So i'm looking at the new GT pierce arrows my only thing I have with them is they only offer either a platinum in a .001 or a kinetic in a .006 So my question for those who have far more practical experience than I is this. Does .001 really have much of an impact over and arrow with a straightness tolerance of .006? Thanks in advance Brad
You will likely never notice a difference. I have shot some great rounds of 3D and 5 spot with .005 shafts.
straightness is rarely the only variable. The sorting process also tends to aline with spine consistency and weight tolerances. For a one time purchase( arrows are petty durable) why not start out with the most consistent platform you can to start an arrow build.
I used to get the lesser and cut the spine in by taken the same amount off both sides. .006 would become .003 or .003 would become .001. Trick I learned by watching the Eastman Outdoors YouTube channel Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
There is only a hair difference between .001 and .006. We are literally talking about the thickness of a human hair. Myself, I buy a good quality .006 shaft from Beman and call it a day. I have deer in the freezer and 3D medals on the wall that say they shoot straight and consistently. What the manufactures don't want us to realize is that it's the archer that makes the equipment more than the equipment makes the archer.
Just my experience, but what I found in the past was when I would buy a dozen top of the line arrows all 12 fly the same. When I drop down to a lower grade/straightness, there was often one or two arrows in the bunch that just wouldn't fly true. But it is still cheaper per arrow to buy the lower grade and possibly have to toss one or two in the trash. This is especially true with arrows used for hunting, why shoot a $10+ arrow at a deer when a $5 arrow kills them just as dead.
I shoot the GoldTip XT hunters which are .003. But have got other GT's at .006 as a gift (wife doesn't understand) and they shot the same. .005 is what ? a sheet of paper or a trash bag ...your call IMO
As mentioned before cut from both ends and you'll have a good arrow. With that being said I bought 8 of the cheap .006 victorys before last season and didn't bother cutting from both ends and they all flew like darts. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I actually just posted a thread about these shafts and my advice would be to hold up for a bit on them. I got a half dozen and two of them wobble so bad I won't shoot them and one other is borderline. The other three are within tolerance. This was after cutting 1.5 off the back and the test off the front to get to 27.5 inches. Fairly disappointed for a 15 dollar shaft.
Now that I think about it, GT did have a problem with the manufacturing of these shafts. They added 2 additional laser checks for straightness, beyond the standard 1 check. I'm not sure the problem was the manufacturing process or the quality control process? That being said, if I were getting them, I would probably get them directly from Gold Tip to make sure I was getting new stock. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I am taking the "bad" shafts back to my shop and Gold Tip will replace them. However, I am going to hold up a bit on getting more until I shoot these for a while and torture them. I have shot the GT Pro Hunters for years and they have been great. I'm just seeing what all of the rage is about the small diameter shafts. One thing I like, I think anyway, is that the Pierce is a lighter shaft, but is still very strong. It allows you to gain FOC easily and out of my setup, with little tuning, gained 15fps is speed. However, I'm not a speed freak so if I can tune down on draw weight, all the better.
Basically my take is that I want to get the best arrows I can afford.. I typically have been shooting black eagle rampages at the .001 range. Going to the .003 would it make a difference, probably not, but the 15 or 20 dollar difference isn't a big deal to me.. so get the best arrows you can afford and best arrows mean best ones that suite you and your bow setup. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
To add to this. The confidence you have in a particular arrow goes a very long way in accuracy as well. I seriously doubt anyone, even most pro shooters, can out shoot a .003 arrow or even an .006. As someone already said, we're talking about the difference of a few hairs in thickness from .001 to .006. But the best arrow you can afford, build them correctly and have at it. But, if you want something else to think about that is more important than straightness, its spine consistency from shaft to shaft in a dozen. This is hands down more of a accuracy factor than the difference between .001 to .006.
The truth of that matter is you would need a dial indicator used to check arrow straightness. They're rather expensive and not something we all have. However, there is pretty good documentation on this subject from folks who have done the testing. Carbon Express appears to have one of the best consistences from shaft to shaft, but they're brittle in my opinion. Black Eagle and Victory I've heard good things about as well in this department. Gold Tips are "OK", but there are some things you can do to tune each arrow. I'm OCD about this so bear with me. On a GT shaft, if you look inside the shaft with a flashlight and rotate the arrow, you will eventually see what appears to be a seem. I like to line up my nocks to this seem on every arrow, then fletch. I have personally had better group consistency doing so, which the exception of one or two arrows that just flat out wouldn't group well (the case usually with any dozen shafts). I take all these arrows after they're built and use a sharpie to number each one. Then start shooting them, making any notes of an arrow that seems not to shoot well. Now, this could mean that arrow is an inch off, or even more, but it can get very "hair splitting" if you want it to. I then take those oddball arrows, rotate the nocks one fletch and reshoot them. Sometimes, oftentimes actually, you can get those arrows to hit with the others. After this, I'll refletch them as some point to match the others. Again, its time consuming and oftentimes splitting hairs. But, if you have the time and any form of OCD, its something to add to your confidence knowing every arrow you shoot has had your attention. Details go a long way.
