How do you know what arrow spine to start with? I have a couple of longbows that I enjoy shooting but arrow flight is awful. With that said it's not surprising as I don't have anything FOR my longbows, they're just leftover arrows from my compound.

Without buying a ton of arrows to experiment with how do you know where to start? Is there a chart that matches drawlength/poundage/head wt with arrows? I just want something with decent arrow flight to tinker with.

Jason, Pm sent.

3 Very important things you must know first. 1, the point weight you want to shoot. for just punching paper, 125gr is fine but if you will be deer hunting, you may want a much heavier broadhead (or maybe not). 2, Your exact draw length with that bow. Then figure arrow length. 3, the bow's actual draw weight at that length. Once you know those numbers, you can use a chart to get close but you still will have to experiment some. Pick the spine that is closest and get one the next spine heavier too, in case you have to cut the first one back too short, you can start again full length with the next higher spine. Shoot several times before you cut.

1 - Ultimate goal is to deer hunt with it. To do that I have to enjoy shooting it enough to WANT to practice. Might as well start with a setup that is appropriate. I never cared for the light weight compound broadheads. When everyone went to 100 grains I stuck with 125's. So I'm open to suggestions for broadhead wt.

2 - I can figure that out easy enough.

3 - Draw wt at length. I'm not set up to do that. Open to suggestions on how to figure it out. Maybe a trip to Cabela's?

Thanks for the info! Great starting point!

3 Rivers Archery has some videos on their website that would help you especially finding your draw length. Doesn’t mean you have to buy from them. Also YouTube has videos on the subject as well. You do need a consistent anchor point.

If you know the draw weight at 28" it is easy enough to calculate the draw weight at a given actual draw length.

Arrow spine is one of the most needlessly over complicated aspects of archery outside of tiller.

Determine/calculate the actual draw weight at your draw length, decide the length arrow, you want to shoot, decide the headweight or total arrow weight you want to end up with. There's not that much to it.

Amount of centershot can play a role in spine determination, as can string material, but those things are easily compensated for.

It's not that hard to get proper arrows, just don't go to Cabelas.

It is no surprise that you are getting poor arrow flight trying to use arrows designed for a compound out of a longbow. Most compound arrows utilize very small plastic fletch with no helical twist, special elevated rests, and shot with a release. They will never fly well trying to shoot them off the shelf with fingers.

draw lenth n bow lbs. most here could get you close.

Sometime this weekend I'll measure my drawlength, post the bow's draw wt, and post some pics of the bow/string/shelf/ect. Whatever you guys want.

And I know that the arrows I've been playing with are wrong... the cause of many flight problems.

Thanks again, I appreciate the help!

Compared to Recurves which are center shot or cut past center, the Longbow needs to have a weaker spine because they are cut left of center. The arrow needs to flex around the bow more so when compared to a Recurve. That can be achieved by using a weaker spine shaft, or adding more weight up front,or cutting your present shafts longer. Depending on what your Longbow draw weight is compared to your Recurve draw weight is, if you want to shoot the same shaft it maybe a combo of extra point weight and arrow length. Your draw length may appear to shorten some when shooting a Longbow. You are shooting with a low wrist on your grip, but also the depth of the riser is narrower from back to belly on a Longbow when compared to a Recurve. So the length of your arrows that you shoot off of your Recurve will appear as if you are short drawing (to long) on a Longbow. Just some things to be aware of. DANNY

If you know the ones your using are wrong, why use them? And you know what, they will never be correct for that bow.

Bob

aromakr, I've shot them because I have them. Once I have the right arrows I'll quit tinkering with the wrong arrows. I know they're wrong but I don't know how to get the correct ones. That's why I'm asking these questions.

When you get a ballpark idea of what at spine you need you can buy a test kit , I think most have 3 different spine shafts. 3rivers sells them,think Big Jim does to. Get points of the weight broadheads you want to shoot. Lots of info online about bare shaft tuning and paper tuning.

How about this: what is the make/model of your bow? Whats the marked lb's?

What type of arrow you plan on. carbon , aluminum are wood ?

I'll post pics and stats of the bow this weekend. Not home to do it at the moment.

A test kit would be great! I would love to KNOW I have the right match-ups. Much easier for me to work on form knowing that problems are my fault and not the equipment's.

I won't care what matierials the arrows are made of. My gut tells me wood will feel right, but I want trouble free as much as possible so I'm game for whatever.

Jason, PM sent.

What a great site!!! Asked a question just a few hours ago and already have tons more info than I began with, and have received 3 personal messages with 2 phone numbers with offers to help. Amazing and Outstanding!

Thanks guys!

You need to have consistent form to make sense of an arrow 'test kit'. If you really don't have repeatable form you're probably in for some frustration.

