Non Bare Shaft Tuning

[joe vt]

I am curious how many of you pick your arrows without bare shaft tuning. And what exactly is your process?

[James Wrenn]

I don't bareshaft wood arrows.I simply shoot them at longer distance and find what spine range shoots down the middle the best.If they range to the right they are weak and if they go left they are stiff.The ones that land closest to center are the ones I use.

[Bowmania]

JW, Soo, nock left - stiff (hit shelf), nock right weak (bent too much around window)?

Bowmania

[James Wrenn]

I am talking just impact points as I would if bareshafting.At 50 or more yards you can tell which arrow is flying straight and which is not.The farther you have room to shoot the more things show up.I do the same thing with carbons I just do it before I put any feathers on them.

[vtmtnman]

Experince from past tuning is usually the best way to select an arrow.Just try a bunch of different stuff till you find what works on a given bow.We all have been doing this long enough to know the classic "Like a dart" arrow flight looks like.The more bows you tune the less guess work it takes to get you to "darts".

[Ragnarok Forge]

How about calling a professional arrow maker and asking the questions and answering theirs.  I have found this to be the perfect way to find the right shaft from the start.  I bought a dozen Whispering Wind Arrow Hexashafts and using the same set up have been tuned for wood arrows ever since.  I make my own now but still use the same lenght and spine in woods.  First try, right spine, repeat as needed.

[Wannabe1]

Yep, I've never bare shaft tuned an arrow yet. I ask plenty of questions of folks who have nearly the same setup as me and go from there. So far so good.  

[smokin joe]

Try paper tuning too. There are good instructions on the Elite Arrow website at eletearrow.com.
Start with about a 3/4 inch to 7/8 inch above square nock point height and read what the paper tells you according to the instructions. If you shoot an arrow that makes a perfect hole you are tuned already and your arrows will fly great.

[Jedimaster]

I come up paper tuning and never saw a reason to change.  As far as picking my arrows without tuning, I get ballpark close with some cyphering, leave the shafts a little long, pick a point weight and shoot.  Cut length, add weight as needed.  Works adequately (for me) with center-shot bows, to a lesser degree with non-center.  Admittedly not very scientific and not neccessarily efficient but at this point I have a variety of arrows that I can pull out and see what gets me close. That's just the ugly truth of the matter    .

[Bowhunter4life]

I don't bare shaft... I just mess with point weight with different shafts till I get nock and feathers to the point I'm looking at... Then give them a run with the biggest broadhead I have in that weighs the same as the field point.  If that flies to the same point I'm done with "tuning"...

[Bjorn]

I do a calculation: bow weight at my 28" draw, cut past center add 5# per 1/16; Modern string add 5, over 28" arrow add 5 per inch;
over 125 gn point add 5# per 25 gn increment. So my 50# bow gets a shaft that is 29" BOP and spines at 75-80#. And then I bare shaft to check-why spend time making a shaft into an arrow without testing how it performs beforehand?

[Earthdog]

Find a suitable area,point em' at the sky an let rip.
You can see any fish tail and any porposing.
Even when their not actualy moving side to side or up an down you can see any lean to one side or another.
That lean will be axactly the same as tail out one way or another on your target butt.

[Fletcher]

The spine formulas will usually get you pretty close.  I like paper tuning for getting for getting things right on.

[wingnut]

I'm a big believer in the BAB tuning system we came up with 25 yrs ago while doing wheel bows.

Basically all the same stuff applys as bareshaft but you fletch the arrows and use a Big A$$ Broadhead instead of the bareshaft arrow.

You tend not to get the mirror effect that bareshaft can give you.

Mike

[ron w]

Most of my bows are near the same weight, the only difference is how close to center there are. So just from doing before I can come pretty close to getting the right spine arrow, not always but most times. I'm surprised at the range of spine I can get away with. 50-55,55-60,60-65 at my draw of 29"  all work for most of my bows. Now as far my clean release that's another story...........

