his bows average 3 pounds per inch beyond 28" so I am probbably around 59-60 pounds at full draw (the bow was exactly 53.5 at 28 when tested). I am currently using 340's with 100 grain tips but he said I could use 125 grain tips with those arrows and not have any issues.
> 
> Sorry for the misinformation posted earlier.


The point is that you have to do the tuning. The way you shoot effects the "tune" also so it doesn't count until you shoot it.


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

MGF said:


> The point is that you have to do the tuning. The way you shoot effects the "tune" also so it doesn't count until you shoot it.


This ^^^^^^


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## Captain837 (Mar 29, 2015)

MGF said:


> The point is that you have to do the tuning. The way you shoot effects the "tune" also so it doesn't count until you shoot it.


I (we) did. He had me out during the finishing and tuning process. I was the one shooting it while we tuned it. Mostly because he was teaching me how to tune it for future use but also he wanted to make sure i was shooting it correctly and he wanted to make sure it was performing correctly before it left his shop.

When I picked this bow it was still a squared off riser with no shape. He had others he had finished that I was able to hold and draw so I could get an idea of what the finished product would be like and what draw weight would be best suited for me. The process took a few weeks with regular visits to see how it was coming along and (when needed) to test it, tune it and adjust it. 

Initially I shot it with full length arrows but after a couple weeks of daily shooting my draw length widened and i settled into where I will probbably stay so I had them trimmed to match.


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

Arrow cutting changes the dynamic spine hence the tune 

So if you cut the arrows after you tuned......... You changed the tune


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## Captain837 (Mar 29, 2015)

If the tune changed it does not show, arrows are still flying straight.


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

Captain837 said:


> If the tune changed it does not show, arrows are still flying straight.


Take off the feathers and see


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## Captain837 (Mar 29, 2015)

JParanee said:


> Take off the feathers and see


I'd did, how else would I know if the tune changed? Bare shaft and shot through paper.


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## Easykeeper (Jan 2, 2003)

rimrockhunter said:


> Im new and curious, so I was messing around with different weight field tips......I normally shoot 125gr but tried some 100's Did not notice any difference in the way my arrows shot. Went to a 145 and I leaned about fish tailing. 165 were worse .........
> I see that most of you guys hunt with Heavy Broadheads so do you shoot the same weight Field Points?
> 
> I saw some Gold Tip 3555's and wondered how they would shoot compared to the 5575's What would happen...I shoot a 66" 50#'s at 31"??
> ...


Nobody can really answer this for you. Your tuning with bare shafts should tell you what you need to know...http://www.acsbows.com/bareshaftplaning.html

Get a good tune at 25-30 yards and +/- 25 grains of point weight doesn't mean much in the real world, _but_, once you get a good tune you should be able to see your bare shafts respond slightly stiff or weak with +/- 25 grains of point weight from optimal. Again, it might not make a lot of difference from a practical standpoint, but you know you have a good tune when you can see that effect. In my opinion +/- 25 grains is close enough for most of us so if your tuning shows that a 150 grain point is perfect on your bare shafts but the broadheads you want to use only come in 175 grains, you will probably be fine. A wide variety of field point weights is really handy when bare shaft tuning.

Lots of stickbow shooters shoot heavier points than compounders simply because there are so many good, strong heads made in the 150 and up weights. There are plenty of good ones from 150 grains and down though, so you don't need to shoot heavier points than what you have now. 

Do your bare shaft tuning from a distance of at least 20 yards, 25 - 30 yards is even better. Once you get two or three bare shafts grouping with two or three fletched shafts at that distance, replace the field points with the same weight broadheads. Then shoot the broadheads vs. the fletched arrows, they should hit the same spot.

Just because you get good flight with field points doesn't mean broadheads will do the same thing, unless you have done a good job tuning. Fletching and field points make for very forgiving arrows that don't really even need to be close to correct to get good flight. Broadheads are much more demanding.


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## MGF (Oct 27, 2012)

Captain837 said:


> If the tune changed it does not show, arrows are still flying straight.


Then there's no problem and you're good to go.


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## JParanee (Oct 13, 2009)

Captain837 said:


> I'd did, how else would I know if the tune changed? Bare shaft and shot through paper.


Sounds like you are good to go than 

Happy shooting


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## BarneySlayer (Feb 28, 2009)

Captain837 said:


> I'd did, how else would I know if the tune changed? Bare shaft and shot through paper.


Then you lucked out bud! It's a good thing.

I, on the other hand, trimmed my arrows for a final tune up, when I noticed they were consistently shooting weak, _that day._. Lopped off 5/8 of an inch, bare shaft was flying great again. Cut all my arrows. Few days later, went shooting with some friends, seemed like my arrows were shooting stiff just a little stiff. Took a bare shaft, sent it at a target 100 yards away, totally missed the bale to the left.

Bought some more full-length shafts


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## bshaver (Jan 15, 2008)

rimrockhunter said:


> I saw some Gold Tip 3555's and wondered how they would shoot compared to the 5575's What would happen...I shoot a 66" 50#'s at 31"??


I think you will find that full length Gold Tip Traditional 35/55 (500) spine arrows are only 30 inches long. If you have a draw length longer than 30", then you can't shoot broadheads off the shelf with a 30" arrow. My draw length is a little over 31", a little under 32". That means I pretty much have to shoot a 400 spine (55/75) arrow to get the proper length for a broadhead. I leave them full length for convenience and consistent reference. They are a bit stiff, so I increase point weight to weaken them. That also increases my FOC which many broadhead shooters think is a good thing. My draw weight is between 42# and #50 pounds, (I have two sets of limbs and shoot the same arrows but with heavier points with lighter limbs).

Now while on the subject, point weights vary widely from their stated weight and from each other. I'm talking as much as 20 grains. In building arrows, the best tolerances I find are the inserts, then the arrows, then the feathers, and lastly the points. I build my arrows (including points) to within 2 grains of each other per group (normally a dozen). In doing so I probably increase the inconsistency of FOC between arrows, a trade off. The good news is that in my experience a 25 grain difference between arrows is not noticeable in terms of flight or accuracy.

Since there so much inconsistency between arrows, and as others have said between form, the only way to tune is not by the book or by the scale but by shooting. And note those arrows which fly well and hit the mark, those are the ones you want.


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## Bowmania (Jan 3, 2003)

If you showed me a good 100 grain broadhead, it would be the first one I've ever seen and I've been at archery for close to 60 years.

You shoot the same grain field point as broadhead. In fact, if you read the link that Easykeeper mentioned you'll see that's how you tune broadheads. It's towards the end of that 20ish page document. The best info on tuning I've ever found.

Bowmania


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## Captain837 (Mar 29, 2015)

kegan said:


> If your bow is gaining 10-14# in two inches, you should get a better bow.


We tested it today at my draw length (29") it was 56.09lbs at 28" it is 53.5 lbs so it gained just over 2.5 lbs in 1 inch. We also double checked the tune, using 340's cut to 30" with 100 grain field tips It was dead nuts on target both fetched and unfletched. 

According to manufacturer specs from the arrows that set up should be a little stiff but the bow maker said the speed of the bow has just as much factor as the draw weigh/length. Guess I need to find someone with a chrono that knows how to use it.


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