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Outdoor Activities => Other => Topic started by: Dowser on November 08, 2010

Title: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Dowser on November 08, 2010
Until recently, Archery was a sport that I had only touched upon briefly in Scouts, many years ago.  A couple of weeks back the NIEA had organised a great family day out with their annual Autumn Festival (http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/events/events_galleries_more_of/autm-crawfordsburn.htm) held in Crawfordsburn Country Park.

One of the attractions was an Archery display and everybody was welcome to have a go at Target Archery.  Being free of charge, I worked my way to the front of the queue to practice my archery skills.  I immediately fell in love with the sport and was on the internet that same evening sourcing a bow to get me started.

I finally decided upon a Sebastien Flute 68" 32lb Recurve Bow and sat back and waited for the postman to bring it up my driveway.

At the Autumn Festival I got the opportunity to fire 8 arrows, all of which hit the target, albeit only 25 ft away!  With such a great track record I foolishly thought all I needed to do was string my bow and I would be recreating seens from Robin Hood... but how wrong I was!!!  Every arrow I fired went sharply left, from where I was aiming, and the only way I could hit my chosen target was to aim roughly 5ft to the left at a distance of approx 30ft. Not Good  ::)

Distraught, I went home and frantically Googled the problem.  Fortunately, the problem seems to be that I haven't tuned my bow or carried out an initial set up.  I was worried that the bow I had bought was of poor quality and was going to be fit for nothing but kindling.

Do we have any budding Archers here on NI Wild who would be willing to talk me through an initial set up and advise upon accessories that I need to get?  A number of articles I've read seem to suggest that my arrows are striking the Riser (Handle of the Bow) rather than departing cleanly, which is causing them to fly sharply left.  It seems I may need to purchase a Plunger/Pressure button as one way of helping to correct my problem.

I would like to set my bow up correctly from the start, rather than guessing.

Here's hoping one of our members will be able to provide the assistance I need.  Here's a few pictures of our first outing.  I have to say the boy in the pictures, Pete, was very good and was able to shoot in a straight line. Definately put me to shame  :'(


The New Recurve Bow

(http://imgur.com/KNg2A.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/uOUmR.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/I4Vxc.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/00MCA.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/HjR6F.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/kF2v5.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/VD68y.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/lb0Et.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/Iwymx.jpg)


 
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: suspectmonkey on November 08, 2010
I had looked into archery as well, same as you I really enjoyed having a go at it when we were at the Game Fair at Shanes Castle.  The guys who took that session were from a club in Newtownards, but apparently there is also a club that meets in St. Columbanus School during the week.  I know a fella who goes to it so I will see if I can find out some info on setting up your bow etc.  In the mean time check out this website: http://www.niarchery.co.uk.  They have a club page, but there also might be some useful info on there if you haven't already checked.
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: chris on November 08, 2010
I nearly spat my tea all over the screen, a dpm bow! Should have seen that one coming!
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Dowser on November 08, 2010
I nearly spat my tea all over the screen, a dpm bow! Should have seen that one coming!

I know, I know... I think I'm gonna have to seek professional help regarding my DPM addiction... Could be worse I suppose, could be Class A drugs  :D

When I read your reply Chris, no word of a lie, I had a mouthful of tea myself and I near spat it all over my monitor too!!!  Very Funny  :P

I've tracked down a local club, thanks to Suspect Monkey's post above and spoke to one of their top cats.  I'm going along to  Bangor and District Archery Club (http://bangordistrictarcheryclub.50webs.com) tomorrow night at 7pm.  The chap said "Really I should have been going along for a few visits before buying a bow" but hopefully the one I've got will be good enough to get me started.

I will let you all know how I get on  8) 
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Paul72 on November 08, 2010
Good luck with the club Dowser, it will be the best place to do it as you'll get all the advice you need from more experienced archers.  I was into archery for quite a few years and owned and shot many types of bow, recurve, compound and of course longbow.  I settled finally on longbow as it seemed the most natural ans satisfying form of the bow to me.  Anyways, I noticed in the pictures that your draw seems very long and that you go past your mouth.  I would always have drawn to the point of my index finger touching the side of my mouth as a coach once taught me it gives a consistent anchor point and line of sight down the arrow.  Not that what you're doing is wrong but it's worth trying it a few different ways to see which suits you best.  Another thing to consider if the arrows aren't flying straight is if the shafts themselves are straight without any kinks/bends and that they are properly atched for stiffness to the strength of the bow.  Again that's something to check in your local club but hopefully it'll give you a few pointers.

