400 Spine Arrows: Draw Weight Chart & Spec Comparison

400 Spine Arrows for Sale: The 55–65 lb Default Grade, Explained

Search “400 spine arrows for sale” and you get thousands of listings with almost no guidance about which shaft fits your bow. Here is the frame that makes the listings readable: 400 spine (0.400″ AMO deflection) is the default carbon arrows 400 spine grade for 55–65 lb compound bows and 45–55 lb recurves at typical draw lengths and point weights. It is the most-sold arrow grade in archery because it covers the center of the bell curve — the 60 lb whitetail rig, the 55 lb beginner compound, the 50 lb traditional bow. Every 400 spine arrow shaft on this page is a carbon construction (aluminum-jacket models excepted), because carbon arrows 400 spine dominate the modern market in both hunting and target disciplines.

Three numbers decide whether a specific 400 spine arrow flies correctly on your bow: draw weight (the engine), draw length / cut length (the lever arm), and point weight (the front load that softens dynamic spine). Get those three right and nearly every quality 400 shaft on the market tunes cleanly; get one wrong by a full step and no brand rescues you. The quick lookup version of this page lives on the Arrow Spine Chart, and the full mechanics of deflection, dynamic spine, and weak-vs-stiff tear patterns are on the Arrow Spine Calculator page. This guide stays in buying territory: which 400 models exist, what they weigh, and which one matches your use.

The 400-Spine Model Matrix: Easton, Gold Tip, Maxima and VAP

The matrix below is the content anchor of this page: easton 400 spine carbon arrows and gold tip arrows 400 spine models side by side with Carbon Express and Victory, ranked by the three specs that actually differ between brands — GPI (shaft weight per inch), straightness tolerance, and finished weight at a 29″ cut with a 100 gr head. Use the filter to narrow the field to your purpose. GPI values are manufacturer-published nominal values (±0.2 by production year); finished weight assumes standard insert/nock/vane hardware at ≈35 grains. Confirm the current spec sheet before ordering a dozen, and deflection-match mixed brands on the Arrow Spine Comparison page.

Finished weight = 29″ shaft + 100 gr head + ≈35 gr of insert/nock/vanes. Straightness figures are factory-published tolerances; some lines offer tighter match-grade options. Verify any mixed-brand quiver with a spine tester before tuning.

400 Spine Arrow Draw Weight: The 55–65 lb Window

The question behind every “400 spine arrows draw weight” search is really three questions in one, because 400 spine arrow draw weight is not a single number — it is a window defined by draw length and point weight. The anchor: a 60 lb compound at a 29″ draw with a 100 gr point is a textbook 400 fit. From that anchor, each +1″ of draw length moves you about half a grade stiffer (toward 340), and each +50 gr of point weight does the same; each step in the opposite direction moves you half a grade softer (toward 500). The table below shows the whole window for the 55–65 lb compound class.

Calibrated for a 60 lb compound, moderate cam, release aid. 55–56 lb shooters: shift one cell softer; 63–65 lb shooters: one cell stiffer; finger release: one cell stiffer. Boundary cells (400 next to 340/500) are one-shaft paper-tune territory.

Arrow Spine for a 50 lb Compound

A 50 lb compound sits below the 400 window at standard specs — the correct arrow spine for a 50 lb compound at 27–29″ with a 100 gr point is 500, one full grade softer. 400 only enters the conversation at 50 lb when two softening factors stack: a 150–200 gr traditional-style head plus a long 29–30″ draw, or a finger-release grip on a compound. Even then, the honest answer is a test shaft, not a purchase — a 50 lb bow driving an over-spined 400 prints stiff-side tears (tail-right) and groups unpredictably past 30 yards. Light-draw shooters get their full model breakdown on the 500 Spine Arrows guide, which covers the 40–50 lb compound and recurve class in the same matrix format as this page.

