Broadhead Tuning. The optimal methodology

[doc holiday13]

I've seen a lot of "this is how you tune for broadheads"

But it seems like there has been a method arising that seems like it would be the fastest most efficient way to determine A) is your arrow properly spined B) is your bow properly tuned

Dudley's HIL method was very intriguing and Nick Fisher (AAE) both seem to have a great way to determine your bow tuning

I'm thinking there might be some sort of hybrid of the 2 methods that can eliminate a good bit of time

Nick Fisher basically carries an bareshaft arrow that has tape added to the nock end to simulate teh weight of fletchings without the aerodynamic influence. Shoot the arrow with a fieldpoint and shoot it with a broadhead to see what your point of impact looks like. This method seems to be the one to use to check if your bow needs tuning. It almost seems that this could be your go to method right away. My speculation would also be that you would just attempt to nock tune your arrows(with broadheads) this way and if they aren't grouping you'd need to get your bow checked

The HIL method requires several spines of fletched arrows to figure out which one your bow prefers, but to my knowledge this test does not use broadheads. But it might be worth trying this with broadheads. This would be mostly a starting point when you first get your bow

Thoughts? Discussions?

 

[Beendare]

I think the fastest/ easiest is to shoot FPs through paper- thats the 1/2 way point

Then shoot BHs and FPs to group at long range

 

[Beendare]

The caveat to that;
Shortcuts are great as long as one understands that there are a myriad of factors that mess with tuning.

Guys that have shot well for awhile and worked most of those out can shortcut stuff…but guy that might have a couple of these issues like rest timing, varying their grip, fletch contact, etc..might be better off going through all of the steps.

 

[justin davis]

I bareshaft tune at 30. I’ve found bareshafts to represent broadheads. Pretty well

After I get bareshafts close. I then verify broadheads at longer yardage.

 

[fatlander]

The hill method would be a step before ever broadhead tuning. It’s about selecting the optimal shaft. You’re still going to have to broadhead tune.

So to answer your question, no doing the HIL method WITH broadheads BEFORE doing any others tuning is probably going to be a nightmare and probably yield nothing.

Doing the HIL method, then tuning your broadheads on the best spined arrows probably is a great method.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NXTZ]

The last several bows I've had all left the shop with either a perfect or near-perfect paper tear. From there, I played with bareshafts a little (goal being to have them consistently close at 20 yards), but didn't get too worked up over the results, just wanted them close. Then I'd switch to a fixed broadhead, and micro tune the rest to get same POI as field points. Like stated above, if the bow was in time/"tuned" and my arrow spine was acceptable, broad head tuning has been pretty straight forward.

 

[houghtonic]

IME and IMO, the fastest way to broadhead tuned is to pick a properly spined arrow. If unsure, opt for stiffer. Make sure bow and rest are properly timed.

Then take a bareshaft or two with tape on the nock end to make it the right weight. Rest at center shot and arrow level. Shoot paper at point blank range, and 3 yards and 8 yards away. Adjust cam lean/move cams to get as close to bullet holes with those bareshaft as you can get. Only adjustment on rest would be for vertical tears at first. After you’ve got as close as possible to bullets with cam movement, you can start adjusting the rest left to right to fine tune.

Take the bareshafts and fletched field tips. Shoot at target at 20 yards and micro adjust rest to get them hitting same poi. Use a few rounds of shooting before making adjustments. Back up to 30 yards do the same. If you are really confident in your form and consistency then you could back up to 40 yards but you might get some false indicators at that distance.

If fletched and bare are hitting same poi at 30 yards then the broadheads should be hitting with field points. Take broadhead of choice and verify. If adjustments to rest are needed at this point, they would be very minor. Some people advocate skipping bare shaft, shooting fletched thru paper and then going straight to broadheads, but I’ve found I tear up less targets this way and shooting fletched thru paper is harder to tell when you have true bulletholes.

