I have Gold Tip 1535s with 100 grain inserts and 100 tips on them. When I started bare shaft tuning, I was getting nock left so I have started trimming the shaft 1/4" at a time and I have improved things but I am still not able to get it nice and straight. Do I have too much weight up front or are some bows unable to shoot a shaft nice and straight? I have about .75" left that I can trim before I am 1" away from the riser. The bow is a 45# Grizzly recurve.
Thanks
I think you could get the arrows to stiffen up with a little less tip weight. In my experience cutting carbons has a big impact on stiffness and tip weight makes some difference. Can you shoot one of the shafts with no tip screwed in? you could screw a small 8/32 screw into the insert to keep it from plugging up with target material. Since you have 100 grain insert I believe your gpp would still be in range for this test. If it works and your arrows tune with this adjustment you could replace the 100gr inserts with regular aluminum inserts. Just some ideas. I shoot full length 1535s with 200 up front from my Toelke Whip which is 50 pounds, but I am only pulling 44. Your bow is cut closer to center so it would likely prefer a slightly stiffer arrow than my set up. Good luck.
If you want to stick with that total point weight you can shorten arrow and or build out strike plate and or decrease brace height.
Have you tried one with feathers and a broad head. This may help.
A GT 1535 cut to 29" with a 100 grain point and just a regular aluminum insert that weighs about 15 grains is about right for a 40# bow. You have 85 grains more than that up front. I have no experience tuning a 1535 with that much weight up front, but my guess would be that it would tune for about a 30-35# bow.
For your 45# Grizzly, you need a 3555 GT, unless your draw length is substantially shorter than 28". Even then, I'm not sure you could stack 200 grains on the front.
Thanks for all the help. I just tried shooting with the standard insert and the 100 grain tip and it shot nice and straight. I still have 1" left to cut. Would you keep it like it is or cut it and maybe be able to add 50 grain inserts up front for a total of 150? I did weigh the arrow and with the standard insert and tip it is 346.0 grains. Is that too light for deer hunting?
I just measured my arrow and it is 28.25" without measuring the nock or tip. That comes out to 12.24 grains per inch.
It would be nice if you could at least get up to a 125 grain broadhead/tip, as there are many good 125 grain broadheads available. So maybe trim another 1/2" and try it with a 125 grain point. Perhaps not ideal for deer hunting, but adequate if you have good shot placement, and certainly better than some configuration that doesn't fly right.
I will try the 125 grain tip this weekend and see what happens.
Do you think that the arrow is to light?
Your arrow weight is on the low end of things, but should be adequate if you make a good shot with a razor sharp broadhead. Practice until you KNOW you can get your shot into a 6" circle, and then hunt within that distance.
The only way to improve things would be to increase the draw weight of your bow. Going to a heavier arrow that is not tuned to your bow just makes things worse.
It would be too light for me, but there are a lot of guys hunting with 8-9gpp. I like a minimum of 10gpp for my setup. Notice I said grains per pound of draw weight, NOT grains per inch of arrow length that you mentioned above.
Using 10gpp, I would be looking for a well tuned finished arrow of around 450gr if my draw weight at my draw length was 45#.
Bisch
So if his arrow is now 28.25", and he has an inch left out front, that means he is drawing about 27", or about 43#. If he cuts off a half inch and adds 25 grains to get up to a 125 grain point, his arrow weight will be about 370 grains. That computes to about 8.6 gpp. Not ideal, but at least in the ball park.
BTW, I agree with Bisch that a 450 grain arrow would be a more effective deer killing machine for you, but the only way you can get there is to go to a 3555, which would allow you to use a heavier point.
Okay, it has been a while since tuning arrows. My bad on the gpp. I do have a 3335 shaft and I just shot it with a 100 grain point and a 100 insert. I have a nock that is still to the left but I am able to cut 2.25" before I am within 1" of the riser. I think the 3335 is the way to go with this bow. Now to sell a dozen 1535s. I guess there has to be a kid some where that needs a deal of the day.
I would guess that your ideal setup is going to be a 3555 shaft with a 150 grain point.
So do you cut them down to a final length and play with different points or do you pick a desired weight and cut until you reach perfection?
Target points are 145 grains, which I guess is about equal to a 150 grain broadhead that has been sharpened. Some of the best broadheads available are 150 grains. Some folks have a predetermined length in mind, but you seem amenable to cutting, so I would cut and tune a 3555 shaft with a 145 grain point, and plan on shooting 150 grain broadheads. That should put you right about where you want to be.
Get some 35-55 or .500 spine shafts if you have access to them. That way you can keep your total arrow weight up and it can handle heavier point
In the end good fine tuning, getting an arrow that is dead straight when bareshafting, is about having lots of arrows, lots of inserts, lots of points, and absolutely consistent form, shooting in a controlled environment with all the necessary tools available...I do my fine tuning in a friend's basement that I call his test lab...he sells arrows and has been making arrows for a long time...I have bought more than 500 dollars worth of arrows from him in the last year...in the end arrow tuning for me was all about finding the right person to do it with...remember that before I found him I was in pretty much the same situation you are
DDave
Cut slowly--very slowly--carbons respond in a big way to small cuts---1/4" at a time. I figured that the 1535s would work for you by reducing point weight---sounds like they did. As stated in my previous post mine tuned perfectly full length with 200 grs up front, but the difference in how the shelf is cut on my longbow and your grizzly is pretty significant---I agree with the post that suggested going with a thicker strike plate. I think you are closer to tune that you think with these arrows. I would not sell them as they seem to be working for you and you may find that they will still work with a 125 gr tip. Lots of ways to add weight to the arrow if you'd like a little more weight for hunting. That being said I do know a kid that would benefit from a deal of the day on shorter 1535s--please PM me if interested.
I shoot primarily bows in the 40# to 45# range. I use both 1535s and 3555s, but like the 3555s for hunting because I can load them up so much heavier. I have some cut 29.5" with 11 gr standard inserts, 50 gr weights screwed into the back of the insert and 175 gr field points that hit like a ton of bricks. Total weight up front is about 235 gr. With 160 gr or 175 gr broadheads, they fly to the same point as the field tips and very close to bareshafts as well. I like the extra penetration I can get with the heavier arrow, but for long 3D shots, I like the higher speed of the 1535s with less weight up front.
Both work well for me - just for different purposes.
Sometimes it's just better to bite the bullet and get different shafts.You can often sell the old arrows or shafts and at least recoup part of your money.
I was able to tune the 15/35 shafts to my wife's bow 45# at her draw of 26". full length shaft, standard insert and 125 gr head. Bare shaft flew perfect.
James