# brite sight Springy rest



## redman (Feb 22, 2003)

Has any one every used the brite sight Springy rest back in the day Springy was the rest to use before the blade rest


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## KMBH (Aug 6, 2012)

Use to use the old "springy" made by Martin and others. Always would try and shoot the lightest spring possible. Then would have great fun trying to reset center shot and rest height in the middle of the woods, after the rest got snagged on some brush.


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## Stormbringer (May 22, 2006)

Here's the latest spring Hunter Head version for the Jesse Mount Verti-Click ProTuner...


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

Any chance of a picture of that rest from the back? I'm having a hard time figuring it out :dontknow:

Thanks,
Grant


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## Stormbringer (May 22, 2006)

I haven't shot with this rest set up yet, BriteSite didn't have any thin spring steel blades for the 3d/hunter head, and, said this spring set up shoots like a dream.
The bottom pic is the Jesse mount with the thin blade 3d/hunter head which works great in the wind, the arrow will not blow off the hunter head!
I need new strings on the chrome bow, otherwise, I'd have a better review on the spring set up, but, Mike at BriteSite has never steered me in the wrong direction, so, it'll get 'er done I'm sure! :wink:
Click on the picture for a larger image!


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## redman (Feb 22, 2003)

any pics of the springy rest he makes


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

The ones I show below are NOT "Brite Site" springie rests, but are representative of the style used in the 1970's and onwards. In my case, the actual arrow rest on the unit is a BPE 10 oz. springie rest. Terry Ragsdale was a dedicated springie rest user for many years.
Obviously, this is not a shoot thru style arrow rest, but a shoot around style, so there IS contact when you shoot using this type of arrow rest.
Critical items to get super tight grouping:
- -Correct nock rotation of every single shaft in your arrow set
- - Angle of the springie rest arrow "arm"
- - Stiffness of the arrow rest. The "stiffness" of the arm was accomplished by cutting off the arm so that it was not much longer than coming up to the centerline of the shaft when the arrow was on the arm of the springie. The other part was that they came in 10 oz, 15 oz, and 20 oz and finding the right one for your shaft size and weight took some experimenting.
- - Arrow spine was very critical. If you shot a spine either too stiff or too weak for that springie, you would rip the coils open and ruin the arrow rest in a heart-beat.
- - Setting the shaft and up angle so that the center line of the shaft was slighly above the centerline of the round coil.

Realizing that most times a slight "pinging sound" after the shot was likely the best setup. Total clearance was NOT something you could get, and if you did, it wouldn't necessarily group well at long distance.
Here's a photo of a "Long Throw" Adjustable arrow rest combo with a 10 oz BPE springie installed on it> In fact that particular springie rest is the one I used for many years to shoot my PBs indoors and outdoors. It is still fully serviceable to this very day! In addition, there were other mounting units you could purchase to mount the springie rest. The unit in the photo is a long throw unit because some of the bows that came out later were cut past center farther, so the unit had to be longer to allow you to reach the proper center shot for your setup. The other photos show two others...the short throw and the medium throw. 
There were also those mounting units that used nothing but a brass or steel bolt with a cutout or mounting unit that simply screwed into the end of the bolt. The bad thing about those that when you adjusted center shot, you also had to re-set the up angle of the arm on the springie, so it was time consuming.
The "plates" in the photos came with the mounting units and were designe to let you put on a stick on arrow rest such as the Hoyt Pro-Rest or the Hoyt Super Rest so commonly used back in the day. The Hoyt Pro-Rest is still being made today, and it is being used by many recurved beginning archers.
YES! There used to be a person that made springie rests specifically for all carbon and smaller diameter arrows, complete with a steel bolt "holder" for those springies. There were many options and diameters and stiffnesses of these, depending upon which shaft spine and type you wanted to use. Those aren't shown below; have to save something for the book and future articles, hahaha!
There will be an article in the upcoming Archery Focus Magazine concerning arrow rests, but that is the tip of the iceberg; There will be a complete section on arrow rests, including the springie that offer more detail in my upcoming book, "Autobowography".
Just google Archery Focus Magazine and you'll find the issues easily.















field14 (Tom D.)


