Broad head tuning

[nhbuck1]

How do you guys tune broad heads? If I bareshaft tune and my field points fly great can I expect my broadheads to fly reasonably the same or close?

[mgf]

IME, yes.

If my bare shafts and fletched shafts hit the same place, my broadheads are usually good.

But...broadheads may show mistakes more than field points.

I always check "tune" by shooting broadheads but I tune with bare shafts to minimize the number of broadheads I need to shoot.

Broadheads destroy expensive targets in short order.

[slowbowjoe]

Probably close, maybe the same. Might need to tweak just a little (I do it with point weight when necessary).

[nhbuck1]

Seems my broad heads impact higher then my field points, any clue why?

[mgf]

How do your bare shafts impact?

If the broadheads impact higher it might mean that your nock pont is low.

[nhbuck1]

Bareshafts fly great, my nock point is at 5\\8 and I shoot split

[mgf]

Do the bare shafts impact the same point as fletched?

[nhbuck1]

i believe so, i shoot instinctive so i dont aim, i dont know how else to do this when i shoot instinctive

[nhbuck1]

anyone?

[Longtoke]

Shoot a couple broadheads into the target then shoot some field points and see how they group. I also think the wind is a good tool to check if your set up is truly well tuned. Shoot in the to the wind in all different angles and cross winds and watch for funky stuff to happen.

[mgf]

I primarily go by impact point...the location of a number of shots (a group).

I don't necessarily trust the way the arrow sits in the target or my ability to see anything beyond gross defects in flight.

The larger your "groups" the more course your tune may be, or at least" it might require a lot more shots to gain the same level of confidence in your tune.

How you go about directing your arrow to the intended impact point probably doesn't matter except that the better you are at it, the easier and quicker it is to tune.

[mgf]

I wouldn't get too preoccupied with tuning before I could hit my "spot" with a reasonable degree of certainty.

Get set up with some that should be close and shoot. As your shooting gets tighter, refine your tune.

Shooting errors will have a much greater effect on arrow flight than minor differences in hardware (arrow spine or whatever).

[nhbuck1]

i thought you want to tune your bareshafts based on how they fly in the air also? nock right or nock left, find one that flys straight?

[nhbuck1]

i thought you want to tune your bareshafts based on how they fly in the air also? nock right or nock left, find one that flys straight?

[mgf]

I guess that could work...if...you can see well enough.

I can't and I can't do a very good job of shoot when I'm trying to closely watch the arrow fly.

A poor flying bare shaft is probably also going to hit the wrong spot. A statistically significant number of impacts (bare vs fletched) should tell you what you need to know.

The reason that I recommend not getting too preoccupied with tuning too early is that how you shoot has a GREAT effect on how your arrows fly.

Lets say that your making some shooting error and your bare shafts are flying stiff. Now you tune for that.

Then you correct the shooting error and your bare shafts fly weak.

I actually had that exact thing happen except I strongly suspected that my problem was my shooting so I left the arrows alone and worked on "tuning" my shooting.

The thing is that you're not just tuning the arrow to the bow. You're tuning the bow/arrow combination to how you shoot.

That's exactly what you want to do as long as you're going to continue shooting the same way.

I don't think of "tuning" as a one time event. It's an ongoing process.

[nhbuck1]

so tune the bow on how you shoot and what the arrow flight tells you your saying? you can see a big difference in flight when its way nock left vs  a bareshaft flying like a dart or somewhat close, what abut paper tuning? is this more accuarate then bareshaft? i just want my broadheads the fly and hit the same spot every time

[mahantango]

You need to have near perfect form, or a mechanical release, to have bare shafts perfect in the air. Point of impact is all you need to worry about.

[nhbuck1]

so how do i get point of impact correct? this is all confusing, i have bareshafts that fly straight with my setup now? so are you saying im just using it towards correcting my form?

[mahantango]

No, what I'm saying is that without feathers arrows will fly tail left,tail right, nock high or low depending on how good or bad your release is, BUT, the point of impact will be fairly consistent. It will be left of fletched shafts if they are too stiff, right of fletched shafts if they are weak. For a right handed shooter, opposite for a lefty. Check out ACS website for info on bareshaft tuning.

[Fletcher]

I paper tune with matching weight field points and then shoot broadheads and field points together. Most times they will both shoot together and I'm good to go.  If not, I'll either go back to the paper or adjust brace, nock point, side plate or spine until they shoot together.

On a good release, no wind day, I can tune to a 3 lb spine range.  Tuned to a no tear paper tune, I have never had broadheads of matching weight that did not shoot perfectly.