A 400 Spine Arrow on a 60 Pound Bow

When does a 400 spine arrow 60 pound bow combination still work at the edges? Three cases: (1) short draw — a 60 lb bow at a 26–27″ draw is a 400/500 boundary case, and the 400 works if you keep the point at 100–125 gr and paper-tune; (2) light point — 85–90 gr field points soften the demand, keeping a 60 lb / 30″ setup inside 400; (3) stiff-side tolerance — bows with aggressive hard cams load the shaft harder and effectively weaken dynamic spine, so a 60 lb hard-cam bow at 29″ with 125 gr runs closer to 340 than the table suggests. Outside those cases, the 60 lb anchor stands: 400 at 29″ + 100 gr, adjusted one half-grade per variable. If your 60 lb rig carries a 150 gr elk head, stop reading this page and check the crossover thresholds on the Arrow Spine Comparison page first.

A 400 Spine Arrow on a 70 Pound Bow: The Correction to 340

This is the most common mistake in the 400 grade, so it gets its own section. Many charts and product pages label 400 as covering “up to 70 lb,” and buyers trust the label. The physics disagrees. A 400 spine arrow 70 pound bow combination fails dynamically at standard specs: at 29″ with a 100 gr point, a 70 lb power stroke needs a 340. The mechanism is dynamic spine — the shaft flexes around the riser at launch, and flex amount scales with stored energy. Ten extra pounds of draw weight adds roughly a full grade of stiffness demand: the 400 that flexed perfectly on your 60 lb friend's bow flexes past the riser on yours, prints 4–6 inch tail-left tears on bare paper, and groups field points left of broadheads at 30 yards. Charts show overlap at the boundary because manufacturers grade in static deflection steps; the bow grades in energy.

The full model-by-model fix for the 70 lb class — Easton Axis and Gold Tip Hunter 340, the Victory/CE 350 equivalents, and the long-draw handling rules — lives on the 340 & 350 Spine Arrows guide. And if you would rather have the verdict computed from your exact draw weight, draw length, point weight and cam type, the 400 spine interactive checker on the tool page grades your setup and tells you whether to stay on 400, correct to 340, or drop to 500. Two pages, one job: this one explains, that one diagnoses.

28-Inch 400 Spine Arrows: What the Cut Changes

28 inch 400 spine arrows are the single most common finished length in the grade, because a 28″ draw shooter and a 29″ draw shooter both land near that cut once point-end hardware is accounted for. The cut length matters mechanically: a shaft stiffens by roughly half a grade for every inch trimmed, so a 400 cut to 28″ behaves like a 380–390-class shaft dynamically. That is why the fit table above shows 28″ rows tolerating more point weight than 27″ rows at the same draw weight. Two practical rules follow. First, buy raw shafts long enough to trim: most 400s come 32″ raw, which covers cuts from 26″ to 31″ — but confirm raw length before ordering, because a few speed-series 400s ship at 30″ raw and leave no room for a long-draw correction. Second, cut once: measure with broadhead and insert installed, then trim — you cannot uncut a carbon shaft, and re-cutting a dozen shorter after a fitting mistake turns a 400 into a 350-behaving mystery. Run the finished-weight consequences of your cut on the Arrow Weight Calculator — every inch trimmed removes roughly one GPI worth of grains, which changes speed, GPP, and the IBO minimum-weight floor together.

400 Spine Arrows for Recurve and Traditional Bows

400 spine arrows for recurve serve the 45–55 lb traditional class — the heart of recreational traditional shooting — and 400 spine traditional arrows are equally common on 55–60 lb longbows with heavier heads. The one correction every recurve shooter must apply: finger release weakens dynamic spine by about half a grade, because the string rolls off three fingers instead of releasing from a containment aid. A 50 lb recurve therefore fits roughly where a 55 lb compound fits. Practical fits: 45 lb recurve at 28″ with a 100 gr point — 400/500 boundary, test both; 50 lb recurve at 28″ with a 125 gr point — clean 400; 55 lb recurve at 28″ with a 150 gr head — solid 400; 60 lb recurve at 30″ with a 125+ gr head — 400, sometimes 340. Traditional builds also run higher FOC naturally (a 150–175 gr field point on a 28″ shaft is 15–19% FOC without inserts), and the shafts that handle it best in this matrix are the Maxima Red 400 (fused stiff rear section resists finger-release tail flex) and the Gold Tip Hunter 400 (thick wall survives the harder impacts traditional ranges produce). Feather fletching, tapered nocks, and full traditional-setup guidance are on the 500 Spine guide, which shares the traditional fit logic one grade softer.

