[Austin Demshar]

I just got my hickory longbow, and bought a dozen aluminum arrows. Can i still use aluminum with wood?

[Michael R. Black]

My guesses, based on prior experience, is that there may be two issues:

1) The aluminum arrows may be spined for a compound bow of like weight. This means they might be too stiff for your wooden bow, which can affect accuracy.

2) The type of fletching matters. Many aluminum arrows are fletched with plastic vanes. You probably need feathers if your wooden bow is made with a primitive style handle.

Regards, Michael

[Austin Demshar]

Yea, thx. I called the guy and he said i could take my bow and arrows and he would help me choose the better arrows. All i know is that i need to do homework before i do anything ever again, lol. Thank you.

[Brian M]

I'm also looking at picking up a longbow or flatbow. Who made yours, and what do you think of the workmanship?

Brian M

[Matt G]

Hi Austin,

To add to what Michael Black said;

You can shoot wood, aluminum or carbon arrows on a wood bow as long as they are matched to the type of bow you are shooting (For any readers of this post who may be wondering, you cannot shoot wood arrows on a compound bow under any circumstances. They are likely to explode on release and embed a sharp piece of wood in your forearm.).

As Michael mentioned, fletching matters. Store-bought aluminum arrows are most often "straight-fletched" meaning the vanes (plastic feathers) are glued on to the shaft with zero helical turn to allow the arrow to pass cleanly through modern compound bow arrow rests. A helical fletch allows the arrow to spin which helps keep it stable in flight. When having arrows made at the shop, you can specify left or right helical fletching depending on the dominant hand you shoot with.

Store-bought arrows are also usually produced with the cock feather down, meaning, the nock is aligned so that the cock feather (the feather or vane that is a different color than the other two) is facing down; again, to pass thru modern arrow rests. For a longbow, you'll probably want to shoot with the cock feather facing out. Nowdays, many of the newer nocks used on aluminum arrows are adjustable so that you can rotate the nock to shoot in any type of setup, though you'll probably have to pay more to have them added. Otherwise, if your arrows are made with the typical glue-on nocks, you can specify the nock orientation you require at the same time you are specifying your fletching preference.

With a longbow, I'd highly recommend shooting feathers. Although they are more expensive, they are much more forgiving on the release, and collapse as they pass over the arrow rest or shelf. Vanes won't do that and typically will bounce of anything they come in contact with on the release. Best of luck with your new bow!

[Austin Demshar]

Thanks everybody! MY bow is a rudder bow. Its very nice.

[Hank Reinhardt]

I really enjoy shooting, but am lousy at it. I've only been shooting for about 60 years, shooting consistently for about 48 years. I have hopes that as I get older I will shoot better. My wife bought me a Saluki bow, the Scythian, and it shoots like a dream. I evenmanage to hit things with it every now and then. It draws 61 lbs and is 48 inches long. I really do love the recurves. I have a longobw, and longbows are much more forgiving in shooting that recurves. If you bow has a cutout for the arrow, you need to shoot an arrow spined heavier than the bow. The Archers Paradox doesn't enter in the shot as much with a center cut out. The Scythian does have a cutout, and the arrows are spined 75 lbs, and shoot very well. I have a true horn bow.no fiberglas, and its a 63 lb bow, but it shoot better with 65 lb spines. I won't comment on compounds, as I think they're an abomination in the sight of God and Man.