wahoohunter

My brother got a bow set up for him yesterday
and it turns out we'll be shooting the same arrow. With that being
said, we cut/fletch our own arrows so we'll be able to buy the shafts
and split the cost. So, is it worth it to pay a little extra and get
the Pro Hunters over the XT Hunters? And, what exactly are the
differences? Thanks for any info

FSUBIGMAC

I had the XT hunters and had no problem with them. You can take the Xt's and cut a few inches off each end and you basically have the straightness of a Prohunter

JeffB

Personally I feel the Pros are worth the extra cha-ching-

I've just never encountered a dozen XTs that didn't have a few (3-5 or so) seriously wobbly arrows even after cutting from both ends, a few with slight wobble, and a few that are pretty straight. Def would never put a fixed head on those wobbly ones. IME, The Pros have always yielded a good 10-11 super straight ones and one or two with a SLIGHT wobble after end cutting.

Pros also are tighter in weight spec.

muzzyman88

It really depends on your shooting ability and what they're going to be used for. I'm guessing hunting.

I have shot the XT's for about 6 years now and never had a single issue with them. JeffB is right though, you'll get a few wobblers from time to time.

My personal experience is that if you cut them from both ends you'll get just as good of a set of shafts as you would be buying the Pro's. I've actually read from several well known Gold Tips shooters that this is true. The pro's have a tighter tolerance on weight.

The most important aspect of a set of shafts is spine tolerance. This is where Gold Tip historically falls below Easton and Carbon Express. Though they might be better now.

I'm in the process of picking out a new set of shafts as well. I'm debating in maybe giving the CX's a shot this year, but man they're expensive when compared to the Gold Tips.

I've had the same set of GT Xt's for about 3 years and they've taken a beating. I only have 7 left of the dozen and of those, most of them have the labels worn off. But this still shoot great.

JeffB

Yeah- Maximas are expensive- are they worth it? I don't know. They are flying great out of my Admiral-and they had (roughly) the weight I was looking for. They are certainly a tightly toleranced arrow. I have issues with Bob Eastman, the noisy finish, and the durability. but taken at face value, they are a GREAT arrow. That said- If they weren't 30 -40 plus grains heavier apples to apples, for the same coin I'd be shooting A/C/C 3-60s.

After doing some research ,frankly I'd be very leary of buying any NEW Goldtip shafting. They've had their financial issues in recent years (excise tax) and went back to the ORIGINAL supplier/old machinery they used when they started up 10 years ago. If you want higher quality in a goldtip style/weight durable shaft, you best go with Victory- thats the facility/machinery Goldtip WAS using for the past several years- and the Victory shafts are virtually identical- they claim tighter spine-and it is. The V3s I checked out were good- not as good as a Carbon Tech or A/C/C, but good-about like a typical Easton C2- Easton ST Axis or ICSH.

I may well give some a try myself- The best thing about Goldtips (and now Victorys) is they are very durable compared to CX and ICS and get me right in that 390-400 grain weight range I like with the components/fletch I want and at the spine I need.

muzzyman88

Jeff, I'm glad you reminded me of the Victory shafts! That might be the way to go. I read quite a bit on them a bit ago and from everyone is saying, they're extremely good shafts. I can't shoot any better than a .003 shaft will allow me so for 75.00 a dozen, this might be the ticket for me.

JeffB

I cannot either (shoot better than .003)

But don't be fooled into thinking thats what makes the most difference in accuracy. I see a bunch of comments like that from people and they not correct in that assumption. The biggest factor to accuracy potential of the arrrow is spine consistency - shaft to shaft and SAS (spine around shaft).

Straightness will help as speeds get higher and ESPECIALLY if you are shooting fixed blade heads (of any size or config). Field points and mechs won't show as much improvement.

I've no problem with a .003 or .004 shaft. But most of those .003/4 shafts have significantly greater straightness runout at the very ends- which you can see on a arrow spinner but will not show up to the same degreeon a typical straightness tester because the measuring points are inside of the biggest runout area (the last inch or two on each end).

EDIT- and don't believe everything a manufacturer tells you when it comes to tolerances- they ar enot held to any kind of standards, and tolerances are often "averages" or held to wonky specifications they never mention in promotional/product material.

muzzyman88

Jeff, its funny we're talking about this as my phone rang today and it was a gentleman from Victory. I sent an email to them asking about their spine consistancy, components, etc. He called me and talked with me about all of this. They seem like a great company!

He noted that with the Victory shafts, their spine is consistant 360 degrees. They've tested this. He also said that all of their shafts have the label on the the "top" of each shaft so they're more precise.

From what I'm reading they're basically Gold Tips under much stricter tolerances. And, the nice thing is, they're priced right.

JeffB

I've spoken with someone from the companywho posts over on AT as well (not a Staff shooter, but an exec at the company..Bart?).

I was not impressed with the spine tolerance range he gave me-

"we try to hold our spine tolerances to +/- .010"

which basically means something in a .340 spine class could be .330 to .350 which is pretty loose.

and for that matter..."try to..." ???

Maximas and Carbon techs I've messed with are +/- .004-.005 - in other words they usually don't have a TOTAL variance of .010

I was also told only the target grade shafts get the label on the high spine side. For that matter if they have 360 degree consistency, whats the need to mark the high spine side?

Real world testing is where it's at!

But like I said the dozen I tested was pretty good- as good as a Beman ICSH or similar.

brucelanthier

Consistant within what tolerance though? If you get the chance to talk with them again ask them what the +/- tolerance is concerningSAS consistancy.

I have often wondered why shaft manufacturers never give you the spinetolerance. They are more than happy to give +/- straightness but I can never find +/- spine. I can see starightness on a spinner but seeing spine is a whole other ball of wax .