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I give up. (Bareshaft new arrows)

3K views 27 replies 14 participants last post by  LastChild85 
#1 ·
Ok i give up. Tuning a recurve is harder and more complex than compound. Id have never guessed.
i bought some gt 500 trads and was going to use them for turkey season since im down to a few full length nugent arrows now. Local shop is out of nugents and i got the trads due to them being similar in gpi( .2 gpi diff).Before i cut em i decided to bareshaft tune. Boy was that mistake. No my form is not perfect. However, practicing at diff yardages in the yard i can consistently “kill” a 3-d target in my backyard (vital shot in the balloon). One minute i am hitting left and nock high and then i adjust the nock height down a 1/16”. Then im left and slightly high.
im down to a 7/16” nock height. Bs and fletched hit together and bs slightly point right indicated weak.
cut a gt 500 at 30 and its hitting left pointing right of all the fletched. The diff in grains is like 6
Im confused and about to just grab my 870 for turkey season. Trads are hard
 
#2 ·
1. No my form is not perfect.

2. Bs and fletched hit together and bs slightly point right indicated weak.
If your arrows are hitting with your bare shafts you are doing fine. Nock pointing direction "may" be indicating a stiff/weak shaft, but there's a good chance it's just showing a less than ideal release.

Guessing from you description that bare points right=weak that you are either not talking about the nock direction, or that you are left handed.
 
#3 ·
If your bare shafts and your fletched arrows are grouping together at 30 yards then you're good. If the bare shafts are hitting high or low or left or right than you can make the necessary dynamic spine adjustments. Nock pointing in a direction is in my opinion only useful up to about 10 yards.
 
#21 ·
Im a righty.
Correction I apologize as i was wound up typing earlier.
old arrows group together with arrow(nock end) pointing to the left. new arrow cut to same length pointing right.
I have micro arrows with different spines. A Victory VAP TKO used to not offer a weaker spine. But a 350 spine out of my recurve is too stiff. I'm pretty sure if they were 31" instead of 29" than they would fly great. So those Victory VAP's r just compound arrows. My 400 spine Blackeagle X-Impacts were just a shy little bit nock right with a bare sh. & my arrow would hit a spot but was tail right all the way from 20 yards into the target. But they were consistently flying good. So I got some new Carbon/Glass limbs & they fly straight on every arrow bare sh. from 15 yards even during the wind & 🥶 temps. My biggest problem is shooting 10 times b4 I have to go inside to warmup.
 
#5 ·
Don't look for nock kick, which is to say arrow flight, unless your form is very dialed in. If you're still getting going with trad, just focus on grouping until you are consistent enough. I bareshaft on arrow flight out to 25-30m but it took a long time to get there. I was pulling my hair out just like you.
 
#7 ·
If your new shafts have consistent nock kick to the right and you're a RH shooter then they're indicating stiff already. So cutting them is going to stiffen them further. Try going up 50gn in point weight on the new shafts at the length they are, see if they straighten up.

I've seen a lot of spine difference at same marked deflection across brands. What you are seeing seems pretty radical tho. Make sure nock fit is the same also.
 
#11 ·
Bareshaft tuning can send you insane, staring into the ravine. This is normal. The more insane you become, the more the bareshafts will gaslight you.

Take a day off, get plenty of rest and try again. When you have beautiful bareshaft flight (as that seems to be what you seek) you will be cackling like a mad scientist.
 
#14 ·
Question: You said the shafts are exactly the same except for 2 grains. Did you check diameter? That's as important as spine, when trying to duplicate results.

Sounds like you're trying to do two things at the same time IE bares are high and left. Get the nocking point right first. Use two nocking points. I use tie ons and leave the tag ends long until I have it correct. Tighten after every three shots or so. You can twist them up or down a serving length. The reason you do the nocking point first is because you get more energy out of an arrow with the correct NP.

Lot of the above is correct. If you're in a hurry for turkey hunting and bares and fletched are close. Good enough. Your shooting might not be capable of shooting a perfect bare shaft every shot. Send me a video. I can tell you. Remmeber the old saying, 'you can only tune as good as you can shoot'. Plenty of time to get a bare shaft to fly perfect after turkey time.

Best turkey advice - USE A STRING TRACKER.

Bowmania
 
#15 ·
Bow specs are as follows.
super grizz 58 amo
45# @ 28
28.5 draw
I shoot 3 under with a glove
Stock crappy bear string
Brush buttons and homeade paracord silencers 8” from the flemish wrap
nock height as we speak is at 7/16”
The 7/16” nh has shown good fletched flight
Yes the diameter of the two arrows is .246
They usexthe same nocks and inserts.
i am using these due to an abundance of gold tip accessories i have since i shoot hunter xt with my compound.
yes i agree, bareshafts only fly as good as i can shoot. Thats why i am wanting to just fletch some for now to get me by until im better.
im frustrated because it seems like new shooters are just given arrows at shops with a certain spine and they can build confidence with them. Maybe i should fletch a few at full length 32” and see how they fly. If they are good then run with it.
for broadheads i will be using stingers with bleeders 125grn.
 
#17 ·
If it’s not way stiff, you can probably adjust brace height and get them a bit better. Absolutely get nock point adjusted first, and don’t make two adjustments at the same time.

I know we say that you can only tune bareshafts as good as you shoot, but if arrows are consistently hitting stiff or weak then you can still try to get the hits to an average over the center. Yes, there will be some lefts, rights, highs and lows, but that’s better then all lefts, rights, highs, and lows. Just get the hits to an average for your ability, then work on you. Adjust the tune as you progress.
 
#18 ·
10-4
So im gonna take today off.
maybe fletch a few full lengths.
i have a field point test kit. Ill sling a few tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks for all the help. I very much appreciate it.
as frustrating as this is, i still have no desire to pick up my compound. Trads are tough but they are fun.
 
#19 ·
Just tossing this out here… my old compound dl was 28.5 and I m an inch shorter now than that after 6-7 years of shooting a recurve. When I started i was 27” at best. I say this because on your fingers you probably have lower in the 40’s. Have you measured it?? That said, a 600 spine might be a better choice. I never had a griz but had a kodiak and a montana and 600’s worked so much better with lower 40’s that 500’s for me. I played around with 500’s quite a bit too many times and for many bows. I always had to load them up with point weight out of these 40 lb bows and they still never left to bow and hit like a trimmed down 600. There is nothing about this whole trad thing that is simple really. You have to like to tinker a bit and when you get a bow shooting right jot all the stuff down. Brace, nock, measure your tillers, measure string silencer distance from tips and buy a couple extra strings that are the same too and rig them up and shoot them a bit. This way you have a good spare or two. I think trad bow are not hard but they need dedication and practice. Things started to work much better for my shooting once I sold off my compound. It really came together nicely. On the bright side, given the price of a nice compound these days, you can get a heck of a nice recurve when you sell it. ;)
 
#26 ·
Welp this is the latest.
full lengths and a bareshaft
I played with my nock height for the hell of it. Was not getting solid flight and they were all landing erratic.
settled at 9/16”
Also, i will be tying a second nock point under nock. I realized i was pinching the nock with my glove.
gonna fletch a few more and practice. Now im motivated.
Big thanks to all who have chimed in and goven advise. Big thanks to Remote for telling me to take a break. That cleared me up.
 

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