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Alan Case's flight arrows - learning how to make them!

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mikekeswick:
Ok so I actually got to shoot my new arrows the other day.
The wind was still quite gusty especially up a hundred feet or so.
As I said earlier these arrows vary from 190 grains to 308 grains. The best performer was consistently one that weighed 231 grains. Best distance with this arrow was around 335 - 350 yards. The rest were all around the 300yard mark.
Now I can't wait to get my proper flight bows ready. This bow is a light weight Turkish warbow design (55#@28) and therefore isn't suited to ultra light arrows. After looking at a bit of video I shot it also appears that i'm only drawing 27 max...pretty scary to draw these knitting needles right back :) That will come with more practise though. The arrows are all 28 inches long as well. The bows limbs are covered in leather which hurts the performance a little. This bow is 48 inches long (too long!) and the limb cores are hornbeam not hard maple. It's meant to be durable not a rocket ship!
So all in all I think the arrows went pretty well and I can make them better next time. I have some quality Tonkin poles coming now.
Shorter, heavier flight bow, shorter arrows and a siper (overdraw) should see me past 400yds at least :)

joachimM:
That's a really good result if you ask me!
To get around 350 yards you'd need an initial arrow speed of about 220-225 fps according to my guesstimations. Did you chrono the arrows or do you want to avoid blasting them to pieces on a target (well surely you want to avoid that...)? 
I've also found that precise nock placement of the arrow on the string makes a considerable difference in arrow flight.
My difficulty in drawing is to combine a snap draw with a release during the backward motion of my arrow hand while avoiding a short draw. And shooting at exactly the right angle (was it 43°?).
Don't know how you guys determine the right angle, but that's about my biggest challenge, as now it's just a gut feeling.

As far arrow tuning and seeing how it flies, you don't necessarily need a 400 m range. To test them I shoot them vertically (actually, at a slight angle) and check if they kick sideways. Most of the time, they land within 50 m of me. I might want to wear a helmet as I they get lost out of sight when they fly well :-)

Badger:
  Great results!

mikekeswick:
Joachim - Yes you are right I wouldn't dare shoot them through the chrono as they would probably end up going through the chrono...haha! I have shot some heavier arrows of around 360 grains and I was getting about 210 -215fps (from memory?). This is with a B50 overbuilt string. Adam Karpowzi has written in his 2nd Edition book that he has been experimenting with fastflight on lighter hornbows and they seem to be useable. I am too scared to try one on this bow as I am pretty attached to it....
Angle...I just guess! It would be worth videoing to see exactly what angle you shoot at. As for drawlength you could try wrapping some tape around a longer shaft at your intended drawlength so that as you draw you feel the tape to confirm you have fully drawn the bow.
Badger - Thanks! More to come!

avcase:
Good shooting!  You are getting into that zone where the arrow disappears into the sky.   It is fun following your progress with this. 28" is really long for a split cane flight arrow. I don't think I could make split cane arrows that long and light without losing spine.  Or, I'd have to use a very long taper to a tiny point, but this shape doesn't fly far for me. A 23" arrow with an overdraw is about perfect for a 27" draw length. ;)

A few degrees high or low doesn't make a huge difference compared to other factors.

B50 is worst case performance wise, but I can understand the caution with something you put so much work into.

Alan

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