# Is bare shaft tuning effective with today's compounds?



## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Bare shaft tuning can be effective to a point. Once bare shaft tuned go to the fletched arrow. If tear is ragged there is a high possibility of vane interference.


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## fletched (May 10, 2006)

Bareshaft tuning is a very effective way to tune a compound bow. It can be difficult depending on the cam system. With a compound, you don't need to cut the arrow to tune it's flight. You need to choose the proper spined arrow and adjust the poundage to perfect the flight. As you know by shooting your recurve, proper form is a must. When you achieve good bare shaft flight, you have found near perfection in the equipment and the ability to shoot it. I bareshaft tune and have spent countless hours experimenting with different setups. I can usually have one of my own bows popping perfect holes through the paper very quickly. I have learned the details of bare shafting and can quickly problem solve. A lot of people don't care to know why their bow is shooting good just as long as it is shooting good. They only concern themselves when it isn't shooting good. I want to know why my bow is shooting good so I can always keep it in perfect condition.


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## Harperman (Sep 3, 2006)

Rainmaker...Bare shaft tuning is (For ME) a great way to start the tuning process...it will very quickly tell You where to put arrows rest in relation to center-shot, where to set nocking point, and if Your shafts are spined right...When I set a bow up for Me, or one of my Friends, We start by lazer setting the rest on centershot, and nocking point about dead even, to 1/8" over square.., then shoot on a 4 ft. X 4ft. Block target, and shoot at shoulder height, from about 5 yards...Adjust arrow rest, and nock point accordingly...When the arrows are dead level , and as straight in the target as possible, I'll make a little adjustment to MY OWN centershot, to make the arrow just a tad stiff, becuase fletching will take a little bit of spine off the arrow shaft...THEN "WE" paper-tune from about 6 feet, and if it's good, move back to 10 yards, then back to 20, if the arrows are shooting bullet holes at 10 yards..I will then shoot groups using fletched, and bare shafts in the same group, and fine tune until the arrows are shooting in the same group together..Keep in mind that the bow MUST be synched/timed/tillered and have no cam lean, these things must be right, BEFORE trying to tune the arrows to the shooter and bow ..and starting with an arrow that is pretty close to the proper spine will get You miles ahead of the game then .. .Rainmaker, are You shooting Fingers with a compound bow?...I've not found that this changes much from the basic set-ups, for Me,except center-shot, but it does really make thing different for some Archers...Read the arrow charts carefully...I hope that this helps..Harperman


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## CJT (Jun 8, 2007)

When you shoot the bare shaft at the target what do you look at and how do you adjust ? Not familiar with bare shaft tuning , but would like to know .


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## Rainmaker (Feb 16, 2003)

I haven't cut my arrows yet, and I have a couple of inches sticking out in front of the riser. I have a whisker biscuit mounted on my Xtec. Should I have the end of the cut arrow shaft even with the front of the riser when the arrow is pulled back? Is that a good length? 

Harperman - no I don't shoot the pound with fingers. About 6 years ago when I bought an SQ2 I was going to shoot fingers, but a close friend of mine talked me into the virtues of a good release. I listened to him and bought a scott mongoose which I love. 

I shot a bare shaft out of it the other day and after impact the nock end of the arrow was way high.


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## TMan51 (Jan 25, 2004)

Rainmaker said:


> Can bare shafting be done with a compound?


Absolutely, and if it leaves the bow straight to point of impact out to 30 feet or so, it's usually an indicator that you are well on the way.

There's several tuning techniques to try. At times I use them all, bare shaft, paper, planing shaft, walk back, creep, broadhead, to get things just right. But I always start with a bare shaft at 10 & 30 ft.


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## Rainmaker (Feb 16, 2003)

RIght now my bare shafts are grouping with the fletched arrows. My only problem is that the nock end of the bare shaft is tilted up when the arrow is in the target. Nock point on string too high? or too low? Can't remember. 

Thanks


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## JAVI (Jun 19, 2003)

If you are shooting into a media that doesn't deflect the arrow at inpact and at shoulder height then it would indicate a high nock point.


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## Ray.Klefstad (Oct 7, 2006)

fletched said:


> Bareshaft tuning is a very effective way to tune a compound bow...


I agree completely with Fletched. I wouldn't call it traditional bare shaft tuning, but after getting the bow adjusted into spec, and cam is timed, and ensuring the arrow is setup right (level with burger button and nock point in the right spot - for mathews bows about 1/8 above level and 11/16 out from riser), then I go to shooting bare shafts throgh paper at 6 feet until I get perfect bullet holes. This also allows me to get idler wheel lean correct as it must be to get bullet holes. Then I try fletched shafts to ensure there is no fletching interfearance, then to the range for walkback tuning followed by broadhead tuning. If I've done the bare shaft through paper right, there is usually very little adjustments required after that and I get my broadheads and field points to group together out to 80 yards.

Ray


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## OHIOBUCK (Oct 25, 2006)

Rainmaker said:


> I bare shaft tuned my hoyt gamemaster recurve last year and got it perfect. Started with a long shaft with no fletching and cut 1/4" off til I got perfect arrow flight out to 20 yards.
> 
> Is this a common method for tuning a compound? I read Javi's post on the creep tuning method, and I am familiar with paper tuning. Is there anything else?
> 
> ...


