Broadhead tuning

[Machino]

After trying a search I couldn't find a definitive answer.  I am shooting some Doug Fir shafts out of my longbow 52# @ 28 and the field pointed arrows are doing great.  Hitting tennis ball sized target the majority of the time from around 15 yards.  Well, I made a new batch of arrows for this years season and tipped them with 145gr Ace Broadheads.  The flight of the broadhead arrows has been all over the place.  Consulting the O L Adcock tuning guide has been something I have been paying close attention to, but I can't start when they don't really group well.  So it seems they may not be true.  How to true them?  It seems this would be difficult with the glue on's.  I do have a arrow rolling/trueing device coming my way soon.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

[bowslinger]

It would be helpful to know your bow and arrow setup.

Hill style bow or modern reflex\\deflex? Brace height? Arrow length?  Fletch type and length? Arrow Spine?

Based on the information you have provided, your broadeheads are indicating you are not shooting a properly spinded arrow, but without some information on your setup, it will be diffiuclt to assess your situation.

[Mongo]

Did you even bother to spin test them?

[JimB]

You didn't say if you bare shafted them to tune.Fletching can cover up a lot of tuning issues.If an arrow is not tuned properly,the broadheads,especially large,wide ones,won't impact to the same place as the field point arrows.That's the whole point of tuning,to get the broadheads impacting with the practice arrows.I assume you would have read that in OL's writings.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't check your broadheads to see if they spin true.That should be the first order of business when you mount them but you just leave a few unanswered questions about how you went about things so it's hard to give much advice.

[Bldtrailer]

This helped me tune my  broadhaeds   http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=539460   I was able to adjust the nocking pnt and brace hight  to get fld pnts & broadheads to hit the same spot

[Archie]

The reason that bareshaft tuning is so helpful is because you determine how an arrow flies at your particular setup without correction from feathers.  Charts, graphs, and calculators are limited in their usage because everyone's form and release are unique, and as such significantly affect arrow flight.  For example, I get excellent arrow flight, but the charts and Stu's calculator give bad advice for me, and when I follow them, I have broadheads corkscrewing, diving, and doing who-knows-what else.  It was tedious and time-consuming to learn to bareshaft, and then fine-tune my setups, but now I can shoot broadheads 50 yards or more and watch them fly like darts all the way.

I've only been to a handful of shoots where there were other trad archers shooting (I usually shoot alone in my yard), but consistently seeing other peoples' arrows fishtailing and porpoising, and hearing arrows smack risers, and seeing them stuck in targets at all sorts of weird angles... that impressed upon me that arrow tuning is not just make-believe, and that a lot of people don't have good arrow flight, and that good arrow flight doesn't just "happen".

Since most of don't use sights, a lot of us shoot instinctively, and often at max distances around 20 yards, it is easy to adjust our mental aiming mechanism to accomodate bad arrow flight.  If we are consistent in our release, and are shooting field points with feathers, our minds figure out where to point the bow to get those arrows where we want them... no matter that the arrows are not flying true to get there.  But throw a broadhead on that arrow, and the wind-planing kicks in... introducing a very inconsistent variable that cannot be accomodated, and that doesn't group with field points.  This frustration can be ameliorated by first pinning down which shaft/length/weight combinations are going to work for you and your bow... by bareshafting.

EDIT:  Ha!  I just read your original post again... maybe you already bareshafting!  Whoops...!  Untrue glue-on broadheads can be problematic, too.  But once you have the tuning and the truing cleaned up, your problems should go away.

[Machino]

Thanks for the replies.  I'm shooting a 52# @ 28 R/D Longbow.  I got a test kit from surewoods and the 65-70# spine was flying the best.  29 1/2" BOP with 3 shields at 5".  Got the fletched to line up with the bare shafts great.  I did spin test but was not sure how to correct the "untrueness".  Thanks again.

[Looper]

You can adjust them by softening the glue with heat and gently pressing the point in the direction it needs to go. Sometimes turning the head will help. Just make sure your tapers are centered and consistent.

One thing I'd do is take the one arrow that spins the truest and compare it to your fletched shafts. Use a paper plate and draw a spot in the center to aim at. Shoot 6 or 8 shots with the broadhead at 20 yards. Then shoot the same number of shots with a fletched shafts. That'll give you a good idea of the tune.