[Stone Knife]

You will be surprised what you see when you strip the feathers off an arrow, feathers hide a lot of sins. I bare shaft for the simple reason I want the best flight possible when I loose an arrow to take the life of an animal, I want that thing to go were I want it no matter what the condition of the feathers are. I leave nothing to chance at that moment.

[Lee Robinson .]

Bareshafting works great, but it requires 3 things to be done properly.

1. Good form,
2. A bow that is properly tillered and stable, and
3. One to know they actually want to select the arrow that is just SLIGHTLY weak...as fletching slows the arrow slightly due to adding both weight and resistence to the NOCK END of the shaft. When one adds weight to the point they need a stiffer arrow, but when one adds weight to the nock end one needs a slightly weaker shaft as the weight on the nock causes the arrow to behave SLIGHTLY stiffer. This is only if you get to the "nit picky" stage of seeking the most perfect flight and most stable arrow. One can accomplish this by leaving a fletched arrow about 1/2" longer OR by slightly dropping spine. One could also add weight to the point should one wish to do that.

Now, it isn't necessary to go this detailed, as many bows will shoot more than one sized arrow fletched, but when one does they end up with the perfect arrow...and when someone makes an inconsistency in their form or draw they have a little lead way of stability in both stiffness and weakness without costing you anything but time. Many things in archery are a "trade off" get this and lose that. Such as speed or stability. Speed vs durability. In this case, one can add stability without losing anything...and IMO it is time well spent.
 
My draw is 28," and I cut my field points and broadheads at 29" BOP. So, when I bareshaft I look for the arrow that shoots properly at 28.5."

I also like the 2117 shaft, so I have tried to select bows that will shoot that arrow properly. I like it because it is an aluminum arrow that has a SLIGHT "tapered" effect as it allows me to use a slightly larger broadhead (11/32) and a slightly smaller nock (5/16") and yet feels smooth at each end as the variation at each end from shaft to attachment from the 2117 is only 1/64". 5/16 = 20/64 and 11/32 = 22/64. This gives me a slight effect of 1/32" taper on a broadhead arrow. This helps reduce shaft friction in game. The smaller nock also helps reduce nock "clack" on release should one torque their bow with a less than perfect shot.

Finally, be sure to allign your nock on your fletched arrow so you get proper fletching clearance as the fletching passes the shelf/sight window. Have a "groove" in the corner for one of the fletching to pass through (even though the arrow paradoxes it will still help) and then the other fletching away from the bow. All these tips help in maintaining stability and good flight.

I have fixed the equipment on WAY TOO MANY archers to count...and as a result improved their shooting performance by minimizing the interference affects of less than perfect form or improperly tuned equipment with such simple alterations.

Ya...I guess that would make me one of those nit-picky types. HEHEHE...but I have come to terms of being "I am what I am."

[SlowBowinMO]

Like Mike, I prefer to broadhead tune.  I shoot a lot of wood anyway, and bare shafting wood is difficult at best.

[Doug in MN]

As Tim and Mike have both mentioned above Broadheads sure work for tuning.

I just kind of think about what has worked in the past for a similar bow start with a couple of arrows cut them long, shorten as needed get them shooting a ball of feathers spining around a nock. All done with field points, then on too BH of choice and adjust as needed.

I just did not realize it had a name "BAB TUNING" I like that!!!

I did as an experiment; go out after reading this, Fletched field point (145 grain on an BH adapter), Fletched BH (STOS 145 on an BH adapter), Bareshaft field point (145 grain on an BH adapter).

They where with in a 4" circle from 25 yards and that was the first time I had shot a bareshaft out of this bow setup set up.

DD

[snag]

In order to properly bare shaft tune any arrow you have to have good form and consistant release of the arrow. If you don't you can get inaccurate feedback. I think that is the main reason some just find it too hard to do or are just not happy with what they find.