I am seeking suggestions from the more experienced. I am shooting a 61# BW 60" recurve, have a draw length of 26", an arrow length of 27" and a nock height of 1/4" over square. Arrows are CE 250's with a 50 grain insert and 145 point. Bare shaft the arrows punch nice holes in paper at 8 yards. Fletched arrows however are zinging my index finger on my bow hand. The grip on my bow gives me about an 1/8" clearance for my finger. Fletching is 5" shield cut. I have tried raising my nocking point but my bare shafts tear the paper nock high when I go above 1/4". Is there something obvious that I may be missing.

Thanks, Rick

Try backing up or stepping forward 2 steps from the 8' you're shooting through paper now. You will see different results.

Are putting the arrow above or below the nock locater on the string?

I am putting arrow below the nocking point. I started of with the nocking point 1/2" above square and worked down to 1/4" to eliminate nock high.

Thanks for responding.

Rick

You may want to try cock feather in. I've had that fix the issue on some bows in the past. Also, you may want to play with rotating your your nocks to manipulate where the feathers are in relation to your hand and find the sweet spot.

Best of Luck!

Steve

"Nock height 1/4" over square"...is that center of nock from square, bottom of nock from square, or to bottom of nocking point?

Fletch hitting finger, where on finger, knuckle, finger tip, 1st joint?

Sounds like a grip placement issue. Picture?

If I interpret how you're placing the arrow -- under the nock point, which is only 1/4-inch above the shelf -- the nocking point is too low.

Also, cock feather in and/or rotating the nock some can help eliminate feather contact with the bow hand as has been pointed out.

A 250 is a pretty stiff shaft, particularly when cut to 27 inches and drawn 26 inches. It could be too stiff, but your bare shafting seems to indicate otherwise. Might try heavier point(s) to see if that has any effect.

fdp, unfortunately my indoor range leaves me with no more distance and it is too cold and too much snow outside.

Raghorn, I am measuring nock height from the bottom of the brass to the square with the shelf.

Orion, I know the nocking point seems low but that's where my nock high was eliminated with the bare shaft. As far as point weight is concerned I worked up to 195 - 200 grains and worked down from 250 grains and ended up at the same place when it comes to paper testing.

I did build the side plate out by 1/16 or so to make the shaft dead center on the shelf in relation to the string. Not sure if that was a good idea, but considering the stiffness of the shaft, I thought it made sense.

Rick

If you are right handed you should be using left wing feathers. Also trim the leading edge of the feathers with a sharp blade at an angle to make them smooth.

Jerry (Orion) seems to be the closest to my own thoughts.

Assuming the proper arrow setup, as typically measured for string nock-set height (measured from center to the bottom of the string nock), 1/4" up would probably be too low. That alone could be your issue. 3/8ths up with split finger is commonly the lowest recommended, often higher.)

My favorite bowyer starts at 1/2" for split and 5/8" for 3 under..THEN recommends going up more if there are fletch/hand issues...my own starting point is as much as 3/4" for my 3 under hold.

But scraping/dragging on the index finger also hints a grip issue as the problem of fletch nicking the bow hand is typically on the "drumstick" area of the thumb joint, NOT the index finger. That could be a consequence of the stiffness issue Jerry mentions.

And, yes cock out OR a slight rotation of the arrow nock might avoid the finger, but if the problem is wrong shaft or wrong string nock height, you are fixing a symptom, not the root problem.

Make only ONE adjustment at a time. Otherwise you might find the fix but won't know which change was the real reason OR if multiple changes affect each other.

Rick R

Up until this year, I shot the cx 250's and I also shoot a widow and experienced the same thing occasionally. The best place for my nocking point was the bottom of nocking point at the top of the bow square (3/4"). I never had good bare shaft flight but great flight with feather. I switched to 150's this year and brass inserts to maintain same weight and my nocking point dropped 1)8". I used the 250 at least 10 year's or so in 50# bows.

Also squire I used the old fashioned way to get the clearance right by spraying back foot of arrow with powder and adjusting till there was no rub. I liked the arrow and made it work.

Wear a glove.

Yup, right handed.....left wing. Left handed.....right wing.

Are you shooting three fingers under? or split? If three under, than it is probably a false tune. I would say that at 1/4" nock height, you are low for both three under and split.

If you are three under, move your nock point up to about 3/4" and put another nock point a 1/16" under your arrow.

