A Walk in the Woods - Mayo Style!

NavanJames

I got up this morning and took a look out the window ... the sky was blue and Nephin (our local mountain) was nicely visible in the distance. Our 3D course (Massbrook) is sandwiched between Nephin and the shores of Lough Conn.

I though I'd be off in distant Loughcrew at a shoot today but that wasn't to be so I decided to head for Massbrook for 10.00am.

I shoot the practice butt and put five arrows in the kill of a 2D turkey at 20 yards. Feeling good with that I headed out to Target No. 1 and decided to shoot all 32 targets.

NavanJames

It was bright, dry and cold ... the best you can hope for at this time of the year.

NavanJames

I shoot well this morning, better than usual. A month or so ago I scored 514 at our Open Shoot ... I was interested to see how my equipment change since then would work out. I had a new (to me) Samick 25" Masters riser, SF limbs, a plunger, elevated rest and riser weights.

I usually use 4" feathers or 3" QuikSpin vanes. Last night I fletched up 8 arrows (600 spine GT Ultralights) with 2" Quikspin vanes and installed 85 grain field points. The shafts were uncut and the total weight was circa 320 grains. I'd bare-shaft tested these last week and they looked promising.

They shot well. I was aiming to complete the round in 2 hours ... once the first arrow was in, it was scored and pulled. The course in mostly 3D's but there's a number of 'bunnies'. These took just a little longer. The accompanying photo is of Target No. 29, the 'Running Fox'.

You need to shoot it through a black plastic barrel lying on its side. From the red peg this is possible from a standing position. If you miss and move to the green then you'll be shooting off your knees.

NavanJames

This is a view of the target from the green peg. That's my Samick / SF bow to the left of the barrel.

I managed to hit it first, a first arrow kill this morning. Last month at our Open Shoot I killed it as well, but with my second arrow from the green peg. I didn't need many second arrows this morning.

NavanJames

The view through the barrel. The fox is nearer than it looks ... LOL

NavanJames

The GT arrow in the boiler house.

NavanJames

If only every Sunday morning was as enjoyable! I totted up back at the car ... A score of 574 ... I guess 25" risers, light arrows, plungers, etc. all make a difference. A hell of a difference.

I was using 20 points for a first arrow kill and 18 for a first arrow wound, IFAA style.

Who couldn't love field archery when it works out like this?

Regards, James.

greysides

Nice work James. The peace and solitude of the woods and with the bow giving you a reason to be there... lovely!

Well done with shooting sounds like the tuning is coming together. Don't see a stabiliser on that rig, going to stay with weights alone?

BTW, I always thought it was fish you shot through a barrel....?

greysides

I've been doing a bit of tuning myself today. I shot a bow I've thrown together to work on form, thereby tuning myself, and played around with a second bow getting it set up properly. It's a Best Moon riser so no lateral adjustment, should have been machined to close enough tolerances not to need it, with some old, old Border limbs. Vision Carbons, a limb which once held a World Record in the hands of Michele Frangilli, but these are very, very second-hand.

First job was to assemble them and check for alignment, not that I could adjust it either way.... Not bad but the string was criss-crossing the limb bolt holes. Put some parallel carbon shafts on the limbs, as they leave the riser, and under the string on the belly side of the limbs (carefully, at right-angles) and stood back to compare while the bow was resting on two chair backs.

The shafts at the ends of the riser were parallel (Phew! Riser likely not to be twisted) but the shafts on the recurves weren't parallel to each other, or to the other arrows at the riser ends. Took notes, worked out where the shims needed to go ................ and did it again, to be sure.

I was using insulating tape to make shims, something more solid would be sensible (coke can metal) but this was more a case of proving a concept.

Did some fiddling with tape down along one side of each limb where it would be going in the riser pocket (U to past rocker on one side), working out how many layers were needed on the upper limb and then the lower. All the time checking the string wasn't veering off being 'on-plane' with the riser.

Ended up with the arrows under the string on the recurves parallel to each other and the string bisecting the limb bolt holes and on-plane.

So while the tape may squash at some point it shows that the combo can be set up properly.

I'm going to Stiff Plunger tune so I set up the plunger to true centreshot in preparation of the next stage. I will shoot a few different shafts I have and see which come closest to requirements.

Tiller is still +4mm so I may reset that to zero so NH doesn't vary when I tune brace height.... but I'll leave that for tomorrow and check out the shaft choices roughly first.

