The new GKF Power Drop
03-26-2003, 07:23 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Jamestown SC USA
Posts: 760
The new GKF Power Drop
Rangeball asked me to do a review on this rest. I seem to be one of the first to recieve it. All I can say is lucky me!
So far everything is a big thumbs up.
Installation was a breeze since there are no linkages to worry about. It mounts on the bow with one screw and has a small set screw to keep it in place. You simply mount it so that the plunger is about a quarter to halfway down when the bow is at rest. The plunger rod also has an adjustment so that the drop can be fine tuned after the rest is mounted. The center shot, prong height and prong tension adjust about like any other prong style rest. It was very easy to tune. It took about ten shots to get a perfect bullet hole and then I proceeded to punch bullet holes with every arrow I had in the quiver. I' m down to four arrows right now so I' ll be ordering more soon.
When I first started shooting groups with it at twenty and thirty yards, I noticed that an arrow would hit way low every now and then. I started watching the rest when I drew and realized that the prongs weren' t lifting all the way to the up position on every shot. The problem was that I had the lift tension too light. The same spring has to lift the weight of the arrow and push the plunger rod back to the shooting position so it needs to be set fairly tight. I double checked it through paper and it was still punching BH' s. After adjusting the lift tension, it has performed flawlessly on every shot afterwards.
The only thing I would say was a problem at all was that on my bow (2002 MQ1) I couldn' t get the cable to hit the plunger button exactly in the center after the center shot was set. They are connected and wouldn' t go quite close enough together, but it doesn' t seem to affect the performance at all. I will keep a close eye on the plunger button for premature wear since the cable is hitting it slightly off center. I may also be able to find another slide that will move my cables over the extra eighth of an inch I need. I consider this a very minor problem.
It comes with several different sets of prongs so you can choose your poison there. I left the teflon coated prongs that came with the rest on it because I wanted to see how quiet it would be. It is dead silent on the draw.
The teflon prongs hold the arrow well and the arrow stays on the prongs when the bow is at rest so there is no need for an arrow holder on the shelf. I didn' t notice the prongs hitting the shelf and making any noise on the shot so I also don' t think it needs anything on the shelf to keep the prongs from striking it. I drew the bow back quickly a few times and the arrow doesn' t have a tendency to jump of the prongs like some rests. I would say that the arrow capture ability is not quite as good as the MZE or the Mirage, but very adequate.
I have a cable dampener on my cable slide so I adjusted the CD so that the rest would be pushed all the way down before the cable slide strikes the dampener. This seems to work very well and should keep the rest from absorbing the full impact of the cables when they come forward, but it doesn' t hinder the way the rest works at all. I don' t have string silencers on the bow, but it is still very quiet on the shot. I would assume that since the plunger button stays in contact with the cables after the shot that it would definitely help to dampen any cable noise.
Now for the braggin' part.
I didn' t get to shoot it much after I got everything the way I wanted it. It was getting dark and the mosquitoes were coming out in full force so I had to wait until the next day to do some concentrated group shooting. Like I said before, I' m down to four arrows and that was probably a good thing. My movable sight was set at thirty yards so that' s were I started with my group shooting. I always stick an oak leaf in my target as an aiming point because my yard is littered with them and the price is hard to beat.
The first arrow absolutely dead centered the oak leaf. The second arrow took half the nock and part of a fletching off the first arrow. The third arrow banged into the same hole as the first two without doing further damage. The fourth arrow took half the nock off of the second arrow. After that, I replaced the broken nocks and continued to bang arrows together and cut fletchings on almost every group. My arrows are currently fletched with straight 4" feathers and they are mostly in tatters now. I will be getting a helical clamp soon, but I honestly don' t know how it could group much tighter with field points.
Now I' m not the best shot by any stretch. I' ve got a couple of buddies who can outshoot me on their worst day, but I' m satisfied that this rest is everything as advertised. I am very pleased so far.
That' s it for now. I' m sure I' ve left something out so please post any questions you may have and I' ll answer the best I can.
So far everything is a big thumbs up.
Installation was a breeze since there are no linkages to worry about. It mounts on the bow with one screw and has a small set screw to keep it in place. You simply mount it so that the plunger is about a quarter to halfway down when the bow is at rest. The plunger rod also has an adjustment so that the drop can be fine tuned after the rest is mounted. The center shot, prong height and prong tension adjust about like any other prong style rest. It was very easy to tune. It took about ten shots to get a perfect bullet hole and then I proceeded to punch bullet holes with every arrow I had in the quiver. I' m down to four arrows right now so I' ll be ordering more soon.
When I first started shooting groups with it at twenty and thirty yards, I noticed that an arrow would hit way low every now and then. I started watching the rest when I drew and realized that the prongs weren' t lifting all the way to the up position on every shot. The problem was that I had the lift tension too light. The same spring has to lift the weight of the arrow and push the plunger rod back to the shooting position so it needs to be set fairly tight. I double checked it through paper and it was still punching BH' s. After adjusting the lift tension, it has performed flawlessly on every shot afterwards.
