Xpert Tactical
  • Home
  • AR15
  • Tactical
  • Hunting
  • Rifle
  • Pistol
No Result
View All Result
Xpert Tactical
  • Home
  • AR15
  • Tactical
  • Hunting
  • Rifle
  • Pistol
No Result
View All Result
Xpert Tactical
No Result
View All Result

DIY Heavy FOC Hunting Arrows For Less Money

June 27, 2022
in Hunting
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
319
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
ShareShareShareShareShare

Okay, let’s just get it out the way: Ranch Fairy. Love him or loathe him, Troy Fowler, aka The Ranch Fairy on YouTube, should be credited for bringing a much-needed conversation back to the forefront of the bowhunting community: The benefits of using a heavy hunting arrow with adequate front-of-center (FOC) baked in.

Yes, he can sometimes rub folks the wrong way. But I’m admittedly a fan of his work, and I genuinely admire the level of research he’s put into all things arrows, broadheads, and dead critters. That doesn’t mean I agree with everything he says nor do I think his ways are the best for every bowhunter. Some hunters just don’t have the ability, available time, or appetite for minutia to build arrows like he does—and I’d include myself in that group. 

Make no mistake, the Ranch Fairy method of arrow-building, broadhead selection, and tuning works. And there are plenty of benefits to be had from getting away from the high-velocity craze. From my experience, the heavy arrows I used to shoot from my trad bow zipped right through deer while the super-sonic arrows from my compound would deliver a 50/50 passthrough percentage. Increase arrow weight without decreasing arrow speed too much, and you’ll have a hunting arrow that will out-penetrate a lighter, faster arrow. That’s just physics. 

But almost all of the latest options for building heavier arrows today are pretty damn pricey. There are broadheads that cost $30 each. Bare arrow shafts that top $250 a dozen. Inserts that beef FOC almost as much as they drain your bank account. So, yeah, not exactly an ideal fit for everyone. The good news? You can build your own heavy hunting arrows with improved FOC without breaking the bank. Here’s how to do it.

Select the Best Shaft For a Budget-Friendly Heavy Arrow

Obviously, you can’t build arrows without arrow shafts, and this is the first place to cut cost. I’ve shot an awful lot of arrows over the years, and I can say without hesitation that it’s hard to find a truly bad arrow shaft today. Some are straighter than others, but if you grew up in the XX75 days you’d know that straight has taken on a completely different meaning now. While some high-level competitive archers would notice the difference between straightness tolerances of .001 and .006, that level of precision doesn’t apply to most hunting situations. 

Instead, the most important factor to consider when building a heavy finished arrow is the shaft weight. For the sake of our discussion, we’re going to keep the math fairly simple and build a 30-inch arrow for a 29-inch draw length. The end goal is a finished weight of at least 500 grains—and this isn’t a number I came up with on a whim. There will be some room to play with above 500, but it’s important to not go below that. 

To figure this out I ran the numbers on a KE/momentum calculator and found that a 500-grain arrow will still be fast enough to deliver the best combination of energy, momentum, and tuneability. For this, I like to start with GoldTip’s Kinetic series. They offer a 300 spine shaft that comes in at 10.4  grains per inch. For our arrow, the bare shaft (which will measure just short of 30 inches because we have to account for the nock) is going to come in around 306 grains. You can get a half-dozen of these shafts for about $70.

Select the Right Broadhead

Wasp Archery SharpShooter Traditional 150 Grain Cut On Contact Broadhead

I can’t sharpen anything much beyond a pencil. I’ve tried, but the magic of turning dull steel into sharp steel evades me. That’s why I don’t use the uber-chic (and uber-pricey) single-bevel broadheads that you read about on just about every forum and social media post these days. Instead, I stick with what works for me: Solid, proven fixed-blade heads with replaceable blades. I like 150-grain Wasp Archery Sharpshooter Traditional. And they only cost $40 for three heads. 

Coupled with standard GoldTip Kinetic inserts (at 24.8 grains) and a 306-grain shaft, you now have an arrow that weighs about 480 grains. Add the fletching (three Blazer vanes at 6 grains each) and a standard nock (11 grains), and you’ve crossed the 500-grain mark coming in at 509 grains. Total cost for each arrow: About $20—which is about the cost of a half-dozen bare built-for-FOC shafts. 

