Isn't it great when a bow exceeds your expectations/hopes?
Had some difficulty working with the tight string angle of the Admiral- nock pinch. The only thing that would not lift up off the rest and to the side during the draw were G-nocks. X nocks, S nocks, etc- no good. So I went to work tying a nock in underneath the arrow nock with just a small gap. First tie-in nock was too small and there was too much space for the arrow to shift around. Added some material and then it was too big and I was back to pinching. Being that I've not tied in a nock in so many years and add to the fact I was NEVER good at it anyway, you could say I was losing what little patience I had[:@] My friend Tommy at the shop saw my frustration , took the bow from me and got it working right. That big tie-in is not even close to pretty but it works. So now I have the Dave Cousins type loop setup going on. ALONG WITH a brass nock on top of the top loop knot. Tommy puts a brass nock above the loop on all the bows he sets up as "insurance". I usually take them off if he sets up a bow for me, but with the acute string angle and worry about slippage, I decided to leave it on until I found some more patience to tie another nock in to replace it.
After messing around trying to figure out what arrow I'd go with, I finally settled on a half dozen pre-fletched CX Maxima 3D Selects they had (350s). They were my fave blazer colors-Although not my favorite all carbon arrow there is no denying the quality-I know that CX have tight spine & weight, and the 3D Selects have always been super straight even full length. The ICSH, ST Axis, FMJs, and ACC were a bit to quite a heavier than I wanted now that I had to move up to a .340 class shaft. Finshed weights of the 3D Selects are 374.5 to 375.5 grains. Lighter than I wanted but not by much.
So with this longer (heavier) than usual loop to compensate for the big ugly (heavy) tie nock, a (heavy) brass nock, Meta peep, and factory silencers-along with the fact that I had shortened the draw from 29" to 28.5" over the weekend , I was not hopeful in the least to be pleased when I shot through the chronograph- despite the light arrow
(yes I know- I said I'd try not to shoot through the chrono- I caved, sue me ).
So again- 28.5" draw Admiral, 71 pounds, heavy loop, big ugly tie in nock, heavy brass nock, meta peep, all the factory silencers, 375 grain arrow. I said a little archery prayer "if it does 275 I'll be happy- really...275 FPS and I'll be happy, I swear, 275 FPS is just fine..I'm OK with 275" Then I let her rip.
290 FPS first shot
290 FPS second shot
Considering the brace height, draw length, junk on the string, and absolute silence and lack of recoil, I'm tickled pink. I've had plenty of bows that would zip a light arrow along at 290-300 FPS, but I've never shot anything remotely this fast that felt like shooting a kids bow with a 500 grain arrow. Yes the draw is pretty stout (though the drop to 28.5" inches cut down alot of the back end load up),but this bow at full draw and at the shot is amazing. Kudos to Bowtech
(now if they could just get them to draw like the freedom cam, it would be perfect!)
Admiral performance is very impressive!
