Right helical vs. Left helical

[catstormjr]

#5433

Hey guys,

I just ordered some Carbon arrows with 4″ right helical feathers and I had been using aluminum with 5″ left helical. The new arrows fly great but I noticed that they flew better with the Cock feather towards the riser on the bow vs towards me. Is shooting with the cock feather on the inside going to matter?

Thanks

[wildschwein]

#40709

Nope. As long as the arrow flys great, it matters not the orientation of the cock feather.

[makesmoosecry]

#42523

so say’s he.. i will have to say if you are getting perfect flight then “ok” but they make them that way for a reason and it is doing the work something else shoold be doing… think about it..the cock feather is hitting the riser section and you hit the spot you want.. you should bear shaft tune your bow, or cock feather out with spine, head weight, etc.. it seems to me somethings wrong that just happends to be working..i wouldnt put money on that set up. btw, this is very basic stuff…read gfa books and you will understand everything there is to know ….that you need to know….good luck, shoot straight and practice!!!!

[wildschwein]

#42633

The only case I have ever run into when it comes to shooting cock feather in, was a fellow shooting a recurve in Calgary. He had bought the bow (Bear Grizz if I remember correctly) and the set of carbon arrows the previous owner was using. While he was shooting his “new” bow at the range he was experiencing slightly nock left arrow flight. Now I knew and know diddly about carbon, but being the only other fella there shooting trad he asked me if I knew the cause. I suggested to him that his arrows might be slightly weak in spine (as he was right handed). He assured me that wasn’t the case because when his buddy (previous owner) was shooting these same arrows he achieved perfect arrow flight. So since I hadn’t a clue what was wrong I lamely suggested he place the cock feather facing in, since I had read Dennis Kamstra mentioning this in TBM. Well he gave er a go and for reasons I didn’t and don’t understand, his arrows flew perfectly. So I got to look intellegent (I left shorty there after in order to maintain this impression) and his arrows suddenly worked. Maybe it was a release or form thing, who knows?

[Stephen Graf]

#43278

I thought this thread was supposed to be about left vs right helical, not cock feather orientation. Oh well. I’ll give my opinion on both 😀

Left/right helical – I don’t think it much matters except for the following 2 points:
1. some people have more trouble with one or the other in regard to the fletching hitting their bow hand and cutting their thumb/index finger. So use the one that doesn’t hurt. 2. The second point is in regard to your broadhead. If you shoot single bevel broadheads, then a left helical broadhead is easier to sharpen imho because you can screw it on a shaft and go to sharpening it without the broadhead spinning. On a right helical fletch / right bevel broadhead, the broadhead tends to unscrew as you hit it with a file.

As far as having the cock feather oriented toward the riser, this is a common setup. At first glance, this may seem counter-intuitive. But if you watch some slow motion video (available on you-tube) of the arrow leaving the bow, you will notice that the arrow is a good distance away from the riser when it leaves the bow. Thus (and generally but not always) there is no worry about contact form the cock feather.

Indeed, draw yourself a picture and you will see that the arrow has to be only about a 1/4 inch off the riser to get good clearance with the cock feather in. Whereas with the cock feather out, the shaft must be farther away from the bow for the same clearance.

[SteveMcD]

#43552

The “debate” over cock feather in vs cock feather out has probably been discussed before written language. I find that cock feather in works well for me. Do what works best for you.

Don’t over complicate archery. 😯 It ain’t that complex. 🙄 Just point. Shoot. And have fun! 8)

[Ralph]

#48165

I’m right handed and I shoot left wing, cock feather away, mainly because 30+ yrs. ago when I started this habit, I mean hobby, there was an old axiom “Right handed-left wing, left handed-right wing”. I’m sure there was a reasoning for this, perhaps going back to the days of shooting off of one’s hand with self-bows. Dunno.I don’t over complicate simplicity. I do know that right wing fletched arrows will sometimes leave a reminder on my finger that that was a right wing fletched arrow you just shot! Without going into all the math and quantum physics I simply turn the cock feather in with right wing shafts and all problems solved.
I be one of those guys that can show you the scars on my finger from buried pieces of feather quill and tell you that if you do this, this won’t happen. Scientific enough for these old bones.:wink:

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