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## TNMAN (Oct 6, 2009)

Tom, my experience was different in that I was able to get complete clearance. No PING for me, please. Shot a light weight springy from 1977 to 1985---cut short so that they just did hold the arrow. 28" 1814's, flexfletch, heavy bullet points, 53lb/29" out of PSE, Wing, & Martin bows. Foot powder showed a single scratched line almost to the fletching, indicating that the arrow road the very tip end of the springy and then flexed around the rest without touching.

The springy was very popular at that time with 80-90 percent of the top freestyle shooters using them.


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## redman (Feb 22, 2003)

http://britesite.us/images/large/springy_LRG.png


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## TNMAN (Oct 6, 2009)

redman, No offense to Mike, but when you say "springy", most old school shooters will automatically be thinking about the coiled type that field14 posted.


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## kballer1 (Aug 31, 2010)

TNMAN is right about field14 & all the old school shooters. Another springy option was shooting a springy with a plunger Frank Pearson I know shot it for a long time 7 I think
Joe Kleminick also shot one & they both shot them well.


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

kballer1 said:


> TNMAN is right about field14 & all the old school shooters. Another springy option was shooting a springy with a plunger Frank Pearson I know shot it for a long time 7 I think
> Joe Kleminick also shot one & they both shot them well.


I shot mine fairly well with the "plunger option" but then, rather than pull the springie off and start over, I simply locked down the plunger, made only very minor adjustments to the "nocking point" and shot slightly better without the "plunger action." At the time, I didn't have the silver one in the photo and the short one was a press in model and the bow had the 5/16-24 threaded hole so the press in option was not the one to pursue. The medium throw was fully extended and rattled; didn't like that....so...the plunger model went in and then it got simply locked down and was good to go for several years...The springie on the silver long throw model is the same springie that I used from 1989-1996 when I finally went to carbon arrows and vacated the springie. I couldn't begin to count how many arrows were launched off that same springie rest...and I still have beaucoup spares, too, hahahaha.

field14 (Tom D.)


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

So, since the book will have an entire chapter or two devoted to the Springie rest: Above someone mentioned the 'plunger option' springie. Just so happens that I have one of several styles of plunger options that worked for the springie. In addition, I also posted the chart for "sizing" a coiled springie rest for carbon arrows. I think the person that made these for me doesn't make them anymore. Most all I have are left handed ones, because at that time, I was shooting left handed and wanted some of them. Never thought to have him make me up some right handed coils.
So away we go: At the time, I was shooting a round Wheeled Merlin Nova at 47# peak weight, and the YELLOW coiled springies worked better than the next size up, so that is what I used. I ended up with Golden Key and switched to that type of launcher rest and put those springies away.
The bottom photo is the plunger style that I locked down so it wouldn't move. You can see the adaptor unit that had an internal chamfer on it to hold the springie itself and the notches to hold that all in place. It was troublesome to set up because when you changed the center shot, you had to loosen the springie set screw and set the angle of the arm all over again. But once you got it, it stayed put...unless your arrow spine was way off...or you caught the springie itself on the side of the bow case when you were careless in taking the bow out of the case. Other than that, the springie was KISS and very reliable and long lasting. Nothing to screw it up. 

I made a "cover" to go over the springie rest for storage in the bow case. It was really complicated: Took an old lid from a spray can of whatever. Popped two holes in the sides of it. Inserted a rubber band through each hole. Place cover over springie, ends of rubber band around the springie mounting bolt. Voila..instant springie protector!



















field 14


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## redman (Feb 22, 2003)

pse made a great springy rest last for years used one when I shot fingers


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

redman said:


> pse made a great springy rest last for years used one when I shot fingers


Yes, they did. I found the BPE's to be more consistent and a tad less expensive. I think I could purchase them back in the day for about $1 to $1.25 each. My first go-around with the springie in the mid 1970's didn't go well....I didn't know what I was doing and nobody that I shot with did either. I was trying a 15 oz springie with a 35# bow; obviously the springie was too stiff, so I was tearing the coils apart after only a few shots. Gave up on it then, but came back to it in the mid 1980's after messing around with so many arrow rests I lost count. 
I also messed with other arrow rests when I was shooting my best with the springie...but that was always done on my backup bow and I always left the primary bow set up with the springie and left that thing alone, ha.
I wonder if and when the springie rests may fall back "into favor" like so many other things have come and gone and then came back again??? The springie is/was so reliable and once set, they lasted for years. I always had spares, but in all the years, the primary springie is still with me, ha.