What Kind of Performance Can This Arrow Setup Deliver

The KE calculator says these arrows will deliver about 92 ft-lbs of kinetic energy if your bow can shoot them at 285 fps. I’m shooting a Mathew’s V3X (29-inch draw) and should hit that number or very close to it. Plugging the numbers of the arrow above into the FOC calculator shows the FOC at just over 12 percent, which is solid. Most important to me though is that this number should deliver accuracy with minimal fussing and tuning. 

If you want to up the weight a bit more, you can do so by adding GoldTip’s 20-grain Fact weight system. It costs $15, adding about $1.10 to the cost of each arrow. You’d then have a finished arrow weight of about 529 grains, increased KE at about 93 ft-lbs (I reduced arrow speed 5 fps for the additional 20 grains of weight) and a higher FOC at 14 percent. 

You could certainly push things and try to get a heavier arrow or spend a lot more per bare shaft for more grains-per-inch. You could even opt for one of the fancy new heads that push 250 grains. But I’m not sure you could build an arrow that would perform significantly better on whitetails at 30 yards and under.


Credit: Source link

You Might Also Like

New Mexico Town Puts Up $10,000 for State Record Smallmouth

Angler Catches Potential World Record Tiger Trout

Endangered Fish Stranded as Rio Grande Dries

Share128Tweet80SendPin29Share
Previous Post

Best ATV Batteries for 2022

Next Post

Fly Fishing for Blacktip Sharks off North Carolina

Related News

New Mexico Town Puts Up $10,000 for State Record Smallmouth

New Mexico Town Puts Up $10,000 for State Record Smallmouth

August 10, 2022

A small-town Chamber of Commerce in New Mexico thinks it has hit on the perfect lure to reel in more...

Angler Catches Potential World Record Tiger Trout

Angler Catches Potential World Record Tiger Trout

August 10, 2022

A woman from northeast Washington landed a giant tiger trout while fishing from the dock next to her family cabin...

Endangered Fish Stranded as Rio Grande Dries

Endangered Fish Stranded as Rio Grande Dries

August 9, 2022

In late July, a stretch of the Rio Grande ran dry due to extreme heat and drought. It was the...

Ammo Review: Winchester 6.5 Creedmoor Deer Season Copper Impact XP

Ammo Review: Winchester 6.5 Creedmoor Deer Season Copper Impact XP

August 9, 2022

Winchester’s line of Deer Season ammunition for the 6.5 Creedmoor includes two different loads: the original Extreme Point and the...

Next Post
Fly Fishing for Blacktip Sharks off North Carolina

Fly Fishing for Blacktip Sharks off North Carolina

How to Buy a Suppressor Online [Ultimate Guide]

How to Buy a Suppressor Online [Ultimate Guide]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HOT UPDATES

Take a Lesson From a Father-Son Trophy Buck Double

Take a Lesson From a Father-Son Trophy Buck Double

August 4, 2022
Top Things Not To Put On Your Carry Gun -The Firearm Blog

Top Things Not To Put On Your Carry Gun -The Firearm Blog

August 4, 2022
Mississippi Certifies New State Record Blue Catfish

Mississippi Certifies New State Record Blue Catfish

August 9, 2022
8 Most Underrated Rifles & Shotguns (To Impress Your Friends)

8 Most Underrated Rifles & Shotguns (To Impress Your Friends)

August 7, 2022
California Gun Law Forces Closure of Youth Clay Target League

California Gun Law Forces Closure of Youth Clay Target League

August 9, 2022

About Us

This is an online news portal that aims to provide the latest AR15, Tactical, Hunting, Rifle, Pistol and much more stuff like that around the world. Feel free to get in touch with us!

What’s New Here!

  • New Mexico Town Puts Up $10,000 for State Record Smallmouth
  • Angler Catches Potential World Record Tiger Trout
  • HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? Ultimate 1911 PCC or Overmatch Travesty?The Firearm Blog
  • Endangered Fish Stranded as Rio Grande Dries

Subscribe Now

Loading
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA

© 2021 - xperttactical.com - All rights reserved!

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • AR15
  • Tactical
  • Hunting
  • Rifle
  • Pistol

© 2021 - xperttactical.com - All rights reserved!