I ordered a Green 31.5 in lefty. I tried the 28 but the 31.5 felt better in the hand. I was going to go righty although im left eye dominant (but right handed). I was shooting better lefty though so ordered it in lefty. Do you have any reccomendations for a rest and a sight?
Archery - As a Hobby
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In regards to arrows I am pretty lost too. I ordered the bow in 28 inch draw length @60lb draw weight. I am new to archery
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I went with a Hamskey drop away rest, the Hybrid hunter Pro, bonus was they had it in green which matches the bow nicely. For a sight I went with a BlackGold 3 pin sight, I didn't want the sight cluttered with too many pins and I wanted more than a single pin so I could have 3 different yardages set on the pins without touching the slider. Keep in mind this is a hunting setup, I have no idea what the pure target guys would be using.
Awesome, I was looking at Black Gold and a friend just recommended me the new Mountain Lite by them, going to order it. I am doing a hunting build too as I want to hunt some White Tail in the Northeast. I will check out the Hamskey, it kinda looks like a tank. How is the durability?
Asshat Foler
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So these arrow the shop made me - the nocks don't hold well on the bow string at all. I can't even shoot three fingers under otherwise the arrow falls off when I'm doing that initial pull at 45 degrees down.
Are these shitty nocks? Are they normally one size fits all or could they be sized wrong for my bow string?
Are these shitty nocks? Are they normally one size fits all or could they be sized wrong for my bow string?
Asshat Foler
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Thanks borzak. Right now I'm shooting 500 spine Bearpaw Penthalon Bandit Shafts, cut to about 29.4 inches, 4 inch feather vanes and field points.
Seems like if I'm shooting outdoors I should be using smaller vanes?
Also looking at
Bitzenburger Fletching Jig
Bitzenburger's Fletching Jig has long been the choice of do-it-yourself archers. With it, you can put three or four fletchings on an arrow shaft. The large dial keeps the spacing between fletchings perfect every time. Allen screws on the top and bottom of the clamp magnet allow adjustments to...
But comes in straight or helical, trying to figure out which to get..
How do you decide on length of arrow shaft? I figure I may have lancaster archery just precut shafts for me while I get fletching down and eventually do my own cutting.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Been a long time since I fletched. I have straight, left and right helical clamps. Use the same bitzenburger. Just be aware it's pretty fiddly to get them set right to use the first time. Once you got it it's set it and forget it. Clean your arrows where the vanes will be glued on.
The length of the arrow you can measure to your rest and add some to it. When you bought your bow or they made your arrows they should have given you a sheet on the receipt that listed the length of the arrow as cut, the spine, left/right helical/ what vanes etc...were used in the building of the arrows.
Straight nocks sound like those old school straight notch arrows that were mainly used for traditional archery. Modern nocks snap onto the string. They have a bunch of different brands. Your nock choice should have been listed on the build sheet for the arrows as well.
Archery talk website has a whole section on arrow making.
Always shot bonning nocks like these.
So if you get someone else to build them they should make a built sheet with type of arrow, type of vane (color of all 3 and how you want the cock feather, the off color one cock up, cock left, cock right etc..) nocks, length, insert used and if you want the vanes fletched with a certain fletch like 120, 4 at 90degrees or straight fletch etc...
If I get motivated I have a few boxes under my bed I may look and see if I have a build sheet later.
The length of the arrow you can measure to your rest and add some to it. When you bought your bow or they made your arrows they should have given you a sheet on the receipt that listed the length of the arrow as cut, the spine, left/right helical/ what vanes etc...were used in the building of the arrows.
Straight nocks sound like those old school straight notch arrows that were mainly used for traditional archery. Modern nocks snap onto the string. They have a bunch of different brands. Your nock choice should have been listed on the build sheet for the arrows as well.
Archery talk website has a whole section on arrow making.
Always shot bonning nocks like these.
So if you get someone else to build them they should make a built sheet with type of arrow, type of vane (color of all 3 and how you want the cock feather, the off color one cock up, cock left, cock right etc..) nocks, length, insert used and if you want the vanes fletched with a certain fletch like 120, 4 at 90degrees or straight fletch etc...
If I get motivated I have a few boxes under my bed I may look and see if I have a build sheet later.
