Novashooter
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2023
- Messages
- 286
I've been working hard the last couple of weeks getting my arrows as perfect as I can. I had been shooting a fixed crawl with great success, however, once I realized how much quieter shooting split finger was I wanted to try my best to get the same accuracy that way. It took a week of daily shooting, but I finally found a consistent anchor point that works for me. I never was able to get the arrow inline with my eye, but I got pretty close, and it doesn't seem to be a problem. I'll get to that next. Some more info on my setup. The bow is a left hand Bear Montana 45#. I played with brace height and can't tell that it does anything. Mines just over 7 1/2", call it 7 5/8" right now. 7 1/4" to 8" made no difference in how it shot or sounded. I played with nock height. 1/2" to 3/4" all seems the same. Below 3/8" it definitely kicks off the shelf. Over that it is flying clean as far as front and back. Never went over 3/4", and set it at 5/8" as it seems many shoot at that height. I played with both nocks and center serving. I do not like Bohning classic nocks, the seem cheap and fragile, and I never got them to fit right. I even had one break during firing. I found my favorite is Marco nocks. They actually snap on, where many others are tapered inside. Maybe there's a reason for that, but Marcos are also much better quality. They don't even break if crushed with pliers, they are good plastic. They do fit tighter, so I put on .014" Halo serving which is a perfect fit. Just enough the arrows stay on, but not more than that.
I found that my current arrows from 3 rivers were flying good, but I wanted to move onto better arrows. I also wondered about a slightly lighter arrow than the 23/64" shaft I had been using. I bought a spine test set from Rose City Archery. It was supposed to be all 11/32" shaft, but one arrow was 23/64" for some reason. Possibly a mistake, or maybe ran out, don't know. I was trying to tune using Ace broadheads, a 125gr standard, and a 200 gr super. I also used a short nail shank as an insert with the standards to test at 160gr.
Based on what I've read others have success with, I started with a 125gr and 50-55# shaft. Surprisingly it shot way right, like 12" or more right at 20 yards. I am shooting left handed, so this is backwards to the right handers. Based on usual wisdom this should indicate a too stiff spine. I tried them with the insert for a 160gr total head, it made zero difference. I did find that I could can't the bow to adjust left and right, but found it hard to be consistent. I wasn't expecting that result, so I moved right to the 200gr head, but on the stiffest shaft I had of 65-70#. My old arrows I used were a 3 rivers 70-75# with 190 field points, so I was concerned these might be a bit loose, but I found they shot pretty good, if anything a touch left, 3"-4" at 20 yards. I cut 1" from the shaft, minimal change. Cut another 1/2" off for an arrow shaft length of 30 1/2" which is as short as I can go with my 29" draw. This shot as good as anything so far up until I pulled a shot at 30 yards, dinged off the edge of the target, and the arrow cracked when it hit something after that. I really need to make myself a backstop.
Days had passed, and I wanted to try the 125gr heads again. I decided I'd try a stiffer 55-60# spine just to see. To my surprise this was better. It still shot right, but it was not too bad. I was wondering if my shooting form had improved or changed since I last shot. I was getting a lot of arrow wobble in flight. I then put it on a 60-65# shaft, and this one was even farther left, left of my arrow point now. I cut 1" off the shaft and tried it again. It was shooting very close, but still tail wobble. I decided to go for my stiffest spine, a 65-70#, although this is the one that is 23/64". Right away I could see the improvement. It both shot to my arrow point, and straight. I shot that a dozen more times and I'm quite sure that is as perfect as you can ask for. I may cut 1" off later just to see how it does, but I'm happy. As one last test I wanted to see how a 200gr head on the same arrow would do. As it turns out, it doesn't change too much. It shot to about the same spot, but it did have tail wobble.
So I have 2 main questions. The first is about my findings with spine. Am I way off base, or did I go about this in an appropriate way? I see so many references to such light spines with similar bows, yet mine definitely shoots better stiffer. It should be noted, Rose City has a spine chart, and it turns out for a 125 gr head on a full 32" shaft, they recommend a 65-70# spine. Actually 70-75# if we assume my bows draw weight is 47#ish at my 29" draw.
My second question is about the shaft diameter. Will I see any change between equal spine arrows, but different diameter? I'm not concerned with small weight changes or anything, I only want as good arrow flight as I can. Will I be making a mistake buying 11/32" 65-70# arrows, even if I found a 23/64" 65-70# is the best?
I found that my current arrows from 3 rivers were flying good, but I wanted to move onto better arrows. I also wondered about a slightly lighter arrow than the 23/64" shaft I had been using. I bought a spine test set from Rose City Archery. It was supposed to be all 11/32" shaft, but one arrow was 23/64" for some reason. Possibly a mistake, or maybe ran out, don't know. I was trying to tune using Ace broadheads, a 125gr standard, and a 200 gr super. I also used a short nail shank as an insert with the standards to test at 160gr.
Based on what I've read others have success with, I started with a 125gr and 50-55# shaft. Surprisingly it shot way right, like 12" or more right at 20 yards. I am shooting left handed, so this is backwards to the right handers. Based on usual wisdom this should indicate a too stiff spine. I tried them with the insert for a 160gr total head, it made zero difference. I did find that I could can't the bow to adjust left and right, but found it hard to be consistent. I wasn't expecting that result, so I moved right to the 200gr head, but on the stiffest shaft I had of 65-70#. My old arrows I used were a 3 rivers 70-75# with 190 field points, so I was concerned these might be a bit loose, but I found they shot pretty good, if anything a touch left, 3"-4" at 20 yards. I cut 1" from the shaft, minimal change. Cut another 1/2" off for an arrow shaft length of 30 1/2" which is as short as I can go with my 29" draw. This shot as good as anything so far up until I pulled a shot at 30 yards, dinged off the edge of the target, and the arrow cracked when it hit something after that. I really need to make myself a backstop.
Days had passed, and I wanted to try the 125gr heads again. I decided I'd try a stiffer 55-60# spine just to see. To my surprise this was better. It still shot right, but it was not too bad. I was wondering if my shooting form had improved or changed since I last shot. I was getting a lot of arrow wobble in flight. I then put it on a 60-65# shaft, and this one was even farther left, left of my arrow point now. I cut 1" off the shaft and tried it again. It was shooting very close, but still tail wobble. I decided to go for my stiffest spine, a 65-70#, although this is the one that is 23/64". Right away I could see the improvement. It both shot to my arrow point, and straight. I shot that a dozen more times and I'm quite sure that is as perfect as you can ask for. I may cut 1" off later just to see how it does, but I'm happy. As one last test I wanted to see how a 200gr head on the same arrow would do. As it turns out, it doesn't change too much. It shot to about the same spot, but it did have tail wobble.
So I have 2 main questions. The first is about my findings with spine. Am I way off base, or did I go about this in an appropriate way? I see so many references to such light spines with similar bows, yet mine definitely shoots better stiffer. It should be noted, Rose City has a spine chart, and it turns out for a 125 gr head on a full 32" shaft, they recommend a 65-70# spine. Actually 70-75# if we assume my bows draw weight is 47#ish at my 29" draw.
My second question is about the shaft diameter. Will I see any change between equal spine arrows, but different diameter? I'm not concerned with small weight changes or anything, I only want as good arrow flight as I can. Will I be making a mistake buying 11/32" 65-70# arrows, even if I found a 23/64" 65-70# is the best?
