Form errors showing as weak arrow spine?

mtnkid85

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Jul 31, 2012
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Hey guys,

Im new to traditional archery and Im trying to tune my hunting setup. Ive been shooting a 35lb Sage Samick for ~ year to practice form and I seemingly can shoot that bow pretty well.

But Im having a issue with my other bow, which is a 55lb@28" Martin ML-14 long bow. I have a visually obvious wonky arrow flight, shooting a bare shaft seems to show a weak arrow spine.

When shooting two bare shafts they are hitting well to the right of my other fletched arrows. With a really obvious fish tailing flight.

My setup is as follows. 55lb@28" bow which I am drawing to about 29.5" so probably 57-58lb? Cabelas Hunter carbon shafts 340 spine cut to 30.5" with 100gr brass inserts and 125gr field points.

So my question is does my arrow recipe seem like it could be too weak spined? Looking online at other guys recipes it doesn't seem like it should be.
I know I can only shoot a handful of arrows before my form breaks down with this 55lb bow, so maybe I am plucking the string which is showing up in the bare shaft tests as a weak spine?

Any ideas would be appreciated. I could film myself shooting If you guys would like to see that too I suppose.
 

Beendare

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Corripe cervisiam
Hard to tell bro.

Im back into shooting after surgery and form errors sometimes throw me for a loop. I can usually feel it when I make a bad shot....but if you aren't sure you can video yourself shooting. [say to the vid, good arrow bad arrow like that]

Its best to bare shaft it and make sure the arrow is right for the bow.....but even then, bare shafting without good form is a lesson in frustration....don't ask me how I know that /grin
 

LostArra

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May 9, 2013
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Pretty drastic change. Nice light recurve to heavier straight limbed longbow.

My 2 cents (and it’s probably worth 1 cent). The weak showing impact with your bare shaft is a false weak and the arrow is smacking off the riser, flying wonky and hitting right. If I remember correctly those Martins are no where close to center cut.

Have you shot one of your Sage arrows out of the Martin just for comparison?


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johnhenry

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May 17, 2017
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W CO
Brace height can affect the arrow to show weak or stiff when its not an issue. play with that a bit and see if anything changes
goood luck
 

oldgoat

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I'd highly doubt that arrow is too weak! Have somebody with quick eyes stand on a step or similar and watch right over your shoulder and see what the bare shaft arrow is doing right as it leaves the bow that's it you can't tell yourself, just make sure you're holding your form and not lifting your head to peek at what the arrow is doing! Group tuning is a great way to tune, IF you are good at shooting groups!!! I'm betting your arrow is stiff, try some fairly heavy points and as mentioned, the arrows from your recurve might even work. How deep the shelf is cut makes a huge difference! I have a 50# Toelke Lynx longbow that can shoot a weaker spine than my 40# Toelke Whistler longbow and it's riser is just a tiny bit deeper cut than the Lynx! You can also shoot some broadheads and see how they fly, if they aren't tuned, you will definitely be able to tell by how they fly and shooting a broadhead is your final check to see if you're tuned, they don't lie unless they are mechanicals!
 
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mtnkid85

mtnkid85

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Yea, I don't know the exact dimension but the shelf is nowhere near center cut on the longbow.

I will try to track down some heavier points to try. The arrows for my recurve are 500 spine, I haven't shot them with the long bow, I guess I could just to see the difference they make.

I "feel" like my form is ok, but I shoot by myself and haven't really been around anyone who can critically watch my release.

Thanks for the tips, Ill try them and report back.
 

sveltri

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Try filming yourself with your cell phone, its a real good way to quickly and easily diagnose errors.
 
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