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Arrowhead Weight and Draw Weight

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caveman2533:
I know Ralph Conrad could give a great perspective on this, He has killed I think 22 deer with stone some with the same arrow. I remeber asking him about this and I think his answer was it really doesn't matter if the arrow weights are matched or even. As long as they fly good. He had written on the arrows I think the weight and if I remember correctly they varied quite a bit. I could try to get a hold of him and see if he can answer for us. I have very little experience with it.

aaron:
I dont think I agree with your rule of thumb that an arrowhead should be equal in grains to the draw weight in pounds, nor that the head should be light so that it does not affect the flight of the arrow. If the second part were true, then arrowheads of very light weight would produce the best arrow flight. Instead , we find that good flight is a combination of static spine, length, tip weight and shaft weight. No matter the material, an arrowhead is the right weight when , combined with these other factors, we get good flight. It seems to me that to get an arrow with a 50 grain tip to fly well, we would need either a very long or very weak arrow. But most of us shoot arrows that are about 30 inches long, and I have never tried it, but to get a 30 inch arrow with a 50 grain tip to fly well out of a "regular" selfbow, we'd need a very weak spine.
When I make stone tipped arrows, I try to make them as thick as I can, about 11/32nd. I also sometimes add weight in the shaft or hafting materials. Even with these efforts, I feel that my arrows still fly like a stiff arrow (tail right, and impacting left of where I expect. This is one reason I have switched to steel points and weighted adapters for hunting.
Now I realise that in the old days , millions of animals were killed with light points. But I still believe that a combination of factors will contribute to good arrow flight, and that there is no "one size fits all" rule for point weight.
Patric i am always willing to change my opinion and discuss things. I would love tohear more of what you have to say on this. Your opinion is highly valued here.J

aaron:
I do agree with your idea that if we were to make a stone arrowhead weighing 150 grains or so that it would be so big as to impede penetration and even cause some "wind planing". So I guess that I have come to the conclusion that when we hunt with stone points we have to settle for less than perfect flight. Our successes in hunting tell me that this less than perfect flight is still good enough for hunting. Yes I have killed with a stone point, but I dont think I ever realised how well an arrow can fly until I started to play around with bareshafting arrows with various point weight , length, and spine. Onec I had tried many combinations, I realised that I was achieving better flight. I think that the bareshaft test is a great way to see how well tuned your set up is. Have you ever bareshaft tested an arrow with a 50 grain point? I have not.

mullet:

--- Quote from: caveman2533 on December 13, 2014, 05:08:13 pm ---I know Ralph Conrad could give a great perspective on this, He has killed I think 22 deer with stone some with the same arrow. I remeber asking him about this and I think his answer was it really doesn't matter if the arrow weights are matched or even. As long as they fly good. He had written on the arrows I think the weight and if I remember correctly they varied quite a bit. I could try to get a hold of him and see if he can answer for us. I have very little experience with it.

--- End quote ---
??? I don't understand your reply, Patrick. Seems to me if you kill what you are shooting at with whatever grain point you have , it works.

 I haven't killed a deer with a stone point but did put one that weighed around 100 grns through the forehead of a hog. And another point that weighed about 145grn killed a turkey at ten yards. I think the distances we shoot at it doesn't matter as long as your arrow flies good for the distance you are shooting.

 I like beer and if it tastes good I don't care about the alcohol. I'd rather drink a beer with dinner then Sweet tea.

Outbackbob48:
If you use shoot shafts or cane spine doesn't seem as critical as parrel dowell shafts, something about the natural taper of said arrows seems to help in the spine. I thing that heavy points would help but thin bases and narrow width just don't end up  very heavy compared to steel. If they fly good I shoot what ever wt. my heads come out at. Also I will put light heads on heavy shafts and heavy heads on light shafts, I try and keep total weight close to 550 grains for my 50 # bows. I like around 10 grains per pound of bow weight. I guess what I am saying is that I am more concerned about total weight than the actual weight of stone heads. Thin base, narrow and sharp. ;DJust my .02 worth. :o Bob

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