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Borzak
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One last thing. It takes a LOOOONG time to fletch a dozen arrows with one jig. You have to gluve on vane at a time, let it set, rotate it and glue the second vane, then the last. Takes time and at the start you'll strip off a fair number. Buy vanes in bulk.
At a good bow shop they have 12 jigs going around a circle on a turntable. Someone sits down glues up 1 vane rotates the turntable and works around all 12 then the second vane until all 3 are glued down and then sit there to dry. Only takes up a little more than an arrow in length since they are pointed back at the others, hard to explain but it ends up in a circle. You see them often in pro shops with a dozen arrows on it all jigged up ready to go. Some do it 6 at a time in a line, always looked like the round deal on a turntable worked much faster.
You get the idea, but on a piece of plywood that's round that sits on a turntable.
Personally if you are just starting out and don't want to eat up hours and hours of time, order them pre cut, pre fletched. Several places do it. Much cheaper than buying a jig or however many. It's not instant success and takes a lot of time to get it down to where it works out compared to odering a dozen off a site that they do it for a living. They make some cheaper jigs that fold up around the arrow and you can do all 3 at a time. Meh, but probably good for a touch up if you shoot a few vanes off.
At a good bow shop they have 12 jigs going around a circle on a turntable. Someone sits down glues up 1 vane rotates the turntable and works around all 12 then the second vane until all 3 are glued down and then sit there to dry. Only takes up a little more than an arrow in length since they are pointed back at the others, hard to explain but it ends up in a circle. You see them often in pro shops with a dozen arrows on it all jigged up ready to go. Some do it 6 at a time in a line, always looked like the round deal on a turntable worked much faster.
You get the idea, but on a piece of plywood that's round that sits on a turntable.
Personally if you are just starting out and don't want to eat up hours and hours of time, order them pre cut, pre fletched. Several places do it. Much cheaper than buying a jig or however many. It's not instant success and takes a lot of time to get it down to where it works out compared to odering a dozen off a site that they do it for a living. They make some cheaper jigs that fold up around the arrow and you can do all 3 at a time. Meh, but probably good for a touch up if you shoot a few vanes off.
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Kiroy
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Want to start practice shooting and eventually shoot rabbits/critters on my ranch, threw this in the cart after reading some beginner "what to get" guides:
Wingspan is 72 inches, decided to go with 40lb pull since i'm just starting. Out the door for just over 200 bucks. Anything else I need or should I change up anything? I've got hay bales to shoot into.
Wingspan is 72 inches, decided to go with 40lb pull since i'm just starting. Out the door for just over 200 bucks. Anything else I need or should I change up anything? I've got hay bales to shoot into.
Hoss
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What's the spine weight of the arrows? Needs to match the draw weight of the bow as exact as you can. Going over is safer but if its too stiff and it won't fly right.
On recurves and longbows the draw weight changes based on your draw length. IIRC, the draw weight can also be changed on that bow by tightening or loosening the limbs. So you might want a scale to measure that. I dunno, it's not required but if you get more into archery you might want that. I actually never got a scale, instead I got a few arrows at 50, 55, and 60 lb spine and tried them out. You will also be wanting to trim your arrows to match your draw length down the road, and that will change the spine of the arrow.
The main equipment I see missing is a stringer. This is basically what I have. It doesn't have to be fancy but you for sure want something to help you bend the limbs while you get the string on and off. You should not store it strung up.
Amazon product ASIN B08R86FMSV
Oh and if the arrows don't include a repair kit, get one. I'm not sure if the tips can be repaired on carbon fiber, but on wood and aluminum arrows you break the tips all the time and can repair them. The fletchings and nocks are a lot more likely to need repair and those are also pretty easy with a repair kit.
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Burns
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Meh, bend it like your great great great great great great grandpappy and just use your legs. It isn't that hard...or at least wasn't when I was in my 20s and occasionally shot paper!
Hoss
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As weak as his bows are he might be able to do that, but I was taught it's bad on your bow. The load on the limbs is uneven. With a stringer the load is even and being applied exactly how the bow was designed. Besides the uneven loading, you're also going to side load and twist the limbs until you get it right. If you're fat you may never be able to get it exactly right. It's good to know how to do that in case of emergency but you shouldn't make a habit of it.
I bet your great great great great grandpappy made his own bows and made a new one every few years.
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