Everyone here knows by now that I am not a fan of carbon arrows. I' ve never tried a single brand that would shoot broadheads with any degree of accuracy that I consider acceptable for a hunting arrow.
Well, JeffB sent me some arrows to try out. One ACC (which I' ve always known was an excellent arrow, but was too cheap to buy), a black Carbon Express Select and several Carbon Express Hunter Selects.
No need to say much about the ACC. Their reputation is well deserved. Excellent results all the way through my trials, as expected. It' s the CX Selects that have really gotten my attention.
First thing I noticed is they have the same fault as all other carbons I' ve tried. Inconsistent inside diameters. I tried all the inserts in all the arrows, and paired the inserts to the arrows they fit best. This is something most pro shops will not do for you. Then I checked all the arrows for straightness. These Selects are definitely the straightest ICS-type carbons I have messed with, all the way to the ends on full length shafts. Unfortunately, I was not able to get hold of a grain scale to check for weight variances, but shooting them pretty much showed me that would be a moot point anyway.
These arrows were all fletched with 4" vanes, size 6075 and the test bow was my Hoyt ProTec, LX Pro limbs, Accuwheels, set at 60 pounds and 33.5" draw, barebow and 3-under fingers release. I' ve shot this style off and on for many years and am quite good at it. My bow is tuned to shoot Easton Epic 340' s, for 3D, and I did not do any further tuning. The Hunter Selects spun true, the black CX had some wobble. Probably due to less than perfect insert fit.
I used two different heads. Bear Razorheads, 125 gns, and Magnus II 2-blade heads mounted on 35 gn adaptors for 160 gns total weight. I chose this head because it is wide and unvented. If any head in my inventory would plane off, this is the head that will do it. I wanted to make the test as tough as possible, and 160 grains on this 32.5" arrow is pushing the envelope for the spine range.
Long story short (I know... too late for that
), at 20 yards the Razorheads flew like darts on all these arrows, straight to point of aim. With the Magnus heads, Hunter Selects shot great, but the black Select (the wobbler) flew consistently low, left.
I backed up to 45 yards. Again, the Razorheads flew great and went straight to point of aim. The Magnus also shot to point of aim on the Hunter Selects, but there was some visible fishtailing. I' m sure that is due to the 4" vanes not being enough to overcome that head' s steerage. The black Select still shot low left.
I will be refletching these arrows with 5" feathers and testing them again with the Magnus heads, but I am VERY impressed with what I learned today.
At 12 grains per inch, the Hunter Selects have enough weight to keep my heavy arrow preference happy and they' re still light enough to give me a bump in speed over the 2315' s I normally use. I' m convinced when they' re refletched with 5" feathers they will shoot straight and true, even with the biggest, nastiest head I' m likely to use. This is the first all carbon arrow I' ve run across that I would feel comfortable carrying in my hunting quiver.
Soooo.... Not ALL carbon arrows are junk.
I promised Jeff I would make a partial retraction, and there it is.