I decided not to tempt fate and try to "improve" the near perfect results I had with Black Death. My standard ICS Hunters were grouping better than any bow I shot them out of previously, despite all the wobbly. But I only had a few left, and needed to get some new arrows soon.

Lo and behold, my dealer just got in his first shipment of ICS Hunter Elites- first time I had seen these shafts and I have to admit I have (despite some issues) always had a soft spot for Beman ever since the pre-Easton days. I'm a sucker for Beman arrows. $-wise ($100 per doz. bare shafts) I felt these would give me the best combo of spine consistency (SAS and arrows to arrow) and straightness- assuming they held up to tolerance. I've messed with IDK how many dozens of the things and I've yet to see a bad dozen of ICSH for spine- the vast majority are well within my own acceptable range- the real issue with them is straightness and over time they can lose some spine and/or take a set (heavy use on 3D targets are bad news for any easton C2 or Axis type construction, IME)

So how do these Elites hold up for straightness?

Out of the packaging at full length, I've seen much better. A/C/C, CX Maxima Selects, CT XP series. While these Elites are much better than an average dozen of regular ICS Hunters- I'm not sure the "Elite" moniker is appropriate. Here is the rundown-

I got 5 shafts that were absolutely dead nuts A/C/C end to end straight. Not a wobble to be seen. def "Elite"

5 shafts had some slight nock end runout/wobble. Not horrid, but def not "Elite"

2 shafts had slight point end wobble like the nock end ones- more of the "not quite Elite" grade.

To be fair, Beman measures this (+/-) .001 straightness over a 28" span only. And lord knows how much runout past that span is the issue on most all carbon arrows. That said, I felt after spinning these that taking the middle 28" of each would make the .002 TIR for nearly all of them.

So I went to work, and cut off the nock end 2.25" from all 12 shafts, and then cut them as normal from the point end to my finished length- which is 27 3/4" of bare shaft.

If they were long enough I'd take them back to the shop on Monday (tomorrow) night and get actual measurements on the RAM but theya re too short, and it's pretty obvious all of them now would hit that tolerance- 10 of the arrows are as straight as anything I've owned, and the other 2 have a very slight wobble on the nock end. I'd still be pretty confident putting fixed blades on those 2 (if I shot fixed blades). In essence I doubled the number of shafts that are more than acceptable by cutting them how I did. Considering the cost and past experience, I'm happy with the end result. My yield was similar to or better than what I would get with a typical doz of Goldtip Pros or original CX 3D Selects.

So my advice would be to spin before you buy if possible- Or, if you have a finished arrow length greater than 28", I'd reccomend you pay the extra $25 for Carbon Tech XP, Maxima Selects, etc.

Heres a couple pics I snapped- I fletched them up yesterday with AAE Max Hunters and they (for now) have Easton 3D Super nocks- I'll likely be installing some Bohning Blazer/Double lock nocks as I prefer the string fit of those.

Jeff,

Do you have a spine tester? I'd like to know how they check for consistency around the shaft and from shaft to shaft. I'm not real anal about weight tolerance, but what about it? Afterall, you paid for quality.

I do not, but have access to one. However, I cannot check these now as they are too short for the RAM spine tester.

Frankly, I've checked enough ICSH before that I'm confident these would spine well and didn;t feel the need to bother- ICSH are not the best I've ever seen but in general they spine "good enough" for my picky nature- both around the shaft and within the dozen. One of the good things about C2 construction. The real issue for me has always been straightness with ICSH.

I've had one very knowledgable tech person tell me that ICSH are not terribly great these days, however my shop routinely checks arrows and feel that the ICSH are still the best value for the $ :shrug:

EDIT- that said, I'll try to remember to spine the other Elites they got in when I'm at the shop tomorrow evening.

I have had great results from both the ICS Hunter & the Hunter Elites. This year I picked up another dozen Elites because the price was right... I truly don't see much of a difference in the arrows when being used in hunting conditions / situations.. maybe for 3d shoots and competition though at farther ranges.

I personally have Not shot Beman in several years, but I do feel they are a quality shaft for the money, and would not hesitate to shoot them.

I just prefer CX Maxima series shafts.

Dan

If weight had not been an issue, I probably would have just bought a 1/2 doz 250 Selects and been done with it, Dan. I cannot complain one bit about straightness, weight or spine tolerance on the Maximas. But the only way to get weight up to where I want/need it would be with the tubes, and I've been there, done that, not my cup of tea.

Carbon Tech Whitetails were my next choice but my dealer did not have the spine & grade I needed, and the cost would have been prohibitive for just ordering a dozen shafts (he is no longer an active CT dealer)

Precisely why I was glad to hear when he said the Elites were in stock. Price iwithin my self imposed budget, tolerances are good (once cut), weight/speed is right where I want it -285-290 FPS with a 380-390 grain arrow.

Your pretty much SOL if you shoot a shaft thats over 28" long i guess I shoot 29.5" shafts, so im assuming this arrow would not be for me lol! Its funny to me that they, or anyone makes arrows that have a cutoff like that.

Yeah Derek, If I had a longer arrow length I'd be leery of buying them sight unseen (now that I know)- I'd def want to spin them prior to forking out the cash. These Elites were similar to how the original CX 3D Selects (pre maxima) and older Goldtip Pros are- about half super straight, a bit of wobble on the rest at one end or the other.

Bottom line- without an aluminum core- it's tough as hell to get 100% consistent carbons. Even the best of the best sometimes show a little wobble, or wall thickness/spine issue-nature of the beast.

I'll check some more of the Elites out tonite, along with spining the Victorys.

FYI-the Elites are a pro-shop only shaft. These are not available mail order/internet.

Glad to see you'll be checking out the Victories. I see so many posts these days saying how good they are, but I wonder sometimes about the posters because I know Victory used to make Gold Tip arrows so it makes me wonder if they are not just making the same shaft with a different name on them. Especially since I just saw a post yesterday saying that Victory was made in Mexico now just like Gold Tips.