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I am new at archery and only do target in backyard but would like to know how much of a difference it makes on the size or weight of your arrow? I did the dynamic spine chart for both my traditional bows and then went to local archery shop where he said you don't need those you need this size. So now what do I go with his suggestion or try and find the size the chart selected? I shoot a 20lb and 25lb because I am new as I said and a small female. I want to work up to at least a 35lb to go turkey hunting at some point in time but the arrow type and weight have me discouraged (or confused).
Have you tried one or two arrows of each type to see for yourself which soots better?
I have only used the 500 size arrows the archery shop sold me, but they seem stiff and a little short (he cut them to 27" for some reason) for my light weight bows, when I put the arrow information in the dynamic spine chart it shows those arrows for a extremely heavier bow. I don't know if I should just try and find some 1516 and 1616's or just continue with the 500's he sold me. I would like to become accurate enough to hunt some day and work my way up to a heavier bow but for now the arrows seem to have a mind of their own no matter how I shoot them or how far away from the target I am. Don't know if changing arrows to match the bow would make that much of a difference or not.
Both bows are Traditional Recurve's Damon Howatt Monterey 66" 25lb Indian Seneca 62" 20lb
1. I'm no expert. :0)
2. What's your draw legnth?
3. The 5 lbs draw weight difference WILL make a difference, but not all that much at such low weight. But by the time you get to 35 lbs, it will be pretty significant.
Read and understand these two sites (especially the second) and you will know more than most.
http://www.meta-synthesis.com/archery/archery.html
http://www.bowmaker.net/tuning.htm
The bow draw is 28" but I think I draw at 26" since my arrows are 27" long and I have about an inch over the shelf edge when I release, which is what I read you are supposed to do. I looked at both the web sites and I am convinced now that I need to experiment with some 1516's and 1616's to match the arrows to my bows. This should help a lot. I am not exactly sure how to tune my Monterey but know that it makes a lot of string noise when releasing even with silencers on it. I have a new Flemish string on order so hopefully that will help. Also may need to put an anti-vibration dampener on it. You guys have been extremely helpful with my arrow questions and I have bookmarked both those web sites for future reference. Thank you for helping a beginner.
Not much you can tune with a traditional bow. You can twist / untwist the string to tweak the brace height and that's about it. Most of the tuning is done with the arrow by adjusting it's length and / or tip weight. Of course the spine has to be in the ball park first.
Good luck.
I'd recommend checking your nocking point height first. It should be at least an eighth of an inch above "square" with the arrow rest or arrow shelf height. Usually an eighth inch is the recommended height to start with, but with an inexperienced shooter and a very low draw weight, the tendency would be to need it a little higher, at least until your releasing action smooths out more with time.
A nock point that's not right can make the bow noisy, and result in poor arrow flight. To check it, get within six feet of a soft target, like hay bales, and shoot on the level into the bales, even if it means you have to shoot from your knees. The nock end of the arrow should be approximately the same height as the shaft where it goes into the bales. You can also have someone else watch the shaft in flight and watch for vertical "waving". It's sometimes pretty hard for the shooter to see, but usually another person can spot it if they stand behind and slightly to the side, and if you use bright colored fletching.
Next, I'd check the brace height, to make sure it's at or slightly above the height recommended for your bows. Traditional bows are normally pretty quiet, but can be noisy with low brace height. You can add twists to the string to adjust the brace height as needed.
When you're satisfied that your brace height is good, you may want to check out the string silencers available. 3 Rivers archery lists several types in their catalog to choose from. I have used several types over the years, including the rubber cat whiskers type, the "string leeches" that are more popular among comppound shooters but also work on trad bows, and the puffy types. Had similar results with them all. Kinda favored just some homemade ones of yarn in colors that looked pretty much like camo, medium green and brown. About the only disadvantage was that they tended to pick up various stick-tites and burrs when hunting in or traveling through open fields, but they were pretty much self-cleaning and would free themselves of the hitch-hikers after a few shots. They do help quite a bit, and will help more if moved to the best position on the string, which will depend on your bow and should be determined by you, but will likely be somewhere near the midpoints between the nock point and the limb tips.
