2016 ARROW FLIGHT

[Florida bowhunter]

Okay guys i am trying to tune my 50 pound palmer to a 2016 arrow my draw length is 26 inches i have cut the bate shaft back already to 261/2 inches, and at 15 yards it is still flying slightly tail right, i am a right handed shooter so what would be the next shaft size you would try...oyea i am useing a 125 grain point.....thanks

[Florida bowhunter]

Sorry guys i meant slightly tail left

[sleepyhollow]

tail left would indicate a weak shaft so you can try a stiffer shaft or build out the strike plate a little with some Velcro or maybe a match stick or piece of leather thong behind your current strike plate

[Hermon]

If you want different arrows and want to stay with aluminum I would try 2018's.

[Florida bowhunter]

Thanks guys

[black velvet]

Problem has to be somewhere else. a 2016 cut to 26 1/2 inches spines out at about 70lbs. Should show stiff.
I draw 26 inches and shoot them 28 inches long with 125 up front and get good flight from all my bows in the 48 to 58 lb. range.

[mgf]

I cut an arrow only as a last resort in the interest of "tuning".

Point being that arrow length is a tuning parameter not chosen based on draw length.

I shoot full length 2016's off my 42# bow. My draw length is a shade over 27".

If you use the arrow to aim, a longer arrow also reduces the size of your "gaps".

[Florida bowhunter]

Okay black velvet what do you think would cause tail left, going down range it shows tail right..

[mgf]

Originally posted by black velvet:
Problem has to be somewhere else. a 2016 cut to 26 1/2 inches spines out at about 70lbs. Should show stiff.
I draw 26 inches and shoot them 28 inches long with 125 up front and get good flight from all my bows in the 48 to 58 lb. range.

Just for reference, I draw a shade over 27" and a 30" 2016 flies well off my 55# Howatt Hunter. Though I prefer a heavier and longer arrow off that bow.

[mgf]

First, depending on what kind of target you're shooting, you can always trust the angle the arrow sticks in the target. Probably better to go by impact point.

Second, the shooter can have a great impact on how the arrows fly. Meaning that it's difficult to tune better than you can shoot.

That said, if you tune based on group location over many arrows, some shooter errors will tend to average out.

As your shooting changes (hopefully improves), your tune will also change.

[Florida bowhunter]

How far back do you get to test yout bare shaft,i did mine at 15 yards and it is flying tail left going down range....??

[Florida bowhunter]

MTF i wad shooting a bag target, and arrow impact was nock left

[mgf]

Oh...also if the arrow is way too stiff, it can bounce off the riser and fly like an arrow that's too weak.

When starting from scratch (don't know what I need), I start with an arrow that's obviously weak and cut a little at a time until it comes in.

I should also mention that I use field tipped bare shafts or broadhead tipped fletched shafts to judge tune. Fletching can straighten out almost any tune with target tips.

In response to one of these discussions (arguments?) I shot some nice tidy and dead nuts centered groups using a 15 pound bow and 29" 2117 (.400 ?) spine arrows. Those arrows are obviously WAY too stiff but at 15 yards, field tips and 5" feathers, it just didn't matter much. The same stunt would have been a disaster (maybe even dangerous) with broadheads.

[mgf]

Originally posted by Florida bowhunter:
MTF i wad shooting a bag target, and arrow impact was nock left

Sorry, I meant to say that you CAN'T always trust the angle of the arrow in the target.

My usual target is a bag of rags and arrows land all sorts of crazy ways.

For bare shafts 15 yards is probably ok. I usually shoot them to 20 or even 25. I shoot them further BUT bare shafts are going to show any mistake you make. Unless your form and execution are really good, groups (and misses) are going to be bigger. That's why we use fletching.

I would say "the further the better" if you can shoot well enough to make use of it.

Most of my shooting is under 30 (mostly under 25) and I often have a couple of bare shafts mixed in with my practice arrows...just because they really tell on me.

[gordydog]

I too had slight tail left when bareshafting and I am right handed,  however the fletch "stiffened" the arrow spine and finished arrow had "perfect"flight.  
  I was too concerned with getting perfect bareshaft flight instead of just really close to perfect. I focused more on finished arrow flight to get that lazerbeam arrow.

[mgf]

Originally posted by gordydog:
I too had slight tail left when bareshafting and I am right handed,  however the fletch "stiffened" the arrow spine and finished arrow had "perfect"flight.  
  I was too concerned with getting perfect bareshaft flight instead of just really close to perfect. I focused more on finished arrow flight to get that lazerbeam arrow.

In theory the fletching will stiffen the arrow some but, since I'm a hunter, I finish the process by shooting fletched arrows with broadheads. I look for bare shafts or broadheads to hit the same place as my fletched field tips.

It might be opening another can of worms but some very successful target shooters shoot some pretty "mistuned" setups.

String walkers, for example, can only be really in "tune" at one crawl. Others raise their nock point WAY up to get point on at whatever distance they choose.

Broadheads may not hit the same spot and the arrows may not even fly very well but they don't necessarily need to.

There are a lot of things you can do with tuning depending on what your goals are.

[Florida bowhunter]

Maybe i should fletch it then and see jow it shoots

[mgf]

To let the cart follow the horse, what are you trying to do?

I mean, I don't know where you are in your shooting. If you're somewhat seasoned and getting the bow/arrow combo ready to hunt, you probably want to get it tuned pretty well so your broadheads hit the mark and penetrate well.

On the other hand, if you're kind of new and trying to just get started shooting, an arrow and bow setup that's just "in the ball park" will be just fine.

In the later case, set your strike plate so the arrow is pointing a bit to the left (kind of normal), set your nock point about half an inch up, use a chart (or past experience) to pick an arrow spine and length, fletch it and go shooting.

As your shooting progresses and you start thinking about shooting broadheads or shooting long distances or whatever, you revisit the tuning thing as the need arises.

I'd suggest not getting too wrapped up in tuning.

[Bldtrailer]

Read this
 http://www.acsbows.com/bareshaftplaning.html

[ISP 5353]

I also shoot a Palmer.  They are a pretty efficient bow and with the riser design, they shoot well with a little stiffer arrow than normal.  I draw a little more weight to 30 inches.  

I would probably start with a 2018 and give it a try.  Good luck and let me know if I can help.  I went to carbons and never looked back.