paper tuning help
 

I have never paper tuned before and thought I would ask for advice. I just bought the switchback xt. It has a biscuit on it. I thought I could make it better than the way it was setup at the shop, but now I need to fix what I did. So I am paper tuning it.

I am shooting through paper at about 10 feet. I am trying to shoot square with the impact point. I am also trying to have consistent form. I shot about 20 through it last night. I noticed that about 16 of them had the tip down. The other 4 looked like bullet holes. About 3/4 of them had the tip down and right. The remaining were down and left. I figured that down was common to all so I lowered my knock points. The left and right bothered me. What is the common cause for this? Is it my consistency, the biscuit, or my vanes that are being trashed by the biscuit, or something else? I have my arrows numbered, and it didn't seem like it was the same one doing the down left shots. I didn't have time to do another round last night, but I will try tonight.

thanks

RE: paper tuning help
 

http://thunder.prohosting.com/~mfoster/archery/tunning.html

I think paper tuning can help but I, personally, haven't had much luck with it and just tune it by repeated shooting and adjusting. I first tune it to the field tips then put on fixed blades for more tuning if needed until I get them both grouping. Easton's tuning guide is a good place to start. You may be better taking it to the pro shop, depending how good they are. I have some decent shops around here but it never seems like they can tune my bow correctly. Its not a bad thing to go ahead and start figuring out how to tune it yourself. You may be happier in the long run.

RE: paper tuning help
 

If by tip down you are saying that the tear had the fletching high then you likely need to raise the rest slowly until that disappears. If you are getting both left and right tears then I would say that is a shooting form issue. You might want to have someone else shoot it through paper to rule that out. If it was a incorrect arrow spine I would think it would repeat the same tear not go both left and right.

RE: paper tuning help
 

Tip down, do you mean a high tear? I personally like a slight high tear, but if you want to get rid of it, move the rest up or nock down which ever works best for your setup. Left and right is due to your rest being to far out or to far in relative to the tear. If you are getting both, right and left tears, then it is in form. Like mentioned, if spin was wrong the tear would be consistent. You can also bare shaft tune. I dont think it is as reliable as paper.

RE: paper tuning help
 

Does the distance to the paper matter? I read 8 feet on the Matthews site. I was shooting 10 feet, but would be more comfortable at about 20 feet.

As for my shooting: When I am saying tip down, I mean the bullet hole is at the bottom and the tear is up. My form may be inconsistent because it is a new bow. I have had it for less than a week. One more question? Could the inconsistency be caused by the wisker biscuit?

RE: paper tuning help
 

If your form is not consistant, you will not get consistant results in any type of tuning. Shoot maybe 5 arrows and see if you get the same results. YOu may also get variable results if your arrows are not consistant (spined, weight, straightness). Personally I will not paper tune past about 10 feet. Papertuning will show how the arrow comes off the bow. You do not want the fletchings to start to stabilze the arrow in papertuning. Personally, if I'm papertuning with the compound, I want bullet holes. Some like slightly high/left tears.

RE: paper tuning help
 

Thanks, that makes sense. I am trying to see how the arrow comes off the bow. I will keep you guys informed as I go.

RE: paper tuning help
 

I usually step back 10 ft . Dont go back much farther. What you explain is a high tear, move rest up or nock down. Make sure first it isnt your form or arrow.

RE: paper tuning help
 

I had an issue one where somtimes I got bullet holes and sometimes not. I narrowed it down to 3 arrows out of a 12 that had inconsistnet spine and these were carbons. But it wasn't a consistent tip down or nock up as you have.

IMO, your rest can cause this and of course dropping your bow arm.

I now put more trust into good broadhead tuning. Paper just start out there.

RE: paper tuning help
 

SB, the WB rest is a very easy rest to tune. You can start off by the Mathews spec of 13/16" from the riser for your left to right, and I find that pert near level on the arrow gets you real close. I personally stand about 4 to 5 feet back, because at this distance an arrow cannot correct itself. A poorly tuned bow will give good results out past 10 feet because the fletchings have time to correct the arrow. If you want good Bhead flight, then tune close. Also, I strive for perfect tears. An arrow going slightly left, or right, or up and down thru a WB is losing energy. BTW, if you get a perfect tear, then on the next shot you don't, it is your form. When I tune, I mess with things until I get that perfect tear. After that, I set my sight, and forget it. Hope this helps.