After some marvelous advice from Marcus26 and others on this forum, I set out to build 24 arrows for my first outdoor season. Seeing the good forum posts about Axis FMJs, I realised I could build 24 Axis FMJs for the price of 12 Navi 430s. I will try to sum up the advice and tell how I did it and put some pictures to it.
I ordered everything from bowsport, but they had run out of 110 grain points, but I had ordered both 100 grain, 110 grain and 125 grain points. Since the SIB points are dirt cheap compared with Navi points, it gives you more possibilities for experimenting. I tried out with the 100 grain points, as it gave me the lightest arrow.
This is how I did it.
Tools needed:
- Digital Grain Scale with 0.1 grain
- Bitzenburger or other fletching jig
- Torch (for heating points)
- Dremel (for adjusting weight on your points)
Materials
- Axis FMJ bare shafts - I used 29" 400 Axis FMJs
- Points and HIT inserts - I used 100 grain Screw in points
- X-Nocks or Beiter Insert Nock for Axis (5,19-2) - I'm waiting for some Beiters, untill then I'm using white X-Nocks. The Axis FMJs come with a factory installed blue X-Nock, so the nock is optional
- AAE Plasti-Fletch Max 2" shield or Bohning 1.5 x-vanes (can't get the x-vanes for Denmark, hence the AAE vanes)
- Glue for fletching
- Hot melt glue
Weighing
I started weighing the shafts and the other individual components, just to get a feel for it all and for my curiosity. The weights are as follows:
- Axis FMJ shaft including X-Nock 301,5 - 304 grain with most being between 302 - 303 grain. X-Nocks all weigh about 9.1 - 9.3 grain
- Flechtings weighs 3.5 grain to 4.0 grain a piece
- Points and inserts 100 grain points and 16 bit inserts, They varied about 2 grain from 117 - 119 grain
So the final arrows would weigh 303 + (3*4) + 118 = 433 grains a piece. Since my Navi 430s weigh 402 - 404 grains (not as well put together), it seemed like my Axis FMJs would only be about 7% heavier.
Building the arrows
I started by exchanging the blue x-nocks with white x-nocks (later those will be beiter insert nocks).
Then I fletched the arrows with my white Plasti-Fletch Max vanes. Weighing them afterwards I found the fletched shafts to be about 315 - 317 grains. Since the points + inserts weighed around 117 - 119 I decided to go for a target weight for the arrow of 432.5 - 433 grains, as most fletched shafts + point and insert could fit in that frame.
I disregarded installing the HIT insert separately, but instead assembled the insert + screw in point as one unit. This gave me freedom to group them in weight as one unit instead of two.
I paired the arrows and points/inserts and found a couple to be 1 grain to light and about half to be a grain or two too heavy. The light ones I put some glue in the inserts untill they weighed as they should. The heavy ones I grinded with a Dremel until they matched.
I then heated the assembled points/inserts with my torch lighter and aplied a bit of hot melt glue. I then inserted them in the shafts.
<pic of assembled arrow coming>
Finally I weighed the assembled arrows and they all weighed between 432.5 - 433 grain.