Built a dozen mfx's this year. I used the 340 at 29"for my 64# Dale Stahl recurve. The arrows shot great. However, the finished arrows cost me about $150 a dozen, very expensive. One of the arrows after hitting a hard object mushroomed at the tip. I removed the point, cut a 3/8 in. piece of 2216 slid it down the shaft, epoxied the tip and slid the sleeve over the damaged area and put a 11/32 field point on and the arrow was back in business. This got me thinking though, are carbons worth the added expense? The next visit to the range I brought 6 carbon and 6 2216's and did a shot comparison. The first thing I notice was how smooth my aluminum arrows were when I drew my bow. Both arrows preformed the same out to 50 yards. Aluminum took side impacts better the the carbons.
Different strokes for different folks man, you will get a bunch of responses for both but IMO, you should get out and wear out that recurve and decide for yourself, for me their not. I love aluminums they do great for what i need them for, and just like you said there alot cheaper. Just my .02 hope it helps,
Dalton
I too have tried carbon after carbon. Shooting alum. again. Good weight without all the fuss! :cool:
I shoot aluminum. Carbon seems like a lot of dollars for some added performance...I just don't have the money to replace my arrows right now. Even if I did, I'm not entirely convinced it would be worth it for me. I haven't tried shooting carbon, but some of the guys I know who do seem to go through a lot more worry over their arrow. I shoot to relax, not be anxious about my arrows!
"...how smooth my aluminum arrows were when I drew my bow."
2216, could you explain that comment. I can't figure out what it could possibly mean?
I buy expensive carbons and I think they're cheaper in the long run. I can't stand shooting an aluminum that glances off that 3D target and is just not the same as it used to be. Not crooked, but not straight either. YOu know it won't shoot in the same hole as the others. For me it's worth it not to have to mess with that arrow.
Bowmania
I shoot carbons, but I get them for the same price I can find aluminum most of the time. I always buy an extra dozen when Big Jim gets the GT blems in stock.
I like carbon b/c of their durability especially with the aluminum footing up front. I shot one dead center on a live tree a couple of weekends ago with no damage whatsoever. I also like how much quieter they are over aluminum. Whether drawing back on the shelf or rattling around in a back quiver, I give the advantage to carbon. No more bent aluminums to worry about either.
Just checked 3rivers and they sell GG xx75 for the same price Big Jim sells the GT blems.
Try them both and shoot what you like.
I've shot nothing but carbons for the past 5 or 6 years. I recently bought a heavy bow & wanted to build some cheaper arrows so I went with aluminums. I shot 3 yesterday, bareshaft & I've never seen anything like it before. All 3 flew well & hit straight(ish). All 3 bent.
In my opinion, yes. Carbons are without a doubt worth the money. I'll never shoot aluminums again.
You can find carbon for the same price as aluminums. I've bought 50-60 doller per dozen carbons for years and they last forever!
I shot aluminums for many years and whiched to carbons a few years back and I would never go back aluminum. Carbons have been way cheaper in the long run.
Personally, the Safety Factor in Carbons Scares Me! :eek: :scared: :scared: Aluminums are Fine Arrows!!
I Build My Own and use Wood!! They are Cost Affective, Fun To Make, and Are Much Cheaper in the Long Run!! If I miss and Trash One, I dont CRY as Hard either!! :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
When I compete in the Muzzy Stump shoot i might break one or possibly two carbons during the 3 days of shooting as opposed to breaking and bending 10 aluminum arrows like i used to. In the long run the carbons are much cheaper to shoot for me. Same thing for hunting.
I've always shot alumunium arrows out of my recurve bows. I've never bent any, but I don't shoot at stumps with them either.
I honestly haven't bent an aluminum arrow in the last year of shooting - hitting everything from rocks to trees to stumps. The only time I've bent a shaft, or mushroomed the arrow, is from a direct hit on a ceiling rafter back when I was shooting compound 7 years ago. (please don't ask).That same shot would destroy a carbon too, or at least make you think twice of using it again.
I'm not saying that carbon shafts aren't more durable - they obviously are. But I lose about a dozen arrows for every one I've destroyed, so any cost-benefit is lost to a guy like me.
Now, if you break more arrows than you lose, carbon begins to make sense. Not so with me.
Wood... $2.50 a shaft :D
I've absolutely annihilated some of my aluminum arrows. But I'm fairly sure they were shots that carbon wouldn't have made it through either. No arrow is going to be indestructible IMO. So I'd rather go with something easy to tune and more affordable.
I love both my carbon and aluminum. But as long as I can get Gold Tip blems from Big Jim at the same price as aluminum, that's what I'll be shooting. Both have their own pros and cons. Lots of folks are unloading aluminum cheep right now so its a good time to stock up. Try'em both and YOU decide.
I love woodies and alloys ... never had much luck with carbons and that was mainly because To keep them short I had to weigh them up front more than I like in terms of overall weight .
Recently though I had Ted Fry make me up a dz AD Trad Lites ... now , 30 years of shooting stickbows leaves me scratching my head a bit with these ... despite different bows and bow weights , I am getting great flight with them , even using both small and big broadheads out of Hills to my Plx Widow .
I think I'm converted !
