Point weight and tuning thoughts...

[Steve O]

Seems there are always a lot of tuning questions and lots of worry about field points and broadheads weighing   EXACTLY the same thing.

The next time you are worrying about your practice points and broadheads being 15 grains apart, try this little experiment:

Take a bill--a piece of genuine US currency--out of your wallet and fold it up so it is in a little square you can set on your grain scale.  It can be $1, $20, or $100.  Your grain scale is going to read out very close to   15 GRAINS!  .

Are any of us good enough shots to tell if we have a dollar bill wrapped around the front of our arrow?  Is that one going to be a "flyer" that ruins the group?

Do your brand new shiny Judos fly any different after an hour of stump shooting when they are jammed full of mud, grass and bark?

The inconsistency of anyone's release is going to be grossly more than a dollar bill worth of point weight.

I am a fairly detail orientated guy...my head will NOT let me shoot those crazy wobbly bamboo arrows out of any of my bows; even though I watch my buddy kill deer after deer with them...but this point weight thing is one of those little details that can slide.

In my opinion...what say you?


   

[CDR]

Very interesting SteveO!  

[Swamp Yankee]

I agree 110%.  More time practicing and less obsessing would probably be a better approach for most of us.

[moebow]

I think you have made a GREAT post here Steve!  Folks do seem to get too detail oriented with all this tuning stuff.  If it gives you/them confidence then it should be done.  BUT, Another way of looking at the weight issue you cite is this.  There are 7000 (seven thousand) grains in a pound.  So if you are shooting a 50# bow, that is 350,000 grains of force acting on the arrow (give or take.)  So even if you arrows are off by 20 grains ( gasp!) that is about .006% difference  between arrows as seen by the bow's force.

I too, do not believe any of us shoot well enough to tell that difference.  Our form (since we are human) will easily cause more error than even grossly mismatched (in weight) arrows.

[Rufus]

I totally agree. It seems that way too much technology and science gets involved in traditional archery these days. I have no problem with making what's good better but to a point. Pardon pun!
 I have some broadheads that are many, many years old. Some sharpened more than others thus more metal removed. I got curious for some reason and weighed them and 10-12 grains difference in some. Ummm! Now I have a problem, ummmm! Guess what? Not! I cannot tell a bit of difference them even out to 30 yds. I shoot 125 grain on everything and I know that plus or minus 15 gr. is inconsequential in my business. Shoot, my wood arrows can easily vary that much.  My thinkin!

[Bill Kissner]

Aw heck Steve, Another reason I won't be able to use when I miss!  

[ishoot4thrills]

My broadheads weigh around 15-20 grains more than my field points. But I'm not gonna fret over it. I'll just aim about 2.38" higher than normal at crunch time! LOL!          :rolleyes:  Ha, just kidding.  

And I'm generally a detail freak, which is one of many reasons I left the wheelie bows. I got way too entangled with every grain of weight, whether it was arrow weight or something extra on my string that cost me 1 fps.

[Orion]

Right on, Steve.  Most bows will give good arrow flight with a fairly wide range of arrow spines and physical weights.

[TxAg]

Good point

[drewsbow]

Right on the money Steve  

[Dimondback]

I almost fell into this trap while buying Woodsmen's the other day for my Savannah. I spent a while making sure my arrows bare shafted perfectly and was mulling over the fact that my broadheads were were 5 grains heavier than my field points....turns out I am as poor of a shot with both so no big deal  

[Yellow Dog]

Steve, well said. When you think about it most of us Trad guy's, except for some of the old farts like me, have never shot a stick prior to our wheel days. Keep it simple, don't over analyze it and let it flow. Getting the arrow from point A to B isn't complicated, don't fret over it. I doubt if Ishi sat over a grain scale next to his cronograph wondering "can I kill a deer with this setup"       Don't make it confusing because it's not.

[Mike Vines]

Originally posted by Steve O:



Are any of us good enough shots to tell if we have a dollar bill wrapped around the front of our arrow?  Is that one going to be a "flyer" that ruins the group?

 

Speaking of good enough shots...

I was trying to find that photo of you with the aerial disc you shot right thru the dollar bill last year.  I think you know which one I'm talking about.        

As for me, I shoot arrows from 580-650 grains with relatively the same consistency.  Never perfect, but good enough for my liking.

[dragonheart]

Broadheads are longer than field points so it weakens the dynamic spine some.  We do sweat the little stuff too much!

[Friend]

I actually just enjoy the fun and challenge involved.

I experiment often with several different methods. But the actual bottom line for me is that my both my field points and BH's are on the mark at 3 & 25 yards.

Note: If your arrow is tuned well towards the middle of the range for perfect flight, then you position your set-up to easily accept reasonable variation.

[wob]

Funny topic here, since I will worry about small details in my equipment that makes no real difference in my shooting.

Great shooting form with perfect concentration, release, and follow through is much more important.

(Of course, we all need something to blame for poor shooting)

[Steve O]

So, I wonder.  Is anybody real good with Stu Miller's calculator? It is too complicated for me      

How finely does it predict the spine?  Is it to the pound or thousandth of a pound?  How much does 15 grains change the spine I wonder???

I also wonder how consistent is the spine in the best matched dozen of wood, carbon, or aluminum arrows?  How about the consistency of spine in a single shaft.  Bet it is a lot less consistent than than a dollar bill worth of weight wrapped around the point.

[Ground Hunter]

Steve, I commend your post.  I think we are seeing way too many "technical" posts.  A few years ago Terry spoke out about it.  I'm not talking about getting help tuning a bow.  I'm talking about all of the technical minutia that now seems common on Trad Gang  And now more than a few topics that seemed designed to just start trouble -- very troll like posts.

[David Yukon]

I'm with you Steve! Thank you, i don' t know why people get so hung up on all those details... What did Fred Bear, HH and all the old timer best hunters did, I'm serious, would day fuss with all the details, of now a day arrow tuning etc??

What do you think?

[David Yukon]

I would add, are all these techy posts, from the ones who use to shoot wheelies? Because at the club I use to shoot, it seems that the wheel boys were always fussing about this or that... wile the Trad shooter, just well shoot....