Too many arrows to choose from!

300WSM · Oct 10, 2006

After this years archery season is over, I was going to tune up my bow, get new strings and a drop away rest, and increase the draw weight to about 70#. If I increase the draw weight, I need new arrows to handle the higher stress. I've looked at everything from Easton and Beman and can't figure out what is best! I definately will stick with carbon. I'm not brand specific. Anybody have any tips on how to narrow down the selection and get what is right for you? Thanks.

grizzlyplumber · Oct 10, 2006

The first thing to do is decide on your price point, if you want to spend $60 a dozen then you will get basically the same arrow no matter the name on it. At $100 a dozen you might see some difference if you are a tournament shooter but the average joe-archer still wont be able to tell between an easton and a gold-tip and a beman. I dont think there is alot of difference between the manufacturers, just the price points.

moseleymiddleton · Oct 11, 2006

Your right there is to many arrows to choose from. the things i always look at when i'm buying arrows is the consistancy of weight between a dozen arrows. and the striaghtness factor. up untill last year i always shot cheapo cabelas arrows that cost 40 bucks a dozen. then last year i tried the carbon express arrows noticed a huge diffrence in the grouping of the higher quality of the arrow. but after a few 3-d tournaments and shooting jack rabbits with them i was down to four arrows at the last leg of the 3d tournamernt and had to be flighted with the people i shot closest to. which sucked for me becouse when ever i lead off and made a good shot bby the time the other four guys where done shooting one of them had hit my arrow and broke it. so then after that tournament i had to go and buy a new dozen arrows. thats when my freind who is a pse sponserd shooter told me about the carbon force radial x weaves. If you go with they pro model they are guarentied to be withen 1 grain of weaght per dozen arrows and have a straightness factor of .001 pluse have a little more weaght then the CX maxama. the pros will run about $101.00 a dozen for flecht arrows. if your not lookling to spend that much money the have the predator version and they have a striaghtness factor of .003 and are guarenteed to be withen 5 grains per dozen. and will run about 85 bucks a dozen. these are the only type of arrow i will shoot for now unless someone talks me into something else.

moseley middleton

BigPig · Oct 11, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Oct-11-06 AT 08:39AM (MST)[p]

I shoot Blackhawk Vapor Pro Series 4000 at 70 lbs and 28" length with a 125 tip. Brand is far less important than selecting an arrow with the proper spine for the poundage, length, and head weight that you want to use. Consult the manufacturers chart to make sure you are getting the right spine.

Vapors may be considered bargain arrows, but their specs stack up against the best of the moderately priced (say $85 and under) arrows. They are now made owned by Gold Tip. I've shot several other types and cannot tell a performance difference under real world hunting and 3d situations so I keep coming back to the Vapors for their value. No animal has noticed the brand name as it zips through its lungs. The "pro" type arrows that are $100+ might be just a tiny bit more consistent when you look at the spec sheets, but I dont think that makes much difference in the hands of all but the very best tournament shooters.

All brands make good arrows. My suggestion would be to shoot whatever your pro shop carries that is within your price range. Again, just make sure it is properly spined for your set up.

c3 · Oct 11, 2006

Just get a dozen Easton Full Metal Jacket's. They are very tough, super consistant spine and most importantly a more efficient hunting weight at about 10 or 11 grains per inch.

Cheers,
Pete

usa · Oct 11, 2006

Just my experience this year but I had a Gold Tip virtually explode about 20 ft out of my bow. The fletching part went one way the center section about 12 in came completely apart in pieces and the broadhead part fell to the ground, I check my arrows constantly by spinning and flexing them and this arrow seemed to be o.k. before the shot, needless to say the deer didn't wait around for me to reload !

fin little · Oct 14, 2006

I spent last summer buying different brands and grades of new arrows off ebay 6 at a time just to expriment. I tried Blackhawk Vapors , Carbon Tech Whitetails, Carbon Expess Terminator and Terminator Selects, Easton Carbon Excell ,Easton Axis,and PSE Radial Xweaves. I already used Goldtip hunters and pro's. I shoot a 60# Switchback at 27.5 inches that actually shoots 65# maxed out so most of the arrow selection charts were border line with thier recomended spine. My unexperimental conclusion. With my skill level and set up the Blackhawks performed the best for me shooting groups. The cheaper Eastons grouped well for me also. The PSE's just looked and felt like quality but they must have been spined a little heavy for my bow. I didnt change tip weights I stayed with my hunting weight of 100 grains. 125 probably would have solved the pse spine issues. The Carbon Techs are good quality(expensive) arrows but they didnt shoot as well for me as the cheeper arrows. Its all pretty subjective . I ended up hunting with the Carbon Express Terminater Selects. They are a upper- mid priced quality arrow. The selects are a little heavier than the regular Terminators . They also have tighter tolerences.I chose them over the Blackhawks because they were alot heavier and grouped almost as well . For what its worth.