Arrow Plate Adjustment

[Dennis]

#3784

I’m still having nightmares with my arrow flight from my new 58lb. Buffalo. I’ve tried 2117’s, 2020’s, 2216’s with all different head weights. Now I’m at 2219’s. I’m getting reasonable arrow flight when my release is perfect but I’m starting to notice the anodizing on my Legacy Shafts is wearing off about 3″ ahead of the fletching. There is some wear on the plate but I blamed that on when I load the arrow on to the string. There is no sign of wear on the fletching. Something tells me I should be moving the plate out as if the arrow was too soft. Am I right?

[Hiram]

#23531

Something I posted on another forum……….

Here is why>>———-> The horizontal position of the arrow at the riser strike plate determines the position of the arrow as it is released.

The horizontal position being adjusted so the arrow point is just outside the string,, starts the arrow in the right rotation everytime even if the shooter has a release that is NOT consistent from shot to shot. Centershot arrows with a mechanical release doe’s not inflict the same paradox reaction as a finger release. When the fingers release the string the arrow is pushed sideways by the fingers interference with the tail end of the arrow.

This distorts the linear path of the arrow to alarger degree than a release!!

Shooting centershot adjusted arrows with a finger release does not insure that the correct rotation will happen for each shot.

Starting the path of the arrow a tad outward of centershot blends in forgiveness and consisitency with each shot.

Correct rotation for a R/H is shooter is clockwise,,,counter for a lefty.

Correct rotation also (if your spine is correct) insures the proper S path to clear your rest when the arrow goes by it.

Knowing that moving the arrow outward weakens the arrow because the linear path is not centershot with the string gives the shooter a little fine tuning to move the arrow in or out to get within the “Tweaking” of the arrow to get it just right for your set-up.

Moveing the arrow to centershot weakens the arrow because the linear path is perfectly horizontal with the string,, making the force of the string and the presurre it exerts on the rear of the arrow have more Dynamic force. This may cause the arrow to start out wrong or right depending on the quality of the release from shot to shot.

When the arrow is moved outward, the dynamic force is diminished because the linear path of dynamic force on the rear of the arrow is diverted by the offset direction of the arrow as it leaves the bow.

That is all that a cushion plunger really doe’s is let the arrow bend more or less spring tension enableing the shooter to tweak his set-up for the perfect spine in his rig (Bow).

The shelf rest has the same basic mechanics for adjustment as a cushion plunger but is not as precise because it has no cushion effect like the plunger spring.

The strike plates (verticle piece of leather on the riser) horizontal position can do the basically the same thing if moved inward or outward.

THAT is why the horizontal position is so important.

See Vans method of tuning a plunger!!! He starts out on a stiff spring and set at centershot. He does this to see if the arrow he is shooting is within the perimeters he wants in spine to begin with.

You must start with the approximate correct spine!

Start full length,,,shoot the tip weight you plan on using,, and shorten the arrow until you get to tune?

If you want to shoot a longer arrow to meet your gap measurement at certain yardage??? Start out with a little weaker arrow and tune/cut till you get your desired length.

If you found the arrow was too weak at your desired length and tip weight??

Start out with a size stiffer and cut/tune till you get your desired length.

In this process,,,you may tweak your strike plate/plunger till you arrive at tune.

Why do all this???? For a hunter who shoots feathers on an arrow,,,,,a shaft that shoots reletively straight at 20 yards with no fletching will shoot an arrow with wet feathers stillllllllllllllllll,,,,,,,,,,,,pretty good! Lots of good tuning posts in the classics section. I always start out with a bare shaft and adjust the vertical first (nock height) and then go to the horizontal. I start out with the Bow at the lowest brace height and work up until the Bow seems to be the most quiet and vibration free height. You can raise the brace height a tad to move the bending (nodes) further apart and weaken the arrow if you wish later on when your teaking things. I start a little higher on vertical than my known nock height, which is usually 1/2 above 90 for off the shelf set-ups.

Tuning your Bow also gets the arrow striking exactly where your looking!! That is veryyyyyyyyyyyy important!!!

[Dennis]

#23678

Hiram

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I am aware of archers paradox, arrow length, spine, head weight etc. and have tried variations of all of them to no avail with this bow. I’ve watched Fred Eichler (on film) shoot a bare shaft into the same hole at a fletched shaft but I can’t do it. I have tried everything. I guess I’ll try pushing the plate out to see what happens and if I don’t get any improvement, I’ll just live with it. Any suggestions from the rest of you guys would be appreciated.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#24365

Dennis,

First things first: are the arrows too weak or stiff? If you’re not sure, try shooting a bare shaft and see what happens (paper tuning is good too). From there you can tune as needed, but first it’s good to know exactly what’s happening.

[Author]

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