Shelf contact

[Kipp]

Hi guys,  I am a long time compound shooter and have recently purchased a recurve.   I have was wondering if the leather that came stock with the bow was adequate since I noticed contact marks on the wood self in front of the leather and on the Outside of the leather.  My question is the leather enough coverage?  And is the arrow making contact with the self in the right place?  I was reading on a website that the arrow should make contact with the self at the point directly above the low point in the handle, where the brace height is measured.  Mine is making contact in the middle of the handle about an inch forward of the throat of the handle.  I was hoping to post some pics but can't seem to figure out how at this time. Thanks for your time.

[BigBucksnTrucks]

Hello Kip, I've been told the same thing,  The arrow contact should be directly above the low point of the handle.  I put a toothpick under the bear hair shelf so there is minimal contact with the shelf and it is contacting in the right place.  It sounds like your nock may be to high pushing the arrow contact with the shelf foward.  I'm not an expert though, this is just what I've been taught, hopefully one of the experts will chime in.

[Roy from Pa]

What's the bow weight at your draw length and what spine arrows are you shooting? The arrow should contact the arrow "shelf" just above the point where your hand contacts the bow. And the side plate can be pushed out like BBT said above. The arrow hitting in front of the shelf sounds like too high of a nocking point, or the arrow rest is positioned wrong. Is the arrow rest a raised rest or just a flat piece of leather? I like the raised feather arrow rests best. What is your brace height? You could coat the side plate and shelf with baby powder and raise and lower your nock point too see if the problem goes away. The powder will show arrow contact on the bow. Link below is for the feather rest.

   http://search.3riversarchery.com/search?w=feather+rests

[macbow]

Pretty much agree with the above.

Roy I have not used the feather rests yet. I am worried that there might be noise while drawing against,the grain?

[Roy from Pa]

They are very quiet, Ron. Gives ya a little better arrow clearance also. I recommend ya try one.

[Kipp]

#52 @ 28".  Brace ht. 7.25" ( spec 7.25-7.75")
Gold tip  traditional 5575. With 50 grain brass inert and 150 gr head.  

I don't shoot it very well yet  but bare shafts group with feather shafts as well as broad heads  at ten yards.  Of course my ten yard group is around 5-6" on average, at this point. I am hoping to improve  with practice.

[Kipp]

Oops!  Nock pt. 9/16"

[scottm]

Kipp you might try lowering your nock point to between 3/8" and 1/2" if your shooting split finger.

[Kipp]

Ok,  thanks.  I am shooting splint finger and raised the shelf at the low point of the handle.  And matched the side plate with a toothpick.  This brought my nock pt to a 1/32" under a 1/2".  I think I should shoot a thousand or so arrows (work on form) and report back if I still have problems or questions.  Thanks to everyone for the help. Much appreciated!