Jeff,

Aren't the Mavericks 2nd or 3rds from the CAE factory? Regardless, I always had relatively good experiences with them. When I did use them I always had them prefletched from the factory and they came with 4 inch straight vanes (or feathers if you like). If I switch to a whisker biscuit or go with a drop away then I might give them a whirl again. They are alot of trouble to get fletching clearance with on a conventional prong rest.

They definitely penetrated better than anything else I have ever used especially if you go with a glue on point instead of the outsert.

I have been using the Carbon Hunters for several months now. They are far straighter and more consistent in weight than anything else for the price.

I get mine from Len at Macrotech. The last dozen all came out at exactly 387 grains (perfect scales model US-200) including the fletching, nocks, adaptor and 100 grain points. I get Len to put a right helix on mine.

If you don't have access to Len, they are also availble at:

http://www.biggameproshop.com/beman-carbon-arrows.htm

These seem to be the best value in arrows available today.

While durable, they can be damaged. If you shoot into something solid, you can check for damage by grabbing at each end and twisting them. None of mine have had a problem, but Len keeps one in his shop to demonstrate.

Frank:

I did not have the Mavericks, but the SST carbons. Some of them were way out as far as wall thickness/concentricity.

Allen - I can relate to checking them for damage, as it often is not too apparent. I had one arrow that started shooting to the right for me no matter what I did. I decided to put a new nock on it to see if that would help. Taking the nock off revealed a nice crack in the back of the arrow that I absolutely could not see before with the nock on. I'm sure I lucked out shooting that arrow that way for so many shots.[:-]

Forgive me but I have to plead ignorant.What are poultruded arrows?

Pultruded arrows are made with an older process. While they are thin, straight, consistant and durable, they do have a couple of drawbacks.
One - the shaft wall is not strong enough to take the pressure of INserts. The nock has to fit over the shaft, not inside of it. This can create contact problems if you are using a drop away rest. The points are attached by means of an outsert or by gluing in a special insert. You can get "G nock adaptors" but these are pretty hard to come by. These are also outserts, but they let you use G nocks and one line of the Turbo Nocks.
Two - damage is often not easily seen. The arrows can split but still look ok to a casual glance. Len @ Macotech keeps a damaged arrow that looks ok to show how to check the arrow. His arrow looks ok until you grasp it at both ends and give it a little twist. Then the damage is apparent and you need to dispose of that arrow. This is probably not a problem most of the time, but if you hit anything solid you need to check your arrows. I have several thousand shots on mine with no problems.

Most of the arrows available now are "carbon wrapped" which is a different manufactureing process. They don't seem to be as consistent unless you get the higher priced arrows. The carbon wrapping gives a stronger shaft wall that can withstand the outward pressure of inserts.

I haven't shot the Cabela's pultruded arrows, but they are very inexpensive. If they are like the Bemans, they may be a good value.

There is a little more about them at the beman site http://www.beman.com/shafts/carbon-hunter.tpl

Good luck
Allen

Frank. The SSTs are the thirds and fourths CAE...the mavericks (which Cabelas doesn't advertise any more), are the 5ths and 6ths

Carl Lekavich (sp) (owner at one time if still not the owner, from CAE) told me that at the 1996 BTS. CAE had Pro Selects which were the best grade, and then they had a "mid-grade" shaft whose name escapes me now. All the arrows that didn't make those grades went to Cabelas according to Carl.

Sorry, was thinking SSTs when I typed Mavericks. Does CAE still sell their own arrows?