Magnetic Buttons

Michael Burrows

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Magnetic Pressure Buttons

Having been a bit disillusioned with the Beiter pressure button - old technology and very expensive and for me not the best solution. For barebow you need a button where you can easily change pressure for different distances. Yes you can do this with the Beiter but there are so many variances with the different springs and so on so I decided to try magnetic. I Looked for info or reviews on these but found they were non-existent, so if you're thinking about one hope this helps you decide.

I would like to try the Wilfer button but the price is just ridiculous. So I’ve tried the Jet EXE, the Gabriel Little MUCK (cheapest of their range of magnetic buttons) and the Arc Systeme Pro Magnetic.

They are all really simple to use. Set the centre shot and then simply turn the body in or out to change tension. It’s completely linear as it’s simply two opposing magnetics. I’ve read various technical treatises on how differently a spring and an opposing magnetic system worked but in the real world I found that it was really easy to judge the amount of tension required for a particular distance. No changing of springs needed so much simpler to tune - for me anyway - I’m sure there are lots of Beiter afficienardos who will disagree.

I started with the EXE Jet which is the cheapest. I really liked it so I bought another one so I could keep one for with centre shot set for indoor and one for outdoor. Unfortunately on one of them the barrel broke after a couple of weeks so I sent it back and decided to try the Arc Systeme Pro. This is really nice quality and I really liked the titanium tip. When I got the refund for the EXE I bought the Little MUCK from Gabriel (of BiDrop fame in Germany). This is again a lovely bit of engineering, quite small by comparison. Main difference with this one is that there is no click on the adjustment but in practice I haven't found this to be a problem.

I would say that both the Arc Systeme Pro and Little MUCK are better than the EXE Jet both in terms of quality of engineering, materials and components. Use wise all much the same. I prefer a click in the adjustment but don’t find it an issue when it's not there. None of them came with any instructions as to how you change the tip. The Arc Systeme has a different tip for ali arrows and the Little MUCK a spare. I bullied some instructions out of Arc Systeme (eventually) but it’s pretty obvious how you do it with the LM.

Having tried various spring buttons (my opinion obviously) is that the linear nature of the progressive increment in pressure makes them a better choice - for barebow anyway. Most will disagree I’m sure!
 

dvd8n

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I've used Gabriel GSII magnetic buttons for yonks now (I've got a few) - I was a little disappointed that they don't seem to make them any more but the GS IV seems pretty similar.

The jam-nut style design of the barrel does a really good job of keeping the button really low-profile, which I really appreciate. On the other hand, though, it makes it a nightmare to set the centre shot. But I find the centre shot a set and forget thing - once I set it I tend not to routinely fiddle with it. I don't routinely remove my button - I like to leave it in the riser. The low profile design of the GSII makes (made) that easy.

The GSII also has (had) detents on the pressure button which is (was) really nice. I often loosen the grub-screw and shoot, trusting the detent to hold the adjustment in position. It does.

I bought the titanium versions - so far they've been indestructible.
 

Michael Burrows

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The problem for barebow is that the spine of the arrow changes with different crawls so when you are a couple of inches down the string the spine isn't the same as when you are three fingers under the nock. If I bareshaft tune at 30m and get good results it won't be the same at 20m and obviously at 50m and above. So I'm happy my bow is in tune with my arrows at 30m but it's a compromise at different distances - unless you had a set of arrows for each distance!
 

ricfranz

New member
The spine don't change at all. It can change the fishtail, but not the spine. If you use different crawl at the same distance, you will see that the spine don't change, and the impacts will be vertical.
 

Michael Burrows

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Obviously the actual spine of the arrow doesn't change but its relationship to the position of the crawl makes it behave as though it had. At longer crawls less force is imparted on the arrow so it behaves stiffer
 

Michael Burrows

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OK thanks that's very interesting. So using the same arrows for 5 and 50m? What about 70 and 90m? What I find interesting is that you are able to use the same setting even though the arrows will behave differently at 5 and 50m due to the length of the crawl. I assume string walking and not gap shooting
 

KidCurry

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I agree with Michael. As you crawl down the string the draw length for the arrow effectively shortens. This has the effect of making the arrow appear stiffer. It is easily demonstrated with bareshaft. From 50m to 30m I will take two clicks off the button or my group will be hitting about middle 9 at 9 o'clock. The same will happen from 90m to 70m, about two clicks on the beiter button.
Problem is it is a small amount and not easy to see unless you group tight. By tight I mean 330+ at 30m on 80cm face :)
I haven't tried a magnetic button as I found the Beiter to work extremely well.
 
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ricfranz

New member
OK thanks that's very interesting. So using the same arrows for 5 and 50m? What about 70 and 90m? What I find interesting is that you are able to use the same setting even though the arrows will behave differently at 5 and 50m due to the length of the crawl. I assume string walking and not gap shooting
We don't have 70 and 90 for barebow, and yes string walking. The tuning is made at 25 meters.
 

dvd8n

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I know it's an old thread but I'd just like to point out that I can still buy tips from Gabriel for a 10 year old button that he doesn't produce any more.

On top of this I inquired recently about thread sizes for lock screws that were getting rounded out, and Gabriel sent me a bag of new ones free of charge.

Top notch customer service.
 

Michael Burrows

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The graph shown in that article absolutely demonstrates that it is linear. I'm no scientist but if you unscrew the knob the button gets weaker and if you screw it in harder. The same as with a spring but in my opinion it's more sensitive than a spring and consistent.
 

4d4m

Active member
The graph shown in that article absolutely demonstrates that it is linear. I'm no scientist but if you unscrew the knob the button gets weaker and if you screw it in harder. The same as with a spring but in my opinion it's more sensitive than a spring and consistent.
No. If it was linear the graph would be a straight line.
 
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