Shaft fitting AH-1's

hiwa

hiwa

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Jun 7, 2009
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I have a few AH-1's in my possession, and I want to mount them on some carbon target tip arrows. I want to cut off the field point and mount the AH on the end. I was thinking of lashing parallel pieces of hardwood or metal to the shaft and arrowhead, but don't think that would be strong enough. I've been considering a metal tube to slide on the end of the shaft and crimping the AH in there. I'm throwing this out here to see if you folks have any suggestions I haven't thought of. I shoot these out of a Dave Canterbury-style sling bow.
Thanks. ( Btw ,it's a pretty effective weapon out to about 20 yrds !)
If anyone has an idea , you guys will !!
 
Personally I think they'd be great to keep in your survival kit as they're small and compact. If you're looking to mount them in a non-survival situation for regular use (with the luxury of stores around) then I think a better option is to go out and buy real arrows.
 
I did buy some target arrows, but want to retrofit them with the AH-1 so I can kill game. My target arrows and AH-1's cost me a fraction of what broadhead-fitted arrows are. Besides , I really like making a lot of my gear and improvising.
 
I can appreciate wanting to put something like the AH-1 to the test. If the luxury of stores were to disappear, he would be doing the exact same thing, so why not try it out before it really counts?

As far as mounting ideas, what about running some kind of pin through the small hole in the AH-1?

Not sure how that would work out (or if doing so would hinder the cutting performance) but that's all the ideas I've got.
 
can you fab up a metal tube that's threaded to fit the standard insert in your arrow?
then you could crimp the AH1 into that and not destroy the CF shaft.
 
Use a tap and die set and thread the end of the arrow head to match threads on an aluminium arrow shaft. :thumbup:
 
probably not for 25 yd flights - after some learning curve time.
 
i'd probably try just cutting a groove in the shaft the width of the ah1's and lash/epoxy 'em in. i'd probably mess up a few times, too. start with a long shaft.
 
Those are some interesting ideas guys. Thanks for responding.
The arrows I have aren't threaded on the business end. They have a crimped on stainless steel target point. I'm going to try to find a metal sleeve to epoxy on the end and maybe crimp my arrowhead on that. When I went to the outdoors store , it was either cheapo arrows ,or really expensive hunting broadpoint cf arrows. I'm kind of a crappy archer, but the improvised sling bow works really well for me. The AH 1 is a great unit to keep in the survival kit ,as you can improvise all kinds of effective weapons with it. I've shot mine at 3/4" plywood from 20-30 ft all afternoon with no perceptable damage to the arrowhead except paint/coating loss. They're really tough !! :D
 
Color me confused as well.
If preparedness is the goal, then wouldn't you want to practice making arrows on which to use the AH-1? Putting them on real arrows seems silly to me, because if you actually have real arrows in a survival situation, you wouldn't need the AH-1s, right?
This is playing with a new toy simply for the sake of playing with a new toy, or something. lol
One of these things cost what, $13 or so? You can get six-packs of actual broadheads for $25, so it's not a issue of value, and they're actually threaded, have more than two blades, and are designed to be used on the arrows you already have, no major retooling/reconfigurations required.
 
I asked about the weight of these in another thread and no one ever responded. I assumed that ment they were unfit to be used as real arrowheads and were designed as spear points.

That said...go to www.tradgang.com and searh for knapped arrowheads mounted to modern arrows. In short you buy an adaptor for glue on arrowheads, cut a section out of the middle, slide the arrowhead in and haft it in place. The other end comes threaded to screw in to modern shafts. You can purchase the adaptors at www.threeriversarchery.com

I don't know how thick the AH1 is but for your application you could use wooded shafts. Just watch for runout. You'll find threads on tradgang tha will even show you how to use dowl rods, what o look for when buying, and complete shaft how to thread. Hickory would be a great choice for your application and it is going to out last cedar.

Look for threads or how to threads by "The Ferret" on stripping turkey feathers for fletchings.

Bottom line is tradgang will teach you way more than you need to know.
 
I have to laugh at the few on here who think using an arrowhead as an arrowhead is a bad idea just because you could use other broadheads " specifically" for hunting.

All the power to you Hiwa.
 
Bad idea? Who knows. Unnecessarily complicating matters? Seems that way to me.
If you're doing it for the fun of it, or the curiosity factor, great - but can we not pretend that it's in any way practical?
You wouldn't buy a perfectly-functional hatchet, then replace the head that's designed to be used on it with a more primitive one, would you?
 
Thanks G1 :thumbup:

The AH-1 exists ,therefore I use it and make the best of it. If it didn't , yeah ,I'd buy some hunting arrows to use. No biggie. I've killed critters with much less, no doubt.

Same parallel as guys who reload ammo. Why not just buy factory ammo ? Or guys who make their own sheaths ? Or home-built fly rods ?, Pop can stoves? etc, etc.

Improvisation is one of my strongest suits ( even though I still like to seek suggestions) Nothing wrong with that. It's saved my ass more than once.
;)
 
I'd like to see the hand made bow you intend to thrust these with.. I believe these were intended as spearhead not for actual use for a bow, of course I don't know for sure. I think a lighter broadhead would be more applicable in a survival situation, and probably could have 3 as appose to one for same weight, but regardless they're a last ditch effort at survival to say the least so In my mind they're not intended for a bow.. but..........lets see the BOW !!!
 
Anyone on this thread know what the weight of a AH1 is?

A couple of pointers. You can use old round saw blades and a drimel to make arrowheads. The traditional crowd have been doing this for some time. Also read up on hafting an arrowhead. You can use sinew or the fake stuff, it doesn't take much to hold the arrowhead in place. Ash and pine tar can be used as a glue, and should also be used over the sinew, thread, fishing line or whatever you use. It aids penetration and also keeps the string intact after impact. You really don't need to use the hole in the AH1. Flint arrowhead didn't have them. :)

The shafts need to be tuned to whatever system you are launching the arrow from. You want no less han 15% weight forward, but go much over 20% and you will also have issues with flight. The weight of the arrowhead resist forward motion so the shaft begins to bend in the middle, as can be seen on high speed video. When shot from a bow you want the shaft to flex three times so the shaft clears the riser and doesn't touch. Also a week spine will shoot right of the point of aim while a heavy spine will shoot left, assuming a right handed shooter. he correct spin flexes around the bow and then back to fly to you point of aim.

Please note a very week shaft will snap in two. Notice the runout on the wood dowel and make sure the sharp ends are pointing rearward. Should they break you don't want them going through your rist!

I highly recommend you research making wooden arrows before going to far down this road. It is very rewarding when done correctly and super dangerous when not.
 
This is basically what I've been using . I'll post some pics when I get my camera back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGIcCRJGYug


I will be very careful with proceding with dowels. I've been using metal vinyl covered garden stakes recently, but they bend when subjected to too much force. I played with different lengths. Too long... they fly with not enough force and are innacurate. Too short ,and the flight path is erratic , and launching becomes somewhat dangerous. There is a happy medium definately with shaft length and type of shaft ,overall weight , etc. The sling bow is pretty easy to make. Give it a try fellas !
 
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