Getting the Bow Tuned

[stka]

Having not been able to shoot as many times a day as I would normally, it took me quite a while to get my Z7 tuned to where I'm fairly happy with it. Having done most of it out of sequence didn't help, but admittedly this was the first time I ever really tuned a bow well. Last year when I tried to broadhead tune I realized my new shafts (5575's) were still under spined, and didn't have the money to buy new ones so I got mechanical broadheads for the season. A while back I had the money and got a dozen CE Meyhams with a .334 spine, even though a .400 should have been fine for my bow set to 65lbs@28" the guides are truly just a reference. After broadhead tuning with the new arrows I still couldn't get a tight enough group for what I felt I should be able to shoot. After a lot of playing around I realized that I was getting fletching contact with my riser. For what ever reason my Z7 needs the rest to be very close to the riser and even using 3" fusion vanes I had to turn my cock vane out rather than up in order to clear. So I went back to retry the BH tuning and although my groups were better I still felt something was wrong. I then did some more research and started shooting a bare shaft with my field points vaned arrows and had to adjust my nocking point down a bit. I got the bare shaft hitting about 2" high at 25-30yds and thing that was probably about as good as I was going to get since it was going into the target straight. So I went back to shooting the broadheads yesterday and had three touching at 30yds with no sight adjustment. I may try them at 40yds today, but have no doubt it's as good as I'm going to get it.

Seems like overkill to go through all of this to just shoot mechanicals but I want to know the bow is tuned, so I nothing to blame but myself. I'd still like to find a way to get my rest further from my riser though.

[TallywackahME]

do you have a center shot tool? thatwill dictate where your rest should be windage wise. when i used to shoot mathews bows the grips were an 'inline' grip. are they still? they are a qick referance to ue if you nock an arrow, hold the bowoutin front of you and sight down th shaft. bow string, rest and grip and arrow tip should all line up.
also, mathews are noted for cam lean. if it is drastic that would be cause for a radical adjustment w/ your rest to get your bow back where it should be. btw its usually the top cam that tilts out of whack. if you havea bow press its a simple fix. good luck!

[stka]

I had a tech set the center shot for me and double check for cam lean too  . He actually shoots the same bow same DL and weight, which made it real odd that I needed stiffer spined shafts. I have to use the shop for press work, my old press doesn't work on parallel limbs. They never charge me for anything anyway, so I like to stop in and buy stuff I need from them.

[TallywackahME]

10-4. i had to get a new press too when everything went to reflexed risers and parrallel limbs back when the outback came out. that is odd you would need a stiffer spine if the both of you are shooting shafts made by the same company. i  know spine rates do change from company to company though. usually not enough to make a differance. the only other factor would be tip weight such as how heavy of an insert/broadhead/field point your shooting. heavier broadheads or field points will break the spine down more so then lighter ones. glad its shooting good now though!

[hickgtx600f4]

you gotta love tuning a bow. can get frustrating at times, but makes ya feel good when your all tuned up and the arrows are touching at 30 yds.   

[stka]

Now that I have it tuned I'm thinking about ditching the helicals and going back to a slight offset. The fusion vanes are stiff and a pita to get good contact on a helical or hard offset, at least with the bitzenburger.

Also picked up a new sight. Since my rest is so close to my riser I could only see half of my sight ring. I picked up a 5 pin Trophy Ridge Cypher fairly cheap and it mounts a few inches farther out. Also wanted to go to a smaller pin size, 0.019" is nice at longer distances. I wanted to go with one that had decreasing pin sizes but was worth the extra money for me.

[TallywackahME]

im just curious, what does it measure off your riser to the center of your rest?? ive always used 7/8" as a base line to start from on most bows and that also agrees w/ a centershot tool most of the time too.

[drobertsinMaryland]

Now that I have it tuned I'm thinking about ditching the helicals and going back to a slight offset. The fusion vanes are stiff and a pita to get good contact on a helical or hard offset, at least with the bitzenburger.

Also picked up a new sight. Since my rest is so close to my riser I could only see half of my sight ring. I picked up a 5 pin Trophy Ridge Cypher fairly cheap and it mounts a few inches farther out. Also wanted to go to a smaller pin size, 0.019" is nice at longer distances. I wanted to go with one that had decreasing pin sizes but was worth the extra money for me.

I use a helical on my blazer but used a Bohning Blazer jig to do it. The smaller pins are better at further distance. I love mine.

[stka]

im just curious, what does it measure off your riser to the center of your rest?? ive always used 7/8" as a base line to start from on most bows and that also agrees w/ a centershot tool most of the time too.

It's a little under 5/8's from a rough check with a tape.

[TallywackahME]

dang that is tight!

[stka]

I was setting the new sight today and never got more than a 4" group at 40yds with probably 8 rounds of 3. That's probably as good as I can shoot so the bow is good. Just have to redo my D-loop since my two served stoppers are pinching my nocks. I'll probably shoot the fixed blades once more later on to make sure it's all good. Really just being over done since I'm going to use the grim reapers, but it'll be comforting to know it's as good as I can get it.

dang that is tight!

Yeah, no idea why. The tech saw it when I asked him about it and looked dumbfounded after seeing there was no cam lean. He took it right to the paper and shot a bullet hole, then looked at me and said WTF I have no idea.

[TallywackahME]

hahaha hey if its shooting well for i say run it. one thing i thougfht of sitting here that sometimes helps when broad head tuning is the nock. i thought of it after ytou mentioned that your d loop was pinching. after shooting all summer nocks get torqued pretty hard and it not noticable w/ field points but screw broad heads on and i can sometimes show up big time making te bow shoot patterns instead of groups. ive seen it a few times where we put new nocks on and it shrunk the grous rigfht up tight where they should be. sometime if your having trouble and out of tricks it could be worth a shot. i personally always run brand new nocks come hunting season.

[stka]

I was going to get a new batch before the season too. The CE Mayhems I have came with junk nocks, I've had 5-6 break already and every one just snapped a tab off while nocking it to the string.

[stka]

I'll be shooting nocturnals on my hunting arrows.

[Stuck-on-Seven]

dang ill give you creditb for even attempting to shoot groups with broadheads on your new arrows, especially those mayhems. I picked up half dozen of CE maxima hunters and they ran me almost 100$ I don't have the nads to shoot at the same target with field points let alone with broadheads, had one too many Robin hoods, the first one was cool but after that its just frustrating to lose an arrow haha