The Best 400 Spine Arrows by Use Case

“Best 400 spine arrows” has no single answer, but it has four, one per use case — and the matrix above backs each pick with GPI and straightness rather than adjectives. The best 400 spine hunting arrow for all-round deer and elk at 55–65 lb is the Easton Axis 5mm 400: ≈9.0 GPI builds a 395-grain finished arrow that carries momentum through shoulder blades, the micro diameter bucks crosswind at 40 yards, and match-grade availability (±0.003″) keeps a dozen flying as one. For rocky-country durability, the Gold Tip Hunter 400 wins: same functional fit at ≈8.2 GPI, ±0.003″ factory straightness, a thick standard-diameter wall, and a warranty that actually pays out. For tuning forgiveness — shooters who swap between 100 gr field points and 125–150 gr broadheads seasonally — the Carbon Express Maxima Red 400 holds its tune across the widest point-weight band in the class. For target and field rounds, the Victory VAP 400 delivers dozen-to-dozen consistency at ±0.006″ with a ±0.002″ V1 upgrade path, and the Easton 5.0 400 is the value-minded light micro for 3D courses where every fps counts. For 3D-to-hunt dual use, the Victory Rip TKO Sport 400 combines a wind-bucking 0.204″ diameter with a thick wall, at ≈8.9 GPI. Whatever you pick, verify the pick against your own bow with the homepage arrow spine calculator before ordering a dozen — it costs nothing and catches the boundary cases the matrix cannot see.

The Best Arrow Spine for a 60 lb Bow

Compressing the whole page into one answer: the best arrow spine for a 60lb bow is 400 for the standard 28–29″ draw with 100–125 gr heads, drifting to 340 only when a 30″ draw or a 150 gr head enters the setup, and to 500 at a 26–27″ draw with light points. In the matrix terms: a 60 lb shooter at 29″ + 100 gr should buy the Axis 5mm 400 for hunting or the VAP 400 for targets, and expect bare-shaft paper to tune near-perfect with no corrections. The half-grade rules above are the whole difference between the 400 that groups and the 400 that frustrates.

Speed Builds vs Durability Builds in 400 Spine

Within one spine grade, the remaining choice is how you spend the mass budget, and the matrix splits cleanly down the middle. Speed builds take the ≈8.2 GPI shafts — Easton 5.0 400, Victory VAP 400, Gold Tip Hunter 400 — finished near 370 grains with a 100 gr head. From a 60 lb bow that is roughly 285–295 fps, with visibly flatter 20–40 yard pin gaps and about 8–12 fps more than the heavy builds; the cost is wall thickness, because the light micros dent on steel targets and rock impacts and reward a spin-test habit. Durability builds take the ≈8.7–9.0 GPI shafts — Axis 5mm 400, Rip TKO Sport 400, Maxima Red 400 — finished at 385–395 grains, trading roughly 10 fps for thicker walls, more momentum (≈0.66 vs ≈0.62 lb·s at comparable speeds), and better behavior in wind. Neither is “better”: a 3D shooter and a backcountry elk hunter are optimizing different variables. What both share is the 400 spine itself — inside the 55–65 lb window, the grade is not the variable; the construction is. Price the trade in grains and fps on the Arrow Weight Calculator, and check the grade boundary one last time on the spine comparison page before you commit.

400 Spine Arrows: Frequently Asked Questions