Byron Ferguson's tuning video

[oldbohntr]

Is anyone out there familiar with the tuning method he uses early in this video?  He shoots a bare full length shaft into a bag target from short range and repeatedly shortens the arrow until it enters the target perfectly straight.  A newby asked me why it works when he has no point at all on the shaft.  I said it shouldn't work because the point weight changes the spine.  But, I viewed the video and in some scenes it looks like there is a small point, but he never mentions it and seems to go straight from pulling out of the target to cutting another increment off the shaft.  And, logically, it would seem to be destructive to repeatedly glue and remove inserts in those carbons.

What am I missing about this process?

[timbermoose]

i'm a wood/bamboo only guy, but, i recently helped a friend tune his arrows in that fashion. he did not glue the insert in. just had the field point screwed in and pushed the insert into the shaft. cut of 1/4"-1/2" increments till it hit straight in the target. he did that with 3 shafts to find a common "ground", then cut all his shafts the same length and glued in the inserts. couple other guys that use carbons cut from the nock end. no glue there.

[Legolas]

Better to leave the point end alone and just cut the nock end. This is parallel arrows we are talking about not tapered.

[KumaSan]

I cut from the nock end, because my point inserts are glued in. Just sticking the inserts in will result in your possibly losing the field points.

[McDave]

My assumption is that he did have points in, but possibly because of the way it was videoed, or because he was cutting from the nock end, it may not have looked like it.  There is no way you could bare shaft tune without putting in the points you plan on using, and maybe changing them if needed as part of the tuning process.

[oldbohntr]

Well, of course, that must be true...at least from my experience.  But, he says nothing about points, changing point weight, cutting from the nock end, etc.  And, the field point that could be there in the video seems short-doesn't appear to be heavier than 125 gr and maybe lighter.  Yet he's tuning a heavy hunter 400 to a 71# bow. I think he should have explained that part better.  

I just weighed a 32" HH arrow-dipped and crested but not fletched-with aluminum insert and 125 grain point.  It weighed 630 grains and showed 13% FOC.

I just expected a bit different setup from the guru of the heavy carbon arrow, and certainly one of the best shots around! That's what threw me off.  If it were me, I'd have hung something in the range of 175-250 grains or more on the front when I started with the full length shaft-because that's about where I'd have expected the best results. He obviously was using something MUCH lighter.  

Obviously, the man knows much more than I do about all this, and I am always willing to learn something!

[Brianlocal3]

He shoots 190 or 175 heads , Simmons.
Byron tunes FOR THE BROADHEAD, so that is why he doesn't talk about changing point weights. He wants to use what he wants to use, not where the point weight worked out for.

Now for the video, the point never took me by surprise so I'm gonna look at it again but I'm thinking he would have had his 175 /190 up front.

[Stump73]

Never seen the video but could it be possible that he could have heavy insets in the shaft and using a lighter point? Or maybe he is doing that arrow for the video and not worrying about the point weight Ttt hats in there?

[Bladepeek]

I accidentally fired an arrow - not even a bareshaft - without a point in it. I had just swapped points between two different spines and forgot to screw the second one in. Man, with only an 11 gr insert in it, that arrow went 10 ft to the left of the target from only 10 yards away. That was when I was shooting right handed. It hit the fence behind the target sideways.

[findbows]

I have shot and talked with Byron, I have not seen the video but I will tell one thing if he says to do something it's in your best interest to try it. He has forgot more about archery than I will every know.

[Brandywine]

How about calling Byron?  Wouldn't that cut through all the speculation?  
Then, please share what he says.  
Byron keeps things simple and they work for him.
His fletching video worked for me.
Respectfully,
Kevin

[Meathook 1]

Use a plastic bag from Wally World and put it over the point insert and push them in shaft. I use a bag target to tune.

