Bow Tuning Guide

[Bowtoons]

This year my archery season was in jeopardy after not being able to get my bow tuned well enough to have my BH's and field points group both well. I got frustrated and went to a local shop who I've always dealt with, unfortunately they charged me nearly $40 to "fix" my rest alignment (which I bought the whole bow setup there in the first place) and even after that I found my arrow to be shooting way off of my field tip. Half way through the season I got my bow tuned decently well with using tips on here and archery talk. Your guys input definitely helps those who are in a jam like I was earlier.

 

If your ever in a jam or need help with anything. Shoot me a p.m. I'm not far from you and would be more than happy to help you out.

[azhuntress]

Bow tuning will help you shoot tighter groups and also help your arrow completely pass through the animals that you shoot at. 

 

I once knew a guy that was amazed that I could shoot a deer at 47 pounds and always have a complete pass through and he shot 70 pounds and his arrow would always stick in the animal.  I told him the importance of getting his bow tuned so his arrows would fly straight instead of hitting the target sideways.  He had his bow tuned and the next deer he shot at he had a complete pass through and even with shooting through both shoulder blades. 

 

He was then a believer of a well tuned bow and the power behind an arrow that flies straight.   

[DanceswithSkunks]

  fine tuning your setup helps accuracy, but not so much the accuracy of the bow.  it makes the bow more forgiving which can drastically increase your accuracy.  you here all the time how people can shoot the smallest uncommon groups at ranges out past 40 yards on nice firm flat ground with little wind.  don't know about you but most of the time I'm shooting at a whitetail from a treestand, siiting in a blind, up or down a ridge, on a side hill, standing in a hole, standing on rocks, etc.  those situations are where you need the forgiveness of a fine tuned bow to make that shot count.

 

 

A properly tuned bow isn't going to forgive anything. You torque the handle, punch the release, cave in your draw from holding it at full draw too long, forgetting to follow through because you want to see if and where you hit the deer, not bending at the waist on downward or upward shots etc. Knowing what proper form is and maintaining that form during all of your shots whether it's a target in the backyard or a deer out afield.is the foundation of accuracy. 

 

I shoot a 52 pound draw weight with XX78 2213s. The last buck I took was at 33 yards quartering away. It entered at the 2nd to last rib went through the liver, heart,  both lungs, took out the elbow joint on the far side and buried itself 3 inches deep in a tree root on the other side. The amount of energy lost by an improperly tuned bow is an amazingly large percentage that many just can not comprehend.

[dbHunterNY]

I will have to disagree on the part about setting everything to factory specs. Brace height and ata are not set in stone numbers. You should be within reason of these numbers, although they don't have to be exact. Also the metal football clamps are the worst IMO. They can slide with out realizing it. I always serve my cords in. Once the cord is through the string. You don't need a press to re-time if needed. If you install a good quality set of strings, you won't have much messing around once in tune.

 

I like to use it as a starting point.  when you change poundage and other things brace height and other specs will change.  I think if you start with factory specs by the time you're done you'll be "within reason".  I already that they don't always have to be set to factory specs exactly but most of the time it helps eliminate some issues.  I've never had any problems with the clamps.  some used to be plastic and those were junk.  they'd break often.  the metal ones though I think work just fine.  companies like QAD wouldn't still supply them if they were junk I'd think.  I guess we all have are tuning methods.  as long as the arrow goes where it's supposed to that's all that counts.

[dbHunterNY]

A properly tuned bow isn't going to forgive anything. You torque the handle, punch the release, cave in your draw from holding it at full draw too long, forgetting to follow through because you want to see if and where you hit the deer, not bending at the waist on downward or upward shots etc. Knowing what proper form is and maintaining that form during all of your shots whether it's a target in the backyard or a deer out afield.is the foundation of accuracy. 

 

I shoot a 52 pound draw weight with XX78 2213s. The last buck I took was at 33 yards quartering away. It entered at the 2nd to last rib went through the liver, heart,  both lungs, took out the elbow joint on the far side and buried itself 3 inches deep in a tree root on the other side. The amount of energy lost by an improperly tuned bow is an amazingly large percentage that many just can not comprehend.

 

well I agree they won't let you get away with archery murder, everything you said.  I agree you still need to use good form, but nobody's form is perfect and everyone's is different.  that said, a well tuned bow will be more forgiving and be easier to shoot.  things like tuning a bow with the slightly different nock and arrow height going through the burger button hole will make a bow hold better or worse.  there's a lot of little stuff that will help.

 

I do agree a well tuned bow will most efficiently transfer energy into getting the shaft in motion to the target, instead of energy lost into the arrow flexing more than it needs to.  from an improperly tuned bow your arrow hasn't settled as much or has more horizontal or vertical nock movement, just to explain a couple.  energy that goes into creating this movement is lost in the sense that it's not causing the arrow to move forward along the intended path.

