125 gr vs. 100 gr broadheads on carbons

[Squirrel Mudman]

Last year I've switched from aluminum to carbon arrows with ok success. Right now I'm using 30"goldtip 75/90 arrows with 4.5" vanes tipped with 125 gr Thunderheads. I've gone through the exercise of paper tuning my bow, checking broadhead alignment and fletching clearanceand the result has been ok grouping - not nearly as well as I did with aluminum arrows. I measured the FOC some time ago and it was below 15% (I think). My question is: Would changing to 100 grain broadheads possibly improve my arrow flight.

[JOE PA]

I had good luck with a similar arrow (Carbon Express 400) @ 70#, 30" draw with 100 grain heads, although Rocky Mt. premiers and Muzzy grouped better for me than the T-heads. It might help to drop to 100 grain heads, but it might not. Maybe you can get a 3-pack of heads or borrow some to see if it helps.

Avoid the inevitable until it is absolutely unavoidable!

[wvboy]

Switching to 100's will definitely raise your FOC, but you can accomplish the same effect by keeping the 125's and switching to feathers. I went to feathers last year and will never go back to vanes, but that is another debate. hehe. Also, spine shouldn't be an issue with the 125's unless you're pulling some mega poundage. I shoot nitro stingers w/ 4 inch feathers and 125 gr. Snuffers. They fly just like my field points.

[5 shot]

It may, and for a couple of reasons. One the 100 grn heads may actualy end up balancing your arrows Foc, and spine better to make a more accurate setup. The other reason is that most of the 100 grn heads are of a smaller profile wich in many cases are more accurate than the larger heads of the same brand and style. Of course by adding more fletching or helical on your fletching, along with fine tuning your bow setup I have been able to get excellent results with fixed blade heads of 125 to 145 grns. The only way to know for sure is to try them out.

TAKE YOUR KIDS HUNTING AND YOU WON'T BE HUNTING FOR YOUR KIDS

[IMN23D]

Sorry but wvboy has conflicting info.... lowering tip weight will lower foc... raising tip weight will raise it. But, he's right about switching from vanes to feathers raising the foc.

[wvboy]

oops! my bad. thanks for catching my goof.

lowering point wt. decreases FOC. yeah, that's it.

[Squirrel Mudman]

Thanks for all of the good advice. I went out yesterday and bought a 6 pack of muzzy 3 blade 100 gr broadheads and gave them a try. My testing period was short due to the short Alaska days but my intital shooting indicates a great improvement. I plan to ditch work this afternoon early and shoot a little more. I will apply a little science to my test and give the results soon.

[BobCo19-65]

Back when I used to shoot carbons with fixed heads I was always told to get a higher FOC (about 15%), however I found that about the only thing that actually shot well with them was a 75 grain Muzzy three blade head. I shot two deer with that setup a few years back. One thing to note though is that I have a 33" draw and use 33" arrows. A lot of people that shoot with those demensions seem to have some problems with shooting fixed heads with carbons. I always liked the way fixed heads shot from aluminums so I switched back. Whenever possible I keep the FOC right around 13-15%. A lot of people say that do don't have to have that much FOC with aluminums. But I have found that percentage with fixed heads works the best for me.

Edited by - BobCo19-65 on 12/04/2002 11:57:36

[BGfisher]

Squirrel, you just may find those 100's fly better anyway. Many have found out through expermenting that for some stupid reason a lot of carbons just shoot better with lighter points. That's why I shoot 75's. Hey, they work and I don't fight it.

[jevan]

squirrel, I found your qold tips are as follows
100grain tip 4.750inch vanes=433 total weight @6.9foc%
125 458 total weight @9.1foc%
100grain tip 5inch feather=416 total weight @9foc%
125 441 total weight @11.1foc%

go to bowjackson.com and look at the info
hopes this helps.....

Evan
Archery Accessories
301-872-0110