Nock breakage at full draw

[David Smith]

Just had a nock blow out on me when i released. The bow (black widow Sax) looks like it survived. I broke it down and checked everything. No damage to to me either. Scared the stuffins out of me though. keep an eye on your nocks folks!

[Alexander Traditional]

Glad you and the bow are ok. Do you think a person should change their nocks every so often?

[David Smith]

Lol! I do now......

[Wheels2]

Make sure that they are snapped securely onto the shaft.  I prefer all white nocks and fletching but the clear fluorescent nocks are nice as a crack shows up very well when the arrow is held up to the light.

[Knawbone]

Glad you didn't sustain injury to yourself or the bow. One of the main reasons I don't shoot 3 under. Having that nock and arrow right under my eye is close enough with a split finger style of shooting let along 3 un. Constant physical inspection of your arrows helps, but materials can fail at any time.I shoot woodies with plastic nocks. They can and do break on occasion. Checking their integrity during and after shooting cessions is a must.I have found some seriously cracked or broken before loading them on the string. Haven't had one break while dropping the string yet.......knock on wood!!

[shag08]

It has happened to me before too. It is a sick feeling for sure that comes over you.

The other day I had a nock on a gt arrow stick to the string but the arrow hit it's mark perfectly. I unstrung the bow and put it back on the rack and I've been to affraid to shoot it again for fear that I may find out the bow is damaged...it's a perfect early 60's red wing hunter.  My hope is that the energy was still used to put the arrow down range and not to screw up my rwh baby doll.      

[RAU]

Had that happen a few years ago with my great plains recurve too Right as I started to relax my fingers the arrow fell off string. The shot was a total dry fire. The bow ended up 5 feat in front of me and unstrung!! Scared the crap out of me! Checked the bow and it was fine and still is shooting great years later. If a nock doesn't snap onto the string now it gets replaced!

[buckeyebowhunter]

Ive had this happen several times. It really makes you scared to shoot for a while.

[slim_grim]

That's pretty sketchy. Time to go check my nocks for cracks.

[nineworlds9]

Has happened to me once and thankfully it ended with only a scare.

[LB_hntr]

This may sound crazy and I don't know why but it seems to me the see thru or fluorescent knocks break more than the solid colored ones. It seems the fluorescent ones are harder and the solid ones are softer material. I have had nocks break in the past as well but only the fluorescent ones never a white one. I still shoot both and don't worry about it much. But something that I always wondered as only the fluorescent ones broke on me.

[M60gunner]

What brand nock was it? I had issues with white Nirk 5/16 nocks. After 2nd time I threw the whole lot away.

[David Smith]

It was an older yellow GT nock. My guess it took a hit at some point  and had a small crack in it.  It snapped fine on the string. The string sheared the nock right in half at release. These arrows are several years old.  I'll just go and get some new nocks and replace all of them.

[Pat B]

This is one reason I prefer self nocks. I have never had a self nock break and have had many plastic nocks break.

[gringol]

Originally posted by Pat B:
This is one reason I prefer self nocks. I have never had a self nock break and have had many plastic nocks break.

Ive had two self nocks break at full draw.  Probably my fault, but IMO any knock can blow up.

[Pat B]

Are you adding a wrap behind the self nock? I prefer a sinew wrap for this but have used thread also. I've shot thousands and thousands of arrows with self nocks and not one has broken during a shot. I've even had self nocks robin hooded and a few of them were still shootable even though I wouldn't risk shooting them so I repair them before shooting again.

[gringol]

No, pat.  I use a hardwood insert.

[Pat B]

I even use a sinew wrap with reinforced self nocks. Cheap insurance.

[David Smith]

Been shooting the widow all day today. Looks like there is no damage to her. She's still pounding out the centers. Went ahead and replaced all of my nocks this morning as well. Thanks for the replies......

[lefty4]

Howard used to say, "Draw, aim, anchor, release."

After a dry fire, the sequence will change for MANY shots. "Pucker, draw, aim, anchor, release, try to unpucker."

Glad you and the bow are OK.