SactoBowman,

Assuming you're right handed, this makes perfect sense. Silencers will add weight and drag to the string. This will slightly stiffen your dynamic spine (hit to the left) and reduce your velocity (hit low). Of course, some silencers are more prone to this than others, but I suspect they all do it to some degree. That's why it's a good idea to tune your bow after the silencers are in place.

Sorry. Rraming beat me to it.

I've always put string silencers on my bowstring first. Then I adjust my brace height by setting the brace height at the bottom of the bowyer's recommendation. After that, I start shooting the arrow for a dozen shots to find where the arrow is consistently hitting the target in conjunction from where I'm aiming at.

Ok thanks guys.  I really wasn't getting tired since I shot 15 arrows prior to putting on the silencers.  I am not that good by any stretch of the imagination but from 10 yards I was grouping in the middle of a Rhinehart target.  After putting on the silencers, without any other changes, the arrows were grouping left and down.

I think I'm going to take them off since I don't plan on hunting with this bow and a little noise is a price I'll be glad to pay for straight flying arrows.

You've got a brand new Border Black Douglas and "you're not going" to bowhunt with it?

That's.....blasphemy!      A Border BD deserves to go bowhunting.    :cool:  

Keep the wool puffs on the bowstring and experiment by adjusting your brace height.

Are you shooting really light total weight arrows ( grain/#) ?
I'm wondering since you said this isn't a hunting bow anyway.

A light weight arrow setup is more effected by adding silencers than a heavy arrow setup.

Like stated above...your results sound exactly like the wool is slowing down the string causing a slower, too stiff a dynamic spine arrow.

Hey NW,

The bow is "new" to me.  But you're right I have to get it blossomed even if it's just a bunny or squirrel.  

I've been emailing Sid and he's trying to convince me to get the new HEX6 limbs with the new BB2 option, whatever that is.  I just don't know how new limbs can make this bow any better.

I don't think that with 99% of us adding silencers to a string changes anything enough for us to notice. Now if you put on a puff ball as big as a baseball you will notice a difference, but most bows nowadays are relatively quiet on their own. I have never owned a bow that with cat whiskers wasn't whisper quiet.

QuoteOriginally posted by Jason R. Wesbrock:
Sorry. Rraming beat me to it.

But I may have heard it from you in the first place.  

I recall Byron talking about micro-tuning in his book by trimming your silencers down with scissors.  You must be good when you can tell the difference of a few hairs  

In the morning get up adjust the brace height, drink an entire pot of coffee and go shoot a couple dozen arrows and let us know how they are hitting.Bet you are surprised.

Idon't know the silencers are causing your problem but yes string silencers can effect both arrow flight and POI. The bigger and heavier the more effect they have. Moving the silencers in & out is a very good fine tuning tool.
Chuck

Any thing you add to the string  can affect the tuning(POI & speed)  If impacting to the left try raiseing you brace hight.  I never had luck with wool silencers, but I know that the cat whiskers(tied in balls) and the beaver balls(I like them on the long side) do affect my tuning. I adjust the placement on the string till ultra quite and adjust the brace hight as needed to get my spot on POI

do you know the weight of your silencers ?

the more they weight and the more your bow will loose some speed and the more your string will vibrate differently...

with my shooting machine, on astroflight strings, with 25gr wool silencers, I loose 3fps when they are at L/4...if you lower them (but the better position is L/4 and lowering will not silence your bow more) , you can loose 1 fps of more...the more they are high and the less speed you will loose what means the less they will change things!

The worst I have meseared with my shooting machine was with the jim neaves churros wool silencers: -6fps at L/3 (L is string length) !...but with them any bow would become completly dumb!

With some fibers the added weight and its concentration on the string will completly change its vibration frequency and the results: for instance, if you put some super string leeches (20gr per piece) on a 12/18 astroflight string, the bow will become very uncomfortable, noisy and the string will vibrate...but if you put the same weight with whool silencers, it will stay very comfortable and very silentful: so astroflight has a greater elasticity coefficient and dislike such a concentrated mass on it when you put some SSL...but if you put them on a trophy or D97 strings (of exactly the same weight) they will do the job perfectly...and you will loose also 3fps if they are at L/4

so, yes, putting things and weight on your string could completly change many things: speed, vibrations frequency, and cause your string will react differently, both of them will change your POI if your are enough accurate for making the difference...in the worst case at -6fps, anyone is enough accurate for seeing a true difference on its target...and first of all your bow whose the required spine will have changed !

just my 2cts and sorry for my poor english writing.

Foudarme hits it right on the button, weight and placement on the string will change many things. It can and will change arrow spine needed if you are close to the dynamic on your bow. I make my wool puffs as light as I can to prevent bow noise and then tune the bow.