The only thing I would say was a problem at all was that on my bow (2002 MQ1) I couldn' t get the cable to hit the plunger button exactly in the center after the center shot was set. They are connected and wouldn' t go quite close enough together, but it doesn' t seem to affect the performance at all. I will keep a close eye on the plunger button for premature wear since the cable is hitting it slightly off center. I may also be able to find another slide that will move my cables over the extra eighth of an inch I need. I consider this a very minor problem.
It comes with several different sets of prongs so you can choose your poison there. I left the teflon coated prongs that came with the rest on it because I wanted to see how quiet it would be. It is dead silent on the draw.
The teflon prongs hold the arrow well and the arrow stays on the prongs when the bow is at rest so there is no need for an arrow holder on the shelf. I didn' t notice the prongs hitting the shelf and making any noise on the shot so I also don' t think it needs anything on the shelf to keep the prongs from striking it. I drew the bow back quickly a few times and the arrow doesn' t have a tendency to jump of the prongs like some rests. I would say that the arrow capture ability is not quite as good as the MZE or the Mirage, but very adequate.
I have a cable dampener on my cable slide so I adjusted the CD so that the rest would be pushed all the way down before the cable slide strikes the dampener. This seems to work very well and should keep the rest from absorbing the full impact of the cables when they come forward, but it doesn' t hinder the way the rest works at all. I don' t have string silencers on the bow, but it is still very quiet on the shot. I would assume that since the plunger button stays in contact with the cables after the shot that it would definitely help to dampen any cable noise.
Now for the braggin' part.
I didn' t get to shoot it much after I got everything the way I wanted it. It was getting dark and the mosquitoes were coming out in full force so I had to wait until the next day to do some concentrated group shooting. Like I said before, I' m down to four arrows and that was probably a good thing. My movable sight was set at thirty yards so that' s were I started with my group shooting. I always stick an oak leaf in my target as an aiming point because my yard is littered with them and the price is hard to beat.
The first arrow absolutely dead centered the oak leaf. The second arrow took half the nock and part of a fletching off the first arrow. The third arrow banged into the same hole as the first two without doing further damage. The fourth arrow took half the nock off of the second arrow. After that, I replaced the broken nocks and continued to bang arrows together and cut fletchings on almost every group. My arrows are currently fletched with straight 4" feathers and they are mostly in tatters now. I will be getting a helical clamp soon, but I honestly don' t know how it could group much tighter with field points.
Now I' m not the best shot by any stretch. I' ve got a couple of buddies who can outshoot me on their worst day, but I' m satisfied that this rest is everything as advertised. I am very pleased so far.
That' s it for now. I' m sure I' ve left something out so please post any questions you may have and I' ll answer the best I can.
03-26-2003, 01:23 PM
#4
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Jamestown SC USA
Posts: 760
RE: The new GKF Power Drop
RonS,
There are two more sets of launchers besides the ones on the rest. I' m not sure what they are called, but one set has the slight forward curve and the others are the mantis shaped ones. I would consider these more for target/3D shooting even though there is a set of teflon sleeves for the curved ones.
There was also a note in the package for me to call GKF and they will send me yet another set of hunting type prongs and some sort of arrow guard.
There are two more sets of launchers besides the ones on the rest. I' m not sure what they are called, but one set has the slight forward curve and the others are the mantis shaped ones. I would consider these more for target/3D shooting even though there is a set of teflon sleeves for the curved ones.
There was also a note in the package for me to call GKF and they will send me yet another set of hunting type prongs and some sort of arrow guard.
04-03-2003, 09:36 AM
#7
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location:
Posts: 38
RE: The new GKF Power Drop
I have the GKF tech checking to see if the Power Drop will work on my Extreme now, anyone have info on there other new model drop-away the: Hunter Elite? Bow-Tech makes the cable slide for this and the tech said I can use my existing cable slide on my extreme as it has a hole for the cable to attach. Anyone familar with this, I like some opinions, thanx
04-03-2003, 11:02 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 2,994
RE: The new GKF Power Drop
There was also a note in the package for me to call GKF and they will send me yet another set of hunting type prongs and some sort of arrow guard.
GKF tech, can you elaborate on exactly what the above is? Does it promote more arrow holding on ability while the bow' s at rest? Any pics anywhere?
04-03-2003, 11:07 PM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: montrose colorado USA
Posts: 90
RE: The new GKF Power Drop
Range sir....one of the Pluses is the POWER DROP launchers are ALWAYS in the up position so there is no need for a Foam or Rubber holder to keep your arrows from Bouncing around! See picture on site...
GKF Tech
GKF Tech
04-04-2003, 07:13 AM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 2,994
RE: The new GKF Power Drop
True, but so do most two launcher non dropaway rests. I think the best feature in a drop away is the ability to design something that will always hold the arrow on while walking through the field, sitting in a stand or drawing. In this regard, the power drop launchers don' t offer any advantage. How about adding a variation of the arrow trap to it? As long as the top was open, to prevent fletching contact when the prongs drop, I think that would be a huge plus...
Perhaps the Auto Lok would fit on it?
http://www.goldenkeyarchery.com/arrow.html
Perhaps the Auto Lok would fit on it?
http://www.goldenkeyarchery.com/arrow.html