                       Good luck Terry

[DaveT1963]

There is always more than one way to skin a cat.  Bryon's method works great.  So does Rick Welch's.  Two schools of thought - manipulate the arrow or manipulate the bow to get the arrow flying right.

For me I don't want to have a different dozen arrows lying around for each one of my many bows.  I shoot the exact same arrow from all of them (GT 55/75 cut down to 28 inches and I always use around 200 grain broadheads/ fieldpoints).  I do this by manipulating my rest material, Sight window material, brace height and nock set.  With carbon arrows they are going to straighten out pretty quick no matter what sized spine (at least a lot quicker than wood or aluminum).  Add three five inch feathers and they straighten up really quick.  Then it's just a matter of getting the arrow to fly and hit where you look.  

You can get there by adjusting point weight, shortening or lengthening the arrow, changing spine of arrow, etc....  For me I adjust the bow not my arrows.  

I do this by using differnt sight window material and brace height to move arrow impact left/right and nock set to adjust up/down impact. I could care less if they bare shaft great - what I care about is are my fletched arrows fully recovered and flying straight at 10 feet (paper will tell you this) and do they hit where I naturally look.

I get the same arrow to fly well and hit where I look from my 50# bow all the way up to my 70# bows.

BTW - I can usually get GT 15/35s, 35/55s and 55/75s... to fly from all my bows with the same point weight using this method.  I just prefer the stiffer 55/75 arrow and more overall weight.  If I am going to pursue a large beast like moose or elk I may add 100 grain brass inserts to get the weight up - adjust my rest material - tweak my nok and pretty much have the same arrow flight pretty quickly.  What I love about this method is that I really have come to understand the flight characteristics of my 55/75 arrows because they remain consistent over many years.  This works well for me.

[oldbohntr]

Thanks, guys. I too know pretty much what broadhead I want to use going into the process and tune the arrow and bow setup to fit one of the weights available in that head.  I was just asking to make certain I hadn't missed something.\\
Good hunting to all.

[Brianlocal3]

Dave
I gotta say now that is impressive.

Me , I just buy a set of arrows and tune them to my bow .

I'd love to have one set of arrows do it all

[DaveT1963]

Brian you are probably a much better shot than I am.... that's why I keep em under 20 yards lol.  Most of my bows are pretty much alike with the major difference being how close they are cut to center.  I grabbed my "stock" arrows and had the new Taipan shooting them within 5 minutes and all I did was adjust brace height and put some tape on string for a nock lol.  With me the weakest link is the shooter - not the bow or the arrows  

I use to worry with matching the arrows to the bow - but it is just much easier for me to "tune" the bow to my arrows.

[Mississippi bow hunter]

I was shooting with Byron several months ago. I was shooting several different HH shafts. He would just stick the insert into the end of the shaft without gluing it for tuning purposes. Once he optained perfect arrow flight, he would glue it. The main thing is shooting into a soft target,so that you don't loose your insert and tip. Byron will help you any way that he can. Give him a call. I have been shooting the HH shafts for about a year now. I really like them, they are tough and fly great.

[DaveT1963]

Mississippi Bow Hunter - besides weight any differnce between them and classic GTs?  I may try the HHs as I like more weight in my arrows anyways.

[Mississippi bow hunter]

Dave,
          I like both the Gold Tip Traditional and the Heavy Hunter. The main difference between the two shafts is the wall thickness and the weight. The HH's are defiantly thicker. The wood grain is also a little darker on the HH shaft. I haven't seen a whole lot of difference in tunning between the two. Every bow shoots different and every shooter has a different style of shooting. It would be really nice if you could get a test kit. I know Byron will sale you one of each if you give him a call. When I was at his house, he told me that he though the 400's were shooting the best for me, and I should get the 400's for my bow. I got the 320's because that is what I always have shot. They were to stiff, I had to send them back and get the 400's like he said. Byron has spent literally 100's of hours testing and shooting arrows. Exspecially out of longbows. I like the HH the best if I had to choose between the two.