Peeps, Alignment and a Smattering of Theory
Over the numerous years that I have been playing around with archery (well, perhaps “playing” does not accurately reflect my feelings toward the practice), my clock has amassed much more time logged wielding a compound bow. Over that period of time I have been continually experimenting with sight assemblies and with sighting techniques.
Early on I read somewhere that the human eye tends to naturally center concentric circles. The first time I put the theory to the test was in mounting a “Ghost Ring” on the receiver of my Model 94 Winchester lever action carbine. I was amazed at how much more quickly my eye found alignment with the sights! It was about that same time frame (late 70’s) that I began to become interest in the compound bow.
Having spent the first twenty years of my archery endeavors in the traditional arena, the concept of “sights” was foreign. I started by adorning my first compound (a cast aluminum riser Fred Bear Kodiak Special) with an inexpensive pin arrangement. The folks at the shop suggested the addition of a peep sight and I was off to the races. There were some basic flaws in my setup, however. The pins were hard to adjust and shot loose with sickening regularity and the peep had been designed by a kid with 20/15 vision with a hole was so small as to be ridiculous in low light. I am sure that tiny peep was perfect for shooting dots under the florescent lights at the range but I fought with that peep continually. Eventually, the cheesy pin sight was replaced by a nice dove tail mounted Martin that not only could be adjusted but maintained that adjustment. I achieved a modicum of success with that rig and then came marriage, children and a full time career.
Six moves later and after the kids had moved out we had settled in a home with a half an acre plot. The back yard was wooded. There is a creek and steep hill side on the other side of the creek providing a perfect 50 yard range and hundreds of square yards of safe back stop. Then, in 2006 I picked up my bow again and began “playing around”. The advent of the internet provided an almost inexhaustible resource for studying the current state-of-the-art in modern archery. I eventually purchased a modern, beyond parallel limb, single cam bow, new sights, a release and even some carbon composite arrows.
Of course, there was that same old peep staring at me. The only difference was that now it wore a silicone rubber tube to orient the peep correctly at full draw. It would seem that “modern” does not always mean “improved”. I had never had issues with peep rotation on my old clunkers because I shot using my fingers and the natural roll of the string always brought the peep around correctly. As I practiced with the new rig the blasted rubber tubing broke about every three weeks and I always had to re-sight because I could never get the tension of the tubing the same as before. I deduced that the changing tension was tilting the angle of the peep up and down in the string enough to change my point of impact at 50 yards. Desperation led to my trimming the nipple from the peep and eliminating the tubing all together.
That simple step was liberating! I adjusted the peep within the string to be at full draw on its own. I also began experimenting with drilling the plastic peep in larger and larger increments to be able to see the entire sight housing in the peep at full draw. That is when I began struggling with my pin arrangement from right to left depending on the range to target. I found my new, fancy, level incorporated, heavily researched and not cheap sight had manufacturing flaws that could not be adjusted out of the assembly (even when using the now famous Pepsi Can Shims).
That led to my investment in the Spot Hogg, Hogg It sight. I had lusted for this device early on but was hesitant in parting with the required shekels. As it turns out, had I been paying myself by the hour and for emotional damages it was the least expensive sight on the market. It too is dove tail mounted, fiber optic and accessory lighted, seven, .010 pins with second and third axis leveling. Now because of the larger housing (2 3/8 inch diameter) I could no longer see the entire sight within the peep aperture. I drilled and drilled until I was hesitant to go any farther in the removal of material. I purchased the longer mounting rail offered as an accessory by the factory for my Hogg It. Now the housing sat a full seven inches from the back of the riser (the side away from the string) but still I had to struggle to see the complete sight housing in the peep.
It was just a few weeks ago I had the cables and string replaced with a pre-stretched Stone Mountain set. When the string/cable was being installed I had the conversation with the technicians about a larger peep and they pooh-poohed my concerns but sold me the largest ID peep they had in stock. It also was too small to see the entire housing. That is when I went hunting on my own and saw an advertisement for the G5 Meta Peep with a 5/16ths ID
http://www.g5outdoors.com/product_detail/36 . The Meta is advertised as being constructed from magnesium and its weight only a fraction of similar sized peeps of any material. Frankly, weight was not a concern of mine. I am more than happy to sacrifice a smidgeon of speed for any enhanced accuracy. I need every accuracy advantage I can beg, borrow or steal. This size only comes in blue but I figured what the heck, it’s a small gamble and ordered one.
I installed the Meta in my new string and adjusted it for proper alignment at full draw. I experienced virtually no shoot-in time with the Stone Mountain strings so alignment after the initial harsh language and head scratching was not an issue. I am here to tell you it was a surprise to see that blue peep in my eye once I got out to the range though! It was also gratifying to see the entire painted white ring and black housing of the Hogg It nicely centered in the blue ring of the Meta.
After a couple of weeks using the 5/16ths Meta, I have some surprising conclusions:
1. The human eye does center concentric circles subconsciously
2. That ability to center virtually eliminates sighting time at full draw because there is no effort (or very little) required to achieve correct alignment.
3. That small amount of light seen between the housing and the peep ID functions exactly like the Retina Lock technology found on the IQ Bowsights and the Sure Lock Lethal Weapon appearing on the market these days.
4. For all of the reasons listed the number of poorly aimed shots I now execute has dramatically dropped.
It now seems that even when I execute a poorly released/aimed/followed through shot (yes, I admit to all the failings of every other Bozo out there) the darned arrows don’t wander nearly so far off dead center! I practice on a National Field Archery Association blue back and white spot target that is 6 ¼ inches in diameter from the aforementioned fifty yards. The white area (I call that the “bull’s eye”) is 3 ¼ inches in diameter. Whereas I used to average two to three arrows per dozen outside of the blue area, I am now keeping them all inside the blue (even my “fliers” and “oops” shots). A secondary problem I had not experienced before at that range has shown up. There always seems to be a cluster of five to seven arrows that “whack” one another in the target they are so close together. That is a problem I can live with!
My suggestion is that everyone using a round sight housing should at least try using a peep sight with an inner diameter large enough to easily see the entire sight housing. I don’t think the color of the peep is critical but I’ve only tested the one color. On the other hand, the blue color does provide stark contrast to the black housing and white painted circle on my Hogg It. It would have been interesting to chronograph my bow before and after installing the magnesium peep but I don’t think there would have been significant difference speed wise. All I know is the larger hole has helped my groups and the gamble in coin of the realm was minimal when compared to the benefits I gained. I hope everyone is as fortunate as I.
At the very minimum it provided some cheap fun for one who likes a little experimentation.
