Compound sights 3 pin or 5 pin?

RogerM

Member
Was wondering what the vast majority of compound archers prefer? I'm guessing that the advantage of a 5 pin over a 3 pin is that you can set it up for 5 different distances rather than 3. But a 3 pin is less complex and allows the user to see more through the site owing to the fact there are less pins in the way. Thoughts please.
Roger
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
Multi pin sights are, I think, mainly for those who hunt with a bow. They are not allowed in many of the competitions.
As for using them, some do get distracted by having so much choice and using the wrong one.
With a single spot or pin, you deliberately adjust it to the distance you intend to shoot and aim with it.
If you change distance, you adjust the sight accordingly; it's a routine to get used to.
 

RogerM

Member
My friend and I are thinking of doing little competitions between ourselves where we set off at 20m to the target, take 3 shots each then drop back to a greater set distance eventually ending up at 70m, with maybe 5 shooting posts in all. Of course this would only be attempted after we both hit some form at those distances. A 3 pin would be excellent for perhaps 30, 50 and 70m then shots between worked out as hold over or hold under. A 5 pin would be even better in that respect but i'd probably need a chart taped to the riser giving me the pin distances.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
One other thing to bear in mind is that the pins will be fairly close to each other, as that is the nature of multi pin sights. When setting up you may find they are only adjustable for a narrow range of distances. If you compare highest and lowest settings on a target sight for compound with the range available on a multi pin, you will notice the difference.
My 60y setting is 32mm below my 20y setting. With a top pin set for 20m/y I would guess my longest range available with multi pin would be 50m.
Looking at some multi pin sights they have a scale on the side that can give you up and down movement of the sight ring. But that would possibly give you sight marks for 70m down to 40m and anything closer would mean adjusting the whole ring on the scale which changes all the pins at the same time.
 

RogerM

Member
One other thing to bear in mind is that the pins will be fairly close to each other, as that is the nature of multi pin sights. When setting up you may find they are only adjustable for a narrow range of distances. If you compare highest and lowest settings on a target sight for compound with the range available on a multi pin, you will notice the difference.
My 60y setting is 32mm below my 20y setting. With a top pin set for 20m/y I would guess my longest range available with multi pin would be 50m.
Looking at some multi pin sights they have a scale on the side that can give you up and down movement of the sight ring. But that would possibly give you sight marks for 70m down to 40m and anything closer would mean adjusting the whole ring on the scale which changes all the pins at the same time.
Yes I had read into this a little. I was watching a few vids of the guys that do the hunter field type stuff where they have a course of targets hidden in trees. Apparently, they have to set pin one at it's highest possible setting on the adjustment for that pin, then alter the whole sight height to get the range for that pin. This places pin one as high as it can possibly go in the ring, all the others are set via pin adjustment only BUT....there are still problems especially with cheap sights. With pin one set at the top of the ring, there still may be issues with there being enough vertical adjustment on pin five to get the 70m in. It all depends how big the adjustment pegs are, the thinner the pegs the better it is, the fatter the pegs then the less room for error and cheap sights have fat pegs.
 

RogerM

Member
And of course it also depends on the parabola of the arrow, the slower the arrow speed then the likelihood of running out of adjustment at the bottom of the sight ring increases.
 

RogerM

Member
What poundage bow, what IBO speed, what draw length and what arrows?
My bow is a PSE stinger extreme 70LB but I'll probably be setting it up at more like 35LB - 40LB to begin with till I get into it. At my draw length of 27 inches though the bow will probably max out at around 57LB. Arrows are maximal edge carbon, spine 400 and weight about 380 grain. IBO speed at that draw length will probably be in the 250-260 fps region so I'm hoping for a tight parabola to my target.
 

jonUK76

Member
At my draw length of 27 inches though the bow will probably max out at around 57LB.
It'll max out at 70 lb. From the manual, @ 27" with the cable in the "performance" position, peak weights range from 45 lbs (limbs fully out 15 turns) to 70 lbs (limbs fully in). With the cable moved to the "grow with you" position, the range changes to 38 to 61.5 lbs.
 

RogerM

Member
It'll max out at 70 lb. From the manual, @ 27" with the cable in the "performance" position, peak weights range from 45 lbs (limbs fully out 15 turns) to 70 lbs (limbs fully in). With the cable moved to the "grow with you" position, the range changes to 38 to 61.5 lbs.
Thanks for that.

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