I like bare shaft tuning the best. I start by making shure my bow is in factory spec. , tiller even, and poundage turned down at lease 1 full turn from max.(you'll see why later) After that i shoot a bare shaft at 5yds. Shoot it several times to make shure it hits the same every time. If nock high...lower nock nock low......raise nock nock left..........move rest left nock right.........move rest right. 

After you get the bare shaft to hit straight at 5 yds. Move back to 10 yds and start over, making small adjustments untill you get it to shoot straight. Then move back to 15yds and start over. You should be able to get 15 to 20yds before small adjustments will not work any more.(usually what happens is you can't make a small enough adjustment) At this point I switch to adjusting the limbs. If you have a nock right (spine too stiff) increase bow weight (this is why I said to start with limbs 1 turn down). Nock left(week spine) decrease bow weight . Nock high- increase bottom limb or decrease top limb.. nock low increase top limb or decrease bottom limb. You got to think which way you need to make adjustments.....increasing the top limb or decreasing the bottom limb will drag the nock up. The reverse will drag the nock down. Increasing both limbs will correct a nock right shaft and decreasing both limbs will correct a nock left shaft. Some times you need a combination and only adjust one limb.

When i'm done i shoot a broad head to make shure everthing is good. What usually will happen is the broad head will hit about 1" higher than field points because you added the weight of fletches to the back of the shaft. I don't worry about it but if it bothers you raise your nock a smidge to take care of it. 

Make shure you are using the same weight target tip and shaft as your broadhead tipped arrows.

A micro adjust rest and tied nocks inside your string loop makes adjustments a lot easier. I've tuned every bow I have owned this way and get consistant results. Some bows will tune to longer distances, but most will shoot a bare shaft 20yds. My outback shoot straight out to 35yds. one of the best i ever tuned.


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## Josh_Putman (Jun 18, 2004)

Here is an interesting thought I had. I am not a speed freak by any means, but if you were to chrono your bow before and after bareshaft tuning, would you pick up a few fps because the arrows are coming off the bow perfectly? I think this might be an interesting experiment for someone to try.


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## Rainmaker (Feb 16, 2003)

Josh, 

You will pick up fps if the arrow is properly tuned as opposed to one that's not. 

There are some guys who have done testing with traditional bows who have done exactly as you suggested. One guy reported picking up 6 fps with an arrow that was properly tuned out of a high performance longbow.


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## Hoyt Thompson (May 7, 2007)

fletched said:


> With a compound, you don't need to cut the arrow to tune it's flight. You need to choose the proper spined arrow and adjust the poundage to perfect the flight.


Why not do both? You cans start with a longer shaft of the right spine and turn down the poundage to get it shooting correctly and as you ease it up in poundage you trim the arrow back to achieve the poundage you like and the arrow to match.


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## Josh_Putman (Jun 18, 2004)

Thanks Rainmaker. I have never bareshaft tuned a bow before, but I think I might just have to try it now. I makes sense to me that a perfectly tuned bow would be slightly faster than an untuned one. Now my next question would be about shooting broadheads. Would a bow that was bareshaft tuned still need to be broadhead tuned? I have never broadhead tuned a bow either, as I have never bowhunted much at all. I have always been primarily a target shooter, and never really got beyond walkback tuning. To be perfectly honest, I never really have done much serious tuning such as group tuning and tiller tuning and such. If the bow shoots halfway decent, I pretty much just accept it and shoot it. I guess I still have a lot to learn. :embara::tongue:


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## Rainmaker (Feb 16, 2003)

Josh, 

After you bare shaft tune you would still need to shoot your field points on arrows with fletching to check flight. Then you would also need to shoot your broadheads to make sure they have the same point of impact as your field points. If not, small adjustments will need to be made. 

Whatever you do - do not shoot a bareshaft with a broadhead on the end. 

I'm no expert, but there ya go.


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## HammyAbeer (Jul 15, 2008)

I would like to bump this for Ohio Bucks advice. 

I read this thread before tuning this morning and had much success. Before, bare shafts were going crazy past 10 yards, now I am within 1 inch at 20 yards during a windy day. 

For up and down discrepancies, I had been microadjusting my rest before I read this, but I found that leveling my nock point first and then adjusting limb bolts worked best and was a whole lot quicker and precise.


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## TMan51 (Jan 25, 2004)

Josh_Putman said:


> would you pick up a few fps because the arrows are coming off the bow perfectly?


When your bow is set to specs, and the cams are both delivering an equal force to the center of mass, your bow is at it's most efficient point for the design. You pick up the speed through efficiency of design, and proper adjustment. Even if you whack the centershot out at that point, you wouldn't lose speed at 6' chronograph distances.


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## wis_archer (Jul 27, 2007)

It's a good way to bend arrows. I've done it before, and it worked, but again all of my arrows were bent. I'm not the only one who has had this happen

I just let my broadheads tell me for now.


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## TMan51 (Jan 25, 2004)

wis_archer said:


> It's a good way to bend arrows. I've done it before, and it worked, but again all of my arrows were bent. I'm not the only one who has had this happen .


My Gold Tip and Carbon Express shafts NEVER bend


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