45# Recurve Arrow & Field Point/BH Weight Choice

Need some help from the trad shooters here. Picking up an old recurve on the cheap this week to start shooting, it is 45# draw at 28". My DL is about 29.5"-30". What arrows should I be looking at and what weight field tips/broadheads? I would ultimately be wanting to hunt with this bow if I can become a good enough shooter.

Id say you prolly gon be round a 600 or 500 spine of most any carbon arrow.i like gold tips an bemans but i got some eastons i like ok. my 45# quinn likes 500's an i shoot either 145 grn ft or 200grn ft depending on which broadhead i decide to shoot cus sometimes ill shoot 145grn muzzy phantoms or simmons landsharks other times i shoot 190grn simmons interceptors an occasinally treesharks. But you aint gottah shoot heavy heads. Careful on old bows as far as ur string goes cause if it needs one u want be able to shoot modern string materials.

Alright, thanks for the tip on the string as it will likely need one. Any guidance to offer on what to choose for it?

I do belive b52 dacron is the material for older bows but im not up to date as i used to be but give it a li bit an someone more knowledgeable will be by shortly an give you a solid answer

Thanks appreciate it.

Ok brother i noticed knowbody came to our aid so i decided to research this stuff again i been shootin for awhile now an this stuff seems to escape my mind occasionally hehe.. So b55 dacron not b52 tho i swear i thought there was a b52, anyways is the string material used for older bows. An the reason being for this is earlier bows do not have reinforced limb tips like our modern variants today. They are reinforced today because of lack of creep or string stretching that these new materials are capable of achieving. This creates arrow speed thus more down range kinetic energy. Also these newer strings are so much stronger that they can be shot using less strands which again increases arrow speed and also dampens string thump so you get a quieter faster bow. A new string material today is a combination of dyneema and vectran super strong and super fast and also not for you and your older bow because it wil not stretch enough to accommodate the weaker limb tips which in turn will damage your bow. B55 dacron on the other hand is more suiteed for you as far as i know... If you tell me what type if bow you have i may be able to tell you when it was made or at least wheather or not you might be able to get away with a little faster material.its been awhile since ive thought this deeply into trad archery ive had my little setup now and ive become complacent. I hope this helps brother if you have anymore questions id be more than happy to help any way i can.

Sure, thanks so much for spending time helping I appreciate it.

The bow, best I can tell is a Shakespeare Trident Recurve. Here is a picture I have of the inscription on one of the limbs:

I would get a 600 spine carbon full length, and shoot 125 Magnus Stingers.

with yer longer draw you wil be shooting near 48-50 pounds. I would suggest a Gold Tip 3555 arrow left full length, with 150-200gr total up front. Use either a 50gr or 100gr brass insert and aded screwin head to bring total to desired weight.

If ya try a lighter spine arra, like a 1535 GT you still have to leave it long because of yer draw, but you will need a lighter up front weight to keep spine correct.

Choosing correct arras for recurve and carbons ain't rocket science but it is more complicated than for a compound or using wood/alum arras.

Anyone have a clue what the brace height to start with on this bow for tuning?

Start about 8" to about 8 1/2.

On the arrows I prefer the lighter spine with less weight up front. No brass inserts for me. With a lighter bow I don't want rainbow trajectories from too heavy arrows. As long as you are still 9 grains of arrow weight per pound of bow weight you will blow right through a deer's ribs at reasonable range anyway without the extra 100 grains up front and the lighter arrow will give you a little more leeway on distance.

the problem with light spined carbons is total shaft weight is pretty light so increasing the FOC is a good way to add total weight to the arrow. Trajectory inside of 20 yards will be fine for hunting arras, go lighter for target only rigs.

I shoot a GT 3555 at 30" with 100gr inserts and 200gr points...total arra weight is 570 gr ...out of a 57# hybrid, so 10gpp. Thats a lot of weight up front but they fly like darts and I have killed deer to 32 yards with them.

at 8gpp I'd drop 114grs arra weight, so I could cut out the100gr insert and be there, but stilll with a 200gr head. It's all good, but I like a heavy arra.

Well the deal fell through, bow was not as advertised. Cracks all up and down the riser...smh. So anyhow, I've learned a little more about recurves from y'all at least, thanks for the help anyways!

LOL!!! anytime...

9-10GPP is not bad at all.I just hate to see folks struggling with rainbow trajectories because of shooting insanely heavy arrows. I haven't kept up with the latest trends in the trad community for the last 4-6 years but there for a while everyone was raving about front loading arrows and weights were starting to get ridiculous for those low poundage bows.