Alot of people don't understand why horton has the halfmoon nocks and I did not until I got my new Horton. I was using the new carbons that came with it and loved them but wanted to save on them so I got out some old hortons that had the flat nock on them and they went all over the place. But as I was shooting I noticed one arrow was always doing good and hitting its mark. After closer inspection of that arrow and the others I noticed that it was a halfmoon and not flat. I went to my local bow shop and he said with the new hortons you have to have the halfmoon nocks because the barrel is not flat. They have what is called a
Microflight arrow groove. I dont now if the lower end ones have it but its like the end of your barrel is like an arrow rest about 3/8 of an inch, and then the entire barrel is cut out more than what the arrow needs to be centered. When you half moon nock is being pushed buy the string the arrow is actually lifted out of the barrel and is only resting on the very front of the barrel as it is being shot. It is the same as a regular bow with only the string and a rest tuching the arrow as it is being shot. On the old hortons the flats were ok because they did not have this but you can get poor shooting with the arrow in full contact of the barrel the entire length. If you use a flat nock in this barrel as the arrow gets to the end it will be spooned or pushed up at the end. It is another precise thing that horton has that improves their quality. As far as alum. or carbons I like the carbons better. They don't bend and they are either straight or broke. With alum. they can be slightly bent and youmay not be aware and then have poor shooting.