fatchazz

I have been looking at many target shafts but can' t really find anyone that sticks out enough to persuade me to get them. Any suggestions and facts will be greatly appreciated.

Big Country

X-7!

archerick

Easton X-7' s are an excellent choice if you want aluminum. At .001+/- straightness they are very straight and they come in many sizes to fine tune spine. They also are extremely consistant in arrow weight. If you are interested in carbons, I have just started using Carbon Express CX 3d Selects. So far I am very happy with them. They are listed as .001+/- straight also and they don' t bend. They are either straight or broke. Arrow weight consistancy is a small issue though. Even though they rate them highly from the manufacturer, this figure is taken before they are cut to size, of course. They may weigh more at one end and if you cut that off, that in turn affects the weight of the other end, the one you are using. But with the way these shafts are layer manufactured this inconsistancy is very small as compared to conventional rolled carbon shafts. Another shaft that I used last year and still may use this year are Easton ACC' s. They are a Carbon and aluminum shaft. They are very consistant in weight (even after you cut them) and the small diameter help to keep the wind from getting ahold of them with very long shots. However, you give up a little straightness because they are listed as .003+/- straight which still is pretty straight . I have also heard very good things about Carbon Impact shafts, but I have not yet had the pleasure of trying them. Good luck choosing!!

ChiefHeadhunter

I' ve seen the argument that spine consistencey is the more crucial of the two factors (spine and straightness) and I would tend to beleive this. I think I could tell the difference shooting arrows that vary in significantly in spine more than some that vary from .001" to .003" in straightness.

I don' t think the manufactures offer a value for the amount of spine variation that is acceptable.

I just shoot the Gold Tip XT' s and I' m afraid they probably shoot way better than I do. I' m going to have to try the Carbon Express' that archerick mentioned though. Even thogh they are said to be more fragile than the GT' s.

-Chief

RobVos

Depends on what type of target shooting you are interested in.

If you are looking a field or FITA, I would suggest checking out the Navigator shafts from Easton or ACEs or ACCs or CT MCKinneys or the Doosung Olymians.

If you are real serious about FITA and have the cash X-10s

X7 are also great shfts and can be gotten in several sizes.

Arthur P

Chief, you got the gears spinning in the ol' cranium... I got out my new homemade spine meter and an assortment of arrows. Carbons are Easton Epics, Beman ICSH black, Gold Tip Hunters and PSE Dominators. Some Rogue River cedars. And some plain ol' Easton Gamegetter II' s...

I checked spine 4 places by 90 degrees around each shaft. My meter uses a lever with a 2-pound weight over a 1" travel dial indicator, 26" between centers.

Carbons: I got as much as .020" difference in deflection in the carbons in the same shaft (Gold Tip)! The Epics were the best at only .010" . Except for the PSE' s, each arrow of a given brand fell into the same *range* of spine readings with the other arrows of that brand. The PSE' s checked pretty consistent around each shaft, but varied up to .020 from one shaft to the next.

Of course, none of the carbons had their fletchings oriented consistent with the stiffest axis of each shaft. One would think that has to play havoc with how consistently the arrows launch from the bow. Next time I fletch up, I will use the spine meter to determine the stiffest side of each shaft and mark them to orient the cock feathers all the same. It might take care of the inconsistent broadhead accuracy I' ve been plagued with!

I do need to get a micrometer and measure the roundness of these carbons. I could be misinterpreting an out-of-round condition as spine variance. Whichever it is, it ain' t good!

Cedars: All were showing .015 variance in deflection, but were very consistent across the grain. That' s the way cedars are though, strongest across the grain of the wood. So, cedars are premarked by nature for perfect fletching orientation.

Aluminum: Not a single one of the el cheapo Gamegetter II' s showed more than .002 variance in deflection around the shaft. Can you guess what X7' s must be like?

Unless you' ve got a grain scale, arrow straightner and a spine meter so you can go through and match your arrows for weight, straightness and spine, I' d say forget all-carbon arrows for serious target work. ACC' s and X7' s are tops.