I'm a fellow that has went the whole cycle and I'll likely stay with aluminum. It's true that you can buy some cheap carbons for aluminum pricing...but you don't get as straight an arrow, as spine consistent arrow, or as a weight consistent arrow. Check your carbon shafting charts and see what you have to pay for a .002 straight shaft in carbon. The aluminums are much slicker and quieter on the rest as well than most of the carbons I have shot.
I like the increased tube weight of aluminum without adding weights and the many spine choices that aluminum offers. Lastly, archers have been shooting aluminum shafting for arrows since at least 1939. Aluminum arrows predate even laminated fiberglass bows. For those who still have a 'traditional' culture in the sport, that may have some classical value.
Bowmania,When drawing the arrow the aluminum arrows glide smoothly were as the mfx's grabed the rug rest. The carbons with chipped finish really grabbed the rug. As far as carbons go, the mfx arrows hold their nocks very well on hard impacts. 5/16" carbons seem to spit their nocks like I spit Copenhagen.
I loved the way carbons shot from my recurves and longbows!!!! my problem came when shooting at game. Even though I shot all year with the new carbons I ended up shooting over 4 turkeys and 7 deer!!! (Carbon 530gr. Alluminum 700gr.) Going back to the heavier arrow I killed the first five animals I shot at. Guess it take more than a year to change 20 some years of shooting heavy arrows. then it cost more $ to icrease weight of the carbons. I'm to cheap for that!!
QuoteOriginally posted by RM81:
I shoot carbons, but I get them for the same price I can find aluminum most of the time. I always buy an extra dozen when Big Jim gets the GT blems in stock.
I like carbon b/c of their durability especially with the aluminum footing up front. I shot one dead center on a live tree a couple of weekends ago with no damage whatsoever. I also like how much quieter they are over aluminum. Whether drawing back on the shelf or rattling around in a back quiver, I give the advantage to carbon. No more bent aluminums to worry about either.
Just checked 3rivers and they sell GG xx75 for the same price Big Jim sells the GT blems.
Try them both and shoot what you like.
I'm in the same boat as you, I like the durability of Carbon Arrows especially when I foot them with a section of 2117 & the price as you said is the same.
I've run the gamut with arrow materials - aluminum, to wood, to laminated wood, to (gulp) carbon... all were fun to work with and shoot. Last season was all-carbon (Trad Only) out of several bows and they accounted for several animals. That said, I still like the way aluminum builds and shoots and will be going back to my Legacy 2020's... maybe not as durable, but I don't abuse & wreck too many in a season, and I find them much easier to build & tune. Wood is cool, but I honestly don't have the time to match shafts and build them whenever I break a few. For me, aluminum is a great compromise between the simplicity of wood and the technical aspect of carbon.
Rando
As some of you know I'm a die hard traditionalist when it comes to bowhunting. With only a two or three year gap, for the most part I have always preferred a stickbow since I was 13....and I'm now 53. There's a lot of water under that bridge.
I've shot just about every arrow you can shoot. I started with cedar, moved to fiberglass microflites, then to aluminum, and eventually tried the new carbon arrows. All had their advantages in one way or the other and I took game with all of them...but all had their disadvantages as well.
Over the last 10 years, it's been mostly the first 5 years with carbon arrows and the last 5 with wood (douglas fir, cedar, hex pine, laminated birch, etc) From a traditionalist mindset, it's hard to beat wood... yet the stories of inconstancies are largely founded. You can take the best weigh grain scale, the best spine scale, and all the shooting test you can think of....and it's an unescapable fact that wood wanders for one reason or the other over a span of time. I have developed a mild form of target panic over the last few years and I often contemplate whether the wood arrow thing contributed to it...albiet rooted in a base of a self doubt due to shooting performance.
Having a lifetime supply of arrows of all types, I dug out some 2117 Easton Legacy's a month or so ago and shot a few of them. Wow! I've never shot as well. I love not fooling with arrow wraps or paints, being able to heat the tube for glue applications, and the better weight properties that aluminum has over most woods and almost all carbons. The are also straight as an arrow;) I have taken the time to weight tune them to my recurve and they shoot on a string with no fletching easily to 25 yards. Needless to say they shoot well 'with' feathers and my Eskimo broadheads flies like darts. The entire set up weighs 518 grains which is perfect for my 52# limbs on my Black Widow. Come September I think the setup will work fine on a Colorado muley or large cow elk (my only tag apparently)
I did a little research to satisfy my traditionalist spirit. Easton Aluminum was founded in 1939 as an aluminum arrow company. The aluminum arrow even pre-dates the development of laminated limbs for recurves bows. To this day, I read that Olympic archers still use aluminum as the spines and weight consistencies cannot be matched with any other arrow materials.
While carbon is more durable, I like the fact that aluminum starts straighter and has tighter tolerances. I don't mind replacing a few extra arrows for an occasional bend due to it's less expensive pricing. I saw Gamegetter shafts recently on sale for $39.00/dozen!
Aluminum is very accurate arrow material. The most accurate as long as it is straight.
I like the way aluminum flies out of my bows. Carbons are just too finicky in my opinnnion. I also shoot alot of wood arrows. But for hunting , i'll take aluminum.
i like all the arrow materials...i have a set of carbon,wood,aluminum,it gives me a reason to have to shoot more...but i like carbon and aluminum the most...i just grab what i have the most of and thats what i shoot..