Check out the 3Rivers website for lots of info on arrow selection. I am waiting on a test set of wood arrows. In the meantime I just ordered a Bear Montana Longbow (35#) from them. I had a long phone conversation with Sam at 3Rivers in the process of working up the order and he guided me in my arrow selection.

BTW, I also picked up my traditional equipment after nine or ten years of having it sit in the furnace room. I have three bows and a bunch arrows from back when: 45# recurve, 50# recurve and 55# longbow. But I think my arrows are overspined and I desperately need to work on my form. The old bows are just too heavy to do the form work. (I had bypass surgery last Feb. and am still getting my upper body strength back.)

At any rate, the folks at 3Rivers have been a great help in getting me back into the game.

It depend if you want carbon aluminum or wood for your arrows. 3Rivers can be a good place to start or if you are wanting wood there are other places to go to get good quality customer service and good arrows from.

I agree with skifrk you need to say which type arrows you want to use.

personally, I use wooden arows. Right now I’m working on getting one and 1/2 dozen Douglas fir in the 60-65# spine weight stained and fletched.

I shoot a 47# recurve. According to the information you gave you should be shooting about the same spine weight. But be warned each bow is an indiviual and it may not shoot the same as another bow of the same draw weight with the same spined arrow. It took me a looong time to finally discover which spine weight is the one my bow likes best.

The only help I can offer, was when I had a 45lb Root recurve about 10 years ago, I did a bare shaft tune on it with aluminum arrows. I was using only 125gr point and 40gr insert, so keep that in mind. My draw length is 27″. So I was really pulling about 42lb I figure.

I got Easton Gamegetter 2114’s to fly absolutely perfect from that bow. But if you’re going by the EFOC standard, you will need a stiffer spine than those.

I am not sure how the charts compare, but I remember that when I was shooting that bow, that I had to use 10lbs LESS than what the Easton chart said, even for a recurve. Anytime I used the actual draw weight, the arrows were always way too stiff. I suggest, as was mentioned, decide the type of arrow (carbon, alum, or wood) and get a suggested size of sample shafts to experiment with. Once you know, it’s just a matter of shopping around the sources for best price. Usually the samples will have 3-4 different spine shafts to test tune with.

Oh yes, one other important thing, you’ll need to know pretty close what type and weight of head you will be hunting with, otherwise the tuning will be way off. You cannot tune with a 125gr point and shoot a 160gr head for hunting. If it’s just for target, pick a weight of field point and insert, and you’re done.

Just remember that if you later decide to hunt with those target arrows, the tip weight has ALREADY been decided, by your tuning.

If you want to get into custom wooden arrows, there are many people who will take your information and build you a set of great arrows matched to you and your bow. If you can find a person local, it will be a bit better as they can actually take a look at your bow and see the shelf, off-set, brace height, etc. I just had a set made and I am very happy. I would be glad to tell you the person I used if you are having trouble finding someone, but there are plenty that advertise in TBM and on the site. As stated above, 3Rivers and KustomKing are excellent resources. And people in these forums have great suggestions which has helped me quite a bit. I am still pretty new to the whole trad thing, but I hope this helps.

Alex

😀

Hey,

Good times ahead! I’m shooting a 46#, which with my draw is probably about 43 or so. I started with wood, but saw I was much more consistent with aluminum, so I switched. I could get them cheap on the auction site, but I was bending them up like crazy. I like to stump a lot and a side swipe against a tree with an aluminum shaft makes it a tomato stake. I ended up switching to Beman bowhunters, which are about the cheapest shaft out there. I think you might find a better shaft, like the Whitetails, but these are dang good. I’m sure they’re a better shaft than I am an archer. I’m using 400 shafts with a 50 grain insert, 225 grain tuffheads and 75 grain adapters and they fly nice. These shafts have been pretty easy to tune I think. Best of luck, dwc

ps. My shafts with the tuffheads come in about 625 grains and about 28% foc. For stumping, I put a 125 gr. adapter in the judo and the total weight is about 605ish so my stumper is real close to the hunting arrow. dwc

If you choose to use wood shafts check out Allegheny Mountain Arrow woods. Bill is very easy to work with and just as motivated to match a shaft to your bow as you are. Plus, his product is fantastic! If you don’t want to make the arrows yourself (that is, straighten shafts, etc.) he can do it for you. I’ve had great success with the 13+ dozen arrows I’ve made from his shafts.

-Ben

If possible go to a local shop – one where you can shoot your bow. They will get you tuned in. There is a great little shop in “soup town” Wisconsin I go to. They sell mostly compounds but they know traditional too. You stand by the register & front door and let fly about 20′. Not 20 yds. but you can tune a bow to arrows easy at that distance.