Of course, one thing many folks wouldn't like is that the arrow length must be quite a bit longer when shooting a springie since the springie's arm is well past the center of the mounting hole. That would mean that you would shoot a longer arrow, more weight, and "lose some speed"...and speed these days apparently is the top priority, hahaha. I did shoot springie rests mounted on an overdraw, so that is a possibility, since some sort of "overdraw" is back in, but they call it "torque tuning" these days. Moving the arrow rest back isn't new, but it is somwhat "improved" with more of a method to the madness rather than just moving the arrow rest back in order to "Gain speed" by shooting a shorter and lighter arrow.

field14 (Tom D.)


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

I've played around with the springy on my Trad class bow. Mainly because it seems to reduce my gaps. However I find that a regular magnetic rest (but with a fairly thin wire) and plunger is more consistent for barebow recurve use.

-Grant


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

grantmac said:


> I've played around with the springy on my Trad class bow. Mainly because it seems to reduce my gaps. However I find that a regular magnetic rest (but with a fairly thin wire) and plunger is more consistent for barebow recurve use.
> 
> -Grant


I had a Bear Polar, which was my first real target bow back in 1968 or so. It came with the Premier Bow Sight which was mounted in the riser. At the time it had a "Bear Bristle Rest" with a teflon adjustable pressure point. Shortly after that, Bear came out with their "magnetic arrow rest" which I purchased for little of nothing (by today's standard, that is). However it still retained the teflon adjustable pressure point. The magna-rest worked well most of the time. Due to some problems with that Polar, I had to send it back to Bear and they replace the bow gratuite with a brand new Bear Temujin that had the Premier bowsite in the riser and the magnetic rest on it. Magnetic rests fell out of favor for quite some time, but they are making a comeback in the recurved divisions some 45 years later. The "improved" (they certainly aren't "new") magnetic rests are much improved over what they were in 1969!

field14 (Tom D.)


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

The AAE Free Flyte or Champion II has been the go-to standard for recurve barebow for probably 20 years.

I can't argue the success of the springy in non-stringwalking classes, or in Compound BB. I personally don't find that it can compensate for the tuning changes of stringwalking a recurve over a wide range of distances, but that is my opinion.

With the way recurve tech is start to progress I'd be really curious if something like a blade rest ever gets developed for them. Maybe with a blade on both the side and bottom which has adjustable spring tension for tuning purposes. Times like this make me wish my mill was CNC.

-Grant


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

grantmac said:


> The AAE Free Flyte or Champion II has been the go-to standard for recurve barebow for probably 20 years.
> 
> I can't argue the success of the springy in non-stringwalking classes, or in Compound BB. I personally don't find that it can compensate for the tuning changes of stringwalking a recurve over a wide range of distances, but that is my opinion.
> 
> ...


with regard to the springie rest for "stringwalking" you are very correct! I never shot with anyone that had much success with a springie when trying to stringwalk. A lot of stringwalkers I knew did use the arrow rest I mention below, however.
I know a lot of finger shooters that shot with the Golden Key "Star Hunter" arrow rest; many shot with it very well indeed. It had a blade on both the side and bottom...but wasn't adjustable for spring tension. Once again, arrow spine was critical as was the correct nock rotation, but once set, things stayed put.

field14


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

Oddly enough the springy is actually very well regarded for stringwalking in the recurve world, but I think that is manly by people who have shorter crawls then I do.

I've been looking for a Star Hunter or the Cartel version for the last while to do a bit of an experiment but they seem to have dried-up. I sold my last one along with an LX Protec that I was stringwalking, oddly enough I found it extremely forgiving of spine. I'd love to find a rest which was tunable for vertical compliance like a modern compound blade rest. The Beiter almost does what I'm after but not quite.

