# Right or left helical



## Finch (Feb 9, 2011)

Just wandering if you right hand shooters out there shoot a right or left helical on your arrows and the reason why you shoot what you shoot?


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## BkBigkid (Feb 9, 2011)

Sitting back to watch this one. 

I Found a good deal on a Right Helical Fletcher and a Straight One so I use either.  Right or Straight. 

Personal Preference is what I have read.


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## Jayin J (Feb 10, 2011)

I shoot both, left and right.  I have not noticed any difference.  Must be like Ford's and Chevy's, it's what ever you prefer.  Unless of course there is a difference???


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## Night Wing (Feb 10, 2011)

Right or left helical makes no difference. It just comes to personal preference. I shoot a right handed bow and my arrows are fletched with right helical feathers. I do so because 47 years ago, the archery shop where I bought my feathers carried mostly right wing feathers.

I prefer Gateway feathers over Trueflight feathers simply because I shoot very heavy arrows, closer to 15 GPP (grains per pound) arrows out of my two bows. The Trueflights are softer in my opinion, but their softness doesn't hold up well when my very heavy arrows pound (wallop) my bag target.


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## OconeeDan (Feb 10, 2011)

Does not matter.


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## Al33 (Feb 10, 2011)

If it does make a difference you sure can't tell it with my shooting, therefore I fletch and shoot both right and left.


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## Jake Allen (Feb 10, 2011)

From what I have been able to tell, it only makes a difference
if you mix the two on the same arrow. 

Left wing feathers are more tricky to me to fletch, because I can't
get to the quill as easy while the feather is still in the clamp.

You can sometimes find some deals on left wing feathers.


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## NCHillbilly (Feb 10, 2011)

Either/or. I shoot both, and you would have to be a lot better shot than me to see any difference.


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## TNGIRL (Feb 10, 2011)

There is no defined difference, just like JakeAllen said as long as all the feathers on the arrow are the same. I know some people that absolutely will NOT fletch with anything but right wings.......that's ok but there's alot of left wing feathers out there to be had, and many times cheaply too! You just gotta invest(that's not expensive either) in the equipment for either/or and teach yourself how to apply both ways. It is COOL!!!!! 
(course I believe the red MM's are the best tasting ones too!!!)


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## TIMBERGHOST (Feb 10, 2011)

I shoot both.  Just be sure you don't mix LW and RW on the same arrow - as already mentioned. 

The difference is the direction your arrow will rotate or twist in flight.  RW helical feathers cause the arrow to rotate clockwise in flight and LW helical feathers cause the arrow to rotate counterclockwise in flight - as the shooter is watching the arrow in flight.  In ballistics talk, this is called SPIN.

SPIN causes DRIFT.  It is not the only force which cause DRIFT (WIND may also causes DRIFT) but a projectile (bullet, artillery shell, rocket, or arrow) spinning to the right will eventually drift to the right.  And, likewise, a projectile spinning to the left will drift to the left in  flight.  Not a whole lot, maybe not even noticeable at 20 yards or less,  but on the longer shots SPIN will have some impact on your arrow's point of impact.


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## markland (Feb 10, 2011)

Told ya!


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## PAPALAPIN (Feb 10, 2011)

Absolutly...definitely...LEFT HAND FLETCH ONLY for me.

Reason:  Back in the day (I'm and old  timer) the rule of thumb was that righties shoot left wing, Lefties shoot right wing.  Supposedly it had to do wih Archers Paradox, the way the arrow has to bend around the riser when shot.   Back then it was pretty much an absolute rule.  For this reason I had invested in two left helical Bitzenbergers.  

I think it may have had merit for tournament shooters that were going to the new (then) hard plastic vanes.   It makes sense that the fletching should rotate in a direction that allowed the fletch to spin past the riser, rather than hitting it hard.  Using feathers, or soft plastic vanes would not have much effect on contact with the riser like hard plastic fletch would.

These day, as most have stated above, the philosophy is that it does not make any difference.  I still stick with left hand fletch because I don't want to have to buy right hand fletching tools.  I'll just stick with what I have.

I do disagree with statements made above about just making sure you don't mix them on the same arrow.  In my opionon, if you are making a set of matched arrows, keep them matched in all aspects.  I would not make up a dozen arrows with some left hand and some right hand.  Make them all the same.

If you have fletching equipment, you might want that to be a factor if you are buying a set of arrows.  I would not buy right hand fletched arrows if I don't have right hand fletched  equipment to repair fletching damage if I need to.

But then, what do I know...I'm just an old timer that doesn't hunt any more.   Right Martin?


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## markland (Feb 10, 2011)

With properly spined and tuned arrows your fletching should not hit the riser anyway and it does not matter what direction the fletching is in as the arrow does not start spinning till after it leaves the bow so orientation is not important, but having all your arrows fletched the same way is as you can have variations in Left and Right impacts with different fletch helical.  
Also nock and fletch alignment can be important if your bow/arrow is not tuned as well to clear the fletch off the riser, but really with a well tuned and spined arrow on the bow it really should not matter where your fletching is oriented to the string as it will clear the shelf anyway.  If you have a bow that gets alot of fletch contact or shoots much better setting your fletching 1 way or the other, then you probably have some slight spine or nock issues to deal with.


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## Tremark (Feb 10, 2011)

you tell them Mark


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## BigJim Bow (Feb 11, 2011)

An arrow only rotates aproximately 2 turns over 20 yards. That equates to about 10 deg. in the time it takes to clear the riser. Not going to make much difference at the riser or anywhere else as far as that goes..... well except buying the wrong feathers for your jig. 
Bigjim


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## gurn (Feb 11, 2011)

I havent seen any difference. Then again I shoot cock feather in. I have even got good flight out of plastic vanes cock feather in. Just cant bring myself ta usin em.


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