Broad Head Tuning Help!

I just purchased my first bow last March, I couldn’t be more excited and have been practicing excessively for the upcoming bow season. I am very pleased with the progress I have made and FELT very confident in myself and my equipment…until I opened the broadhead can of worms. I started with a set of NAP Hellrazor, fixed blade broadheads, 100 grain.

The fixed blades were a nightmare, per the request of the bow shop and ease of tuning I have now switched to a Mechanical, I am currently working with the NAP Killzones, 100 grain.

I switched the whisker biscuit I was shooting to a Trophy Taker Smackdown rest, I figured that upgrade couldn’t hurt.

I left the bow shop with the paper tuned bow and newly installed rest with the impression and reinforcement from the shop that the the mechanical broadheads would be interchangeable with my field points.

The Mechanical broadheads are shooting about 6-8 inches higher than the fieldpoints, it is apparent I have bow tuning issues, that are being magnified by the mechanical broadheads, just as I had experienced with fixed blades I tried prior. I am shooting the actual broadheads, NOT practice, and have tried multiple arrows.

It is my goal to have as well tuned bow as possible, I would rather not have any lack of confidence in my set up once I get into the stand this fall, unfortunately I feel like I am at point where I do not know how best to trouble shoot this issue.

I understand my trigger release and form can contribute to discrepancies, as well as arrow spine.

I am currently shooting a Mission Ballsitic, 62# draw, 27 inch draw length, Victory V force V3 arrows-400 grain, blazer vanes.

Any suggestions? I have read about every tuning method out there, I am just not feeling confident in where to begin without some input.

The Pro shop told me I should be Good to go with the paper tuned bow and Mechanical broadheads. I am not looking to mask any issues with my bow, I would like to get things as accurate as possible.

Thanks for any help and recommendations from the IDO community!

Something you can try

On your bow you have 2 limb bolts, do a search on google as to where they are located if you do not know. You will have a limb bolt on the upper and lower limb, these are commonly adjusted to change your draw weight that you are pulling.

Take a pencil or sharpie marker and make a reference line on the face of the lower limb bolt as if a arm on a clock face.

Now take an allen wrench and back the limb bolt out 1/4 of a turn using your mark as a reference line as to how much your turning the limb bolt, you may even start out by backing it out a 1/8 of a turn first as well. Now grab some arrows and shoot them to see how you groups have changed. What will happen is you will be raising the nock slightly for tuning and test but you will always know how much and you can always put it back to exactly where you started or where it was the best for group tuning. This is a perfect way of fine tuning your nock height in reference to you arrow rest but yet have full control of exact positioning versus trying to raise or lower your nock or arrow rest during your trials of getting it perfect as far as arrow flight.

In this method you should only have to adjust it within a 3/4 of a turn max before having to adjust the other mentioned areas. Once your blades are shooting well and consistant adjust your sight and go.

JH

I’m sure I don’t need to ask this but what grain field points where you shooting? I do know that when I got my bow sighted in with field points when I first got it then started shooting broad heads I went through like 4 different types before I found one that shot with no adjustment to my bow. I ended up with Slick Trick Grizztrick broad heads that I didn’t have to change anything to shoot good groups with. From my experience mechanical broad heads do fly more like a field point but they also extend the length of your arrow slightly. I’m no expert but from my experience you don’t need a huge expandable cutting diameter broadhead. A small one with a well placed shot will do the trick.

Thank you very much for the advice. I have been shooting 100 grain field tips, so that’s not the issue, I wish it was that simple.

I shot again tonight with the mechanical broad heads, they are really inconsistent, spraying both high and low. I’m not even missing in consistent groups, they seem to sail every which way. I shot from both 20 and 30 yards.

I am still getting good consistent groups out to 40 yards with my field tips.
Unfortunately, the mechanical broadheads I chose are very long and not the lowest profile.
I probably could be starting with a more forgiving mechanical broadhead.
I am wondering if I don’t have spine issues, perhaps a stiffer arrow could help?

I will have to try letting off the lower limb bolt slightly as recommended to see if that helps at all. Unfortunately my rest is attached to the lower limb so I am not sure how much I can let off without other side affects.

I’m really trying to avoid spending additional money on mechanical broad heads to compensate for a poorly tuned bow. I would actually like to be able to shoot fixed blade broadheads someday as well once I get more experienced and knowledgeable of my bow.
Do I have unrealistic expectations of the performance of my bow, it has been my understanding a truly dialed in bow could shoot multiple broad heads well.

I realize my technique could be causing some inconsistencies, but I don’t think it could be that bad.

Are there any bow shops that could be of any asistance? The shop I have been using thus far has been great, but just reinforced that with the paper tuning and a set of mechanical broad heads all I should have to worry about is sighting in and adjusting my pins.

Thanks again.

hate to say it but, it might just be the broadheads. not saying for sure it is. I have an aunt and uncle that are Mathews and hoyt dealers in Wyoming. They’ve had they’re shop open and have been outfitters for close to 15 years. Being in the industry as long as they have, has given us a lot of different products to test, including broadheads. The plain and simple fact is, there are hundreds of broadhead manufactures and 50% of them just plain don’t fly, no matter how many hours of tuning and experimenting on boring sunday afternoons, your just not going to get them to fly right with some bow setups. doesn’t matter if its fixed or mechanical.

Sometimes, what works well for some, doesn’t fly worth a crap on the next guys setup. Just the way it is. There’s a number of factors that affect broadhead flight. (a can of worms about sums it up) One thing I would try first is simply thread on a different brand broadhead and compare how they fly without making any adjustments. find a buddy that shoots a different broadhead and swap with them and to see what happens. its at least a start. another thing to check is – make sure the ends of your arrows are perfectly square. g5 makes a squaring tool the helps make sure the head is seated against the arrow shaft properly and it DOES make a difference! not saying these will fix your issues, but its something you could try.

on a side note- if the shop you’re going to, tells you that you have to shoot mechanicals to get your broadheads to hit like field points, you may want to find a different pro shop. not bashing mechanical broadheads at all. I’ve used many of them. but we’ve had as good, if not better luck making fixed blades fly perfectly right out of the gate.

I have had my eye on the g5 squaring tool, seems like a very worthwhile investment.

I think I am going to try a different shop, consider different broadheads.

My current concern is the wild iinconsistency of the mechanical heads I’ve been shooting.

I assumed I would have to try a couple of different options of broadheads, it is just discouraging that the mechanical broadheads aren’t really even grouping. They are all over the place.

Thanks again for everyone’s help.

What result did you see, or did you prefer not to try the adjustment test.

JH

I went to a new bow shop this afternoon that was highly recommended. It was determined immediately upon setting my anchor point that my original draw length was 1/2 inch too long.

I had always suspected that I may have been set up a bit too long, but it never really effected my shooting with field points. With this being my first bow I had no previous frame of reference to fall back on and I was very pleased with the groups I was shooting.

Joe I tried the adjustment test and it definitely helped bring the mechanical broad head down as it was still shooting a little higher than my field points.

I feel much better now that I know, my inconsistency was caused by my bad technique/torque and not bow tuning issues.

Thanks for everyone’s help!

incorrect arrow spine can cause all kinds of bhead issues. Make sure you’re shooting the correct spine or even slightly heavier than the manufacturer suggestions.