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Let me say up front: On my recurve I prefer a XX75 Legacy Shaft. I reserve carbon for my compound. Don't want to use wood.

My recurve is a 57# @ 28", 60" AMO Bob Lee Signature with a 19" riser. It's cut darn close to center.

I knew no better when i bought it, so Bob recommended 2016 aluminum arrows. Despite my 27 1/4" draw length, I shoot my arrows at 29 1/2" long with 100 grain points. They shoot just fine. But according to all arrow selection charts I've ever found, that 2016 should be WAY under-spined.

Anybody else ever find the arrow charts a tad off?

You are right in the zone for a 2016

A 2017 you would be over spined and a 1916 under spined. Of course that is generally speaking. Either one of those shafts may still work.

Spine charts are merely a guide and shouldn't be taken as gospel. There are just too many variables in archery for a "one size fits all" chart to be perfect. Also, spine charts are designed for compound bows not traditional. The physics are different so the data doesn't really jive. It's my opinion that spine charts will almost always overspine a traditional bow.

If the 2016's are working for you, just keep with them, don't worry about what the charts say. If you feel like tinkering and don't mind cutting some shafts, cut down a 2016 and up the point weight. Tinkering with tune can be a bit like going down a crazy rabbit hole, so...

There are charts for stick bows

As ryoushi said, the charts are just guides. But where are you finding 2016 as "right in the zone"?

My bow is 57# at 28". My draw length is 27 1/4", so I'm guessing the wieght is about 50#. I don't have a bow scale, so I have to estimate. The Easton chart for recurve bow, 29 1/2" arrow at 50 to 57 # shows a 2216 or 2219 is about right.

2016 would appear to be suited for much lighter weight bow. What am I missing?

I have never seen an arrow chart that was accurate for a recurve or longbow. I always have to go weaker in order to get the arrow to shoot vertically inline with my target.

Of course they are a guide, and I said clearly that generally speaking! Which means without knowing your total set-up, shooting form, and ability means all anyone of us can say for you is generally speaking.

Here is a pretty good reference for you.

http://www.shootingthestickbow.com/ArrowGuide.html

I am betting you are missing a lot. But of course that isn't what you want to hear or believe. Why bother asking questions if you are not going to take the advice and figure your equipment out? Hell the Bowyer that made your bow told you what he thought. If that isn't good enough then two things. A) Nothing any of us can say will sink in. B) You don't trust the man you picked to buy a bow from! I am out, I did all I can for you. Good Luck

Every arrow seletion chart I've seen until the one you referenced shows the 2016 to be way under spined for my set up. Thanks for the reference.

The bowyer that suggested 2016 did so about 21 years ago. Did I trust him? Sure, I bought the arrows. Did I understand why? Nope, but I'm working on it.

Ya I'm missing alot. But I'm working on it. Asking questions and trying to learn does not invite you to be rude and condescending.

There are just too many variables to say why those shafts work for you, but if they work, don't worry about it. There's nothing wrong with tinkering so I'd get some other shaft sizes, build them up and see if you find a combo you like better. Tuning a trad bow requires a lot of patience and a bit of black magic.

Let me take a stab at this.

First off, my assumptions; one, you say your riser is close to center cut, so I am going to assume your rest is a baer hair shelf rest and a leather strike plate, and two, you are shooting fingers. If either of these two are wrong, it changes the physics slightly, but irrelevantly.

So if we were above you looking down at the bow drawn, you would see the center of the bow, the arrow point, and the nock form a triangle, rather than a line like a modern compound or past center cut riser. This puts your bow and string direction of travel in one direction and your arrow direction of travel in a slightly offset direction. Now, as you release with your fingers, the string starts my bong forward, but not in a straight line, its moving in a slight s curve. As the string is moving, the arrow starts moving in an s curve as well, allowing it to wrap around the riser without coming into contact, this curve around the bow is what pushes the arrow into the line established by your string, bow, and target.

A lighter than chart spine allows the arrow to wrap around the bow, if you go heavier on the spine your arrows will move farther and farther in the direction away from the riser window because of fletching contact and deflection.

This is why the old Easton charts from decades ago used to have the small print, "recurve, longbow, and finger shooters subtract 10 pounds from draw weight."

You really should check out the arrow spine calculator on 3 Rivers Archery's website. It allows you to plug in detailed info on bow and arrow combos and is far more accurate than a typical arrow spine chart. It will allow you to dial in your specs for your draw length, degree of center shot, arrow length, point weight and computes both static and dynamic spine.

I've used it quite a bit and find it to work very well for me. When I used to shoot wood arrows exclusively, I never felt the need for it, but when I started shooting carbons out of traditional bows, it was extremely useful. I just plugged in the specs you listed and a 29" 2016 shows about 10 lbs under spined.

Midget, You're exactly right!

That is an amazig calculator! Somebody with a lifetime of experience did some serious research and time on that.

Have to weigh out some arrow components and measure out the center cut with a caliper to be exact and then run it through the calculator.

My 2016 arrows are XX75's and not Gamegetters. I only saw Gamegetters listed. Might that make a small (very small) difference?

Arrow spine charts do not take into account string material, strand count, centershot, type of strike plate material and rest, etc.
You start with a guess and go from there. Learn how to tune. Carbons are the most critical. I can see a difference with just a 1/4" difference in shaft length. Aluminums are pretty forgiving, and wood is the easiest to tune.

The 3Rivers calculator is just an earlier version of Stu Miller's. If you can find a download of his newest one, it contains way more variable entries such as centershot, string material and count,etc.

I hope that helps you understand some of what going on. With arrow selection, there is only one hard and fast rule: make sure your arrow is heavy enough not to cause limb and string damage, everything else is some combination of religion, voodoo, and black arts until you find a combination that does what you want.