-Grant


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## JF from VA (Dec 5, 2002)

Grant,

Lancaster shows a Cartel Star Hunter in their catalog (PN 1760124), but I don't see one on their web site.


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## grantmac (May 31, 2007)

LAS has it as discontinued. I'm kind of hoping to find one in a junk drawer somewhere.

-Grant


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## FS560 (May 22, 2002)

Make a block to mount the side plate to the launcher rod of a DS Advantage rest and then make a narrow bottom plate to mount to the regular DS rod.

Better yet, Detlef may just make it for you and then make it an option for his rest. It would work just like the star hunter but be adjustable.

Actually, GK made an adjustable star hunter that worked off of a golden premier like adjustable body. It was named super star and they were made for Golden Key by Spott Hogg.

Detlef could make the adapter so that the block would mount the side plate instead of the bottom blade and he could easily make another little block to mount the under arrow clicker.

Over the years I have tried many rests, including the star hunter, but with a rope spike or stan with rope, which does induce a small amount of paradox. I would think spine should be critical with a star hunter because it is a shoot through rest and the space to get the bottom vane through is small. The alternative is to shoot feathers or to spine the arrow so that the bottom vane goes outside of the bottom blade, like you have to do with a springy anyway.

Detlef could likely make you a springy adapter but that is not necessary because the adjustable springy that Gary makes is simple and bullet proof. i still have some that are almost 30 years old, but I did make rod extenders to shoot with center shot bows.

Neat!!

In any event, I think a springy rest is ill advised for fingers except perhaps for stringwalking. A springy rest has more vertical give than horizontal and I believe that to be counter productive for fingers because of the orientation of the paradox. The probable reason it works well for stringwalking is because the greater vertical give absorbs the variation created by the crawl, which is essentially a crawl induced paradox.

The crawl induced paradox may be greater than the finger induced paradox and being the greater value, therefore it exerts greater influence over the delivery of the arrow. I would expect that large fletch is necessary.

I have not shot fingers since the 1971 PAA Corry Archery Festival (3rd place) but I have shot springy rests with compound/trigger beginning in 1975 and up into the the mid 1990s. I do plan to play with my old Bear TD bows with 3U and SW and will see what springys will do. I am fascinated by the stick bow development taking place at present.

I really want to buy some border Hexx6 limbs but certainly not until I determine what weight I can handle. After all, I am 72 and did not shoot a whole year with hip pain and then a new titanium hip. No pain from the afternoon of the operation since but on the walker for a while afterward. Skipped the cane.

Have not shot 3U and SW since 1965 and that was RH with a Hoyt Pro Flex rest (before the super pro flex rest) but switched to LH in 1967, to trigger in 1971 after Corry, and compound in 1973. I was using a Bear Tamerlane II compound and rope spike when I won Las Vegas unlimited freestyle in 1975 but a plunger and flipper, the springy came later that year.


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## field14 (May 21, 2002)

FS560...I don't have a photo of your 1975 Vegas win. I, too, was shooting a Bear Tamerlane II compound, but the short riser version. Were you shooting the long riser or the short riser version in 1975? Wasn't it 1976 that Bear added the "speed brackets" to the Tamerlane II's? I also remember shooting a Berger button/flipper combination back around then, too, and it worked fine. Before that, I, too, like you simply shot the Hoyt Flex-Rest with the mounting bracket, which worked for me a bit better than the flipper/plunger. 
I remember trying the springie out, but didn't know what I was doing and ripped a couple right off the bow, a Carroll's 1200 4-wheeler, before finally switching to that short riser Bear Tamerlane II, and then using the springie on it with some success, once I figured out that the BPE 10oz and NOT the stiffer 15 oz was the key to being able to shoot with the springie off that bow without ripping it up. I was shooting a Sizemore for quite some time, then a Hot Shot, and then ended up right back with my home-made rope spike release, rope around the string, monfilament center serving and an eliminator button, with the old Pa-Peep plastic hooded peep site
Yes, folks, the hooded peep site goes way back before the IMPROVED metal hooded peep sights. I think I still have a couple of Pa-Peeps, but they wouldn't withstand the loads of today's non-give synthetic string materials or the huge loads placed upon the string with today's more radical cams.

field14 (Tom D.)


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