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Shooting machine

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DC:
This is just a little look at my shooting machine. I found early on that I wasn't very consistent shooting through the chrono so I built this to eliminate the weak point---me. It's very consistent, within 1 or 2 fps every time. It's really just a crossbow with a chrono and an automatic release. The trigger mechanism is a rolling block. The trigger itself is the silver finger on the bottom of the sliding mechanism. It contacts the pin which goes in the hole for the draw length you want. The DL release can be fine tuned by the height of the pin. I'm very pleased with the trigger mech but I have some reservations about the saddle that the bow sits in. I found it hard to make a saddle that would hold the bow securely but also fit different handles. If you can come up with a really slick saddle I'd love to hear about it. Hopefully you can see everything you need in the pictures but if there are any questions, fire away. Pictures are in no particular order, sorry.

DC:
More. The pulley on the trigger mech is just to make it easier to pull.

DC:
More

willie:
cool contraption Don, pretty simple but effective trigger. Do you have to have the bow clamped in very hard to get consistency with the speed?

DC:
I haven't noticed that the pressure makes much difference in the results but I always do it the same so there wouldn't have been any difference, I put the bow in and squeeze the jaws shut with one hand and then spin the knob in with the other. The jaws are lined with wet suit foam. I do have to re-adjust the bow sometimes. It moves sideways a touch so that it isn't aimed through the sweet spot of the chono. I wonder if that movement changes the results but I haven't noticed any more than a 1 fps difference. The thing that amazes me is how consistent it is. If something does go wrong it's because I didn't aim the thing right. The usual "gone wrong" thing it a 55-60 fps result so it's not  possible to think that it's a real result. I haven't figured out what causes that. It must be triggering on the fletching or something.

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