Booner

Can some of you trad guys tell me how important FOC is on a Traditional arrow?

Red Feather Archery

Hey Booner,

In my experience shooting trad bows, FOC was important. The I always felt like the more FOC I had in my arrows the quicker they would stabilize and would do so with smaller/wetter feathers. I also felt like it would aid in penetration on shorter shots as an arrow flying straighter will out penetrate an arrow that is still wobbling in flight, and arrows wobble or paradox pretty good coming out of a longbow.

I also read an analogy one time that went something like this. If you JB Welded a brick to a wooden arrow shaft and dropped it brick end down it would pull the shaft behind it in line with the brick. If you dropped it with the brick at the top of the arrow shaft the brick could easily shift to the left or the right of the shaft and not impart it's full weight to the shaft on impact. This was an extreme example that was designed to show that there is an actual effect on arrows with the FOC is increased.

For me, personally, I believe I get better arrow flight quicker with a higher FOC and I believe good arrow flight is essential to good penetration. Hope this helps.

Mark Land

Foc is more important with trad setups when tuning carbon arrows as they are normally very stiff in spine and also relatively light in weight as well. Heavy inserts and/or broadheads decrease the shaft spine and increase arrow weight, especially tip weight and I believe it does make a difference in penetration as well. I can shoot my arrows with 100gr inserts and 125gr tips without any fletchings out to 30-40yds with no problem and that is when I know I am tuned perfectly. I always bare shaft tune my setups with the desired tip weight I want to shoot and trim down shaft length to adjust and it works plus it gets my arrows up in the 500+gr range that I like as well.

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stickgunner

think about it. A yard dart is very short and all the weight up front. how fast do they stabalize and how deep do they sink in the grass? very fast.

raghorn

FOC is important for all arrows, not just "trad"

I just went out in the yard with a wood shaft(no fletch) with a nock and 125 field point. Throw it like you would a spear. Try it with the point first and watch it. Then try throwing with nock first, sometimes it will turn in flight so point is forward. With no weight on either end the shaft will go in different directions each time it is thrown.
FOC is needed to insure good arrow flight, as with any good thing, if you get too much then it becomes not so good.

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hammer4reel

what percent FOC though , with compounds 10-12 percent FOC is good , but how far FOC ca you go before it is no longer to the trad shooters advantage, as Im seeing some guys pushing it to 30 percent

raghorn

The reason we're seeing high FOC for trad shooters is to be able to tune carbon arrows since they don't have many different sizes like aluminum. As far as a number that becomes detrimental ......don't know. I seen and heard of arrows being shot with 400gr or more up front and they shoot fine. You are better off going higher FOC than lower. altough the more weight up front the softer the spine gets. More evident with long draw than a short draw.

__________________
Colorado Bowhunters Assc >>>-----> American Broadhead Collectors Club
Colorado Traditional Archers Society >>>-----> Ron Brunges

hammer4reel

, thanks for the reply !! as you posted im seeing alot more wieght forward than had ever been used in the past. jst wondering if anyone has ever really pushe it and started to lose the advantage

rsb_924

OK here my crack at it:

Arrow FOC (front of center / or sometimes called forward of center) is an important concept that all archers should understand. Whether bowhunting, target shooting, 3d shooting, the FOC of an arrow will affect the flight of the arrow. FOC becomes especially important the further downrange the target is, and also if a broad head (most notably a fixed blade broad head) is used. The basic definition of FOC is the percent difference between the physical midpoint of the arrow and the center of gravity (balance point) of the arrow as compared to the total length.
For penetration purposes, the opposite phenomenon occurs. A larger FOC will prevent and arrow from flexing as much when coming into contact with the intended target. Hunters will want a higher FOC so that as the broad head enters the game, the distance from the front of the arrow to the center of gravity is lower, making it more difficult for the arrow to flex. Any flex or deflection of the shaft upon entry means that energy is being lost somewhere other than directly along the center of the shaft, lessening the overall penetration. A larger FOC is necessary for shooting long distances where crosswinds tend to have a large effect on arrow flight. The same applies to shooting broad heads over field points because the larger surface area of a broad head is more greatly affected by launch imperfections as well as crosswinds. Broad heads tend to steer an arrow which can often have a negative affect that the fletchings must overcome.
There are two main ways of calculating FOC. Both use similar formulas; the difference being that one takes into account the length of the point and insert while the other does not.
When comparing FOC values, it is important that both values be calculated with the same formula. The second method will generally result in a lower FOC value.
Recommended values for FOC(using the AMO method)vary depending on the application, target arrows (field points) should generally be in the 8-11% range and broad head tipped arrows in the 10-15% range. FITA and longer distance shooters will often go for a 12%+ FOC, even though they are using field points, because of the long distances involved. Some traditional hunters have used FOCs of over 30% because with the right setup it can enhance penetration on animals.