Tuning and setup

Tune your arrow flight: bare-shaft and paper tuning

Two simple ways to see what your arrow does as it leaves the bow and what to move to fix it: a bare shaft at close range, or the tear an arrow leaves in paper.

  • Difficulty Moderate
  • Time 1–2 hours
  • For All Oneida lever bows

Works on any Oneida once the bow is set up. Written for right-handed shooters, with left-hand notes.

All how-to guides

We're still double-checking this guide against how we do it in the shop. If anything doesn't match your bow, stop and text us or call 270-318-2020.

Before you start

  • Set draw weight, tiller, brace height, rest and nocking point first.
  • Use a safe backstop with nothing behind it, and never shoot straight up.
  • Check every arrow and nock for cracks. A cracked nock can break and dry-fire the bow.
  • Never dry-fire.

Steps

  1. Shoot an unfletched arrow from about 6 ft into the target at shoulder height.
  2. Stay put and see whether the nock end sits high, low, left, right or in line.
  3. Nock high: hold the string from twisting, screw the nocking point down 2 full turns and shoot again. Nock low: move it up. Clamp it tight when the arrow goes in straight.
  4. Nock right (right-hander): loosen the plunger lock nut, turn the plunger 1/2 turn counter-clockwise, retighten and repeat. Nock left: go the other way. Left-handers reverse the left/right fix.
  5. Still fishtailing? Change weight 5 lb at a time: if dropping it helps, the arrow is too weak; if raising it helps, too stiff. Follow your bow's draw weight guide for each change.
  6. Stop when the bare shaft goes in straight, in line with its own front end.
  7. Paper tune: stretch paper on a frame, stand 10–12 ft back and shoot fletched arrows through it at shoulder height.
  8. Fix up-and-down tears at the nocking point: tail high (low-to-high tear), lower it; tail low, raise it.
  9. Treat a left-to-right tear (right-hander) as too stiff: try a weaker spine, a little more weight, the rest moved in, a heavier point or less plunger tension, one at a time.
  10. Treat a right-to-left tear as too weak: try a stiffer spine, less weight, the rest moved out, a lighter point or more plunger tension.
  11. Fix the nocking point first on a diagonal tear, then the left/right part.
  12. Accept a small tear; Oneida says a perfect hole isn't always possible, especially for finger shooters.
  13. Stealth Eagle: fine-tune with about a quarter turn on a weight bolt.

Tips

  • Vanes hitting the rest can look like a tuning problem; do the powder test first. (Dealer Instructions p.14)
  • Spin each broadhead on a hard surface; a wobble can't be tuned out. (Dealer Instructions p.14)