First Martin

[sapper1]

I've been looking at Martin bows for some time and finally went and shot a 2010 firecat Tr2. After I shot the bow I sold all of my traditional gear and my 03 Hoyt and ordered the firecat. I ordered the bow on march 15th and can't wait for it to get here.

[alex]

Welcome to this forum and good luck with your new bow! If you have any questions we'll be glad to help

[jasenswisher1974]

I just got back into shooting, In high school I shot a recurve then after my sophmore year i didnt shoot untill last year (22 years). Bought a Martin lynx off a buddy but it was at 73 lbs and very little let off. Needless to say it was a beast and killing me. Well in dec I bought a "09" Bengal, WOW what a difference! I have learned a lot and have a lot to learn but what an awesome obsession. I live in Southeast Ohio which we have a great whitetail population and can't wait till Sept 26th. Game on !

God Bless you my Blood Brothers,
swisher

[bronko22000]

I've been shooting bows for longer than I care to remember. Somewhere around 50 years. I always tried to keep pace with technology as much as my wallet would allow. I got my first Martin about 3 weeks ago. A Bengal. I like the design, the smooth draw and the feel at release. Now it is probably me but this is the first bow in many years that slaps my forearm. (I forgot how much a couple consecutive string slaps hurt on a bare arm!) Another thing is that this bow has been fine tuned (both paper tuned and walk back) but for some reason I still don't have the consistant accuracy I've had with my other bows. Don't get me wrong, the shots are 'there' just the groups aren't as tight. This may be a fletching contact issue which I may have to resolve. I am shooting helical 2" Blazers through a NAP Quick Tune 360 rest. Either that or my my form - so I am working on that too. I'm sure I'll get it all together shortly. I hope so cause I have another Martin (Cheetah) coming in the mail.

[bfisher]

I've been shooting bows for longer than I care to remember. Somewhere around 50 years. I always tried to keep pace with technology as much as my wallet would allow. I got my first Martin about 3 weeks ago. A Bengal. I like the design, the smooth draw and the feel at release. Now it is probably me but this is the first bow in many years that slaps my forearm. (I forgot how much a couple consecutive string slaps hurt on a bare arm!) Another thing is that this bow has been fine tuned (both paper tuned and walk back) but for some reason I still don't have the consistant accuracy I've had with my other bows. Don't get me wrong, the shots are 'there' just the groups aren't as tight. This may be a fletching contact issue which I may have to resolve. I am shooting helical 2" Blazers through a NAP Quick Tune 360 rest. Either that or my my form - so I am working on that too. I'm sure I'll get it all together shortly. I hope so cause I have another Martin (Cheetah) coming in the mail.

Bronko,

What you are describing (arm slap and inconsistencies) are classics symptoms of a draw length that is too long and/or incorrect grip on the bow.
The grip is easy enough to correct if this is the problem. There's enough info on this floating around so I'd just point you toward the technical info on www.huntersfriend.com.

Drawlength isn't all that hard either. When you got your bow you should have recieved a packet of modules (F1-F7). Just loosen the set screws holding yours on the cam and replace it with the next lower number. Try this for about a week and see if things get better.

The bow won't be tuned as well with the draw length change, but it shouldn't be so far off as to not shoot consistently. If the shorter draw length fits then you can always tweak the tune later on.

[bronko22000]

b - I have a feeling its my grip with the new bow. I know it isn't my draw length. I'm only shooting 28" and that's what I have all my other bows set at. I will check out the link you sent however and thanks.
Even with my recurves and longbow I don't get slapped. And its getting less with the new martin. Like I said, I think its just a mind thing. I know that gripping the bow will cause torque and I just hold the bow in the crook of my thumb and index finger with my index finger around the bow just enough so it won't fall after the shot. The remaining 3 fingers don't even touch the bow.

Edited: I did a lot of tinkering today and I'm pretty sure I resolved both issues. First with the string slap - I think the problem was bow arm tension. Once I focused and relaxed it, it stayed clear of the string. AS for the grouping. This was as I suspected. The helical Blazer vanes were making rest contact. I refletched 3 arrows with straight (1 degree offset) Blazers and adjusted the nocks for proper rest clearance. I also did another paper tune and walk back and did some super fine tuning with the rest.
After all that, I started shooting tighter groups. More to what I am used to shooting. Then I switched targets and installed my broadheads. Perfect. Exact same POI as the field tips. Now the Bengal is all set and only 5 more months til archery season.
Next task is to set up the Cheetah. It should be here anyday now.