Nock tuning don't forget to do it!

[NYSKIER]

Just wanted to throw out a note to anyone who is in the process of fine tuning their set ups to not forget about the importance of nock tuning. I already knew how important it was but this was reiterated to me this past weekend while I was fine tuning my bow. I had a bareshaft that was flying super wacky vs my others. This shaft would hit almost two feet left at 30 yards from the other bareshafts and fletched arrows. I did some indexing and had it flying with the others in no time. So bottom line don't forget about nock tuning!

 

[nphunter]

Just out of curiosity what arrows are you shooting? I have never experienced this, i do bare shaft tune but have never shot all of my arrows as bare shafts. I typically buy arrows with tight tolerances, A/C Injexions, VAP Elite and now RIP TKO Elites. I really like how Victory marks the spine on all there arrows to be the same.

 

[NYSKIER]

I'm shooting RIP TKO Gamers might not need to index as much on arrows with tighter tolerances

 

[Brendan]

What you're talking about is nock tuning. Indexing to me is marking the arrow, then fletching according to a mark.

I buy high quality arrows, spine test and index them off the spine, fletch accordingly, and haven't had to nock tune yet...

Of course people like Tim Gillingham shoot and nock tune every bare shaft until they hit the same, index off of the nock, then fletch..

 

[NYSKIER]

Thanks for clearing up the the terminology Brendan I didn't mean to confuse anyone (Edited the thread name and my my original post)

 

[doverpack12]

I too find nock tuning invaluable. So much that I do it for any bow I tune or setup weather it be mine or friends. I’ve tried marking the spine on a spine checker and shooting that way and found out of 20 or 30 arrows I still needed to nock tune a few different than the stiff side. I typically shoot gold tip pro hunters or carbon express maxima hunters. Seen the same thing with Easton Axis pre match grade version.

 

[philcox]

So, with Nock tuning, a dumb question: Which way do you turn the nock to do what?

Might seem like a simple question, but I am confused

Thx for any info.

Phil

 

[StopMakingSense]

Here's what I do with a 4 fletch, works very well

 

[Idaho Lefty]

@ PhiIcox,..
I put a tiny DOT with a sharpie, on my "cock Feather" Then, Nock the Arrow and shoot thru Paper at 12 Feet, turning the Arrow Clock wise ONE Vane at, a time, til I get a "Bullet hole" in Paper. The Plastic Nock has a tiny Tab on the side of it. A right hander, starts with the Tab pointing to the LEFT of Cock Vane ( Cock Vane, pointing UP,.. the one with the tiny Dot ) . I use ALL ONE Color Vanes and mark the Cock Vane with a couple of arrows ^ ^ pointing UP when, the BEST cock vane, position is found. Then wipe the dots off with acetone, after cock vane is "found" and marked with 2 of, the,.. ^^ Ranch Fairy on YouTube has a good vid on how to do this. "Nock Tuning" is one of the best kept archery secrets for awesome arrow flight/ accuracy and "Indexing" can be skipped as NOT necessary. I do SPIN Test my arrows FIRST and Junk the "Bad ones",.. first, BEFORE Fletching them. Nock Tuning, works great, for,.. ME ! You must have good Bow Hand "Form" , Trigger release, etc., IF you get TIRED,.. stop ! I usually do 3 to 4 arrows at a time, to keep good concetrarion and form. I also like some weight forward, on my Arrows ( FOC) of 11% to 17% ! Good luck !

 

[Ridge Ghost]

This is new to me, so help me understand- are you saying that you can change whether the arrow is flying true by simply rotating the nock?

 

[RosinBag]

I don’t think tight tolerances or spine indexing is enough.

I nock tune every arrow that is going down range. If I make any change to my bow, I check all my arrows again.

I have seen ½” - ¾” tears clear up with nock tuning.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Yet something else I've been immune to in the bowhunting world. I wish this luck would spread to all aspects of my life. Lol

 

[Gumbo]

Yet something else I've been immune to in the bowhunting world. I wish this luck would spread to all aspects of my life. Lol

Yeah we get it. You don't tune your bow or arrows and still shoot well enough to satisfy your own expectations. Congrats.

 

[Clownbuster]

Crap, another archery thing I didn't know about. You guys are KILLING me!

 

[Clownbuster]

Mine seem to fly really well, but I can see how some of my 60+ yard groups could benefit from some insight to proper setup.

This is new to me, so help me understand- are you saying that you can change whether the arrow is flying true by simply rotating the nock?

Anyone? Frothing at the mouth here...

 

[doverpack12]

To clarify a few questions above. You can nock tune (rotate nock) after the arrow is fletched but I prefer to nock tune before fletching which allows me to rotate very small amounts which is sometimes what it takes for me to clear up an 1/8” bareshaft tear to a perfect hole. If Fletched first you are limited to 3,4,6 nock positions, and your fletching is working to correct your arrow imperfections. I want the arrow as consistent and tuned to the bow and my other arrows as it can be so my fletching can help correct my mistakes when conditions are not perfect or I don’t have a perfect shot.

 

[RosinBag]

I am opposite of above, for me I am putting 12-18 grains on the rear and I think that changes dynamic spine. I paper tune at 4 yards and I don’t know if the fletching has done much correcting. I have done bare shaft nock tuning and then fletched and not all were still bullet holes. I presume that is from the arrow being weighted differently. But either method is better than not doing it.

 

[Brendan]

This is new to me, so help me understand- are you saying that you can change whether the arrow is flying true by simply rotating the nock?

Yes, it can, but not always.

For example, let's say you bare shaft tune your bow, all with unfletched arrows. You notice 2/12 of the arrows aren't grouping with the other 10 and are giving you a tear. Turning nocks can bring those arrows back into the group.

You can do the same thing if you have fletched arrows that won't group too, but sometimes harder to see and you may need to re-fletch.

I think high quality arrows in terms of spine consistency and straightness can minimize this, but not eliminate it.

This all has to do with dynamic spine, stiff and neutral axes of the arrow, and getting all your arrows to flex and behave exactly the same way.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Wow, thanks for the explanation. Always good to learn something new.

 

[Mikefeliz7]

Glad I read this before refletching next week