NavanJames

greysides wrote: »

Nice work James. The peace and solitude of the woods and with the bow giving you a reason to be there... lovely!

Well done with shooting sounds like the tuning is coming together. Don't see a stabiliser on that rig, going to stay with weights alone?

BTW, I always thought it was fish you shot through a barrel....?

Greysides, we used the 'barrel shot' for a while and stopped a year or so ago. Back then the shot was on the other side of the woods and the target was a vertical alligator tied to a tree trunk. The colour of the target, the tree and the background all sorted of melted together. Well that was my excuse for missing every second shot.

One of the lads retrieved the barrel and decided to upgrade the running fox. I never practice kneeling and shooting but the last few times I've had to do it I've actually hit something. I might have to start crawling around the woods on all fours?

Regards, James.

NavanJames

greysides wrote: »

I've been doing a bit of tuning myself today. I shot a bow I've thrown together to work on form, thereby tuning myself, and played around with a second bow getting it set up properly. It's a Best Moon riser so no lateral adjustment, should have been machined to close enough tolerances not to need it, with some old, old Border limbs. Vision Carbons, a limb which once held a World Record in the hands of Michele Frangilli, but these are very, very second-hand.

First job was to assemble them and check for alignment, not that I could adjust it either way.... Not bad but the string was criss-crossing the limb bolt holes. Put some parallel carbon shafts on the limbs, as they leave the riser, and under the string on the belly side of the limbs (carefully, at right-angles) and stood back to compare while the bow was resting on two chair backs.

The shafts at the ends of the riser were parallel (Phew! Riser likely not to be twisted) but the shafts on the recurves weren't parallel to each other, or to the other arrows at the riser ends. Took notes, worked out where the shims needed to go ................ and did it again, to be sure.

I was using insulating tape to make shims, something more solid would be sensible (coke can metal) but this was more a case of proving a concept.

Did some fiddling with tape down along one side of each limb where it would be going in the riser pocket (U to past rocker on one side), working out how many layers were needed on the upper limb and then the lower. All the time checking the string wasn't veering off being 'on-plane' with the riser.

Ended up with the arrows under the string on the recurves parallel to each other and the string bisecting the limb bolt holes and on-plane.

So while the tape may squash at some point it shows that the combo can be set up properly.

I'm going to Stiff Plunger tune so I set up the plunger to true centreshot in preparation of the next stage. I will shoot a few different shafts I have and see which come closest to requirements.

Tiller is still +4mm so I may reset that to zero so NH doesn't vary when I tune brace height.... but I'll leave that for tomorrow and check out the shaft choices roughly first.

Greysides,

You've more patience than me. When I got the arrows squared away last night I started on the riser. I had an elevated rest on it that I liked. I'd taken it off the older Hoyt Gold Medalist that I picked a year or so ago. The wire was starting to pop-out of the bottom of the rest every couple of shots and this was beginning to get annoying.

I had a new Spigarelli Evolution 2 Rest lying around so I pulled off the older rest and popped-on the Spig. I'm a lefty so I was trying to line the left-hand side of the top of the shaft up with the string (I've read this on the web a few times). Why is it that the little sticky pads they sell with elevated rests never let you line up the arrow with the string? Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? Well a couple of pieces of two-sided tape later we were ready to rock & roll.

I've the bolts fully down on the Samick. The arrow spec I tried today are 600 spine with an 85 grain point. The SF Elite+ limbs on the Samick are marked as 40# at 28" and I'm pulling no more than 27". Does this arrow sound right? I did try 500 spine GT Ultralights (uncut also) with a 125 grain point. These arrows came in at 360 grains but the 600 spine (with 85 grains upfront) seem to fly at least as well and they're 40 grains lighter.

The weights on the Samick are those that I bought for the Hoyt Gold Medalist some time ago. I simply screwed them on, liked the weight and left them there. You posted a photo sometime ago of your Gold Medalist riser and I was copying that ... standing on the shoulders of others!

Seeing as this upgrade in equipment might actually assist my shooting (today hopefully not having been a blip) I've two queries:

1. Could you recommend a good quality stabiliser that would be legal for IFAA Bowhunter Recurve? I wonder what Zsolt is using on the SF riser he just got?
2. Could you recommend a good quality 25" Italian riser? I was thinking of a Best Moon simply based on looks alone and the videos of Jimmy Blackmon shooting it online. I'd like a 'conventional' medium grip and not those 'side plates' that I see on some photos on the internet. I didn't realise that the Moon didn't have side adjustment until you mentioned it above.