BTW, what's the B&W picture on the wall?
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Dowser on November 08, 2010
Good luck with the club Dowser, it will be the best place to do it as you'll get all the advice you need from more experienced archers.  I was into archery for quite a few years and owned and shot many types of bow, recurve, compound and of course longbow.  I settled finally on longbow as it seemed the most natural ans satisfying form of the bow to me.  Anyways, I noticed in the pictures that your draw seems very long and that you go past your mouth.  I would always have drawn to the point of my index finger touching the side of my mouth as a coach once taught me it gives a consistent anchor point and line of sight down the arrow.  Not that what you're doing is wrong but it's worth trying it a few different ways to see which suits you best.  Another thing to consider if the arrows aren't flying straight is if the shafts themselves are straight without any kinks/bends and that they are properly atched for stiffness to the strength of the bow.  Again that's something to check in your local club but hopefully it'll give you a few pointers.

BTW, what's the B&W picture on the wall?

Thanks Paul, some good tips there.  After my failed attempt at Archery yesterday I did a bit of Googling and arrow stiffness is a definate possibility.  The ones I'm using in the pics are cheapies from Decathlon at only £2.99 each.  They are quite bendy and do seem to be arching quite a bit when I release the string.  I think that could be causing the rear end (like my use of technical terms) of the arrow to hit the riser/arrow rest. There are defined black track marks left on the riser which don't look right.  I think you could be right about the draw length too.  I'm probably getting a bit carried away by pulling back so far.  To be honest I found so many different reasons, all perfectly valid, for my arrows firing the wrong direction that I realised I was going to have to seek professional help.  I really had thought I would be able to buy a bow, string it up and hit bulls eyes after a couple of hours of practice.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Robin Hood just makes it look so easy  ::)

The picture in the background is by Jeff Dow, a photographer based in Nevada USA.  The picture is of Walker Lake near his home town.  I wish I could say I took it myself, but unfortunately photography is yet another hobby that I only dabble in  :-[

(http://imgur.com/GKtfH.jpg)
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Paul72 on November 09, 2010
No problems mate, glad to help.  Now that you've confirmed the arrows are bendy that would seem (to me at least) a big part of the problem.  When I first got my compound bow I used cheap arrows that were too bendy and a large draw weight on the bow so I couldn't understand why when I shot them they were flying wildly (I could actually see them going almost sideways!) until another guy using a compound let me have a go with his properly matched arrows and they flew straight and regular. 

If you know the draw weight of the bow and your draw length of arrow then it's fairly easy to match up the stiffness (spine) of arrow you should be using and here is a good way of calculating the spine of arrows you'd need: http://www.merlinarcherycentre.co.uk/Merlin_Arrow_Selection_Chart.html
so, if your bow draw weight is 32lb and the arrow length is 27" (I'm guessing here) then you would need an arrow of 1716 spine.

You can get a good set of arrows from here: http://www.quicksarchery.co.uk/superbasket/product/685/ES30+Easton+JAZZ+Arrows+Complete+%28Set+of+8%29

Hope this helps and enjoy your shooting!

Thanks for the pic BTW, I think I might use it as my new desktop!  ;)
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Paul72 on November 09, 2010
Oh, and you might find this a useful guide as well

http://www.archersreference.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/archref_04.pdf

 
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: MG1 on November 09, 2010
Dowers Donard wood kit ;D

(http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:6a-o908Whp-J0M:b)
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Dowser on November 09, 2010
Dowers Donard wood kit ;D
(http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:6a-o908Whp-J0M:b)

I've everything but the muscles... (and maybe the hair) Think I'd better start eating more Haggis  ;D
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: RedLeader on November 09, 2010
That's actually Dowsers hair from the 90s too  ;)


Dowers Donard wood kit ;D

(http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:6a-o908Whp-J0M:b)
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: 666_pack on November 11, 2010
nice ::)
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Dowser on November 15, 2010
Suspect Monkey, Kat and Myself paid our first visit to the Bangor and District Archery Club (http://bangordistrictarcheryclub.50webs.com/) last Tuesday evening.  The guys at the club were very helpful, but I think they were a bit weary of what our actual commitment to the sport was going to be!  That said, they set us all up with basic, entry level recurve bows and gave us a very thorough introduction to Archery.

