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.