Firebolt Vs Re-fletched 2216

[Phoenix_Tom]

Earlier this year I upgraded to the Excalibur FFF string and Firebolts. I liked the new found speed increase but the grouping increase at 40 yds not so much. The 2216's always grouped within 1". This got me thinking I needed to increase the FOC (currently 9% with 125gr Spitfire bheads) on the Firebolt but that's a whole other discussion.

In a recent post I talked about how I finally got some fletching gear and I had a bunch of aluminum arrows that I could re-fletch and I planned on playing around with varying lengths and weights to find my perfect arrow.

Without getting too carried away with that though, I wanted to try the re-fletched 2216, fletched with 2" NAP Quikspin ST Speed Hunter vanes, (think 2" Blazer on steroids), in right helical. The RH jig was orginally for my compound arrows and to see if I liked fletching without buying multiple Arizona EZ Fletcher jigs.

Well, after a great weekend of hunting with my son I finally took some time on Sunday afternoon to compare the Firebolt to the re-fletched 2216 and the result kind of baffled me. The Phoenix was left sighted in and speed dialed for the new string and the Firebolt. At 20 yds the Firebolt and the re-fletched 2216 were both in the bullseye. I fired about 10 rounds of the 2 arrows and they kept coming in within 1" of each other. The 2216 however, would consistently go 4" further through my Black Hole target block.

Then I backed up to 40 yds. I got the exact same results, 10 rounds in a row.

I'm scratching my head. I would never have thought that simply re-fletching the 2216 would reduce the weight to the point that it would put it in the same speed range of the Firebolt. I can only guess that the 2" Quikspins are helping to not only keep it accurate but are also helping keep it aloft.

With these results, I'm seriously considering refletching a batch of 2216s the same way and using them for the deer hunt. If I can get the same or better performance as the Firebolt with more pass-through KE power, and not have to worry about carbon in the meat then I'd be really happy.

I know that most of the guys that do their own fletching recommend straight, 2 deg or 4 deg offset and advise against RH, and even NAP advises against RH for these Quikspin vanes but they appear to work just fine off the Phoenix. Better than fine.

Any thoughts / ideas from the pros?

TIA,

Tom

[Phoenix_Tom]

No takers eh?!

This still has me stumped. The Firebolts and re-fletched 2216s are about 46 grains different in weight. Yet they're hitting the same POI. Coincidentally, the FOC is the same on both.

I guess we'll chalk it up to Tom's Miracle Fletching.

I just spent a couple of hours with the scale and FOC calculators and all the doo-dads. I was going to cut down the 2216s to 18.5" and add a brass bolt to increase the FOC but I think I'll just re-fletch a complete batch and see how that goes.

Just in case anyone wants to add weight to the inside of their inserts to increase FOC here's what I got from my scale tonight with what I had on hand:

Brass
1" 8-32 flat head bolt = 34 gr
5/32" washer = 6 gr
8-32 nut = 18.5 gr

Steel
1.5" Robertson bolt = 51 gr
2" flat head bolt = 61.7 gr
8-32 nut = 24.7 gr

Also, the inserts in my existing arrows have ccomplete pass-through with the 8-32 bolt. But the new Easton RPS inserts I got have a lip that would need to be drilled or bored out on the inside end.

[dlzinck]

Just in case anyone wants to add weight to the inside of their inserts to increase FOC here's what I got from my scale tonight with what I had on hand:

Brass
1" 8-32 flat head bolt = 34 gr
5/32" washer = 6 gr
8-32 nut = 18.5 gr

Steel
1.5" Robertson bolt = 51 gr
2" flat head bolt = 61.7 gr
8-32 nut = 24.7 gr

Also, the inserts in my existing arrows have ccomplete pass-through with the 8-32 bolt. But the new Easton RPS inserts I got have a lip that would need to be drilled or bored out on the inside end.

I do the same thing to add weight. As far as the little lip goes, I just use my 8-32 tap and it goes right through the soft alum. on that little lip.

I'm having a hard time understanding why any one would put a curved vane on a cross bow that shoots an arrow down a straight rail. I have a hard enough time gluing them on straight!! I guess every setup is different and perhaps it might increase the accuracy with some broad heads, but . . . just don't understand

[Phoenix_Tom]

I had thought of using an 8-32 tap but I wasn't sure if it would work since it's not drilled out enough. But since it's aluminum it should slice through no problem. Thanks for confirming that.

The right helical jig was bought for my compound arrows. But I wanted to try it out on the crossbow arrows to see what happened. I'm still planning on getting another Arizone EZ Fletcher in 2 or 4 degree offset. I know only a few people here use RH and most use straight or 2-4 degree offset. Excalibur uses 4 deg offset. I understand where you're coming from but I guess that once the arrow leaves the rail the spin kicks in. One concern people have is that too much offset or helical will have the vane rub in the the groove but in my case with these 2" NAP Quikspin ST vanes, I didn't notice any rubbing and the vane still looks to be in perfect condition. Granted, these vanes are supposed to be super tough. Also, being only 2" the RH twist of the vane is not that apparent. To the eye it resembles a 4 degree offset on a 4" vane.

I'm going to make up a batch of these tonight and try them on the range this weekend between morning and afternoon hunts. If the whole batch groups like they used to (1") and flies as fast as the one I tried last weekend, then I'm switching back to aluminum for the hunt and will use these re-fletched arrows. When I have more time I'll add weight to the front of the Firebolts and re-fletch them with the Quikspins to increase FOC / accuracy and see if I can get these to group better, and then use these for practice.