[dbHunterNY]

curious what does everyone use for arrow selection charts to determine correct spine?  I like and always seem to use Easton's http://www.eastonarchery.com/uploads/files/52_target-sel-chart.pdf   they seem to not leave any assumptions and spell everything that effects spine.

[shawnhu]

curious what does everyone use for arrow selection charts to determine correct spine? I like and always seem to use Easton's http://www.eastonarchery.com/uploads/files/52_target-sel-chart.pdf they seem to not leave any assumptions and spell everything that effects spine.

I use the charts from the arrow manufacturer. In my case, CX.

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[Bowtoons]

curious what does everyone use for arrow selection charts to determine correct spine?  I like and always seem to use Easton's http://www.eastonarchery.com/uploads/files/52_target-sel-chart.pdf   they seem to not leave any assumptions and spell everything that effects spine.

 

I use OT2. I find the manufacturer charts not all that accurate. OT2 gives you the option of playing around with different point weights, lengths ect.... to find the perfect spine for your set-up.

[DanceswithSkunks]

I have a laminated chart I got from an Easton rep about 25 years ago. It's mainly for aluminum arrows and lists 3 to 5 shafts per draw weight/length ranging from stiffest to weakest spine. There are 3 columns. Recurve, wheel compound and cam compound. It also has variances for tip weight.  I've shot shafts that are not recommended by the chart just to see what flight characteristics they had. Back in  the day when over-draw bows were the craze, remember overdrawn bows?, Guys would spend an entire day at the pro shop where I worked part time trying different shafts and tip weights looking to get an extra 3 FPS arrow velocity. After several hours, jokingly, I would mention that if you want speed they have things called rifles now. They would always refer to my bow as Dave's SCUD launcher.

[DanceswithSkunks]

If you're having trouble with grouping broadheads, you may want to change your FOC. Increasing your broadhead weight will tighten up those groups. You'll lose some velocity but if you can't hit where you're aiming at, all the velocity in the world won't make a clean kill.

 

I haven't shot a field point out of my hunting bow in about 15 years. I practice with  broadheads and use a 3 spot target to keep damage to a minimum. 3 shots at 20 yards then the rest are 35 to 70 yards away . Making a hole in the same spot from 20 yards won't help you much. Practice at longer distances. Shooting from longer distances magnifies any mistake you have in form. When that buck of a lifetime shows up at 20 yards or less it's pretty much a gimmee shot if you maintain your form.

[buckordoe]

I've paper tuned bows easily when they have dual yolks like on the bowtech.

Mathews monster series has yolks but you can twist them to take out left or right tears.. I have my mr5 paper tuned just by playing with the rest and my chillr has a one inch tear no matter what I do,,, I shoot out to 40 yards with booth bows and they both group the same

[sweet old bill]

I find the charts are always a little off, they seem to make the selection so it always at the high side. I find I do better with seeing what was suggested to the one that is  1 to the left.....it is says 350 I find I do better with a 400 spine shaft...

[buckordoe]

Here is my take on tuning a bow. Yes. You can set up a bow to shoot decent groups out to 40 yrds. by setting center shot and squaring everything up. Myself. I want to squeeze every little bit of performance I can out of my bow. Here is how I tune mine and every other person that brings their rig to me for a tune. I first inspect strings and cables to ensure they are in good shape.( I always use a good set of custom strings and not the factory strings myself). Then the bow goes on the draw board and I time/sync the cams and get the DL. correct. I don't worry about ATA and Brace. Those numbers aren't set in stone numbers. Next. I find the center shot and set the rest and go right into bare shaft paper tuning ( I don't even bother with a fletched shaft). I will do this out to 30yrds. I adjust my paper tear by yoke tuning (if bow has one. The reason I don't care for Elites). Once I get bare shaft shooting bullet holes out to 30 yrds. I go to broadheads. I've yet to have to make any adjustments with fixed or mechanicals with any bow that I've bare shaft tuned at 30 yrds. After all of the tuning is done. I will send some arrows thru the chronograph to see if it's making or close to ibo. More for fun than anything else (They are all fast!). Confidence in your set up goes a long way when you have that opportunity of a lifetime. I'm not trying to hit a pie plate at 40Yrds. I'm trying to split hairs at 40 yrds. I'm not claiming to be the best tuner in the world, but I'm pretty good at it and love doing it. If anyone needs help. Feel free to send me a p.m. and I'll do what I can to get you going in the right direction.

Nice, but a question on cam sync , if they cams are timed but not syncd, you twist a cable but doesn't that throw of the timing?

[dbHunterNY]

changed a timing cord on a QAD for the first time.  it was extremely easy I found compared to some reports of it being a PITA.  took me about 5 minutes.  I used Gibbs Super D-loop material for the cord seemed to be the perfect size and fed through the holes very well as it's stiffer with a bit of memory.

