Trad Gang
Main Boards => Trad History/Collecting => Topic started by: Hipshot on November 06, 2012, 07:58:00 PM
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It's been close to 50 years or so since I shot target archery. I seem to remember when I used to buy shafts that Easton sold three grades of arrows
with the highest grade being: X-7 followed by XX-75 and finally SRT-(Something) Anybody remember? Am I close or having a senior moment lol
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I have some 1916 24 SRT's at the house. Fairly soft shaft and bright aluminum color. Tiny little etched shaft size on the side.
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I have some of these old SRT 24 x complete arrows with a nice cresting and 4"-feathers we ordered from Anderson Archery in Grand Ledge, Michigan some 30 years ago.
It was always Christmas, even in July, when a parcel arrived from Michigan in my hometown Münster in Germany.
These arrows were indeed very soft. The Game Getter from Easton was the same if I recall correctly.
A few years ago I bought some brand new XX75 Autumns Orange shafts from a guy in Austria. That was a time journey again.
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How about the Swift shafts? They may have been SRT24 also. Kind of soft and bendy, bright aluminum.
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I'm sure all the above is correct; and I thought it would be of interest the original vintage Easton arrows were wood; it was only later that Jim Easton went to aluminum. :archer2:
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Easton Swift shafts were made in the 60s and were fairly soft and bent pretty easily-but if you didn't hit anything hard-they were just fine. I still have at least 15-20 dozen Swifts in various sizes. The 24SRT-X was the first XX75 alloy, far superior in strength, and-to my knowledge they were all silver in color and only differentiated from the Swifts by the imprinted logo. Those two products did overlap for a while. Easton really differentiated the XX75 with the introduction of Autumn Orange anodized shafts. Shortly thereafter the Game Getter came out. It was softer than the XX75s, bent more easily, and it's color rubbed off, as it was not anodized. As with the Swifts, whatever the alloy, one Easton aluminum shaft was as consistent as another. The XXs simply had better strength and bending resistance. For me, the Autumn Orange was the epitome of aluminum shafts, and is a bit of a tradition of it's own! More recently, Game Getters come in the XX75 material(anodized & camo'd) and there are other alloys as well. I believe X7 was later than the others and now the top of the line....also have seen reference to an XX78? I can't claim to be up on all of those.
These may not be all the facts-just the impressions I can remember.
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A couple of brochures I believe from the late 60's?? Speaks to the two different alloy's used and some of the Easton lineup at the time. (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/NancysPicturesWashingtonDC137.jpg) (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/NancysPicturesWashingtonDC143.jpg) (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/NancysPicturesWashingtonDC144.jpg) (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/NancysPicturesWashingtonDC142.jpg) (http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll292/toxo-collector/NancysPicturesWashingtonDC138.jpg)
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Well, I stand corrected. I've brought home all the archery stuff I could find since the 70s and don't remember seeing a silver shaft marked with XX75. But, that brochure is very clear. Is it dated and does it also list the tensile strength of the Swift & GG shafts? Not that we really know how that matters, but I've found the Swifts bend pretty easily, the old GGs are better, and the AOs better yet. But, for my money, all shoot the same until they hit something hard.
Thanks for the correct info.
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Hi Tom
Been out of town so just getting back to you. I did find a date of 1969 on one of the brochures but no additional information as to the tensile strength of the GG's or the Swifts. However I do have a Robin Hood Archery Co. catalog from the same period and it states the Swifts as "2024 special-high strength". A bit vague in my thoughts but obviously softer in comparison. With a little hand tweaking and sighting down the shaft in years past I was able to put many of them back into good flight.
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I have fond memories of 100's of 24SRT-X, XX75 and X7 arrows that I built. Most were perfectly straight, and were easy to straighten if you needed to. Lots guys used them for hunting, until Easton came out with the Gamegetters, etc., then Bear brought out the Easton-Bear Magnums and Metrics in the X7 Shafts with the hard anodized finish. :thumbsup:
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Here is some trivia straight from the 1981 Easton Target Archery catalog -
"2024 Alloy (24SRT-X, Swift and Gamegetter) not listed = 1% stiffer in spine & 1% lighter in weight than XX75"
(http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff509/Hobow71/111912028_zpsea1980d6.jpg)