Olink

Black Frog - I won't dispute a word you said, and yes I have written to Norb a couple of times and he has always written back to me. He is just one heck of a great guy. Personally, I respect his testing methods and opinions above all others..... However, I believe you may have taken my comment slightly out of context. I was responding to Pinwheel's original post, and trying to make the point that any bow review/report that is available to the general masses is not going to show any negatives. You said it yourself, only Norb's 'good' reports are going to get published. So if we only get to see his good reports where he likes the bow....That was the point I was trying to make - in no way was it a jab against Norb. It is just frustrating that no one has the gumption to publish an independent and comprehensive bow report that exposes any negative findings.

jmac_or

I would like to say a few things here. I currently have a 6 year old Mathews Feather Max with the original MaxCam, which was supposed to be one of the worst for SnLNT. At the distances I shoot, 20, 30, 40, 50 yards, I basically hit where I aim. I do not shoot for the same dots at 20 or 30, tired of refletching arrows. Pretty much the same for my broadheads. At 20, I will be replacing fletches, or sadly even arrows. Now, while I don't deny that NT is important to a truly accurate bow, I agree with others and say that for most, but not all, of us, it is a small issue. It probably makes a huge difference for 90m shots, but how many really shoot those, other than for fun at the range. I will go for the comfort and performance bows.
Happy Hunting
JMAC

Pinwheel 12

Art-

I understand where you're coming from. No worries.


Muzzyman88-

Everything is relative-- The straighter and more level the nock travel, the lesser overall paradox due to the imparted torque of the archer. If you start out high or low and THEN impart extra torque into that as well, it takes much longer to negate any paradox as opposed to a bow that offers S&LNT. By starting off straight and level, it is possible to easily dial-out out shooter torque when you tune the bow, whereas without the S&LNT you cannot because the arrow starts of high or low to begin with and thus takes much longer to negate paradox. This affects overall accuracy.

Conventional twin cams cannot offer both Straight and Level nock travel due to the fact that they have "mirror image" cams on each end of the bow, and the true centerline of the bow is the grip, therefore when the arrow sits higher than the centerline with cams that fire in tandem and are of the same size, the nock travel will thus start out high. Conventional Twins can certainly offer straight travel, but not level unless the top cam has a larger string radius. Good shooting, Pinwheel 12

walks with a gimp

My take on having straight and level nock travel is that if your bow dosen't have it and you are happy with your accuracy, you're probably not alone!! I've ownde several Dartons and I didn't find them to be more accurate that anyother bow that I've ever owned. Actually I can shoot just about any bow with the same degree of accuracy, it all boils down to getting and holding the sight pin on target and getting the shot off at that moment when it's still. If I can do that everytime, I'll be shooting 3 inch groups at 80 yards depending VERY much on the wind conditions. The biggest thing to worry about is where the point of the arrow is at the shot, the fletching will follow and straighten the back end out for you. I've had trouble with a drop away rest because of not enough support duration before enough momentum was achieved before the arrow left the bow. I don't believe the arrow needs a "guide" all the way to the fletching. After a certain point, the rest launcher is just in the way and shouldn't have any influence on the shaft. To sum up my thoughts on advertised straight and level nock travel, it's just another thing to advertise about.

Olink

JeffB, I'm curious - you going to use a conventional rest even if you shoot Axis arrows?

JeffB

Olink,

Heh..that's the kicker, isn't it! I have one or two more little tricks I wanna try w/ my drop-away before I totally abandon it (I meant to put that in my other post but neglected to do so).

But yes, AXIS shafts w/ full helical will be impossible to get to clear on a NAP 3000 or similar, especially w/ vanes.The AXIS size 400s are about the same diameter as a 3-39 so w/ an offset I could get them to work. However the real problem will be the X-nock. It flares out a bit and may cause a collision. If that's the case I'll just go back to my trusty A/C/Cs

However, I'm going to make sure I exhaust every avenue w/ the drop-away to give it a fair shake (moreso for the sake of the ST AXIS shafts, and not the rest), but so far it's future is not too bright [>:]

Olink

I don't mean to change the topic of this thread, but for what its worth, I've found a dropaway that attaches to the cable slide and has a spring on the pull cord works great and is pretty consistant. (I use the GFK Hunter Elite with the horseshoe launcher. The new Infinity dropaway should be great too.) The spring allows you to keep the prongs up and supporting the arrow until the very last moment. Of course, parallel limb bows may be a challenge for this setup.

JeffB

Olink,

My experience with the spring mirrors yours as well (in particular on the Cavalier Avalanche/Avalanche Extreme). But you are right, on the parallel limb bows the slide attachment rarely works well...gotta tie in to the cable.

How do you like that Hunter Elite? I've been eyeing it up for a few months, but no-one seems to stock them 'round these parts.

Olink

I am very fond of the Hunter Elite. It's built like a brick you know what, and you won't find any play in the axle since it is supported on two sides. It is by far the best performing dropaway I've tried. The only thing it lacks is the micro adjustability, but that isn't an issue for me. GKF is coming out with an Infinity dropaway, which will have the microadjust capability. It should be a phenominal dropaway (if you are willing to shell out the $). The one other thing I love about the Hunter Elite is the horseshoe launcher that comes with it. It's cut from the same spring steel as lizard tongue launchers, and lays flat on the bow shelf, giving excellent clearance. I still shoot the Beman Carbon Hunters (PCs), and it does a super job at holding these skinny arrows in place, even under hunting conditions. I believe the Infinity will come with the horseshoe as well.