At last, some decent weather and a good days shooting

Today was a really great day for shooting, and I spent about 7 hours down at the range getting the Monster tuned in and sight marks for all the FITA/York distances.

After attempting a paper tune, I promptly gave up. The Monster never paper tunes that well, and settled for a 1" left, but level tear and got on with getting sight marks and ensuring that centre shot was was good. The centre shot at all distances was spot on after setting it at about 3/4".

I was shooting my 420 Protours, and wondered if they would be too weak for the Monster (originally bought for the C3). Nothing to worry about here. The good shots (and I had a fair few today) drilled the gold at all distances. Some of the groups were fantastic. The speed I am getting from the Monster @ 60lbs is blistering. I would love to be able to chrono the Monster, maybe I will try and borrow one some time.

I focused on a straight, but relaxed bow arm, and pulling hard into the stops, and when executed right, resulted in some great, explosive shots.

The only scary moment was an exploding nock. I had fitted Beiter Pinout nocks to my Protours, because I can use these with the same nocking point setup with my indoor arrows. This was only an issue with my C3 but kept the nocks. It seems these cannot take the brute force of the Monster. I had also shot another arrow that on release sounded OK, but I found it had the nock distorted (it had not been hit by another arrow either). I have now gone back to the Bohning Blazer nocks. These are the only ones that can withstand the Monsters high energy.

All in all, very pleased. The Monster does demand a good technique, otherwise it can punish you, but on the good shots there is no bow I would rather shoot. Having tried out the C3, I am now sold on speed bows. I do suffer with sight marks and the C3 is just too slow. It will be used for a dedicated indoor bow from now on.

Monster paper tuning results

Since I got the Monster, I have shot some good scores, nearly all PB's. All of these have been built on really good long distance scores. The shorter distances have been disappointing at times, and its only now I have realised this has been a re-occurring theme.

Sometimes when shooting I catch a glimpse of the arrow and sometimes it kicks out wildly, so I decided to paper tune at 3m (at home, its all I can get), and the results have been consistent.

Each time, after trying different things, I have always ended up with a high-left, 3.5cm to 4cm tear. The high I can explain, but its the left tear. It maybe that I am torquing the bow, even consistently, but I really don't think so, not that badly. Hand placement is always critical in my shot routine, across the pad of the thumb.

I tried the following, with no difference in the results:

• Centre shot 11/16" from the riser, a figure used by many Mathews shooters. The string and arrow is in line with the centre of the grip.
• Shooting @ 59lbs, 56lbs and 52lbs to see if the arrow was too weak (normally shoot @ 59.5lbs).
• Added extra weights on the end of the long rod and side rods to see if this would reduce torque.
• Tried my new Brite Sight rest (arrived today) to see if it would reduce torque.
• Set the nock point from 2mm to 8mm, and upto almost level.
• Shot holding bow deliberately not have ANY string contact with the face.

None of these had any noticeable affect on the tear size.

Now I do need to go out and do a walk back tune, but this has been done in the past and I got the same kick out (although not confirmed with a paper tune).

The next chance I get to shoot in good weather, I am going to perform a walk back test to confirm my centre shot and re-paper tune. Watch this space for the results...