Another factor that can improve the tuning and also decrease noise levels is to experiment with heavier points. Some bows are pretty sensitive to getting the right relationship between total arrow weight and draw weight, although with as light a draw weight as you have right now, it's hard to imagine that your arrow weight would be too light and be the cause of the noise. But points are cheap and easy to switch, even the ones that aren't screw-ins, so it's an avenue that can be explored at low cost and little time invested.
Lots of things change when we are getting started, so it's best to not get too locked in by early equipment choices. Most of us do a good bit of trying this and that, sometimes getting off in what turns out to be the wrong direction for a while. It takes some time to sort out the gear problems from the form problems, but solving these puzzles is a lot of the good feeling of achievement that comes with arriving at the point where you're happy with the gear and starting to show real improvement in accuracy.
Hang in there and you'll get that good feeling eventually. It may come quickly or may follow quite a spell of trial and error. Good coaching can speed the process, but poor advice can slow it way down, so you have to be cautious about whose lead to follow, as in most other areas of life.
Best of luck to you, and you know we'll be glad to help whenever you need to ask.
Until you start shooting broadheads, your 500's should be fine.
When target shooting, we almost always have arrows that are twice as stiff as the charts recommend. My indoor target bow is 45# and my target arrows are a .150 spine, which according to the charts would require a 80#-90# bow. And target setups like mine are the rule rather than the exception. For target only shooting, we only want consistency, we don't have to shoot fixed blade broadheads. We don't care if our arrows "cartwheel"(slight exaggeration to make a point) on the way to the target, as long as they all do the exact same thing, and hit the same impact point.
When you've become proficient at target shooting, and move up to 35# or so, and are ready to hunt with broadheads, then you will need to research more on the best shaft choice. This site will be an excellent place to find that answer.
welcome, i to begain with recurve, 39lbs, 29" though, not much of a difference, shoot arrows made for a bow of the weight you are useing , 3riversarchery.com carrys alot. alum. is to heavy for most bows under 45lbs, carbon or ceder works well, alot of practice is the best , till its second nature to put first arrow in 2" circle at 15ydrs, then began search for hunt arrows to match your hunting weight bow, next chech local laws on the draw weight, 35 lbs may not be leagal in your state. as for noise, suggest you check bolts secureing limbs. besure all arrows are same weight for now. next arrow legth, if you use sights, add one inche to draw length, if natural or instinktive you will like two inches past draw legth. besure string is centered at point attaches to limb, it can cause irregular flight. next besure someone has squared your nock point. dont get discouraged by anything about archery, its agame of pateints, and discipline. take your time and you will injoy. please dont take red warning about me breaking forum rules the wrong way, i had a bad day. hope these pointers can help you some any way. goodluck.
I just checked my arrows and they are 27" 2016's with 4" feathers so they may be a little to stiff and short for my light weight bows since the dynamic spine chart recommended 1516 and 1616 with 5" feathers. My adult son, who also shoots a 25lb recurve did tell me my arrows do a lot of side to side movement before they straighten out and that my bow vibrates a lot more than his Razorback take down bow, but I have no idea how to stop those two things from happening. I am going to do all the steps you offered for tuning my 25 pounder because I like that one better just don't like the string noise. I also think I will try 3 of each arrow type the 1516 and 1616 to see if that helps. You guys are a wealth of knowledge, thank you so much for your help. I do not feel as discourage now and feel there is hope I can do better at this.
the side to side thing may just be from your rest not being in line with string, you might want to take it to a friend, or shop to explain this hard to give that kind of instructions with out being there.
I plugged your info ( 25# @ 28" 26" draw)into Stu's dynamic spline calculator with the following results. An aluminum 1713 shaft cut to 28" with a 125 gr point,20 gr insert would weight 370 gr with 17.3 ft# of energy.(perfect) Or a Gold Tip 1535 (.600 spine) trad carbon arrow cut to 29", with a 250gr point, a 50gr insert, would weigh 537gr with 18.8 ft# of energy. (great for hunting) You may need to special order these sizes. Have you checked out the Leatherwall site?
That was the calculator I was trying to use as well, my brother in law sent me the link and told me to make the numbers match as close as possible, it is difficult for me to use because I do not understand all the different blocks you need to fill in. Thank you for doing that, I will try the 1713 suggestion and when I am good enough to try turkey hunting I will try the Gold Tip one.
How important is it that the F.O.C. be close to 11%?
I will check out the Leather wall site and see what is on it. Thanks
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Looking for more information on my bow Howatt Ventura recurve