arrows hitting riser?

[jt85]

While shooting I often hear my arrows bouncing off my riser, it doesn't happen every time so I don't know if I have a tuning issue or if its something that I'm doing wrong with my form?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Orion]

It's either a brace height, spine or form problem.  Need more info to determine which, i.e., bow type, bow weight at your draw length, your draw length, arrow type, length and spine, amount bow shelf is cut toward center, brace height, etc.

Plucking the string is the most common form problem that would cause it.  If it's not form and I had to guess, I'd say too low a brace height and/or arrow spine too weak for your bow.

[jt85]

Orion, sorry for the lack of info. I shoot a Toelke Chinook 50# at my draw lenght of 27" my arrows are Beman centershot,mfx classics 500's cut to 29" with 75 grain inserts and 125 grain points, I think the bow is cut to center but not for sure my brace height is set at 7 1/8th

[Orion]

Hmmmmm.  Have a typo in my above comment.  I meant arrow spine too stiff, not too weak.  However, given the info you just provided, I'm in a quandry.  Given your specs, those arrows should shoot well out of your bow.

First, be sure you're not plucking.  That's releasing the arrow by pulling your hand off the string away from your face.  You should draw the bow with back tension, anchor fairly tightly to your face, and your hand should come backward, not out, when you release.  So, first thing is to take note of your release at every shot. If the arrow slaps off the riser when you make a good release, then the problem is somewhere else.

Next place to look is the amount of centershot of the arrow. Nowadays, with bows cut past center and skinny arrows, some arrows are pointed too far to the right for a finger release (for a right handed shooter).  Look at how your arrow bisects the string.  

Put an arrow on the string and rest it on the arrow rest.  Hold the bow out in front of you with your bow hand and line up the string with the center of the limbs. Then look through the string and down the arrow to see where the point of your arrow is in relation to the string.  The point should look like it just touches the left side of the string, i.e., the point of the arrow should be left of the string when the string is centered on the bow limbs. If it's not, build out the side plate until you achieve that look. Can do that temporarily with any kind of tape.

If it points way to the left of the string, you may need to thin the side plate a little, i.e., remove it and replace it with a piece of tape, or add point weight.  See below..  Given that you're shooting skinny arrows, I think the first scenario, where the arrow may not be pointing enough to the left, is much more likely.

If it's neither of the above, you might change point weight a little. Are the arrows going where you're aiming?  If they're generally grouping to the left of where you're aiming, if you're right handed, you might try adding a little point weight.  If they're going to the right, reduce point weight.

Finally, you might try raising the brace height.  I don't know what the recommended brace height on that recurve is. Yours 7 1/8 inches seems in the ball park, but a brace height of 7 1/2- 8 inches isn't uncommon for a relatively short, say 56-58-inch recurve.

Ok, lots of stuff to try.  Only do one at a time.  Good luck.

[katman]

jt85, What method did you use to tune your arrow?

[lpcjon2]

Is your arm gourd all rubbed and worn from the string? maybe your not bending the bow arm properly.

[Sidmand]

I had this exact same problem at one point as well - I could hear the arrow smack the riser on release, but not every time.  AND, I noticed that the rug on the rest on the bottm outside corner was getting marked up.  The problem that I had was the arrow was sliding DOWN the string on release, I was putting just enough downward pressure on the arrow at anchor to push it down just a bit.  I added a second nock point BELOW the nock on the string, and it solved the problem.

[tiur]

How high is your nock set?
Try 5/8"

[Orion]

Ah, it can be so many things.  Certainly a nocking point that's too low, and only one nocking point rather than one above and below the arrow, can cause the arrow to hit the shelf as well, as Sidmand and tiur point out. I assumed you had already accounted for these in your previous tuning efforts.  One should never assume.  

[jt85]

First off thank you all for your suggestions. When I got home today I checked the center shot of my arrows as Orion told me to do and it was right where it should be the point just touching the left side of my string, next I increased my brace height to 7 3/8.                            I went out and shot about 40 times focusing on my release, I only heard my arrow slap a hand full of times and on those shots my release did not feel so good.
 I did think my bow felt better and seamed to be quieter,could this be from increasing the brace height?
Also my nocking point is set at 5/8" but I never thought of tying on a second nocking point.
To answer katman's question on what method I used to tune my arrows to be honest I used the ( yeah that looks like its flying good) method, I am still very new to traditional archery and need to do some studying on how to tune my equipment.

[Orion]

It's coming along. A higher brace height usually does reduce bow noise some.  Put another nock point below the arrow to eliminate the possibility of the arrow slipping down, as Sidmand suggests, and remove that variable from the equation.  Might play with point weight a little next, say an additional 25 grains.  And keep working on your form.  Might not hurt to give Dan Toelke a call to find out what the recommended brace height range is for your bow.  Good luck.

[Michael Arnette]

Try lowering your brace height, my Kestrel did the same and I have it at 6.5 I think.

[darin putman]

I had a toelke super d, bareshafted great but had a tick on every shot as arrow hit riser. I hated to move anything but took same advise given to many and moved nocking point just a wee little bit up, tick gone still in tune. Good luck!!!