Every once in a while I will take out a taped up bare shaft and shoot it with my field tips. It serves as a confirmation of bow tune and my own form.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tilzbow]

Nick Fisher basically carries an bareshaft arrow that has tape added to the nock end to simulate teh weight of fletchings without the aerodynamic influence. Shoot the arrow with a fieldpoint and shoot it with a broadhead to see what your point of impact looks like.

Thoughts? Discussions?

I’m not sure if you actually meant what I read but I would never recommend shooting a bareshaft with a broadhead attached. I tried it once and let’s just say I’m glad I’ve got a 600’ tall hill behind my target….

 

[BBob]

I quit paper a really long time ago. I bare shaft and I’m not afraid to run bow weight up or down in my tuning process either. Life was easier once I let loose of a certain weight or speed that I had to achieve.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Fisher's method sounds like a recipe for chasing your tail (and possibly losing a broadhead). Bareshaft tuning with field points is very critical of your shooting form; bareshafting with broadheads would be even more so. I guess I really shouldn't knock it until I try it though.

I'm with @Beendare. I think a few shots through paper to get in the ballpark followed by shooting field points vs. broadheads (both on fletched shafts) at distance would be the quickest tuning regimen. I personally like to shoot bareshafts (with field points) as an intermediate step in my tuning, but it's not a requirement.

 

[dtrkyman]

I have gotten really confident in bareshaft tuning, years ago I had a bow that just flat out shot, groups were great with any head at any distance.

Shooting one day I tore a vane, so I stripped the arrow to refletch, I was on my deck and decided wth lets see how the bareshaft shoots, I happened to have left my bow about 25 yards from the target so I picked it up and let er fly, bullseye!

I was like wait a second that was awfully easy, went and pulled the arrow and repeated the shot several times and all were spot on, threw some new vanes on and made that shaft my number one arrow for that season, killed a hell of a buck with it too!

I tuned some 3d arrows bareshaft to 30 yards a couple summers ago, those arrows grouped as good as anything I have ever shot at 100 yards, according to the charts they were underspined, I never shot fixed blades with them but wow do they shoot!

 

[CapitalKing]

Don’t mean to thread jack but do you guys set your broadheads vertically or horizontally when the arrow is knocked?
On a couple arrows I need to leave mine an 1/8th of a turn from tight so they don’t catch the side of my bow when I draw the arrow fully back.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Don’t mean to thread jack but do you guys set your broadheads vertically or horizontally when the arrow is knocked?
On a couple arrows I need to leave mine an 1/8th of a turn from tight so they don’t catch the side of my bow when I draw the arrow fully back.

If you need to change the broadhead orientation just a bit, you could add a washer or two (like these) between the broadhead and arrow shaft. Doing so would add a little weight but not enough to worry about.

If your inserts were installed with hot melt (probably not unless you did it yourself), you could carefully apply a little heat to soften the glue then rotate the insert as needed.

 

[gelton]

If you need to change the broadhead orientation just a bit, you could add a washer or two (like these) between the broadhead and arrow shaft. Doing so would add a little weight but not enough to worry about.

If your inserts were installed with hot melt (probably not unless you did it yourself), you could carefully apply a little heat to soften the glue then rotate the insert as needed.

Another option would be to sand down the end a bit with an arrow square until you get the orientation that you want...that is the way I do it.

 

[Beendare]

I’m rereading this…fast and easy might not be the same as Optimal.

When fixed BH won’t hit with FPs, its telling us the arrow is not coming out of the bow straight. Many ways to do this…..but they are all essentially the same;

Get a 1/2 tune with FPs….with paper, bare shaft or just plain long range group shooting

Then check those FPs against BHs.

I think its a worthy exercise to play with your form and grip while doing this as it really shows how a minor form error affects your BH flight.

I have seen a couple hunt vids from a guy that portrays himself as a guru on Youtube…and his lighted noks in slo mo are wagging from side to side on the way to the animal. I would assume this guy tunes…so its probably the heat of the moment where his form deteriorates to get bad arrow flight.

