High or Low brace height

[PublicLandHunter1]

Do you recommending shooting a high or low brace height? I have read a lot of posts where the advice is to shoot 1/4inch off the bumpers. But I notice the owner's manuals say- for the matrix 1/2 to 1 inch. Will it matter if you keep your string 1/2 inch or 1 inch? It would seem performance would increase if you kept the brace height at 1 inch on a matrix and 2 inches on a bulldog. Is that correct? Thanks in advance.

[Montana Mark]

I too am interested in this. I am a new crossbow owner. I have been trying to get my string to stretch. I have a matrix bow and a new grey factory string. The string has been on for more than a month and I have more than a hundred shots on it. I finally got my brace height down to 1 inch from the riser (1/2 inch from the REDS). I have a couple twists in the string (because I think it needs a little twist). My bow is shooting great but I wonder if it would shoot even better at 3/4 inch from the riser. I’ll just keep shooting and see. Sometimes, I think I’m having accuracy issues but I haven’t been able to set up a bench with all the snow I have here. Sometimes I question the Dead Zone scope but can’t really tell without a bench. I do think one of my Diablos is a bit of a “flyer”. Still, I wonder if my bow will be more consistent if I get my brace height down to 3/4 inch. (I’m just being picky because every single shot I’ve made is a dead deer).

Is there an optimal brace height (“sweet spot”) for accuracy or is it just important to keep your brace height consistent so you accuracy is the same?

[Bcxbow]

It has been my experience that on the matrix bows a brace height of 5/8-3/4” produces the best speed and slightly lower noise while on the Bulldogs it is 2”. That being said I also believe that not every bow is exactly the same and some experimentation may be needed to find the sweet spot for each bow. Just make sure that the string is not resting against the bumpers while uncocked or there will be premature wear to the bumpers and possibly bigger problems when shooting. Good luck and welcome to the world of crossbow addiction.

[Carnivorous]

I don't think I ever measured my BH. I just keep my string about 1/8" away from my bumpers on all the bows I have had..

[janesy]

There will be a sweet spot. The spot you are looking for is the point at which most of the vibrations are being contained and sent down the arrow. This sweet spot will give you the fastest, and smoothest shot. Safe to say most people stop chasing it fairly quickly after they realize the spot moves with each string change or change in arrow weight for whatever reason. The yeild of speed is 3 fps, so many feel a reliable spot is better than a fast spot.

I used to keep mine at a string width away from the bumpers. However now I keep them at 3/16 to 1/4 eyeball off. The reason is that if I go out and sit for 10 hours cocked, if the string decides to stretch I will still have 1/8 at the end of the day when I take the shot, and it's always safe. Probably won't ever be the case, but I change strings frequently, and it's one less thing for me to worry about.