How Straight are your arrows?

nagalfar · 05-14-2004, 07:30 PM

I have a question about what brand of arrows you prefer, and if you have ever checked the runout on the straightness of them.. I have checked four different types (brands) of arrows with a Arizona Archery arrow straightener.. one set was close, the other 3 sets where not even close.. by that I mean if brand X was saying +/- .003 or what ever they were advertised at.. is this the total length of the shaft they are talking? 12"? what? because there was not a set that I could have bought that would have had 12 that were all within advertised runout.. would really appreciate some input on this for any of you who have checked yours.. have you found any brands that are faily consistant with what they advertise to be?

bigbulls · 05-14-2004, 08:39 PM

Most manufacturers will claim a tolerance over a 28 inch span. So for +- .003" in 28 inches a shaft can vary .003" in one direction and .003" in the oposite direction for up to .006" total "crookedness"

.

I have never measured any of mine so I couldn't tell you first hand which ones are more consistant. From what I have heard the carbon express arrows are suppose to be one of the most consistant.

Bigpapascout · 05-14-2004, 09:10 PM

mine are .001 to.003

jmac_or · 05-14-2004, 10:12 PM

I have Gold Tip 3-D pros, advertised at .001. I have put them on the shop's spinner and I may be doing something wrong, but they were pretty dang straight, I believe within advertised spec's. I really like the consistancy of the GT I have purchased. From all indications, they are getting better all the time. That is just what I have found.
JMAC

JeffB · 05-15-2004, 05:00 PM

The carbon manufacturers for the most part have done a good job of getting straightness worked out. However you almost always have to buy the premium grades to get the straight shafts.

The mid and low grade shafts often have serious runout at one or both ends which you may or may not be able to cut off at your arrow length. It's a crapshoot at best if you don't check them before you buy them.

Coincidentally, I was playing down at the shop today checking arrows for straightness and spine consistency with the shops new machine :rubs hands:

One brand had phenomenal straightness (their premium hunting shaft), but spine variance was horrible. One arrow that is factory rated at .340 spine varied from .appx .352 to .331...which is awful. But they were laser straight and weight tolerance was within one grain.Sad, because these shafts have been touted as much improved :yawn:

Another brand's mid grade shafts were very straight along the length they measure the variance over but had serious runout on a few shafts..about .010 to .013....spine variance was quite good though regardless, only 5 thousandths max variance. Their premium shafts did have slight runout (about. 003 was the worst), and the spine variance was basically the same as the mid grade shafts (.005 max). Overall the spine variance was damn good for an all carbon (about the best I've seen), and they were extremely consistent from shaft to shaft and dozen to dozen, and definitely improved since the last time I spine checked that brand. I was very surprised.

A currently VERY popular new shaft was very good for spine variance generally with about ..005 variance, but there were a few that dipped out too far in variance for spine and arrow straightness was all over the friggin map. Some wouldn't even make the needle wiggle and some had it dancing all over the place.

Todays testing definitely soured me for good on a couple different brand shafts I had been hopeful for or was starting to doubt, and gave me a new appreciation for another brand that I haven't tested in about a year and a half.

I was just grabbing arrows from various dozens..so it wasn't just one doz.of each type/brand. I was using raw shafts, cut arrows, prefletched and uncut, you name it.

Everytime I do this testing stuff , it makes me sad to see what companies pawn off on us for arrows.[:'(]

If all else fails. read my sig.

JeffB · 05-15-2004, 05:02 PM

Deleted..double post.

JOE PA · 05-15-2004, 08:29 PM

Jeff B.

I was curious if you ever got hold of any of the CAE Phantom Pros that Larry Wise sells. His ads make them sound pretty good. I have seen on one or two other threads that they shoot better at longer ranges than some other popular all carbon ICS arrows. I am usually leary of CAE advertising as being overstated to put it politely.

My ACCs all spin very nicely even after a year of shooting them. The Axis? Well, 3 out of the dozen wobble some on the nock end.[:'(]

Going to visit Frank at the shop to do some chrono testing of my Newberry, as well as the Pro 40 Wheely and the Hoyt Havoc. I really like all three bows, but I'm feeling like I should prune the vine a bit, then concentrate on getting a good setup and getting my personal bugs worked out.

5 shot · 05-16-2004, 06:58 PM

This is why I seem to stick with aluminums. They just plain work and are very consistant.

Sharpshot_71 · 05-16-2004, 07:31 PM

does anybody know anything about the Cabela's carbons. they are advertised as +.006 and they are like $45 per dozen so they are cheap.

AKDoug · 05-16-2004, 09:48 PM

The CAE Phantom Pros I received were all within .5 grains for the dozen before and after assembly. As for straightness all were well BELOW the advertised spec of .001". I had several that did not move the .0005" needle at all. They shoot as good as they spec out.

A pleasent surprise was a half dozen new GT Hunter XT's that I bought for bear hunting. I grabbed six prefletched arrows from my dealers display. ALL spun below the .003 spec. The worst one being .002. The rest varied from .001 to .0015. All weighed within 1 gram of each other. I was very impressed.