It's pretty lame that a guy can spend over a $100 on a dozen Axis carbons and only a few of the shafts are the same spine. After my own frustrations, I've done enough research to find that this is a pretty typical situation.
What brand and model of shafts have you guys found to be the most consistent? Or do you know of any retailers who are selling carbons that have been hand checked and sorted for spine?
Good question
Carbon express has a few lines that speak of spine tolerance, look at their website. Some manufacturers will match you a set if you call and complain. Some of this is the vendors as well.
I had an issue with Victory and they offered to make it right, I was too pissed to take them up on it though.
I think CE shaft line is the Mayheim and believe Carbon Tech has a spine tolerance as well.
A quick look at CE's website shows matched sets in 6 and 12 with spine tolerance like .0025 or something
Mike, how do you know the spines were different? (future knowledge for myself) were they mismatched? Or all matched, but some didn't fly right?
What rangedeviation are you finding?
I have always been a fan of GoldTips. I also find them to be straighter than marked. I have never seen carbons hand spined by a retailer.
In playing with a home made wood spine tester, I found that carbons don't always hit marked spine. They usually run heavier than marked.
I recently bought a dozen of the GT Velocity shafts in .400 spine. I wanted a lighter shaft that would take a heavy insert and tip. The GTs offer a 50 grain insert and also additional weights in 10, 20 and 50 grains. Eastons do not allow for the addition of weight to an insert.
Ironically, I am trying to sell them as I am going to shoot my aluminums. Never the less, great arrows.
Easton, and most other carbon shaft manufacturers, doesn't use the same parameters for measuring spine as those used for measuring wood shafts. The carbon folks use a 1.94# weight and measure the spine in the center of the shaft between two posts 28 inches apart. Wood shafts are usually measured with a 2# weight on posts set 26 inches apart. The First method yields a considerably higher spine. For example, an Easton carbons shaft spined .40 is 72#; .40 using the 2# weight at 26 inches is 65#.
Regardless, the shafts within a particular spine rating should be pretty close to one another. It's pretty easy to get wood shafts spined within 5# of one another. Carbon should be able to match that, though apparently that's not always the case. Regardless, most folks can't tell the difference in 5# of spine anyway.
I have been partial to gold tips, although I do not spine test per say, but each shaft gets bare shafted before fletching, rarely find one that is way off.
The only thing better about a carbon shaft compared to an aluminum shaft is the carbon is stronger. If you want straight and spine to match not only in a dozen that you buy this week but the next you buy in two months then its aluminum all the way. An Easton aluminum xx78 will be .001 straight and every shaft you buy now or later will be the same spine.
With all that said i shoot the Carbon express Heritage shaft. Go figure.
2x what wtpops said .
Although I haven't bought any new shafts in awhile, the Bemans I've been using have the closest spine and weight matches I've found. Things may have changed, but I hope they haven't.
Forgot to say I use Beman Bowhunter 300's
I don't have a spine tester that has 1.94lbs and 28" posts but I still run my carbons on mine just to see if they are matched. I have only used Easton and Victory and my sets are matched in spine and weight.
I'm also pretty sure that Easton manufactures Beman and Victory manufactures Gold Tip so if the standards match (or don't) on one brand they would be consistent on the other.
I can tell you that it is NOT Gold Tip!
I bought a spine tester a couple years ago. When I started running shafts through it, it blew my mind how wide of a range there is (as much as .050 difference from weakest to stiffest) I have probably put 30 dozen 55/75's (it says .400 on the arrow and on their website) through that spine tester and have yet to see a single one spine at .400! They are all stiffer than .400.
It really does not matter though. My bow is tuned for those arrows. What I do is run every shaft through the spine tester, and group the shafts into .010 deflection groups. I am not too concerned with each group and have almost eliminated "flyers" by doing it this way.
Bisch
Troy,
Question, What is the full length of the bemoan .300? I have been using the Three Rivers Trad .300. And they have been excellent in spine tolerance and straightness. I think they are made by easton? doesn't easton own beman? The trad .300 are the only shaft I can find that is long enough to give me a little room for excitement and tuning. They are advertised 33" but it's more like 32-3/4".
Anyhow, it looks like the beman bowhunter .300 is identical, but a few grains lighter. And maybe I find them on sale somewhere, someday and load up. Just wondering if I can use them.
Also, are you out of the wood arrow biz completely? I killed my first wood arrow deer with one of yours. I used to get some from you and some from Larry at lost nation. Man I would go through them like crazy! I still like wood.
Somehow my draw length grew over the years and I exceeded normal wood shaft dimensions.
What Bisch said.
I wish I could shoot good enough to tell the the difference in .050 spine deflection.....just sayin'
I've noticed that carbons tend to be on the stiff side but very consistent in flight. I'm inclined to believe that carbons just aren't real sensitive to variations in spine. At least as measured by typical spine testers.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
I can tell you that it is NOT Gold Tip!
Bisch
You're not kidding Bisch. GTs are the worst I've seen. Easton, CX and Victory have been the most consistent arrow to arrow. When they are off, it usually the whole dozen being mislabeled.
Dang double posts :banghead:
Has anybody shot Deer Crossings's shafts. I know thay put spine testers at their booths so you can test them before you buy. Consistency at the price seems too good to be true...
For the guys who asked about my arrows. I have 4 out of a dozen that bareshaft like the first one I picked out to tune to my bow. The rest of them are slightly stiffer or much stiffer to the point they won't tune without being to heavy for my tastes. I've tried rotating the nocks, no dice. I don't have the deflection numbers. I marked the arrows and had a local shop check a few and the guy confirmed they were stiffer and varied in spine.