I've ordered a Jager grip for the Samick so I'm looking forward to receiving that in the post sometime over the next month.



Regards, James.

greysides

NavanJames wrote: »

I had a new Spigarelli Evolution 2 Rest lying around so I pulled off the older rest and popped-on the Spig. I'm a lefty so I was trying to line the left-hand side of the top of the shaft up with the string (I've read this on the web a few times). Why is it that the little sticky pads they sell with elevated rests never let you line up the arrow with the string? Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? Well a couple of pieces of two-sided tape later we were ready to rock & roll.

James, I might not be taking you up correctly but the arm of the rest just needs to hold up the arrow to the right height against the plunger tip- middle of shaft to middle of plunger tip. The angle of the wire out from the riser is such that the wire comes out flush with the side of the arrow i.e. not sticking out far beyond it. You can carefully put a slight bend upwards in the end to help keep the arrow on if you wish. The degree of centreshot is set by how far in the plunger is screwed into the riser. Stop it and lock it with the lock nut and set -screw.

I've the bolts fully down on the Samick. The arrow spec I tried today are 600 spine with an 85 grain point. The SF Elite+ limbs on the Samick are marked as 40# at 28" and I'm pulling no more than 27". Does this arrow sound right? I did try 500 spine GT Ultralights (uncut also) with a 125 grain point. These arrows came in at 360 grains but the 600 spine (with 85 grains upfront) seem to fly at least as well and they're 40 grains lighter.

Those shafts seem to me to be in the ball-park. I would use stiffer but that's normal for string-walking.

The weights on the Samick are those that I bought for the Hoyt Gold Medalist some time ago. I simply screwed them on, liked the weight and left them there. You posted a photo sometime ago of your Gold Medalist riser and I was copying that ... standing on the shoulders of others!

We all stand on the shoulders of others. The advantage of weights is that they're tidy to be carrying around a forest..... and cheap.

Seeing as this upgrade in equipment might actually assist my shooting (today hopefully not having been a blip) I've two queries:

1. Could you recommend a good quality stabiliser that would be legal for IFAA Bowhunter Recurve? I wonder what Zsolt is using on the SF riser he just got?
2. Could you recommend a good quality 25" Italian riser? I was thinking of a Best Moon simply based on looks alone and the videos of Jimmy Blackmon shooting it online. I'd like a 'conventional' medium grip and not those 'side plates' that I see on some photos on the internet. I didn't realise that the Moon didn't have side adjustment until you mentioned it above.

I've ordered a Jager grip for the Samick so I'm looking forward to receiving that in the post sometime over the next month.

I've never used a stabiliser so I can't make any suggestions. I would expect the advantage is the same stabilising effect with less weight.

The Moon can be fitted with high/medium/low wooden grips. They are available from Alt. (€31). Basically, they are the older Hoyt grip, the Avalon era one. Jager also does them. I've shot mine with no grip too and it works okay, just a bit of tennis tape around the area for comfort.

The Moon seems to me to be a mid-weight BB riser. The 650 Club would be heavier. The Moon comes close to an 'empty' 650 with both it's weight in. A nice lighter weight BB riser is the Spigarelli Explorer II. It has the lateral alignment. It's a handy feature because while the riser may be straight there's no guarantee the limbs will be. Another (cheap) and lighter riser is the BB version of the Spigarelli Revolution, the design might appeal to your 'inner engineer'.

The Best Zenit is supposed to be a very solid riser, resistant to being bent. Marjan Podraj is fond of his having shot a Moon previously. One advantage it has over the Moon is that there are bushing inserts. The Moon just has threaded holes and a weight screwed into the bottom stab bushing will contact the paintwork as there's no collar for it to meet.

The Nilo is the Bernardini 25" riser, also available in 23". The grip is a matter of taste, just a ball of wood for the bottom of your palm. Some likey, some not.

Don't dismiss the GM too quickly, it's light, old and probably pre-scratched so no hang-ups about campaigning it, and it will take a Jager grip... same one as the Moon.

NavanJames

Thanks for the heads-up. Is weight in a barebow riser an advantage? I was on the Alt website, the 650 Club looks like a fine piece of engineering (and its heavy).

Regards, James.

greysides

The weight is the substitute for stabilisers. How much weight is a personal preference allied to a consideration of the draw weight. A heavier DW will work better with a heavier riser. It helps keep the riser steady better.

The 650 is relatively straight, the Vision and BB are more deflexed.