 

[LuvsFixedBlades]

I think the fastest/ easiest is to shoot FPs through paper- thats the 1/2 way point

Then shoot BHs and FPs to group at long range

This is the way.

If you have the knowledge to tune, have properly built arrows (spine, FOC, fletch) and your form is solid, there is no point in shooting bare shafts. It does the exact same thing as shooting BH's only you're adding an extra step.

Bullet hole through paper with a FP to get a rough tune. Then start shooting BH's at increasing distances and tune accordingly until your BH and FP hit the same spot. Done.

 

[LuvsFixedBlades]

As it pertains to nock tuning since you mentioned it....if you are using high quality arrows without a seam, like most Easton carbon, there are no seams on the shaft. The carbon is weaved around a core to make it "seamless". Cheap shafts use sheets of carbon rolled into a shaft with a "welded" seam, which creates a "weak" area or an area with a slightly different deflection.

You do not need to nock tune high quality arrows without a seam. There is not a "weak spot" in the shaft. If you get a flyer with a high quality shaft it's likely due to a straightness issue, broadhead alignment with the shaft/squaring, or another aspect of your arrow build.

 

[Tilzbow]

This is the way.

If you have the knowledge to tune, have properly built arrows (spine, FOC, fletch) and your form is solid, there is no point in shooting bare shafts. It does the exact same thing as shooting BH's only you're adding an extra step.

Bullet hole through paper with a FP to get a rough tune. Then start shooting BH's at increasing distances and tune accordingly until your BH and FP hit the same spot. Done.

I don‘t necessarily disagree but I shoot and tune bare shafts before broadheads simply due to the fact my primary target is a 5’ x 4’ field point only target. My broadhead targets are stored in the garage and come out once everything is dialed with bare shafts. Further, I usually shoot a bare shaft a few times every practice session out to 40 yards to validate my bow is tune but mostly to check to ensure I’m in tune and not doing something wrong form wise (grip torque, etc).

 

[KBC]

As it pertains to nock tuning since you mentioned it....if you are using high quality arrows without a seam, like most Easton carbon, there are no seams on the shaft. The carbon is weaved around a core to make it "seamless". Cheap shafts use sheets of carbon rolled into a shaft with a "welded" seam, which creates a "weak" area or an area with a slightly different deflection.

You do not need to nock tune high quality arrows without a seam. There is not a "weak spot" in the shaft. If you get a flyer with a high quality shaft it's likely due to a straightness issue, broadhead alignment with the shaft/squaring, or another aspect of your arrow build.

I disagree with this based on my own experience. I shoot the 5mm Axis arrows. The last 24 I built were half match grade and half 0.003". Before I fletch them, I nock tune every one to get the best tear possible. There wasn't much difference between the two grades in terms of how many needed to have the nock twisted. There was probably about a dozen that had bullet holes right away, and the rest of them needed varying degrees of tuning.

 

[LuvsFixedBlades]

I disagree with this based on my own experience. I shoot the 5mm Axis arrows. The last 24 I built were half match grade and half 0.003". Before I fletch them, I nock tune every one to get the best tear possible. There wasn't much difference between the two grades in terms of how many needed to have the nock twisted. There was probably about a dozen that had bullet holes right away, and the rest of them needed varying degrees of tuning.

That's cool.

But, I've watched them make Axis' in their factory from start to finish with my own eyes. I've learned how they grade and sort the shafts and why. That's how I know what I just told you is true.

Your nock alignment changes are compensating for a squaring issue on the front or back end of the arrow, a straightness issue, or another component inconsistency. It is very unlikely its a deflection imperfection within the shaft which needs to be compensated for by turning the nock. If you have to "nock tune" half of your arrows just to get a clean tear, there is something not correct in your build process. It's not the shafts needing to be tuned.

In terms of straightness between a match grade and a standard Axis, when it comes to the "all carbon" arrows (as a generalization), you will notice a bigger difference in straightness variation between grades. But, not so much with say an FMJ in terms of the two grades, simply because its easier to achieve straighter shaft tolerances with aluminum vs carbon.