How to Bare Shaft Tune

Tools and supplies

Tools

• Bow square (to read and set nocking-point height)
• Allen/hex wrench set that fits your rest hardware
• A target butt at a moderate, safe distance

Supplies

• One or more unfletched (bare) shafts that match your fletched arrows in spine, length, and point weight
• Your normal fletched arrows for comparison

Steps

1. Prepare matching bare shafts

   Use one or more bare (unfletched) shafts that are otherwise identical to your fletched arrows — same shaft, spine, length, and point weight. They must match, because the whole method compares the bare shaft's flight to the fletched arrows' flight. Mark the bare shafts so you do not mix them up.

2. Shoot fletched arrows first to establish a reference group

   At a moderate distance, start around 10 to 20 yards, shoot a small group of your normal fletched arrows at a single aiming spot using consistent form. This fletched group is your reference — bare-shaft tuning is about moving the bare shaft to agree with it, so you need a tight, repeatable fletched group first.

3. Shoot bare shafts at the same spot

   Without changing your aim, shoot one or more bare shafts at the same aiming spot. Because they have no fletching to steer them, bare shafts exaggerate any tuning error, so their impact point and angle reveal spine, rest, and nocking-point issues that fletched arrows would mask.

4. Compare where the bare shafts land relative to the fletched group

   Note how the bare shafts group compared to the fletched arrows, both in position and in how the bare shafts sit in the target. A bare shaft landing high or low (or entering nose-up/nose-down) indicates a vertical nocking-point or rest-height issue. A bare shaft landing left or right indicates a horizontal issue: rest/centershot, or spine mismatched to your draw weight.

5. Adjust for a vertical difference

   If the bare shafts hit high or low relative to the fletched group, treat it as a nocking-point (and rest-height) adjustment. Move the nocking point a small amount, about 1/32 inch, in the direction that brings the bare shafts toward the fletched group, change only one thing, then re-shoot.

6. Adjust for a horizontal difference

   If the bare shafts hit left or right, adjust the rest/centershot in small increments toward the fletched group first. If a left/right difference persists beyond reasonable rest movement, the likely cause is arrow spine being too stiff or too weak for your setup — confirm spine against a manufacturer chart or the Custom Arrow Builder, and consider whether draw weight is a factor, rather than guessing a value.

7. Repeat until bare and fletched group together

   Make one change, re-shoot both bare and fletched arrows, and compare again. Continue the adjust-and-compare loop until the bare shafts group with the fletched arrows. When they land together and the bare shafts enter the target cleanly, the bow is well tuned for that arrow.

What bare-shaft tuning tells you

Bare-shaft tuning compares the flight of an unfletched shaft to your normal fletched arrows. Fletching is forgiving — it steers a slightly mistuned arrow back into line, hiding small problems. A bare shaft has nothing to correct it, so it exaggerates any error in spine, rest position, or nocking point. By shooting bare shafts alongside fletched arrows at a moderate distance and seeing where each group lands, you get a clear read on what to adjust.

The goal is simple to state: get the bare shafts to group with the fletched arrows. When an unfletched shaft and a fletched arrow land in the same place and the bare shaft enters the target cleanly, the bow is well tuned for that arrow. Bare-shaft tuning complements paper tuning — paper gives a quick close-range read of flight off the bow, while bare-shaft tuning confirms the tune over distance — and many archers use both.

Safety and a fair test

A few things make the test fair and safe:

• Match the shafts. Your bare shafts must be identical to your fletched arrows in shaft, spine, length, and point weight. The method only works if the only difference is the fletching.
• Use a proper backstop. Shoot into a reliable target butt at a safe distance with a clear line of fire, exactly as in any other shooting session.
• Shoot a solid fletched group first. You are tuning the bare shaft to agree with the fletched group, so you need a tight, repeatable fletched reference. If your fletched group is scattered, fix form and consistency before reading the bare shafts.
• Mind the bare shafts in the target. Unfletched shafts can behave differently on impact; retrieve them carefully and inspect them, since a bare shaft can bury or skip differently than a fletched arrow.

Reading the result

Compare the bare-shaft impacts to the fletched group in two directions, and also note the angle the bare shaft enters the target:

• Bare shaft high or low (and entering nose-up or nose-down) — a vertical issue, usually the nocking point, sometimes rest height.
• Bare shaft left or right — a horizontal issue: rest/centershot, or arrow spine mismatched to your draw weight and arrow length.

Because left/right behavior is mirror-image for right- and left-handed archers, always keep your shooting hand in mind when deciding which way to move.

Making adjustments — one at a time

As with all tuning, change one variable and re-shoot. Two changes at once and you can no longer tell which helped.

• Vertical (high/low): move the nocking point a small amount — about 1/32 inch — in the direction that pulls the bare shafts toward the fletched group, then re-shoot. Rest height can also play a part on some setups.
• Horizontal (left/right): adjust the rest/centershot in small steps toward the fletched group first. If a left/right difference persists beyond reasonable rest movement, the cause is most likely arrow spine being too stiff or too weak for your setup, and draw weight can be a factor in how an arrow spines. Don’t guess a spine number — confirm the correct spine against the arrow manufacturer’s chart or by building the arrow in the Custom Arrow Builder so it matches your draw weight, length, and point weight.

Keep looping — shoot bare and fletched, compare, make one small change, re-shoot — until the bare shafts group with the fletched arrows. A note on FOC: changing point weight to chase a spine match also shifts your arrow’s front-of-center balance, so when you settle on a final arrow, confirm the whole package (spine, point weight, and FOC) holds together rather than tuning one number in isolation.

When to see a coach

Bare-shaft tuning rewards a consistent shot, so an inconsistent group is often form, not equipment. See a USA Archery coach or a reputable pro shop if: your bare shafts and fletched arrows will not converge after reasonable nocking-point and rest changes; a persistent left/right difference points to a spine mismatch you are unsure how to resolve; or your groups wander shot to shot. A coach can confirm whether the issue is your form or your setup, verify the right arrow spine for you, and help with adjustments that are easy to get wrong on your own.

A reminder on accuracy: the directional relationships above (high/low → nocking point, left/right → rest then spine) are the standard, well-established conventions, but the exact spine value, point weight, and draw weight for your arrow depend on your specific setup. For those numbers, use the manufacturer’s spine chart, the Custom Arrow Builder, or a coach — never a guessed figure.