bare shaft tuning trad equipment

[jmar595]

So, I haven't shot in a while and went to the range/store today. I asked them to refletch some of my arrows. I did some shooting and saw that they were flying out to the left a lot. So I asked them if they had a place to bare shaft, figured while they were going to refletch my arrows, might as well see what they are looking like. The guy was surprised and said he had NEVER seen a recurve paper tuned. Is this something weird to do? I am just wanting to get the best performance with my bow.

[MnFn]

It helps me a lot to find the right arrow.

[damascusdave]

I have never shot a stickbow through paper simply because I have never felt the need...I shot compounds through paper a lot simply because I did feel the need...paper tuning a bow, any bow, is just one way to confirm arrow flight

DDave

[mgf]

Are you talking about bare shafting or shooting through paper.

I shoot bare shafts all the time but I don't bother shooting through paper.

[Caughtandhobble]

Nothing weird at all, a well tuned bow is a more forgiving bow.

I primarily bare shaft tune but when I get the urge to go to the local shop and shoot the chronograph I always shoot through paper. It seems that I never have any surprises, but I have got some funny responses from the onlookers.  

[Bill Carlsen]

I like and shoot my recurves with an elevated rest and plunger. Makes tuning so much easier. Bare shafting tells me a number of things. One, bow set up is right….nocking point, brace height, etc. It also tells me the arrow's spine and point weight is correct. It also tells me a lot about my release. The last thing I want to worry about is if my equipment is in tune and bare shafting, for me, is the starting point. Once I have field points hitting the target straight and true I try broadheads. Typically any head I use, if mounted properly and of the correct weight, will shoot well. When I was shooting off the shelf broadhead selection was limited as I could never get all broadheads to shoot well off the shelf. Some did and I hunted successfully with them. I can also use a smaller fletch. Right now I use 3.5" four fletch and my hunting arrows shoot straight, fast and quietly. I can get 20 yards in my basement range so if I can get my bare shafts shooting well from there that is usually good enough. I have been able to shoot bare shafts out to 50 yards back in the day when I was more competitive. But I hunt almost exclusively so 20 yards is about as far as I want to shoot in the woods….around here that is a long shot unless you have lanes cleared.

[KentuckyTJ]

I use a lighted nock now to tune with.

Paper tuning is my go-to method. Your bow has to be tuned to perform well. Most guys at the "shops" are unfamiliar with stickbows, and just don't know anything about tuning them.

Bisch

[sweeney3]

I bareshaft every arrow to the bow.  My intent is to get it flying properly in all regards but just a slight hair weak, as the fletching will effectively stiffen the spine slightly.  Bare shafting is a fine way to determine nock point, brace height, spine, form issues... It's a very good tuning method.  It isn't the only one, but it's a fine one.

[jmar595]

I will have to invest in making a paper setup. What other tuning methods are there?

[Diamond Paul]

Paper can tell you lots of things, but as some have said already, your form (release, especially) must be pretty good in order to see much from paper.  With wheels and mechanical releases, it's much easier to diagnose what the arrow is doing from paper, and basically any arrow that is stiff enough can be made to shoot well from a compound, by virtue of the rest adjustment.  If you google O.H. Adcock's bare shaft planing method, it will give you a link to that, and I think that method works pretty well for most shooters using trad bows with fingers.  As he explains, it does not depend on your form being excellent in order to read the results.  You might shoot through paper for ten years and never be able to get a bullet-hole with fingers.

[Scott Barr]

I always start out paper tuning with a bare shaft.  Easy to do.  It took me 10 minutes to make a paper tune set-up with 3/4" plastic pipe and roll of paper that painters use for masking work.  Also easy to take apart and store. Scott

[Wheels2]

I don't shoot a bare shaft through paper but instead shoot indoors under the lights and watch the arrow flight.  At 15-20 yards I can see the tail end and determine spine corrections needed.

[Ryan Sanpei]

Here's a snapshot to my tuning method.

 

[Diamond Paul]

That was a good vid, Ryan.  Love your work area.  I'm trying to get my garage cleaned out and put something like that in there.  Awesome.  Very nice bow, too, by the way.

[reddogge]

Originally posted by Wheels2:
I don't shoot a bare shaft through paper but instead shoot indoors under the lights and watch the arrow flight.  At 15-20 yards I can see the tail end and determine spine corrections needed.

Bingo, the simplest and easiest method of all. No need to walk up and look at the shaft in the target either, just watch how they fly. I do mine outdoors though.