New-to-me tuning problem

[twostrings]

I've got a new-to-me tuning problem...

I've been shooting the Beman classics for years now. Sad that they are no longer made. Anyways, when I originally bare shaft tuned them they were flying like darts. I guess my draw length has lengthened over the last couple of years because they are now shooing weak with the same insert/broad head setup.

Well, it's off season, so I went to bareshaft tune them again, cutting a quarter inch off at a time. Each shot showed to be weak with a perfectly level nock. Well, I wasn't getting anywhere fast and took off a half inch (instead of a quarter) and ended up with a shaft that was still weak AND now it shoots nock low.

Anyone know what could cause this?

Matthew
   

[rolltidehunter]

nock left? nock right?

are you right or left handed?

[katman]

When predicted results with changing arrow length do not work think opposite, maybe your to stiff. Throw as much weight as you got on your original length bareshaft and compare to what you had.

[JRY309]

Try before cutting them shorter anymore you could try building out the side plate alittle if your shaft is weak?

[twostrings]

Rolltidehunter, Great question. It's shooting nock low and left. I am a right handed shooter.

Katman, I've got a full length shaft with the same weight up front that I've also been shooting at the same time as the one i've been cutting. It's shows weak. Nock left (right handed).

JRY309, Does building the side plate out weaken or stiffen spine? I thought it weakened.

I'm doing my best to keep the current weight up front the same. 125 grain head and a 100 grain brass insert.

Thanks,
Matthew

[Michael Arnette]

Yep, you probably got too stiff which creates some other tuning problems. I've been told that carbon arrows can sometimes be inconsistent in spine too and concur with this thinking so maybe try a few different of the same shafts?

[McDave]

Originally posted by twostrings:

I'm doing my best to keep the current weight up front the same. 125 grain head and a 100 grain brass insert.

Even so, I think the best thing you could do at this point would be to change the point weight drastically and see what happens.  First, unlike cutting, it's totally reversible, so you're not losing anything.  Second, if something strange is going on, like a false nock left, this will help you find out.  Once you figure out what's going on, you can go back to your desired point weight and tune for shaft stiffness as needed.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by JRY309:
Try before cutting them shorter anymore you could try building out the side plate alittle if your shaft is weak?

Shimming your strike plate out is going to give you instant feed back without altering your tip weight or cutting arrows.... also... The shorter your shafts are the less spine response you are going to get from adding tip weight.For example: if you get a 29" shaft bare shaft tuned perfectly by slowly cutting the shaft length, you could add 50-75 grains on the point and have no effect on the spine.

[rolltidehunter]

Ok if your right handed and your shooting nock left then you are correct you are showing a weak spine. But I don't think that is the problem. What is your bow lbs and arrow length and what is the spine of your arrow? I would not do anything to your strike plate. Tune the arrow to your bow not tune your bow to your arrow IMO

[old_goat2]

Building out the strike plate makes the arrows ACT stiffer. Are you seeing the arrow kick left or is the arrow sticking out of the target oriented to the left? I imagine you are seeing them kick left, just trying to eliminate possibilities as you can't always trust how arrows react with target media! Also make sure your holding your bow vertical without canting it when bare shafting to eliminate some false readings!

[CEO]

As an quick alternative to cutting, building out the side plat, or changing point weight, try short drawing/long drawing to give instant feedback as to which way you should go. If you over draw by an inch and your arrows fly better, then they are too stiff. Hope that makes sense.

[Pheonixarcher]

Try correcting the nock low with the shortened shaft and see if that doesn't correct both problems. I have found that I need to change my nock height while working on trimming a shaft to proper dynamic spine. Take a good measurement of brace height and nock height where it's at now, and write it down so you can go back to exactly where you're at if you don't like the changes you make. As far as that goes, you can raise or lower your brace height to simulate a change in center shot. Lowering your brace will yield similar results to building out your side plate, and raising it will simulate a closer to center shot. If you lower your brace, and arrow flight cleans up, then your current shaft set up is too weak for your preferred brace height. Likewise, if you raise your brace height and arrow flight cleans up, your current shaft is too stiff for your original brace height. Adjust strike plate thickness accordingly.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Is there any new excessive wear on your strike plate or shelf?

[Jakeemt]

Whenever possible I prefer to tune by bow vs tune arrows. By that I mean if I know the set up is close I will change my brace height, build out or decrease my side plate, also string silencers can have a major change on dynamic spine. If your bow is ilf you can decrease or increase poundage as well. This is just me as I like a certain length arrow and point. Again you have to be fairLy close to do this.

[Jakeemt]

Also changes in length will also effect nock height tuning as well. If you think about what exactly the arrows is doing in your mind it will make sense. Just like a shorter shaft flexes less on the horizontal plane the same holds true for the vertical plane. I don't have the exact words to describe this correctly but, if you picture it in your monds eye you will see what I mean.

[Onehair]

I would not be surprised  to find the old shafts have begun to degrade.

[MnFn]

You have gotten a lot of possible solutions and I hesitate to add my thoughts.  I will tho because I have experienced nearly the same thing.

I am shooting a 53# Blacktail.  I started shooting  CE heritages 150's kept cutting until bare minimum and still weak. Went to CE 250's seemed Ok, but not always consistent. Tried some 340,  it seemed to work but could show weak.  Then they started to not fly all that well.  At times my fletch would cut the top of my hand.

I really believe for me it wa all about poor form. I tried to break down all elements of my shooting. Gradually it came around. My spine was way too stiff,  and although I measured
my draw length many times, when it came to actually shooting I did much better with a little shorter draw length.

I ended up shooting a 63# spined Sitks Spruce about 28" with a 160 grain broadhead, 145's worked well also.  axis 400s were also usable with the right weight up front.

Take it for what it's worth, that's just my experience.
Gary