Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

OK, so I had the new Patriot paper tuned a couple days ago and in a matter of 3 shots the dealer had it shooting nice triangles. I took it out that night and was impressed with how well I could track the nock downrange - obviously minimal fishtailing or porpoising.

The compulsive anal retentive person that I am, I had to go and try bare shaft tuning today. My bare shafts are hitting nine inches to the right! From reading the Easton Arrow Tuning Guide, I'm the victim of a weakly spined arrow. Does this sound right considering my arrow selection?:

• 27" Gold Tip XT7595
• 100G field tip
• Regular arrows are fletched with 5" shield cuts at as much left helical as the shaft will take.

My next move is to shoot 75G tips.....in fact, I'll head down right now...........bare with me!

Fritz

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

Little update......shot 75G tips and the both fletched and unfletched grouped nice, except the unfletched are now 7" right and 1 1/2" high.

Am I correct in assuming that a rest move is in order?

Thanks,

Fritz

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

mrfritz you would have to be shooting a 80 lb Patriot with a 30 inch draw and 3 inch over draw to be underspined with that arrow combination.

I personally consider bare shaft tuning useless because I don't shoot bare shaft at animals. I would try group tuning and see how that looks. JMO

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

That's a part of the story I forgot to tell you.......;)

I can be dead on at 20 and 30 yards, but after 40 or 50 (which I won't hunt at or even shoot 3-D from, but it's a matter of principle) my groups drift right. The pro-shop confirmed that my Copper John's level was level in relation to the bow string as well, so I'm kind of confused now.

Fritz

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

In a word "torque".

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

Keep moving your rest just a smidge to the left until your bare shafts hit with the fletched.

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

I have to agree with SA's comments on this one Fred. That size arrow is a very stiff spine period...even with a 70 lb, 29 inch draw Patriot.

A word of advice about something I learned a few years ago.....sometimes a person can overdo/overanalyze their setup. Paper tuning, group tuning, bare shaft tuning, experimenting with different fletches/shaft sizes, the whole kit and kabootle....can all lead to one simple word.....frustration![:@]

Ultimately you need to find a method that gets consistant results for you for whatever you are trying to achieve. If just paper tuning a bow gets you the results you want then go that route. If group tuning with broadheads get the results you want then go that route. But don't expect to be able to group tune, paper tune and bare shaft tune your setup all to perfection. In many cases this is just not possible.

First determine what your goal is. Lets say having excellent accuracy at 30 yards with your hunting setup. Paper tune your bow first and then go out on the range and shoot a bit at 30 yards. How consistant and accurate are you? If you are not happy then start from scratch and group tune the bow at 30 yards. How consistant and accurate are you? If you are happy with that then see what you can do at 20 or 40.

Hope this helps some.

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

Thanks for the tips guys. If I can stand this cold, I'm actually going to try an increase in tip weight first since this is easiest mod to make at this point. A guy on another board stated he actually had luck with that strategy once. I've also heard that from the G/T charts, I should be shooting at least a 125G head so we shall see.

I'm kind of finicky with this tuning issue because I figure broadheads will exaggerate any lack of tuning I may have. Even if I beat my head into the wall for the next 3 weeks it'll keep me occupied;).


Thanks again,

Fritz

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

What does the centershot look like?Is the arrow in a straightline with the string or is it out to one side? If the centershot isn't right and you have the rest set to get bullet holes,the arrow spine could be stiff and by compensating the rest for that,you created a situation where the bow is much harder to tune and shoot.The bareshafts are pointing this out.CENTER SHOT IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN BULLET HOLES,bullet holes are great place to start if you have correctly spined arrows and do not torque the bow.


You said the shop guy had it shooting bullet holes but what does it do when YOU shoot it through paper?If you are not getting bullet holes then torque is most likely the problem.If you are shooting right dowrange there is a chance you are torquing or maybe you could move the sight a little and still be on up close and bring the dowrange in.


I personally love paper testing but I have a great understanding of how spine and torque affect it.I also use it in the setup mode only.The true test is how well it shoots groups.Usually the bow still shoots almost perfect bullet holes for me after I group tune but their might be a slight tear and that is fine too.

RE: Bow Tuning Can O Worms
 

I wasn't very clear with that statement. I should have said the pro-shop made the adjustments after I shot through the paper. Sorry for the confusion.

I'm going to try to rule out torque from the equation tonight. I did change my grip recently in an attempt to better steady my aim. I was shooting open handed but the bow's grip is very narrow and my hand allowed it to move within the valley my hand created. Then I tried lightly placing my fingers in a vertical line on the front of the bow's grip to narrow the valley in my hand. It offered more precise control, but I suppose it may also be causing a little more torque.

There is another variable that I'm working on to find my sweetspot. I had discussed in an earlier thread that I thought my drawlength was a hair long and caused arm slap upon release. It had been suggested that I try a 28 1/2" module to compensate. I asked the pro-shop if they had any and he said it would take a couple weeks to get them in, so I searched for an alternative method of shortening draw without affecting the let-off and valley too much.

I experimented last night and added a shorter string loop and played with the Infinity cams ability to microadjust draw length via the draw post. I moved it from it's shop setting of 5.5 ticks from the "S" to only 5. I set up an impromptu range in my basement (my wife "loved" that) and it reduced the slap by a good bit. I think I can get rid of the additional slap by modifying my form a bit with a more open stance. Such a small adjustment didn't noticably change the let-off either which was good news.

Now that all of that is set (at least until I test it on a real range), I'll try to shoot these bare shafts again tonight. The first thing I'll do, however, is shoot long range with different grip forms to ascertain if its me and not the bow causing my apparent pushes at these longer ranges.

Thanks for all the help so far, and I'll let you know what happens.

Fritz