Changing center shot on your bow

[Trumpkin]

Anyone have experience with tuning by sideplate thickness, or have you taken a rasp to the side of the sight window? I really don't want to add 75 grains to my tip weight to bring my arrows back into hunting tune after all my form changes last year. Wondering if a change in thickness from moleskin to packing tape on the side plate would be enough. I don't have any way to try it before tomorrow.

* I should note that a 25 grain change is something I could swallow in conjunction with the change to sideplate.

[Bisch]

If you decide to take the rasp to the bow, be very conservative! I would get the bowyers thoughts on that idea before I ever tried it.

Bisch

[BDann]

Try adding a really soft side plate, like a Martin rug. It might not be enough, but worth a shot.

[ballgame]

Have you thought about changing strings?

[stickbowcoop]

If you hate the idea of adding point weight you can just change arrows completely. I know tuning new arrows seems like work but it is easy to mess a bow up when you start cutting the window. I used to build bows, there are plenty of more knowledgeable guys than me but I would change arrows before I hacked into my riser.

[Bisch]

If you hate the idea of adding point weight you can just change arrows completely. I know tuning new arrows seems like work but it is easy to mess a bow up when you start cutting the window. I used to build bows, there are plenty of more knowledgeable guys than me but I would change arrows before I hacked into my riser.

He can't do that! He has a 33" DL, and the arrows he currently shoots are about the only ones that come long enough!

Bisch

[60 Deluxe]

I've done both. It just depends on the bow. Some bows were just created to be firewood, but I attempt to salvage them.

I would certainly exhaust all other remedies prior to changing the structure of the bow. I think that a guy should have an assortment of uncut arrows from 340 to 600 spine and also have a variety of points. I have points from 85 to 250 grains. Somewhere in the combination of the shafts and points is the answer. I recently bought a dozen Gold Tip shafts. I took a half dozen of them and put a range of tips on then from 100-225 grains. I grabbed a newly arrived bow and shot those six arrows. It was easy to see if there was a combination that worked for that bow just by looking at how the arrows stuck into the target. Had there not been one or two promising arrows, I would have done the same thing with a different spine. Having six combinations at once is much easier than using one shaft and then trying to remember how each one flew.

[Briar Friar]

Trumpkin...what did you change in your form to cause the needed change in your arrows? Ill speculate that you shortened your DL which caused your current setup to go stiff now you need to soften/weaken the dynamic spine...? How much shorter did your DL get? Im simply curious.

Do you think youll drop a ton of speed by adding 75gn up front? Going from 33” to 32 or 31 youre still flirting with 60 pounds?

[SwampRabbit]

You could try experimenting with your brace height as well.

[RickBarbee]

Anyone have experience with tuning by sideplate thickness, or have you taken a rasp to the side of the sight window? I really don't want to add 75 grains to my tip weight to bring my arrows back into hunting tune after all my form changes last year. Wondering if a change in thickness from moleskin to packing tape on the side plate would be enough. I don't have any way to try it before tomorrow.

* I should note that a 25 grain change is something I could swallow in conjunction with the change to sideplate.

I've pretty much done it all at one time or another, but before I try to give you any of my one sided advice I'd really like to know what about your form has changed, the type of bow you are shooting, and type of arrows, etc, etc.

I can tell you this - it takes at least 1/16" of center shot change for most folks to be able to see and/or shoot the difference. I'm not sure, but I don't think going from mole skin to packing tape is gonna get anywhere close to that.

Rick

[ballgame]

Thinking through this more.

I personally would not take a rasp to the strike plate.

No set of arrows is worth the risk of ruining a bow. IMO

Curious; why are you against adding 75grs up front? More FOC is a good thing. Most people are wanting to add weight but are limited by spine.

If it's a broadhead affinity... why don't you change the inserts?

[Trumpkin]

Sorry everyone, can't answer while at work. To shed more light on the situation. I have switched bows, and corrected a collapsing issue at the shot. I dropped from a 70 lb longbow at 33" to my current Toelke SS recurve (called the bowyer today, it is already cut to center) which is 64" and 64 lbs @ 33" (my true draw length, and now I don't collapse ). I never retuned to the new bow since I got it right at the end of hunting season.

Right now I am shooting Easton Axis 5mm shafts which are 34" long, and .260 in spine. Currently have 75 grain HIT inserts, and 200 grain field tips. I don't want to add a ton of weight because they already weigh 700 grains! Bareshafts fly a little left at 20 yards, with a 6" knock right kick.

The closest shaft to that is a black eagle traditional which comes in 34" length but is .350 spine. That will be too soft I suspect.

Today I took the moleskin out of the string grooves on the tips, and brought brace height up by about 1/8" or so. Then I slapped a 250 grain field tip on the bareshaft and it brought me closer to straight (same POI as fletched shafts, still 3-4" tail right kick).

The current string on the bow is a 10 strand, D97 I believe. It came with the bow. Nock fit is loose, not losing any power there.

[ballgame]

Smaller/lighter string silencers would help you also but you might sacrifice quietness.

Also you are just over 10 grains per inch - that's not a bad thing.

[Easttxbowman]

Drifting left and nock right means arrows are over spinned. Assuming you’re right handed....

I’d try a new arrow because in my opinion it takes a ton of point weight to make much difference.

[Trumpkin]

I've pretty much done it all at one time or another, but before I try to give you any of my one sided advice I'd really like to know what about your form has changed, the type of bow you are shooting, and type of arrows, etc, etc.

I can tell you this - it takes at least 1/16" of center shot change for most folks to be able to see and/or shoot the difference. I'm not sure, but I don't think going from mole skin to packing tape is gonna get anywhere close to that.

Rick

I'd love to hear your take on things Rick! Someone mentioned changing strings, but I don't know anything about that. A few searches on here shows you to be a bit of an expert in such matters, so I'd welcome your thoughts. For that matter, anyone who shoots as well as you has my full and undivided attention.

Today I raised my brace height another 1/8" or so and got my bareshafts flying just a couple inches nock right at 20 yards with the 250 grain points. I had to put a lot of twists in the string to raise it that much, is that normal?

In summary I have:
- raised brace height by a bit over 1/4"
- added 50 grains of point weight
- removed some moleskin from the string grooves

The result:
- a bareshaft that still flies a bit stiff at 20 yards, but dramatically improved over previous attempts
- a bow that is just as quiet as before, seems a taller brace height had multiple positive impacts.