Re-tuning my arrows

[Aaron Rushton]

#4259

Hi everyone,

I have just re-discovered the wealth of information that this forum holds after I checked my old email and found the hundreds of ‘tips of the week’ in my inobx which are brilliant.

I am looking for some advice on a problem that has been continuously plagued me and that is tuning my arrows to my bow. I’ve never been satisfied with my arrows always having a little bit of a kick on most shots or noticeable barreling at longer ranges but i’ve ignored it and carried on shooting as my location makes ordering inserts and points difficult and expensive for me. I cannot find screw in points over 125 grains or inserts that fit my arrows over 20 grains where i am so i have to order from the states.

I was shooting the other day when i found an old arrow with the fletching all worn and wet so i decided to shoot it as a bareshaft test and to my horror my arrow fish tailed wildly and i realised my arrows were far worse tuned than i previously thought. My current set up is a Bear Kodiak Magnum 40#@28″ and my draw length is aroun 27 and a quarter inches. I shoot a b50 string with cat’s whiskers silencers and calf hair on the grooves and a strike plate of about 0.07″ i reckon, with a brace heigh of about 7 and a half inches and a nock height of about 6/16 of an inch.

My arrows are GT1535 traditionals with 11 grain inserts and 145grain points and 3×5″ feathers with a slight helical. My bareshaft arrows shoot to the left and my fletched arrows kick a bit as previously mentioned. Overall arrow weight is 420 grains and the FOC is a little under 17%

Stu Millers spine calculator says this set up should be near enough perfect, but i think my arrows are overspined. The reason i mention my silencers and arrow weight is that my bow also sounds quite loud to me which i would like to fix also. I can put up a video to demonstrate if you’d like.

Does anyone have an suggestions for tuning my arrows?

Thank you,

Aaron

Edit: Forgot to say i also shoot with a glove and three under.

[archer38]

#29113

Hi Aaron, I’m Norm. Let me start by saying I too have the issue of having to order from the States to get the things I need.I feel your pain !! One of the best things I got was a point weight test kit. Although it cost more than double after shipping and duty, it really helpful for proper bare shaft test. I read your stats and notice your arrows are shooting left. This tells me they are too stiff. The only way to fix this is add weight to the tip. There are a number of ways to add point weight, but you need to know exactly how much total point weight it takes to make your arrows shoot properly. Another thing is, shoot that bare shaft lots ! There are a good many things in a person’s form that can affect arrow flight. It only takes one of them to be less than perfect to give you a bad bare shaft reading.

I place a line of tape vertical on my target and add point weight until I’m cosistantly in that line. Unfortunately, its a trail and error process that can take some time but it is very worthwhile in the end. I also adjust my nock point so that my arrows impact slightly nock high.

As I ssaid, once you know how much point weiught it takes for proper tune, there are a few different ways to put that weight on the arrow in a more permanent fashion. I’ll leave that for another thread. Good luck, Hope this helped !

[Aaron Rushton]

#30107

Thanks Norm! I found three 175 grain field points today which i tried but the arrows till seemed to have unstable flight and my bareshsft stil hit to the left, so i think i need more weight. i’ve been thinking of ordering some 100 grain inserts from the states and using these with the 145 grain points i have already, do you think this would be enough? That tape trick sounds good! I think i might improvise with nuts and small washers behind my three 175 grain tips and get a bunch of different weights to see what performs best, then once i find the right tip weight, order field points from the states in the same weight.

[archer38]

#30504

EXACTLY !! You’re on the right track. It doesn’t really matter how you add the weight, as long as you know the exact grain weight once you’ve got arrows impacting where you’re aiming. Could be 175, could be 375, you’ll figure that out. Then the fun begins !! Choosing a broadhead and insert combo and building the hunting arrow and testing it with fletching. Maybe even reducing your fletching and using a turbulator !

Good luck, let me know where you end up for point weight and FOC !!

[Snag32]

#38275

What length are your arrows cut to? BOP? If you are drawing to 27″ you are shooting about 37#@27″. Might have to go longer on the shafts if adding point weight isn’t satisfactory.

[Aaron Rushton]

#38319

Snag32 wrote: What length are your arrows cut to? BOP? If you are drawing to 27″ you are shooting about 37#@27″. Might have to go longer on the shafts if adding point weight isn’t satisfactory.

My arrows are 29 and a half inches from the valley of the nock to the end fo the shadft. I’ve now bareshafted them with 250 grains up front and they still fly a little to the left, although though they fly perfectly fletched. I don’t know what BOP is sorry.

[Snag32]

#38412

Your arrow length is plenty long enough. If by adding weight you are getting a better bareshaft result all you can do is keep adding weight until you are slightly weak. Then by adding the fletching it will stiffen it up slightly.

[handirifle]

#52872

One other thing to consider, not sure about your funds, or availability, but lighter spined arrows might make it easier. Depending on cost and availability.

A lighter spine would allow using lighter points, unless you are trying to increase the FOC, but if these are target arrows, a high FOC isn’t really necessary.

[Aaron Rushton]

#53071

GT 1535s are about the lightest spined carbons i can find. For now i’m just stump shooting, informal 3D shooting and occasionally flinging arrows at tree rats and rabbits but I would like to be able to hunt in the states one day so I would like to have a high FOC set up. At the moment i’m waiting on an order from Big Jim’s for some 100 grain inserts and 175 grain points as my test with 240gr overall up front gave me slightly better flight.

[handirifle]

#55006

Hopefully that does it for ya. I know it can get expensive real quick.

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