New bow, questions

crom

crom

Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
3,219
I've shot on and off all my life. But my only bow is a 35 year old recurve Hoyt I got when I was young. I have shot more powerful/complicated compound bows but I have never had to buy arrows or maintain one. A good old friend just gifted me a vintage (mid 80's) Bear Magnum Hunter compound, the wooden one. My dad had one of these when I was a kid but it was a power coated metal frame and it was really heavy. This bow, though older, is in really nice condition. I looked it over and it appears to be in great shape. The sites will probably have to be calibrated, I never used sites anyhow and I probably won't hunt with this. My question is; is it safe to shoot anything other than aluminum shafted arrows? I shoot anything with my 30# draw Hoyt, but this new bow has a 60# draw and I'm cautious to shoot the fiberglass and wooded shaft target arrows I have on hand. Thanks!
 
It is important to shoot the correct spined arrows. If I were you, I would take it to an archery shop and have them check it, especially the cables and string. If it's old and the string breaks you could ruin the bow.
 
Hey thanks man I was thinking of having it looked over too. Everything looks pretty good but it never hurts to have a pro look at something.
 
I wouldn't shoot any fiberglass or wood arrows in that bow.they will probably wind up stuck in your arm when they shatter.
 
Kingfisher 1 said:
I wouldn't shoot any fiberglass or wood arrows in that bow.they will probably wind up stuck in your arm when they shatter.
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Thanks, that's exactly what I am worried about. I shot an aluminum shafted arrow last weekend and it shoots pretty hard.
 
Regardless of the materials used, the spine weight is a measure of deflection, that will tell you how strong an arrow is, in a compressive stress environment.
500 is 500 for Al, Wood, CF or CF wrapped Al. Where you will see the difference is the thickness of the shaft required to get to the target weight.

Go to a shop have them look over the bow and while you are there, have them measure your draw length and set the nock height and pins.

Bring one of your arrows with you and see what they say. But if the arrows you shot with your old bow were ideal for the weight of that bow, they will be too light for this one. You can get a decent set of arrows (you can buy in half or full dozen usually) for a few bucks, usually under $35-$40 for a half iirc. Especially since you aren't planning on hunting.
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I used to shoot compound a long time ago, but I have gotten into traditional more recently. The Misses shoots a 35# and I have a 73# custom.

Enjoy the new bow!
 
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NJBillK thanks for the input! The aluminum arrows I'd shoot through my old Hoyt were indeed heavy, they were hand me downs from somebody. I usually left them in favor of lighter arrows. There's a shop close to me that I'm going to take the bow to. Probably pick up some new gear too.
 
http://www.eastonarchery.com/downloads/selection-charts
Eastons site for pdf download for arrow info and chart.

Take a look here for arrow selection for draw length vs bow weight. Draw length is across the top and poundage is down the sides, arrow type is in the middle and the legend for arrow type listed below in the bottom right corner. Depending on your height, you will probably end up in t10-t12.

Scroll down to those boxes and check the grain weight vs what your preferential arrow is and size your arrow head accordingly.

There are some people who will go with a lighter head for faster fps and less wobble off the release, since there is less mass at rest it is easier for the arrow to attain velocity, but it will carry less kinetic energy into the target. Since you are target shooting, that shouldn't be of concern.

Then there are others who would prefer to go with a heavier head (and even inserts on top of that!) to front load the arrow to attempt to deliver more kinetic energy into the hit (think .45 vs 9mm). Those often look to break a rib if contact occurs to try to manage a kill shot due to trauma over an unlucky bounce off of said rib and wounding an animal.
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That being said, I shoot Easton Axis alum/carbon graphite slimtecs @ 340gr and a heavy 2 blade tuff head.
 
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All good advice here. Let us know what the shop says & does for you and what arrows you end up with.
🎯
 
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