bare shaft tuning distance?

[Sam McMichael]

I have acquired an English style longbow, and none of my current arrows are flying quite well enough. Normally, I have no need to bare shaft tune, but this time I feel it is necessary.

At what distance do most of you guys test?

One other thing... I want to shoot fairly heavy arrows of 11/32 diameter. Plus, I like fairly long arrows,

Here is what I have. The bow is 71" long and pulls 50# at 28" with no arrow shelf. I draw 25". My preference is 29" arrows (I think long shafts stabilize more smoothly) shooting 125 grain points with self knocks. Any suggestions for a starting shaft?

Mostly it will be used for 3D and possibly some hunting,

[Looper]

I usually shoot a couple at 10 yards to verify that I'm close in spine. Be sure to make as accurate a guess as to what spine you'll need as a starting point. If you are way off, you'll likely break a wood shaft when it hit the target sideways.

Then I move back to 15-17 yards and shoot a dozen shots. Personally, I just use two arrows, one fletched and one bare. Six shots of each gives me something to work with. I try to make sure each shot is a good one, meaning that, if I pluck the string or make some other obvious error, I discount that shot and shoot another.

I then make adjustments and reshoot at the same distance to verify the changes were correct. At that point, I typically just put on broadheads and fine-tune from there. With my broadheads, I'll move on back to 30, maybe even 40 yards.

One thing to remember is that you need to be shooting in absolute calm conditions. Wind will really mess with your tuning.

With your setup, you'll probably need somewhere around a 40-45 spine.

[McDave]

If you are drawing 25" on a bow rated 50# @ 28", then you're pulling about 40#.   Generally you need an arrow that has a weaker spine than the draw weight for a bow with no center cut.  That may be a reason why you like the long arrows, because that works in the same direction.  So I would suggest trying arrows with a weaker spine than your draw weight, maybe 35# spine shafts.  Your longer arrow length may get you up to a 40# spine shaft, as looper suggests, I don't know.

I think you will probably get different results bare shafting at different distances because of the high degree of paradox.  You may have a difficult time tuning with bare shafts because of that.  If so, just try various spines and tip weights with finished arrows and you should be able to see some difference in how they fly, wobble on long shots, etc.

[Larrydawg]

My self Osage bow is 47# @ 28 and it shoots 35-40spine arrows the best.
Larrydawg

[Bud B.]

Sam have you measured the draw weight at 25"?

Let's assume you lose 2# for every inch. That puts you at 44#. If using wood, I'm with looper in the 40-45 range, but 29" arrows might bump you to the 45-50 range. If arrows are weak (40-45 range), you can at least trim them to tune. But that might leave you with a shorter arrow than desired.

If you assume you lose 3# for every inch you're still in the 40-45 range.

Measuring the actual draw weight will take out alot of guessing.

Getting a test kit in your desired length with 125gr points would be a huge benefit starting in the 35-40 range going to the 45-50 range. Two arrows in each weight group.

[Sam McMichael]

Bud, no I haven't measured the actual draw weight as I don't have a scale. Here is what I have seen so far. I have some 5/16 arrows at 26" length in the 35 40 # range with 125 grain points and self knocks, and the arrow wags to the left just a bit. I have also tried some 5/16 40 - 45# arrows at 29" and 125 grain points using plastic knocks. They also wag just a bit left but not too bad.  Tomorrow I may put a few more twists in the string to see if that helps.  I have some 11/32 40# arrows, but they have heavy points from an experiment from another bow. Maybe 125 grain points will work on them. Will the difference in shaft diameter make a difference? Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Bjorn]

The diameter tech speaking will make a difference but it won't show up. I'm in the camp that says go under bow weight like 5#. 11/32 fir arrows will weigh a bit more than cedar-call Surewood and get a test pack-they have excellent Doug Fir. Like others I start at 10 yards and finish at 25. Have fun!