broadhead tuning

[ChumpMcgee]

#7502

Just curious on how you tune a broadhead, and make sure that you have it on straight when you glue them onto your arrows? I have never put a broadhead on my wooden arrows but have heard that they can be alittle tricky, what makes it so tricky and what are the solutions? Also, typically are broadheads sharp enough when they come right out of the package or would I have to sharpen them? My final question is when you get your finally get to test the flight on the broadhead do you typically use one broadhead as a practice one to test the flight, then just resharpen it?

[Jason Wesbrock]

#62661

Mounting broadheads straight on wood shafts starts with a correct taper. If your taper is not dead straight, it will be much more of a challenge to get your heads mounted correctly. Ferr-L-Tite is an excellent adhesive and allows a good working time to get your heads aligned. There was an article recently in TBM about mounting broadheads, but here’s a quick Cliff Notes version.

If you don’t have a spinner, you can make one out of about a foot of scrap 2×4 and four nails (smooth nails are best). Use the nails to form a pair of Xs on the 2×4. The nails will cradle your arrow and allow you to roll it to check for wobble in your broadhead. This way you can see even the slightest wobble in the tip of your broadhead and adjust its alignment accordingly. If it wobbles, just bump it lightly in the opposite direction…safely.

 

Most glue-on heads are not hunting sharp out of the package. To be honest, you’ll need to sharpen them anyway after shooting, so I’ve never seen much value in them being razor sharp from the manufacturer (modular heads are a different story). There are a host of online tutorials on broadhead sharpening and many good products on the market to help you hone your heads properly. Personally, I use a mill file, a crock stick, and occasionally a piece of leather for a strop. It’s quick, easy, inexpensive, and I can carry it with anywhere.

 

With respect to tuning, I’ve found that if I properly bareshaft tune my setup, broadheads and field points of equal weight will impact together out to 60 yards (I don’t shoot animals that far, and haven’t test shot broadheads further than that in a lot of years). A lot f folks specifically broadhead tune their bows, and it works well. The process is the same as bare shaft planning tuning via the Easton Tuning manual, except that you substitute a broadhead-tipped arrow for a bare shaft. I have one or two broadhead-tipped arrows that are specifically for practice, so there’s no need for me to ever resharpen those ones. But it’s still a good idea to test shoot all your hunting arrows prior to sending them after an animal. It may eliminate an unwanted surprise if one of your arrows doesn’t shoot quite the same as the others (spine is wrong or something like that)

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