Question on arrow length?

theoldarcher · Post by **theoldarcher** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:20 pm

After several years of wishing for one I finally managed to buy me an Excal and decided on the Phoenix. I am going to shoot GT laser II's with brass inserts. Right now my shafts are weighing out at around 405 grains with inserts, heads and all. If I cut my arrows down from 20 inches to 18 and a half I figure that will put me between 380 and 390. My question is will this affect my accuracy by cutting them down or would I be better off just to leave them at 20 inchs.

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:29 am

theoldarcher thats a good question fer sure!!'
'
Been there done that, like the 20" better "FOR ME"

I do/did shoot a set of 18.5" from a vixen fer the speed thing, however at the time I had a few XBOWS AND HAD TO BE CAREFULL ABOUT MIXING UP MY ARROWS

I would try both if you can and shoot the one "YOU LIKE" and of course shooting conditions would be a factor.. wind, limbs, tall grass what ever, the lighter arrow will be subject to change easier then the slightly longer/heavy arrow.

I am sure some better answere to the difference will post as some DID shoot the shorter shaft.. Might try a search at the top of the forum use short bolt or short arrow to start and be ready to read a lot..

GaryL ....

crazyfarmer · Post by **crazyfarmer** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:06 am

I personally like the 20inch.. if I were you, try one at 18.5 and see how you like first.

But why not put aluminum inserts with a 50grain added weight and that will get you the weight you want without cutting

vixenmaster · Post by **vixenmaster** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:29 am

will the 18.5" arrow affect your accuracy ? it may it maynot. we all know the shorter the length the less stability an arrow has. FOC has more pronounced affect on accuracy of a CB arrow than length. i will ask you a ? why the 380/390 gr weight. are you 3-D and target shooting ? some like lite n fast others like heavy and some in the middle weight. you can also have abit of weight control with BH or pt weight. personally i am a fan of heavy arrows for hunting & the lowest for hunting weight i have shot was 400 gr.

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:38 am

I've been shooting 2215 aluminums cut to 18½" for a few years now from my Phoenix and accuracy is great. Total arrow weight is right at 380gr with 100gr points.

Boo · Post by **Boo** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:39 am

If you are talking about minute of death on a turkey or deer you won't see any difference.

theoldarcher · Post by **theoldarcher** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:49 am

Thanks for all of your opinions. I do not want them for target shooting but to hunt with. I figured that 380 or 390 would be a good compromise on speed. The Phoenix top speed is around 305 a second with a minimum 350 grain arrow so I figured that just below 400 grains should keep me around 285 or 290 feet a second. I haven’t hunted with a crossbow until this past season and I just want a good all around arrow for turkey and deer. Switching over to a crossbow is taking a little getting use too since I have hunted with a recurve bow for the past 35 years until an injury caused me to have to stop shooting a regular bow. So here I am having to learn all over again.

vixenmaster · Post by **vixenmaster** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:59 am

i used 3 arrows with 3 diff BH's & 3 diff weights out of my phoenix this year to harvest 3 deer. 395gr 2219 with 100gr steelhead- 405gr 2213 with a 150gr boltcutter & a 400gr 2216 with a 100gr slick trick. they will work thats a fact. all 3 arrows were bent after pass through

bob1961 · Post by **bob1961** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:14 pm

my exocet 200 didn't like the carbon "toothpicks" that came with it....i went with some 2117's i had from my compound that i cut down to 20"....added 2" blazers, 110gr GT II brass inserts with two 25gr screw-in brass weights....now i have "logs" arrows at 550gr with 125gr slick tricks shooting 1" groups out to 50 yards....the two deer i got this year had complete pass through's that went 20 yards past the deer....i'll take a heavy "log" stable arrow over speed any day....i know my yardages from over 25 years compound hunting that my arrows going at 290fps don't make much of a difference with my vari-zone cross hairs....i shot the one deer at 49 yards using the 40 yard pin in the scope and hit spot on in the ribs and the 20 yard cross hair on the other deer at 10 yards that hit a bit high....speed isn't what it's cracked up to be in my mind

..................bob

....

ComfyBear · Post by **ComfyBear** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:57 pm

It's a personal choice.
I've been using 2216 - 18" shafts with 125gr fieldpoints for years out of my Exocet 175. With either 4" Duravanes or 2" Blazers (400-418gr total weight) the accuracy was phenomenal for 3D.

For hunting I use my Exomag with 20" carbon arrows , with a total weight of either 418 or 454gr. depending on the arrows. Once again with great accuracy. Just to illustrate the accuracy, (not to brag) I was able/lucky enough to decapitate a grouse at 32yards, and harvest a squirrel at 55yards.

As you can see, I prefer heavier arrows under hunting conditions. I find them to be more accurate, provide better performance and reduce the wear and tear on the bow components.

hikerman · Post by **hikerman** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:55 am

I just made some 2219's, 22" long. Going to try them with 125g heads.
That will put them @ 500g. 2" blazers.
I shoot a 175 exocet.
Not to worried about speed just want to improve my accuracy.
I want to tarrget shoot at some 50y. pluse.
Paul