I continue to research on the web and very few of these companies will even mention sorting by close spine tolerances. I did find the CE Maximas to mention being sorted by .0025 spine variable. I may try some of them.
It also appears that a person would be better off buying carbons that are weaved and not wrapped. Weaved eliminates the stiff seam that wrapped carbons have.
wtpops nailed it..!! what he left out about carbon is they are either dead straight, or broken..! aluminum can bend or camber.. I will still take carbon over anything else.
Following this thread with interest since I recently purchased 2 doz GT XT hunter shafts 35/55. They were trimmed from each end to a raw shaft length of 28-1/2 without nock. I have 16 unfletched left and I ran them across an Ace spin/spine tester which is set up for woodies. Here is what I found in the 16, 10 flexed to 58, 3 to 59 and 3 to 60. As I said the tester is set up for woodies but these shafts do show a pretty tight range. A 2016 flexes to 60 and a 1916 to 50.
I shoot them out of HH Wesley Specials with 200 to 250 up front 55 @28 and 50@28 I draw 27. Solid clean arrow flight.
58
Can we say ACC.
I eather shoot Beman Matrix that they don't make anymore or acc.
You will never know how good you can be without good arrows
I just checked out my Beman Bone Hunters....only 6 mind you, 500 spine, and they had 5 right on the money and 1 just 1 # off.. which naturally they don't make them anymore...
Tedd,
Yep, the Beman's are on average 32-3/4". I would get one every now and them that would be slightly longer, but only at most 1/32".
Sold the wood arrow business a little over 8 years ago. Just got to the point that it was taking every spare minute of my life to prevent being over 6 months behind in orders. 10 to 12 hour day, 7 days a week gets old real fast. Guess you can say I burnt out.
I see several stating Victory as good. I've tried them in their so called 300 spine. I have bought 3dz. so far and have yet to get a single one that spined 300. Maybe 12 out of the 36 have made 320 while the rest have been closer to 340. Their lower spine shafts may be better, but their high spines sure aren't. I even contacted Victory about it and was told their 300's were right on the money and met their tolerance range. Yea right...
I also totally agree with Bisch. GT has the worst spine tolerance in any of the carbon shafts I've tried. When the AL shoots finally opened up to carbons I wanted something that would be easy to sell. I was more into matched shafts with a good price than simply low price by it'self. I tried GT and found the spine tolerance to be unreal. I finally settled on Beman.
QuoteOriginally posted by beachbowhunter:
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
I can tell you that it is NOT Gold Tip!
Bisch
You're not kidding Bisch. GTs are the worst I've seen. Easton, CX and Victory have been the most consistent arrow to arrow. When they are off, it usually the whole dozen being mislabeled. [/b]
Yep! That is why I quite shooting GT's. Their spine variance is terrible. I have a spine tester and have had Gold Tips vary as much as 15# of spine in a single boxed dozen of arrows. They have a straightness tolerance but no factory spine tolerance. Which to me is much more important than is it .003 straight or .006 straight. I have tested the black shafts and wood grain ones.
I switched to Carbon Express Heritage shafts and in a dozen arrows they all spined within 2#+/-, so that is what I shoot now. The CE Predator II's spine very close too.
That is what was so nice about wood and aluminum shafts.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
I can tell you that it is NOT Gold Tip!
I bought a spine tester a couple years ago. When I started running shafts through it, it blew my mind how wide of a range there is (as much as .050 difference from weakest to stiffest) I have probably put 30 dozen 55/75's (it says .400 on the arrow and on their website) through that spine tester and have yet to see a single one spine at .400! They are all stiffer than .400.
It really does not matter though. My bow is tuned for those arrows. What I do is run every shaft through the spine tester, and group the shafts into .010 deflection groups. I am not too concerned with each group and have almost eliminated "flyers" by doing it this way.
Bisch
Do you retune when you switch to a different group?
Troy taught me to tune each arrow individually. I tried it with a dozen black GT7595. Starting full length.
I don't have a spine tester, so went with shooting and marking each one. I kept a table of each one by shots fired. I had 3 of a dozen that had to be altered. One needed to be 1/16" shorter, one 1/8" shorter and one 1/4" SHORTER to match up and fly right.
Tedious, but it came out ok... I must've shot some of those arrows 15 times to be sure it wasn't me! Or reduce the human error at least!
Boy Doc, you are more patient than I am to go through that.
Anyone ever check the spine tolerances of FMJ's?
QuoteOriginally posted by wtpops:
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
I can tell you that it is NOT Gold Tip!
I bought a spine tester a couple years ago. When I started running shafts through it, it blew my mind how wide of a range there is (as much as .050 difference from weakest to stiffest) I have probably put 30 dozen 55/75's (it says .400 on the arrow and on their website) through that spine tester and have yet to see a single one spine at .400! They are all stiffer than .400.
It really does not matter though. My bow is tuned for those arrows. What I do is run every shaft through the spine tester, and group the shafts into .010 deflection groups. I am not too concerned with each group and have almost eliminated "flyers" by doing it this way.
Bisch
Do you retune when you switch to a different group? [/b]
No! What I have found is that my set up likes the .360's and the .370's best. If I go to one of the groups above or below, paper tuning will show just a tad weak or stiff, but I can not tell any difference in flight or penetration. I buy a dozen shafts whenever I have the extra cash, spine them into the groups, and then get a new group out when I need them. I am almost always shooting the .360's or .370's.
I have only gotten a handful of the real stiff ones (.340's) or real light ones (.390's).
What it does do for me is get all the arrows I am shooting the same as each other. So I don't have one way off from the rest, or a "flyer".