Rac,

First off, let me say that " self-tuning" is the only way to go. Each of us grip our bows differently, and you need to set your own bow up for the amount of natural torque that YOUR grip method induces.

Arrows are selected using your actual draw weight. The arrow doesn' t care what potential setting your bow has. Remember, there is absolutely no way that Easton can provide a chart that works exactly for all bows. A Brand X bow (29" draw, 61# draw) may shoot your arrow at 254 fps while Brand Y (same draw length and weight) may shoot it at 272 fps. Guess what? Brand Y is shoving more energy into the arrow, and will therefore require a stiffer shaft. (Or would need to be turned down a few pounds to use the same arrow.)

With your caliper style release, you can throw the Easton tuning guide (and all other printed " rules" ) out the window. They were written specifically for finger release. During the shot, there is nothing in your setup that should produce side-to-side oscillations. Therefore, spine inadequacies should show up as VERTICAL tears or Hi/Lo hits with the bareshaft.

I would first try some centershot (left/right) adjustments with your rest, especially since you' ve ruled clearance problems.

Now, one thing about the MZE (I shoot one, too) is that it IS an overdraw. I see that you (like me) are using it as such, having an arrow length several inches shorter than the draw length. {I forgot to say that because your arrow is so short, I don' t think you have any major spine issues. Stiff is good in your " straight ahead" release setup, so I wouldn' t worry too much there.} Now, back to the overdraw. You need to pay very close attention to torque. An overdraw amplifies this because it' s farther from this pivot point of the torque (the grip throat.)

While at full draw, look down at the tip of your arrow and torque the bow right and left intentionally. Watch how much the arrow moves in realtion to the riser shelf/sight window. Shoot a few arrows while intentionally torquing one way, and then the other, just to determine what effect it has. This helped me develop an understanding of how MY inconsistencies can effect my setup.

One last thing: bare shaft testing is THE method in my book, because the results are easily quanitfied (you have a bare shaft and a fletched one to compare each time: a reference datum), AND you can' t cheat to get good results. But, results don' t HAVE to be perfect to achieve a good setup. How far away from the target are you, and how far are the bare shafts from the fletched? I' m about 1.5 to 2 inches apart at 20 yards and that' s plenty good to get great broadhead flight.

Don' t be afraid to mark your settings and make adjustments. If you know where you were, you can always " get back there" . If things get better, keep going. If they get worse, go back and do the opposite. Good luck and keep it fun!