[The_Real_TCIII]

It takes ten seconds to fire a shot through a piece of paper, it's an easy way to at least get started. I do that then sight in a 20 and walk back tune. Then broadheads

[The_Real_TCIII]

changed a timing cord on a QAD for the first time. it was extremely easy I found compared to some reports of it being a PITA. took me about 5 minutes. I used Gibbs Super D-loop material for the cord seemed to be the perfect size and fed through the holes very well as it's stiffer with a bit of memory.

Im going to do that this week. I think I cut mine too short and it's messing up the valley on my Answer

[shawnhu]

changed a timing cord on a QAD for the first time. it was extremely easy I found compared to some reports of it being a PITA. took me about 5 minutes. I used Gibbs Super D-loop material for the cord seemed to be the perfect size and fed through the holes very well as it's stiffer with a bit of memory.

What made you change out the timing cord on a QAD? I've recently adjusted mine for a slower drop.

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[dbHunterNY]

Im going to do that this week. I think I cut mine too short and it's messing up the valley on my Answer

 

D-loop material similar in thickness of BCY #24 d-loop used for a replacement cord is cheap.  i gave myself a good 9+" or so to work with.  melted and pulled both ends to a point to feed it through.  Gibb's super loop material was stiffer and easier to work with then the spool of BCY loop I've got.  if i were to use that though I keep a length of thin Christmas tree ornament wire to feed and pull things through tiny holes.  otherwise for things like soft nock sets i use dental floss.  i always use the clamps that come with the rest versus serving in the end of the cord to the bow cable.  rest prongs should come fully back only within the last 3/4" of coming to full draw.

[dbHunterNY]

What made you change out the timing cord on a QAD? I've recently adjusted mine for a slower drop.

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it was moved to a bow with an inch longer brace height making the cord too short.  it was already a tad on the short side with the other bow (a shop installed it not me).  plus slight contact was being now made with the cable clamp and the other cable.  color didn't match either.

 

I've got a new Elite bow and QAD Elite drop away that are going together.  probably change out that new cord to a flo-green color before it even gets fully installed. it's a black bow with a black and flo-green HHA sight.  the timing cord and probably d-loop will be flo-green to match.  usually not crazy about color accessorizing a bow but this is a 3D rig not a hunting rig simply to get the job done.

[dbHunterNY]

What made you change out the timing cord on a QAD? I've recently adjusted mine for a slower drop.

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another thing.  maybe just me but i always time it so the prongs come back in the last 1/2-3/4" of draw cycle when coming to full draw.  before I've slowed it down as much as possible to still maintain clearance with arrow.  I've since ditched the idea.  puts more stress on the rest itself and more importantly torques the cable it's on more.  i partially tighten the cable clamp so i can come to full draw and the cable slides through the clamp to a position for the exact timing every time.

Edited January 26, 2016 by dbHunterNY

[The_Real_TCIII]

If you dont mind would you take a measurement of how far down the cable your cord is clamped?

[moog5050]

If you dont mind would you take a measurement of how far down the cable your cord is clamped?

 

 

It should be clamped or tied in just BELOW the bottom of the grip.  It should also not have any tension until the last inch of your draw and be fully raised when you hit full draw.  Much easer to install correctly with a draw board.  If you are around Rochester, happy to tie it in for you.

[shawnhu]

another thing. maybe just me but i always time it so the prongs come back in the last 1/2-3/4" of draw cycle when coming to full draw. before I've slowed it down as much as possible to still maintain clearance with arrow. I've since ditched the idea. puts more stress on the rest itself and more importantly torques the cable it's on more. i partially tighten the cable clamp so i can come to full draw and the cable slides through the clamp to a position for the exact timing every time.

You can also slow it down by moving the clamp point up. I don't make the timing cord short, despite what QAD says.

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[dbHunterNY]

If you dont mind would you take a measurement of how far down the cable your cord is clamped?

 

it varies between bows but seems it's always at a some height close to the bottom of the grip when undrawn/at rest.  gives you a good downward angle for the cord to let the rest drop versus cord going more straight back to the cable.  you want to avoid contact between the clamp and the string stop/tamer at rest, also at full draw between the cable clamp and the other cables.  i also make sure the clamp is facing the rest, so once the cord gets tight it's not twisting the bow cable.  it's all pretty straight forward once you get the idea of how it works.

[dbHunterNY]

You can also slow it down by moving the clamp point up. I don't make the timing cord short, despite what QAD says.

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yea I'm moving the clamp up or down the cable to change the timing.  it's as loose as i can have it to still fully cock the rest prongs back, setting its timing the same every time.  once it's in the right position the clamp gets tightened/snugged down.  when walk-back tuning and fine tuning at distance for groups i move the rest very slightly.  using the clamp lets me do that and still keep the same timing.  if the cord was served in the timing would change slightly.