Tight Nocks & Bareshaft Tuning

[kawika b]

What do tight nocks on a bareshaft show up as,,, a false weak or stiff?

[Chris Surtees]

kawika,

I had a tight nock issue once before and my arrows and bareshafts were all over the place. It took me awhile to figure it but all I can say from my experience is flight will be inconsistent.

Chris

[kawika b]

thanks chris,,,by the way, the arrows you sent me work great at the distances i've been shooting them at. bareshafting always weirds me out though. not used to seeing the type of flight bareshafting shows you.

[jbb]

My tight nocks would do just about anything.  Fly straight, left or right.  It seemed like they were just as apt to do one as they were the other.

[GingivitisKahn]

You could try filing them out a bit.  You'll probably want to do that anyway, feathers or no.  Take nock tightness right out of the picture.

:-)

[Seven]

When I get or make new arrows the very first thing that I do is to check the nock fit.  If too tight I sand them lightly until they fit.  I want them to hold the string when the bow is pointing down but to come off with a light finger tap.
-Chad

[Gil]

Dip the nock in hot water for a few seconds and put it in the string,it will give you the fit you need,might need to do it a few times to get it right thou.
Gil

[Chris Surtees]

Kawika,

Glad the arrows are working out. I also have had my fair share of bareshafting blues. It has taken me awhile to get it down.

Chris

[Rick McGowan]

I adjust all my nocks before I even try to tune. To tight, I use a very fine file with a rounded safe edge.

[GingivitisKahn]

Gil - you're talking about plastic nocks?  If I'm reading you right, you're talking about water hot enough to soften the plastic nock enough that it reshapes itself on the string for you?

Dang man - that's a really good idea (unless I just failed to understand you - heh).

[Rick McGowan]

Yep, you can just dip them in boiling water for a few seconds, but it is very difficult to get them exactly right, I only do it if I need to close them up and then file them back open to fit.

[NoCams]

I never could get the hot water trick to work for me ??? I even boiled them twice and they were still too tight. Now I just use a emery board, ( fingernail file ). I have also found that the easton nocks are actually soft enough that you can bend them to fit. I shoot carbon express arrows and their nocks are way to hard to bend. I have to file them.

nocams

[BFinegan]

i just bareshafted for the first time and after a lot of frustration and trying "everything",(i'll admit i was ready to give up) i finally realized the nocks were too tight and no matter what i did i was going to get inconsistent flight. i used some 150 grit sand paper to file them down. i'll never tune another arrow again with out getting the proper nock fit adjusted first. HUGE DIFFERENCE!

in my opinion it's the most overlooked and underated thing you can do to get good arra flight and consistency.

[Dsturgisjr]

Tight nocks will hang on the string longer. With the S path of a finger shooter's string the arrow will impact to the left for a RH shooter.

I would recommend reserving your string with the proper size serving.

[Gil]

Gingkhan,You got it right.Olso works the other way around with the loose nocks,you just pinch the nock a little while on the string while still hot.
Gil

[GingivitisKahn]

Funky!  Thanks guys - I'm going to heat up some water and dink around with some nocks.  :-)