Fletching Alignment

[CT.HNTR]

How important is it to align the bolt fletching to the broadhead blades for consistent accuracy? Have any studies been published on this subject? I have heard it is important and have also heard it has no effect on accuracy and would like to know what everybody’s experiences are with this subject.

[Limbs and Sticks]

I've built a few arrows in over fifty yrs, tried fletchings every way possible, makes no difference that I've seen, bulls-eye a bulls-eye.

Wes

[awshucks]

X2.......How would you align a 4 blade bhead w/ 3 vane fletch?

[Kegbelly]

Like this?

[strum]

i used to always align my heads. went to great pains to do it.
not sure it ever made a diff. but it made me feel better

[Limbs and Sticks]

Like this?

Run that one down the rail lol, I four fletch for my recurve and compounds with no issues, there are a few more folks here that four fletch.

Wes

[grousegrove]

As i understand it, its not that aligning the fletches w/ the blades works some aerodynamic magic--there's too much turbulence anyway along yhe arrow in flight probably to do that--but rather that if you take the time to determine the natural spine of your shafts and align your broadheads arrow to arrow to correlate with the spine (for example maybe spine up and one blade lined with the spine), and then align the fletches to correspond with the blades and thus with the spine, you can place each arrow on the rail with the spine in the same relative position using the fleth as an index. Also with the nock alignment on a vert bow. Anyway this way you can (theoretically) have every arrow leaving the rail/string flexing in the same way, assuming everything else is equal.

That said, I never worried about it. might be fun though!