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sioux arrows!
JackCrafty:
The Sioux arrows that you find in museums were mainly for buffalo hunting....so they are made in one piece from flexible shoots. The thick end was toward the nock. The shaftment, where the fletchings were placed, was tapered and the nock was bulbous with a V-type notch cut in. The widest part of the shaft was at the nock. The next widest part was about in the middle. The nock could be up to 1/2" diameter and the middle of the shaft could be up to 3/8" diameter. The thickness depended on the material used and the spine required. Arrows made from red osier tended to be thick and those made from dogwoods were thinner.
The poundage of the bows was usually about 50lb but could go as high as 80lb or as low as 40lb.
The tips of the shafts were tapered to about 1/4" dia. in the area where the arrowhead was attached.
Almost all Sioux arrows had 3 wavy, shallow, shaft grooves running up and down the shafts between the arrowhead wrapping and the forward fletch wrapping. The forward fletch wrapping was usually a single, wide strand of sinew laid down in a spiral similar to a "candy cane" stripe. This left gaps in the wrapping about as wide as the strand of sinew.
The shaftment was painted with bands of water-based paint or stained. The fletching raged from 5-1/2" long to 9" long and laid on straight... with wrapping on the ends and not glued down in the middle. Sometimes the feathers were painted or stained as well. Raptor feathers were preferred. Sometimes the rear of the fletchings extended past the nock. The average length of fletchings was about 6".
JackCrafty:
Most Native American arrow-makers west of the Mississippi laid the fletchings on straight. Sometimes the feather quills were intentionally straightened with heat but most often the feathers were large raptor feathers that were already straight, especially the tail feathers. Both types were often mixed (tails and wings) and also different species were mixed on the same arrow. The only thing that mattered was that the "curl" was the same for all the feathers on the arrow.
Arrows will spin regardless of way the fletching is laid on. Straight fletchings don't spin the arrow as fast as helical fletching, that's all.
LEGIONNAIRE:
great replies, very helpful. Thankyou Jack!
Randy:
What kind of penetration would one get with a 50# bow and 24" x 1/4 inch dia. arrow? Even with a small obsidian point I can't imagine a deep boiler room shot causing a 1500 pound bison to pile up.
Thwackaddict:
Randy i think you would be surprised,close range ,sufficient energy and small diameter shaft.I'd say it would bury em to the fletching ;) JMO
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