Excellent arrow info by Rick McKinney!!!

[newman1]

click on the link at top of page their page.www.carbontecharrows.com

[Cougar Mag]

Nice article but personally I'll still take my A/C Superslims or an ACC over any all carbon shafts. If you notice also, any carbon arrow manufacturer who doesn't make an aluminum/carbon arrow will knock those who do.

It also says something when an all carbon arrow can start losing their spine after several hundred shots even if aluminum can be bent or lose spine after many lesser shots. What it tells me is all arrow manufacturers can still improve their process. Those archers who don't shoot regularly don't need to buy new arrows regularly while those who do shoot regularly better keep some money back for continuously buying new arrows. Personally I can't afford or justify spending hundreds of dollars each year on dozens of arrows.

I have a lot of respect for what Rick McKinney has done in archery competitions, but I also see Carbon Tech is coming out with a Rick McKinney line of carbon arrows.

[Len in Maryland]

If you were to purchase some of Rick McKinney's XP arrows, you'd understand how good they are compared to carbon/aluminum construction. I'm not knocking carbon/aluminum; but, I've used both.

The one thing I'd like to see Rick do is broadhead testing under the same test criteria that he did in the Olympic test format. I'm pretty surethat his opinion about straightness beingless important than spine might change a little. I'd also like to see his test criteria applied to 300 fps instead of 200 fps.

Another thing that I've found is where the 'bend' occurs. If the arrow has a straightness problem at the nock end, it can have a greater effect on dynamic spine. On the tip end, when using a broadhead, a mechanical broadhead can sometimes almost negate the problem that a fixed broadhead would produce.

I could go on extensively about arrows as Newman knows, but I'll see what others have to say.

[Dave at Work]

Len,

Based on your experience/opinion, how much wobble is acceptable when you spin an arrow on a spinner(assume the bend is in the center of the shaft)? What I mean is that I have spun arrows that have an "advertised" straightness of .005. Some would spin perfect, but 1 or 2 showed a very slight wobble (just enough to notice on the spinner). Would that have any affect on the average shooter's accuracy? I don't know what the real straightness factor was of the shafts, so it may have been worse.

Another question for you: Assume you have a shaft that has an advertised straightness rating of .005 and that measurement is dead on. Can you see any wobble on an arrow spinner?

Thanks!

[JeffB]

Hee Heee...come back for the first time in a coupla months and lo and behold on the first page, a good thread about arrows..

CT is good shtuff. nuff' said.

[Paul L Mohr]

Decent reading. I went into it being a bit skeptical, I was pleasantly suprised. I don't agree with aluminum arrows losing their spine after 10 shots though. I have some 2213, 1816, and 1714 arrows that have hundreds if not thousands of shots on them into a bag target and they shoot just fine. So if they are losing spine, it's not enough to notice.

I bet 3-D targets play heck on them though, especially if you have long arrows and a bow with lots of energy. I can imagine how much they whip around when they hit that target.

I buy aluminum arrows because in my opinion for the money they are still the best thing going. I don't have a lot of money to spend on arrows so I go with what works with my budget. I have not purchased a dozen aluminum arrows yet that didn't shoot well and were not very consistant in weight. I wish I could say the same about simularly priced carbon arrows.

As far as broad head weights, I have weighed every field tip and broad head I have ever purchased. I have not found any yet that were more than .5 grains off. Same with inserts and unibushings. If there is a weight variance it is almost always in the shaft, not the components.

I try to get my arrows pretty close in weight, like within a grain of each other if I can. I don't know why though to be honest. I have shot arrows at 20 and 30 yards that were 25 grns or more apart in weight and they still grouped fairly well. Even with the spine difference of the larger tips.

I'm not claiming to be an expert though, just what I have personally noticed.

Oh, and in my opinion, if you can see an arrow wobble on an arrow spinner, its bad. A sheet of printer paper is between .005 and .015 of an inch thick for a referance.

Paul

[Len in Maryland]

D@W:

IMPO, the bend is worse as it approaches the nock end. This will entail a more disruptive fulcrum and will increase the 'moment of error' at the point end.

"Advertised" straightness is very questionable from manufacturer to manufacturer. Yield, or the number of good arrows per dozen, can change from year to year and from manufacturer to manufacturer. Any manufacturer can 'loose' the receipe from year to year.

The "average" shooter will not notice much difference with field tips, but should notice it with fixed broadheads. My shop provides spiners for customers to use. They are also for sale. If you don't have access to a spiner, you're shooting 'blind'.

Assume you have a shaft that has an advertised straightness rating of .005 and that measurement is dead on. Can you see any wobble on an arrow spinner?

I learned long ago NOT TO ASSUME!

[nodog]

"I have not purchased a dozen aluminum arrows yet that didn't shoot well and were not very consistant in weight. I wish I could say the same about simularly priced carbon arrows."

How's the aluminium these days in price? With the cost of metal they maybe getting up closer to the higher end carbon's.

[Paul L Mohr]

It depends on the grade of arrows you get some target arrows are pretty expensive, even for aluminums. But run of the mill gamegetters and the such are not that bad depending on where you get them.

My last set of arrows were a little over 30 bucks for a half dozen with unibushings, target nibbs and 4 inch feathers. My girlfiends Platinums were 34 dollars with unibushings, target nibbs and 3 inch vanes. These were both from pro shops. I have gotten quatros and the such from chain stores for as cheap as 19 dollars with vanes, inserts and unibushings. Jazz arrows are about the same. I think my eclipses were around $75 a dozen though.

And when I am talking about cheap carbons I mean the bargain price 45-60 dollar a dozen stuff. And those can be pretty good if they let you sort them first. I would never order them over the net, just a personal thing though. Once you get into the 70-80 dollar and up range I think they are all pretty good.

Again, just my opinion. I have not compiled any hard data or anything.

Paul