I learnt so much in the two hour lesson and the advice has been invaluable.  When I first got my bow a couple of weeks back I went down to Decathlon and bought a few arrows to get me started.  An arrows an arrow I thought but, I was very wrong.  When Red Leader and I took the bow out for the first time the arrows were striking the bow riser and were leaving the bow very untidily.  The reason for this was that the arrows were to flexible and with my bow being quite powerful the arrows were bending quite dramatically when the string was released.   After getting a bit of advice, those arrows a now resting in my wheelie bin waiting for the bin men to take them away on Wednesday morning, apart from the one I shot out to sea on Sunday, just to see how far it would go.

After getting pointed in the right direction, at the Archery Club, I made my way to Kilmore Archery Centre  (http://www.kilmore-archery.co.uk/) and spent an hour with the owner Wellesley.  Again, he was very helpful and full of advice.  He was happy with my new bow and he took a bit of time to tune it up for me and measure the exact poundage using a Digital Meter.  Turns out my bow has a draw weight of 37.5lbs and from there he was able to provide the right arrows for the job.  The new Easton aluminium arrows have made a world of difference.  Each arrow now leaves the bow very cleanly and at a distance of approx 35ft I'm getting a grouping of about a ft in diameter, bearing in mind I've only fire about 20 arrows so far.  Let's hope it's not beginners luck!!!  Wellesley also supplied a Cartel sight for my bow, which makes aiming sooooooo much easier, and a finger guard which stops my finger tips turning to mush under the pressure of the string.

I am now really pleased with my bow and I think it is gonna provide many hours of fun.  Will help shorten the winter anyway  :D

Here's a few pics from the weekend, courtesy of Red Leader, showing the bow in action again after it's tune up:

(http://imgur.com/CqQlL.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/l06Nt.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/dPnJk.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/dtRgU.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/1wFsu.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/PhbBy.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/VZfhx.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/dhwrb.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/KYuc2.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/Uy40R.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/ThW2t.jpg)

The next three photos show me firing the Decathlon arrows into the sea.  It's all they are fit for!!!

(http://imgur.com/wnD7R.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/Fbmin.jpg)

(http://imgur.com/m9L3T.jpg)

 ;D :D ;D :D ;D :D ;D :D :P
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: LennyJ1 on November 15, 2010
So how far did it go out to sea.
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Dowser on November 15, 2010
So how far did it go out to sea.

I'm guessing, but I would reckon roughly 250 yards  :)
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: LandyLiam on November 15, 2010
I dabbled a little with the archery last year down at Maghera with the very friendly people at Mourne Archery ( http://www.themournearcherycentre.co.uk/ ) for only £5 an hour, nice way to end the day after a trip out in the Mournes, good pub across the road as well (please drink AFTER the archery  ;) ) never got round to buying any kit, hope to have another go at it this winter.
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Dowser on November 15, 2010
I dabbled a little with the archery last year down at Maghera with the very friendly people at Mourne Archery ( http://www.themournearcherycentre.co.uk/ ) for only £5 an hour, nice way to end the day after a trip out in the Mournes, good pub across the road as well (please drink AFTER the archery  ;) ) never got round to buying any kit, hope to have another go at it this winter.

I've just had a look at their website.  That club looks great and very relaxed.  Just wish they weren't so far away from Bangor.  My local club, details above in an earlier post, is quite small and are really pushed for space.  They can't take on any new members or run any beginners courses until the New Year  :(

Now that I've got the gear I'm busting to get out again and get a bit of tuition into the bargain.  I might make a day of it and visit Mourne Archery very soon.

Thanks for the link Landy'  :)
Title: Re: Tuning and Initial setup of a Recurve Bow
Post by: Kayakgirl on November 25, 2010
Kilmore run courses and also Ards Leisure centre. Might be food for thought..