beman 500 mfx too stiff or too weak?

[David Smith]

Good Morning Trad friends,
Need a little advice. I recently picked up a Black Widow SAX, 46# @ 28, 56”. The arrow I want to use is a beman MFX 500 w/ 75 gr. Brass insert and a 125 grain point. The shafts are cut to 30” from groove of the nock to the end of the carbon. They also have 5” feathers and a wrap. Does this setup look to be weak for the bow? I m using Stu millers spine calculator and it says that the arrow is a little weak. The reason im asking is that several shots out of the bow will minnow a little here and there.  I have the brace height set to 8- 1/2” right now. Black widow recommends 8-1/4” to 9”. I don’t want to cut my arrows or do anything else really until I have several opinions.

[surething]

You did'int mention how long your draw is, if you are drawing a true 28 try a lighter tip weight, I believe your a little weak, if that works out then you can cut your arrows down very little at a time, and stay with your same weight that your are shooting now, hope this helps.

[NBK]

Do you draw 28"?
While tuning I double check by going with a heavier/lighter point before I cut anything off the arrow.
You could also build up your side plate if you don't have other points.
If I had to guess I'd say you're ballpark in spine, maybe a bit stiff depending upon the cut of the shelf.
Stu's calc works for some people, I'm not one of them.

[David Smith]

Im drawing 27.5-28". I know im close. Im told BW cuts the shelves 3/16" past center.

[Rossco7002]

I'm thinking with that kind of centre cut that your could shoot a very wide range of spine out of it. Likely that what you've got will work fine.

Do your broadheads group with your field points? Is the arrow flight good? If so, your good to hunt!

[David Smith]

Arrow flight is hit or miss. Im getting a slight minnowing effect sometimes when I release. Other times the flight seems fine. The bow is grouping ok. Im sure it will be better if I can get the flight issue worked out. It could be that im just not used to shooting a recurve. I mostly shoot longbows, Or it could be that im just a lousy shot....:/

[slivrslingr]

Play with the point weight, it's an easy and cheap way to check the tuning.

[nineworlds9]

Try a 100g point and see what it does, then play a little more with brace.  Your string strand count if FF will also affect it so you could always go up a couple strands on the string but I'd try point weight first.  I love the MFXs and use the 500's on a lot of my bows.  I always break off the extra on the insert and go 50g on it just to give me more point weight options.  Good luck.  Sounds like you're close.

[MCS]

Why would they stop making such a great arrow?

[DawgDoc]

Did you by chance try a bare shaft?

[pap62]

My Widow is 45@28 I draw 27.
After bare shaft testing the 500 Beemans I had to cut them to 28 inches using a brass insert and 125 grain tip. Using the aluminum insert I need a 145 grain tip.
For hunting I used a Brian Heavy Hitter at 29 inches and a 175 grain head=640 grains.

[RodL]

I don't have a Widow but my bow is 47 @ 28, I draw 27", my riser is cut past center. I use the MFX 500 cut to 29 with the 75gr brass inserts and a 145gr head shooting off the shelf with a piece of self adhesive padding to get the arrow off the shelf about 1/4", I use a  piece of moleskin for a sideplate. No arrow flight issues unless I do something funky on the release. I would think you would be able to get those to shoot fine out of your bow.

Rodney

[DawgDoc]

Can you update us on your tuning situation?

[homer]

Paper tuning look at ( tuning for tens  )   :confused:

[Bill Carlsen]

Try an elevated or feather rest.

[Pete W]

Originally posted by David Smith:
Arrow flight is hit or miss. Im getting a slight minnowing effect sometimes when I release. Other times the flight seems fine. The bow is grouping ok. Im sure it will be better if I can get the flight issue worked out. It could be that im just not used to shooting a recurve. I mostly shoot longbows, Or it could be that im just a lousy shot....:/

If it is sometimes, it is you that is the variable not the bow or the arrow. Work on your release, and make sure all nocks fit the string with the same  tightness. As said earlier  test diferent point weights , it is cheap and reversible, unlike cutting the arrow.
 Pete

[David Smith]

Thanks for the tips fellas. Havent been able to mess with it in the past few days. I have a  daughter with special needs that is taking horse riding lessons and that is taking up some some evening time during the week. Im hoping to get back at it this weekend. I want to get this bow tuned and out in the woods.

[David Smith]

Originally posted by Pete W:
 

Originally posted by David Smith:
Arrow flight is hit or miss. Im getting a slight minnowing effect sometimes when I release. Other times the flight seems fine. The bow is grouping ok. Im sure it will be better if I can get the flight issue worked out. It could be that im just not used to shooting a recurve. I mostly shoot longbows, Or it could be that im just a lousy shot....:/

If it is sometimes, it is you that is the variable not the bow or the arrow. Work on your release, and make sure all nocks fit the string with the same  tightness. As said earlier  test diferent point weights , it is cheap and reversible, unlike cutting the arrow.
 Pete [/b]

I've ebeen working on my release quite a bit. the funny thing is, is I can take some gold tip 3355's with a 100 brass insert and a 145 gr. head and shoot those perfectly out of this bow. These are designated for my 45# bear grizzly though. I could just shoot these but i really like the mfx 500's.

[30coupe]

Sounds like you could be torquing the string a bit. Longbows tend to be more forgiving of such foibles, but recurves often object. I agree with PeteW on this. If you are getting good flight sometimes, it is hard to blame the setup.

For me, I find myself drawing with the bow canted more than my string hand is at times, which can lead to the wig-wag effect. I try to concentrate on turning my string hand more clockwise (I'm a righty) and the arrow flight straightens out.

I would still recommend paper tuning. I find that to be the most accurate way to tune my setup. Bare shaft tuning is a waste of time for me. I want to tune arrows the way I plan to shoot them, so I paper tune. That's just me though because I'm old and stubborn, I guess.    

[David Smith]

Originally posted by 30coupe:
Sounds like you could be torquing the string a bit. Longbows tend to be more forgiving of such foibles, but recurves often object. I agree with PeteW on this. If you are getting good flight sometimes, it is hard to blame the setup.

For me, I find myself drawing with the bow canted more than my string hand is at times, which can lead to the wig-wag effect. I try to concentrate on turning my string hand more clockwise (I'm a righty) and the arrow flight straightens out.

I would still recommend paper tuning. I find that to be the most accurate way to tune my setup. Bare shaft tuning is a waste of time for me. I want to tune arrows the way I plan to shoot them, so I paper tune. That's just me though because I'm old and stubborn, I guess.      

That's a great point! I cant my bows whether they are a long bow or recurve. Ill be sure to look in to this when I get back to tuning. I may not be keeping my draw hand in line with the string on occasion. that might explain the callouses on my ring finger.... ya think?