ChiefHeadhunter

Good info Arthur. That is kinda what I was thinking. I' ve been using a homemade bearing setup to find the weak spine side on my carbons and putting it in the up position. It' s pretty obvious where it is so I have to agree with your somewhat high tech findings in my own somewhat low tech way. There almost always seems to be two weak planes n the shafts about 180 degrees apart, but I can generally tell which one is weaker. I tried the same thing with some old aluminum arrows I have laying around and most were hard to find a weak side on.

So I wonder how important this is. If your arrows have a weak side and you index them all the same then they should all flex the same direction during the power stroke; given the amount of deflection is consistent (which I read it is not on my gold tips according to your findings-correct?).

So to make it simple, what are your recommendations on those carbon shafts given what you' ve found (the big picture not spine only) from best to worst?

It looks like I need to spend some more money and give the aluminums another look. Those X7' s look pretty affordable compared to the ACC' s.

It' s nice to see you around Arthur.

-Chief

IMN23D

Chief.....if i remember right, the mfg. tolerance for arrow spine is .005" . An arrow with a .400 spine can have a .395 or a .405 or anywhere inbetween and still be considered .400 spine.

Arthur.... I made my spine tester from an Arizona arrow straightner. Just made a longer channel. This confirms my " bearing" test results that Chief does. Anyway, when testing my spine deflection on my cut and fletched arrows with the weak side up, i can get as much of a difference of .020" in a dozen like you. Now, with the supports 27" apart, take the arrow with the stiffest reading as your benchmark. Take the other arrows and take the measurement of each one. If you move the supports closer to each other, the reading will change to the stiffer. The trick is to get the supports adjusted to get to your benchmark reading. Get them the same. If you had to move them 1/8" inch (26-7/8" ) then you would cut that arrow 1/8" shorter. Move to the next arrow and do the same thing. When you' re done with the dozen of arrows, you will have a set that deflects the exact same amount. If you have a problem with weight (1/8" won' t weight that much...maybe 1 gr.) you can adjust as you normally would. The only problem I can see....someone mentioned resonant frequency wouldn' t be the same. That one was way beyond me (I' m not an engineer). Any thoughts? Anyone?

Arthur P

IMN23D, doing things that way would match the spine within a dozen arrows pretty well I suppose. Problem is, some classes have rules that all arrows must be identical in all respects. Same brand, same size, same fletching, same points, same length. So, with the arrows all trimmed to different lengths to get spine matched, you' d wind up with arrows that aren' t technically legal under the rules. If you' re in the top 3, someone will file a protest on your equipment, even if the arrows are just slightly different lengths.

Not to mention that someone like me that shoots barebow and uses a hard gap system for targets, you NEED all your arrows exactly the same length or you' d be using a different gap for each arrow.

Chief, I can' t make a call right now on what arrows are ' best' . Like I said, I need to mike the diameters of all those arrows and make sure they are round before I make any conclusions. Just going by the results I' ve gotten so far, the PSE CarbonForce arrows have the best spine consistency within each shaft. Shaft to shaft consistency isn' t all that great, but if you could sort thru a batch, it wouldn' t be any big deal to spine match a dozen. Then you' d have to weight match ' em too.

A grain scale is going to be my next investment.

I don' t want to get anybody upset but, I swear, the further I dig into these carbon arrows, the less I' m impressed by their consistency. And I wasn' t that impressed to begin with.

IMN23D

Arthur....I only shoot IBO and ASA events (3d) so the arrow length isn' t an issue. Thanks.

It has been stated many times by some of the very best in the world that when it comes to arrow quality its spine...weight...straightness, in that order of importance.

Now, I shoot in the Senior division of the IBO and ASA national tournaments. My back problems usually prevent me from pulling so I usually keep score. The way some of the arrows are pulled, some of my aluminums would get bent. Now I don' t need to be at a National event thinking I' m shooting straight arrows and them be bent. I would spin them in my hand after each shot and it would " feel" ok but, later found that it would be bent .007" . That would be enough to make it hit off by about 1" at 50 yards. Went thru too many arrows. I now shoot Carbon Express CXL 250. Not too much spine adjustment, weight consistancy is real good, and .003 straightness. They do ok for me.