Paper tuning.....Does it really work or is it smoke and mirrors?

[dbishop]

I don't understand "paper tuning" for traditional equipment.  How does it really work.  I always have heard that paradox never goes away from the time the arrow leaves the bow until it hits the target.  I hear people say they paper tuned their equipment until they got a small hole in the paper instead of tearing it.  Supposedly this means the arrow is tuned properly and flying straight and true.  Here is my question.  If the arrow is still in paradox, if you moved foward or backwards from the spot you supposedly "tuned" the arrow would it not start tearing the paper in one direction or another?  I just dont see how an arrow that is continuously flexing back and forth in flight can be paper tuned at all.  Maybe I am wrong but it just sounds like an unnecessary practice.

I've tried the bare shaft method and have not had much luck with it either.  I seem to have better luck just fletching the arrows and messing with point weight until I have found a combo that is easy to group with.  So far,I have found very few types of arrows that I cannot get to shoot well(at least for my skill).

Has anyone else here observed the same thing I have?  What have you found to be the best way to tune?  Seems like everything has progressed to the point of being a little too technical.  

I have been shooting the AD trads and Easton Axis. I have gotten them to shoot pretty well without going to a lot of trouble.  I guess I am just wondering if by using my simple method, am I tuning them to to their best potential?

Dave

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I do better paper tuning then bareshaft tuning. I have to find the video that shows an arrow coming out of paradox.

so whats happening when you bare shaft? should either be stiff or week. point weight should solve that one way or another.      imo

[snag]

If you paper tune you should position the paper at 10yds. The arrow will have gone through paradox and will give you an accurate reading.  I still use bare shaft tuning for great results.

[Kenneth]

I may get flogged for this but oh well here goes.  I used to do a lot of paper tuning and I mean A LOT but even though my set-ups would shoot bullet holes through paper I noticed that when I strapped a Bhead on the front and started shooting at 20+yds that I had to adjust to get perfect flight.  Well I decided it was a waste of time and paper to shoot through paper at 5-10yds and then retune with Bheads, so now I just bareshaft occasionally but mostly broadhead tune.  If you're not able to shoot broadheads or shoot at longer range then I think paper tuning is a good start to the process, but if you have the range to do it then I think your time is better spent with bareshafts or better yet with broadhead tuning.  JMO.

[chad graham]

i am with kenneth on this one!

[sagebrush]

I only tune with broadheads. Everything else seems to fly good after I do that. Gary

[Jeff Strubberg]

Paper tuning absolutely works, but it's not absolutely required.  While paradox never stops, it does dwindle down to the point that you can't detect the wiggle in a paper-tuning hole.

I always start paper tuning at about two yards, then back up to ten or twelve once the holes look good just to double check my results.


You can get by without any sort of tuning, but you will never KNOW if that stray was because of you or because of your equipment.  For me that's unacceptable.  I tune so I know it was the fool holding the string that caused the miss!

[Ragnarok Forge]

I fiddled with paper tuning trad equipment and for me it was a waste of time.  I find that bare shaft to fletched field point tuning works a lot better.  Once I have the bare shaft to fletched field point arrow groups tuned, it takes very little adjustment to get my broadheads to field point arrows flying into the same hole.  The last two years I have not had to change brace height or nock set at all when I was getting ready for season.  I like to bare shaft to fletched tune at 20 yards then do it again at 30 yards which gives me a fine tune on my brace height and nock set position.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

I agree with Jeff. Just because fletched arrows look like they're flying straight, doesn't mean they are. And just because arrows group, doesn't mean they're flying straight either. I paper tune and bare shaft tune. If done properly, both work just fine.

[koger]

I am with Kenneth on this. I ran a sporting good/Archery Pro shop for years,and some bows bare shaft tune, but put a hunting head/setup on them and they often have to start over, wheelie bow or trad. I found it best to go by a spine chart, cut the shaft to its minumum, and then tune with finished arrow. But that's just my opinion, from working on hundreds of bows a year. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, 58 deer and 10 turkeys with a bow also seem to agree that it is effective.

[SL]

It works
but like sagebrush says...broadheads will show you the same thing. I bare shaft but I fine tune at longer ranges with broadheads.

[Bowwild]

I used papertuning with compounds for 20+ years -- ever since I found out about it. When I've achieved the "bullet" hole with fletch, I'm done and the broadheads will impact with the field tips as far as I want to test them.

However, I'll admit, this first year getting back to traditional seriously, I haven't relied on paper-tuning. I'm using Stu's Calculator and so far, with more than 10 bows (all very close or identical in draw weight)the broadheads and field tips are in the same group (broadhead first followed by field tips - I hate destroying arrows).

I see no reason why paper-tuning would work any less effectively out of traditional equipment so I need to do it. By the way, I've always paper-tuned at 8 feet -- before the fletch has had opportunity to correct (somewhat) for poor tune. The paper needs to be at shoulder height.

There is another way.  You can make a cross with electrical or painters tape (1" diameter) on cardboard -- say 12-18 inches top to bottom and side to side.  To check nock locator you should the horizontal leg. To check spine use the vertical line. The object is to get the feathered shaft to strike the tape. This is the method USA Archery used to teach.

Here's the thing that always blows my mind. Very expert archers (I'm not being sarcastic, I'm talking Olympic medalists and Olympic coaches) differ wildly on the value of these various methods. A 2-time Olympic medalist threw my paper tuning frame in the trash when he saw it. His coach included paper-tuning in his DVD.

Pssst...I retrieved my paper tuning frame from the trash.

[tradtusker]

i prefer bare shaft tuning with the trad bows, when done properly and out to a long distance you can get your set-up very well tuned!

[Bonebuster]

I paper tune from about ten feet, then lob broadheads at longer distances.

A big, fat, two blade will show you any flaws in arrow flight.

[AdamH]

Not me, I just start and finish with Broadheads & my Keen eyesight, never had an issue ...

[badbadleroybrown]

I didn't paper tune for a long time for a couple unfounded reasons.  I would bareshaft tune and I used Stu's calculator to get close.  However, after trying it and seeing first hand how easy and effective paper tuning is, I have made it an essential facet of my arrow tuning.

[ProArcher]

Try this it works very well


 http://www.bowmaker.net/tuning.htm

Originally posted by Jeff Strubberg:
Paper tuning absolutely works, but it's not absolutely required.  While paradox never stops, it does dwindle down to the point that you can't detect the wiggle in a paper-tuning hole.

I always start paper tuning at about two yards, then back up to ten or twelve once the holes look good just to double check my results.


You can get by without any sort of tuning, but you will never KNOW if that stray was because of you or because of your equipment.  For me that's unacceptable.  I tune so I know it was the fool holding the string that caused the miss!

x3

[chanumpa]

Im with Kenneth on this one.Get them broadheads shooting good and get them sharp.Dont begrudge anyone for bareshafting/papertuning,but not for me.