I received a request in another thread to do a write up regarding my targeting/sight set up on my new Mathews Switchback XT. This may get long, so I'll apologize ahead of time.
My new Mathews Switchback XT is set up- The AimPoint CompC3 Red-Dot Sight took a little more tweaking than I expected- but it is now shooting DEAD NUTS out to 25 yards. The HHA Optimizer Light Plus Adjustable Sight Mount is super easy to adjust from one yardage to another (I initially set my first yardage marker at 15 yards, then bumped up to 25 yards). I'm literally hitting spots the size of quarters at 15 yards and spots the size of Silver Dollars at 25 yards.
Here's the rig- complete with the 8", 11 ounce B-Stinger Sport Hunter Stabilizer in Lost Camo. I have a simple, APA Ultimate Arrow Rest (prong style) and finished it off with a Jager grip. The only thing not on this bow right now is the MeanV CSS which is on it's way. The bow is set up for a 28" draw length at 67 lbs. of pull.
I was torn between this bow & the DXT. I went to my bowsmith's shop 4-5 times over the course of a month and shot both bows multiple times. The DXT was lighter and had a shorter ATA, but what finally won me over on the SBXT was it's absolutely solid/stable shooting platform & smooth as butter draw cycle.
Even my wife, when she came down to the basementlast night to get something & saw the bow propped up in the holder on my workbench, said "Wow!". I save my "wows" for after I'm done shooting it every night.
I love the AimPoint CompC3 Red-Dot sight. Here's some of my reasons for me going with this specific Brand/model:
- Wide open field of view with no other pins (or pin stems) disrupting my Field of View.
- Unlimited eye relief.
- 9 brightness settings to accomodate for varying degrees of light during legal shooting hours.
- removes the need for a peep on the string- no more peep rotation when at full draw or even worse- in low light conditions (or when shooting at darker targets like black bear), no looking though the peep only to see nothing as your iris opens up to compensate for the low light- but you're contrasting that by attempting to look through a reduced FOV peep.
- "Parallex free" Red-Dot (not like 80% of the Red-Dots on the Market). This means that once sighted in, as soon as you see the dot as you are coming to anchor, wherever the red-dot is, is where the arrow will hit. This is a huge factor as this allows the user to zero in on the target simultaneously as they are coming to anchor- not after they have established anchor, saving critical time in small window of opportunity shooting situations. This dot is NOT a laser that projects onto the target.
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As far as being able to easily change between yardages- it's not an issue. On the back spine of the HHA sight, you run a piece of white tape (about 1/3 of an inch wide) across the entire width of the spine. You then pick a yardage you want to sight in at (I picked 15 yards) and loosen the very stable, durable sight adjustment knob to loosen the fulcrum lever and raise/lower the sight to the height needed in order to hit the target at 15 yards. Once you have done this, you mark a horizontal line on the tape that aligns with the gold pin that emerges from the center of the adjustment knob and runs along the back of the sight's spine.
You repeat this process for as manyyardage settings you want to have. I've sighted in for 15, 25 & 35yards so far. I plan to sight in for 45 yards and that will be it. When I'm done, I'll have four horizontal lines on the tape on thespine of my sight- one each for 15, 25, 35 & 45 yards. In the link below, the spine I'm referring to, is indicated by the blue arrow & the lines you would mark on the tape (along the spine) are indicated by the red lines.
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0WQCMGTwcnBOYmE66oafnSpWoyyWCYR1OmpXiMYGFdise0z*R* B!KYFqxbEmt*Xhr8ePYWx8dzUiRK8LmCHBVhGtYDsspR2FjBQ4 Chqh77rrJ8PYC7*aCLEGBySXrnxW59i8NVkhWB5E/P?dc=4675682755108263853
I've already practiced going from my 15 yard setting to the 25 yard setting. It took me 6 seconds to loosen, adjust & re-tighten the adjustment knob with my release hand while my bow hand is holding the bow. The adjustment knob is indicated by the red arrow in link below. As the knob moves up, the sight cantalevers down (for settings of further distances):
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0WABMG8cbGu2YmE66oafnSj43pC1C7PE0BzNdg3WshFXbVzMUT ttaqapgzurY4!7ub3uyLOqOyjs2tSgHeGSflh0eqip7gFfKpui RJwOqhgd0WL1*ejOQkSoY4qZ0ZlA3SAAAAP****8/P?dc=4675682753750199967
You could set this sight & sight mount up for shots as far away as you want- 60, 70, 80- even 90 yards if you want. It's all a matter of taking the time to sight in and make your markings given the distances you want. Everyone has a different anchor point- some high, some low. Everyone has bows with riser designs that require different clearances for the sight. Everyone has different physical dimensions that affect how they hold the bow & where their eye is in relation to the riser/string angle. This HHA OL Plus Adjustable Sight Mount will give the user the ability to account for all of the aforementioned variables. Here's a close up of the mount/sight from the scope side, notice the weaver base that allows the scope quite a broad rangefrom forward to aft orientation. I have it positioned fairly forward:
Now the obvious question would be, "What if your sight setting is at one yardage & your quarry all of a sudden appears at a different yardage?" To that, my answer is as follows:
- If my sight setting was at 25 yards & the target was at 35 yards
* I could take the time to adjust my sight setting knob to my 35 yard setting
* I could simply aim a tad high at my current 25 yard setting
Once I have my four pre-set sight adjustments marked, I will probably do a lot of experimenting at the "in between" distances:
* how high do I have to aim at 30 yards with my 25 yard setting?
* how low do I have to aim at 20 yards with my 25 yard setting?
* how high do I have to aim at 40 yards with my 35 yard setting?
......... and so on. This way, if time is of the essence and for some crazy reason I don't have 6 seconds to loosen, re-set & tighten the sight adjustment knob on the HHA, I'll be prepared for a "tweener"!
Well that's it for now- told you it wold be long! Any questions?
Rob