Vintage aluminium arrows Flight Line

[Bowbent]

I have come across a dozen Aluminium arrows that are 2020 in size with a bright alum finish, blue cresting, hen feathers and nocks.Lettering on the shafts read below the crest ( SWIFT r 2020 ) above the crest( Flight Line ) with half an arrow insignia split long ways. Anyone have any info on when and or who manufactured these shafts? Could they be a Easton side line ?

[wadde]

The 2020 shafts are hard to come by these days. They are excellent hunting shafts and work well with 50 pound and up recurves.

[Blackhawk]

I believe Swift was not associated with Easton, but had their own line of aluminum arrows.  I have some similar Swift 2020's with that bright finish with black fletch and nocks.  

Swift arrows tend to be of lesser quality and strength than the Easton line.

[ksbowman]

I thought the Swift were a bottom of the line Easton. As I remember they were a softer alloy and bent easily.

[oldbohntr]

Ok, now we're gonna see who's oldest and hasn't yet lost his memory!   I don't think Swifts were the bottom of the line....they WERE the line.  And, yes, they bent like string cheese. Then, Easton came out with 24SRT-X, which was the early XX-75 material, but still in the aluminum color.  It was harder and resisted bends and priced so it appealed mostly to target and field archers.  At some point, I'm guessing about the time the Autumn Orange XX75s were introduced the Game Getter became a second line, camo-colored, softer-but-cheaper hunting version.  XX-75s and GGs have become camoed differently now, but I believe the materials are the same.  

I still have several hundred Swift shafts, mostly in the 1920, 2020, and 1818 sizes which are dinosaurs, in themselves.  If you have some Swifts and enough inserts for them, don't give up on them.  They are great practice arrows, and even ok for stumping....they're a lot easier to straighten than the newer, harder alloys!  And, my opinion is that Easton's move to larger diameter, thinner walled shafts was a marketing decision....more spine versatility, and more line cutting for 3-D archers.  I think a smaller- diameter, thicker-walled shaft is a better hunting shaft. (no disrespect intended to anyone, but what is the intended market for a 2512 shaft?)

[wadde]

Thank You oldbohntr, you nailed this one. Also the inserts are somewhat hard to come by these days for the 2020 shafts. I came across several dozen in xx75 years ago and still use them for hunting with my recurves today.

[ksbowman]

Weren't the first GG an olive green solid color? I remember shooting those and the Autumn orange about the same time.

[oldbohntr]

Yes, the first GGs I remember were dark green-have seen variations from olive to almost black.   They were much better than Swifts, but both still are the same spec and shoot right with XX75s today.  The difference is a matter of resistance to bending, and appearance.  A note:  most Swifts you find today are very oxidized….take a cloth and a little bit of Flitz polish to it and in two minutes or less, that shaft will DAZZLE you!  There is almost nothing else in your house that can be that beautiful that quick!
The GG anodizing-if that’s what it was-didn’t last very long.   30 or 40 shots into a butt, and your shaft was green down to the point where it became silver again.   The first, best indicator of average penetration?   Autumn Orange, on the other hand, never changed, and it’s my absolute favorite aluminum  arrow color.  Today’s GG shafts are camo-colored, and don’t seem to lose that color….I don’t know why.   Today’s XX75s are also various camo  designs-I assume it’s still a better material, but I don’t know that either.  
If I could convince Easton to reintroduce the AO color, I’d do it in a second!  That orange shaft was never to blame for a single animal lost, rather it was distinctive and unique.   Instead, they think we want an aluminum shaft anodized to look like wood grain?   No offense intended.  I have some of them too.  But, I don’t think it ever did anything for the hunters or our success!

[d. ward]

yap what Tom said if you never shot any swift shafts do give them a try if you get a chance.Swift game getter and I beleave game getter 2 were all manufactured using a softer grade of aluminum.But beleave it or not they shot great and were the nearest thing to wood arrows as they had the correct flex in the shaft and shot well.But if you missed your back stop once it normaly ended up in the beer can bag.They were soft but shot well.Would I use them again and or use them as hunting arrows NO bd

[Bowbent]

Thanks you guys, it still amazes me time and time again how much knowlege there is on this site.As Doc would say, You Guys Rock !!
 10 of the fifteen shafts I came across have never been shot,so I think im going to keep them that way.I have a gross of old stock GG's that I need to use up.
oldbohntr I have to pm you and share a conversation that your name came up in the other day,it's all good. Thanks Again

[ksbowman]

Tom, I agree the AO's are my choice of shafts to this day. Evidently Easton thought for marketing change was better. If they would bring out the Ao's again I would be on them in a New York minute!

[jackdaw]

got some....they work great!