Our 2019 Arrow Setups and Why
For the 2019 season, we have chosen to go with the Gold Tip Pierce Platinum for our arrow setups. This is a .166” ID shaft that is a 0.002” straightness. This will be the final diameter of shaft that we have yet to try. We received good feedback on the durability of the outsert/footer system from our local pro shop and trust that they would not carry or promote product that they saw issues with.
By moving to a larger arrow company that has been around for a long time we hope to avoid the poor spine consistency issues that we ran into last season. Gold Tip is also very well known for building a very durable arrow. See the video below!
Gold Tip offers a FACT weight system that allows us to thread small weights into the back of the insert to aid in up front weight. These weights can be installed prior to glueing in the inserts or can be threaded in using a tool through the nock end of the arrow.
The Pierce shafts weigh in at 9.8 grains/inch, we plan on cutting them to 29” Giving us a shaft weight of 284.2 grains. The insert and footer are aluminum and weigh 43.5 grains. Even though the insert is aluminum the added support of the footer should provide the durability we are looking for. We plan on adding 20 grains into the back of the insert to start. If we continue to use a 3 fletch in the AAE Max Stealth Vanes that will add 26.5 grains with a 4” arrow wrap. With the smaller diameter shaft we will likely not shoot the Nockturnal nocks as we have heard durability issues. A standard nock for these arrows will weigh 9 grains.
Once built we will be testing groupings with 100 grain and 125 grain heads. We chose to run a .250 spine so that we will be slightly stiff and the arrow can handle the stressors of a broad head and the added weight up front if we choose to run the 125 grain heads or add additional weights.
With using the SFAX (Software for Archers Xpert) program we were able to play with arrow weights, speeds and spines prior to building everything.
Using the 100 grain head we should sit around 511 grains total arrow weight (4 fletch) with a speed of 278 fps. Our software calculated the speed to be 265 but after running it through a chronograph we tested at 278 fps. With these speeds we will still be able to shoot out to around 100 yards with our moveable sights for some extended range practice.
By moving up in arrow weight and running a micro diameter shaft we were able to maintain a bit more speed (less resistance) and sit at a slightly higher front of center.
A heavier arrow should retain more momentum down range and will make the bow a bit quieter on the shot, making for a deadly setup. At least that is the plan!!
If you have any questions about the new arrow setups let me know. I will update with our satisfaction at the end of the hunting season once we have put them through a summer of shooting abuse and then hopefully see their performance on an animal in the fall!
-R