I would rather have an arrow that flew slightly nock high than have one that cut me every time I shot it. Been there done that.

Swithching to Left Wing feathers will also help, but that is just masking another issue.

I don't have issues and I am RH and never shoot lw feathers.

BigJim

Jim brings up a point I failed to mention. The second nock-set below the arrow prevents a too loose arrow nock from sliding down the string on release. If that happens it could easily cause the hand clearance problem.

Ron's mention of getting the front of the feather down tight and angled is also a help.

And for clarity, the left wing-right wing point has merit but more so if we are addressing shooting off the knuckle like Fred Bear or more primitive bow'd archers do. On a shelved riser-tuned arrow and Ron's bind-down of the feather tip, left wing/right wing shouldn't be an issue.

Ron has your cure if you are getting cut: Trim the quill of the bottom fletch so it ramps right down to the shaft with no sharp or abrupt edge. Then put a drop of Duco cement on that spot where the tip of the taper meets the shaft.

I shoot with my index finger as a rest, several hundred shots per week, and NEVER get cut or even stung by an arrow. It's NOT the web that bothers, it's the quill.

Big Jim nailed it. Always start w nock height high ( like around 3/4") and work down until fletched and bareshaft are impacting at same height. Don't be concerned if your bareshaft appears a bit nock high. You can get away with a lot uf you're a bit high. But if your a bit nock low you'll likely have trouble, like feather bite and porpoising. Recheck your spine results also. Check out my post on feather clearance last week.

If you are shooting indoors, are you shooting with bow vertical or canted? if canted your paper tear could be a spine issue and and not nock high. 8 yards to the target but if the paper you are shooting through is closer, might be too close and the arrow has not straighten out yet giving you faulty info. The distance you state from you knuckle to the feather leads me to think you are rotating your hand too far clockwise on the grip.

Thanks again. I will have another go at it tonight.

Rick

Consider raising the rest along with the nock point an equal amount till fletching clears the finger.

I’ve cut myself pretty good a couple of times recently. Today I realized that it was just that I had choked up on the grip a bit. Consistent hand placement is a Big Deal, and easily overlooked when you’re out having fun lobbing shots.

And FWIW, I never had any luck at all with shooting through paper until I strapped a paper bag to the target butt with a line down the middle and got my bare and fletched shafts all hitting down the middle.

The only similarity being sheets of paper, but it sure works well...

I have no idea how you can get that shaft to work, though....

I also hit my index finger while shooting my black widow. I dont think it causes any problems

Your shaft may be bouncing off the plate. Could be due to bad release or to overly tight nock fit (serving too fat)... Whatever, something is wrong.

It used to happen to me when I owned an ACS longbow years back...the only bow that ever did that to me. I started trimming the end of the quill with a knife to make then nice and smooth. Now I do it on all my arrows regardless of the bow I'm using them on

So many answers and they all have merit for different problems. The obvious as Big Jim said raise the nocking point and always use a second one for 3 under. Raise the arrow contact on the bow shelf or a stick on rest. It is desirable to have the arrow low over the hand but not touching.:^) >>>----> Ken

Don't rely on the paper tune. Go to bare shaft tune as outlined here:

https://www.fenderarchery.com/blogs/archery-info/basic-tuning

Oh, and if you aren't already doing it raise the nock point a bit and go to using 2 nock sets. Use tie on nock sets and nock pinch won't be so critical.

Thanks everybody who chimed in to help me out. My problem seems to be solved. I used a little bit of most of the various bits of advice:

Dropped the paper tuning Put the target on a level plane Raised the nock height to 7/16" Got rid of the brass nock and tied one instead Put lip stick on bare shaft shaft - no contact with the riser

Result: bare shaft and fletched shaft impact together and no fletch striking finger. I think I can now safely conclude that issues with bare shaft through paper are from my less than a perfect release. I am happy for now.

Thanks again.

Rick

Your nock point is too low. Even Black Widow recommends a slightly high nock point when bare shaft testing. Raise your nock point till the fletching no longer hits your finger. Then shoot your bare shafts with your fletched arrows to see if they group the same. Then you are good to go.

Forget the paper tuning with a bare shaft.

But then I forget both and just tune with my fletched arrows. Every time during this process when the quill hits my index finger I know that it is too low. Raise nocking point till it no longer hits. Violla!

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