Why is my scope always left?

[sambow]

Originally Posted by The Meggy

Cheers for all your replies folks, it seems to be definitely down to the cable guard as detailed by Marcus. Interesting to hear that bimble still gets this effect when using a shoot-through system though - maybe there is some secondary effect going on also. One conclusion I make from all this is to try not to have your cables pulled to the side any more than is necessary to achieve good clearance.

Cheers again, the Meggy

I am confident Marcus is right as he is very knowledgeable. But some interesting observations I have just made.

Like you the sight on my Merlin TM5 (left handed) is about 5mm to the right of the arrow centreline. But I have also just started shooting right handed, the sight on my right handed Martin Jaguar is bang on centre despite the Martin having a much shorter ATA (which I would expect to cause more limb bend). So there are other factors that come in to play.

I have noticed my draw right handed is smoother than my draw left handed and my release tends to move much tighter to my face (and directly to it). But left handed my draw tends to be further away from my face and has to be pulled in. This i beleive will create added torque on the limbs.

[pantherman]

From the Spot Hogg website they also suggest that cam lean & limb twist has an effect. Remember you are setting your centre shot up when the bow is at rest not from its' shooting drawn position.
They suggest watching the tip of the long rod and seeing how much it moves when you draw up.

[T101]

my RH switchback scope has always been left of centre, but not as much now i have moved centre shot closer than the recommended start point of 13/16. this often puzzled me also.

[sambow]

Originally Posted by T101

my RH switchback scope has always been left of centre, but not as much now i have moved centre shot closer than the recommended start point of 13/16. this often puzzled me also.

Actually thats another important point I had forgotten about, the position of the arrow rest will effect the left right sight position also.

[The Meggy]

Cheers again, more interesting points to think about. I do agree that other factors must be at play, particularly bearing in mind what Sambow says. While your centreshot does have an effect, I have always found that wherever I set it, if I line up the string with the arrow, then my scope is still always to the left of this by about the same amount, so that the arrow appears to point right at full draw. So how does it then manage to fly straight? Maybe the bowstring does not move in quite a straight line (as seen from above) but actually describes a slight curve due to changing torque as it moves forward. But am not at all sure. Would love to see some suitable slow motion footage, perhaps from above, so you could study the arrow's line and behavior as it leaves the bow. Hint hint Watch Man, though you might need your stepladder for this one!

[bimble]

It may be a case that when at full draw the string/rest/scope are in alignment...??

Originally Posted by The Meggy

So how does it then manage to fly straight?

[The Meggy]

Bimble, I wish that were true as would explain everything, but at full draw for me at least, while the string and scope are lined up (and obviously on a line pointing to the centre of the target, the arrow rest is slightly to the right of this line, hence the arrow pointing slightly to the right. If you think about it, this must be the result if your scope is to the left before drawing.

From the replies so far, it seems most other compounders have the same set-up and thus must also have this effect. I'm certain Marcus is right that it's down to changing torque, but it's still confusing me a bit as to what actually happens! Maybe I'll just have to stay confused...

[The Meggy]

Have just looked at the "To touch or not to touch" thread which may at least explain some things here. Must admit I do tend to touch the string to both the right side of my nose (rather than the tip) and also the right side of my chin, which from what Marcus says there would tend to send the arrow further to the left than it would otherwise go. Don't think this is the whole story, but it seems like a possible area for improvement. While shooting last weekend did have the odd unexplained horizontal misses (mainly to the right) which might have been due to varying the contact point with my nose.