I use:

3rivers archery dynamic spine calculator

That consistently gets me close. I can adjust brace height up and down to 'clean up' how my arrows are flying to the target.

Plug in all your bows data, and your arrow choice. You need to pay attention to making accurate data inputs. If you really don't have any idea where to start, try that. Additionally you can play with the inputs to see what effects what.

Ultimately though the bottom line is you just gotta have repeatable form to make sense of what you are seeing when you shoot.

I've always used the chart from 3Rivers. Never had a bad flying arrow.

Before you decide what kind of arrows you want to get… You need to understand that you can cut things much finer with wood or aluminum then you can with carbon. There are usually 4-5 aluminum shafts between the options available in carbon. On the other hand, carbon arrows are (generally speaking) more durable than the alternatives.

Personally, I think you will make the most progress the most quickly if you go with aluminum, and you’re least likely to need to buy more points. But it depends on your target butt… if you basically never miss, then aluminum will last as long as you are willing to take care of them. I do most of my shooting on a 3-D course where there are enough rocks that it’s pretty punishing anytime that you miss, so I am better off shooting carbon.

I LOVE shooting wood arrows, but they are a either a passion/hobby or a serious luxury item. You can make your own pretty cheaply and you can buy shafts as raw or as finished as you wish, but whatever you do, don’t keep track of your hours!! LOL

I have had really good luck with Stu’s calculator, which is the source for the 3R version; it comes in with a recommendation that’s a hair lighter than the charts as far as shaft goes, but I also use much heavier points than the charts seem to anticipate. So my go-to LB (fairly modern!) shoots a 27 3/4” 500 with 200 grains up front at about #52. Charts say I’m close to needing a 400, but I’m not having any luck with those… Until I get to about #60. THEN they’ll shoot.

FWIW, the guys I shoot with are using mid-#40s, shooting full-length 600s with about 175 up front.

I would use a spine tester but that is just me

Here's some info on the bow. My draw length is 27.5"

I grew up shooting aluminum arrows, feathers, and fingers with a compound. So I'm perfectly fine with aluminum if that's the best ticket.

Now we need to know how close to/past center it’s cut and what kind of bowstring you’ve got….

Just a WAG, probably 1816 will do ya in aluminum (or at least it’s where I would start myself). I couldn’t go any stiffer than 600 for carbon at that weight, so if you were to get a test kit, I’d probably go 600/700/800.

The thing to keep an eye on with carbons, though… If you want to hunt, then you will want to go with enough point weight to get your arrow up into an appropriate bracket. 125 is probably going to leave you light.

That’s one nice thing about wood. At your DL (or mine) where a 28” arrow is about perfect, you can probably buy pretty much according to how your bow is marked. But we have guys here who have produced many thousands of woodies who can tell you better than any chart.

do you have the Medora? Looks to be close to or maybe cut to center. 45lbs. 1916, 2016, 600 carbons might be a good start, 50- 55's wood. b55 or FF string? decide what point weight you want to use, start long and cut 'em a 1/4" or so at a time until you get good flight. Exactly what arrows are you using now?

How do I measure center cut? Or is there a pic I can take that will show you what you need to know?

Fender Archery has a good discussion about arrow tuning by O.L. Adcock.

https://www.fenderarchery.com/blogs/archery-info/basic-tuning

You said 27.5 draw length is this on this bow are your compound? They will be different

you almost need 3 hands or a helper to measure centershot. You can get close with 2 hands. view braced bow from behind string, center string on limbs up & down. MIGHT lay it on couch belly up. While it (string) is centered holding bow with one hand (or use a padded vise) stick a tape measure or dial caliper slide outside going in to riser and see where the string hits the tape or dial caliper slide. It will take several tries to reach a good conclusion.

Catscratch, with the bow strung, lay your bow limbs across a couple chair seats so the string is facing up, and you can look down on it. Shoot your line of sight up and down the limbs so the string is centered on the limbs, and then eyeball its position relative to the arrow pass. If it touches it, it is centercut. If there's a gap between the string and the riser it's centershot. Keep in mind all standard sized glue on or stick on sideplates are about 1/16 to 1/10th inch thick.

Just measure the width of the limb in the middle of the fadeout, that's the width of the bow. Then measure the amount of material left in the sight window. Subtract that number from the first number. is the answer more than the first number, less than the first number, and by how much? That's your answer.

Catscratch measure across the red line.

Looks center cut plus leather side plate. Always call them and ask. I. Would go with 1916 and 125 gr. at 29 " arrow from throat of nock to back of point. This should get you shooting Carbons are going to give you more headache and if you don't have a proper way to cut them. Get a book to learn more about tuning a longbow.and arrow spine. Wood is also like carbons takes more to learn on selecting and building.

In an above pic; .8135 inches.

"In an above pic; .8135 inches."....yep I missed it.

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