Posted: 10/5/2008 7:28:54 PM EDT
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Weirdest thing happened today while I was shooting my bow. Set up Bow: Mathews DXT, 70# 29" draw, Rip Cord drop away rest. Arrow: Beman ICS 400, 27 1/2", Brand New, first time fired in the bow. Fletching: 4" Helical feathers (custom) and 4" Strait vanes (factory) Broadhead: Slick tricks 1 3/16" and Rocket Steel head expandable 3 blade, 2" cutting diameter Speed" 292 FPS Range: 45 yards Target: Broadhead target I am shooting at my max distance for practice, ethical shots are limited to 30 yards. Beman arrow fletch with feathers and tipped with a 100 Grain Slick trick Broadhead impact at 2 inches high but dead center, No flight issues. Beman arrow with vanes and tipped with 100 grain mechanical fired for the first time had a big issue. New rubber band equipped on the expandable before being fired. When arrow was released, the arrow was on track to target, then suddenly at approximately the last 10 yards, the arrow took off to the right like a heat seaking missile. Impact was 8 feet to the right of the target. I found the fletched end of the arrow about 15 yards behind the target. Looked like the arrow broke in half about 6" from the nock. Not a splentered break but a clean break. I have not recovered the other end yet. It is nowhere to be found. So what may have caused this? Rubber band not strong enough on the broadhead and it opened up? The Arrow was defective? Speed of arrow is to fast for the broadhead? |
Yes it was a clear lane to the target unless a UFO was present just as I released the arrow. Think a low flying bird just ducking down could caused this? |
I think you'd have a busted up bird in addition to a busted up arrow. 
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I'm glad you like it.
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Did you flex the arrows before you fired them? I know it's usually reccommended to find any flaws in the spine that quality control might have missed. Could you tell if it broke before it hit the ground? Was it aclear lane to the target, no brush, limbs, etc? Yes it was a clear lane to the target unless a UFO was present just as I released the arrow. Think a low flying bird just ducking down could caused this? I think you'd have a busted up bird in addition to a busted up arrow. Not to mention FEATHERS EVERYWHERE. Hitting any bird with a broadhead makes a TON of feathers fly. It is one of the ways I locate where I hit the turkey when they aren't anchored on the spot. Early cycle failure is manufacturing defect. Since carbon fiber isn't plastically deformed in manufacture like aluminum, the chance of finding the defect isn't easy. Yes, a blade opening in mid flight will change the ballistic nature, shifting the center of pressure far forward, causing it to veer far off target. The blades do not open up together, further yawing the flight. This places a HUGE bending moment on the shaft, with the normal post-fire oscillation, it probably caused arrow failure. This is why I am still in the aluminum age. Plus I hunt in rocky terrain. |