Carbon Express- Bad Arrows or Bad Luck?

[jcs271]

I was in Wally World last December and they were blowing out all of their hunting gear. They were selling all of their Carbon Express arrows for $2 each (4 diff. kinds that retailed for $4.95-$6.95 ea.). Being the thrifty guy that I am, I bought all 83 of the 6075's that they had left. Most were "Terminator Lites" but there were several dozen camo "Hunters" also. Figured that my son and I could use them in about all of our bows.
Soooo, last week I was in need of some arrows for an upcoming traditional 3D shoot. I removed the factory rubber vanes and refletched a dozen of the Terminator Lites with feathers. We went outside and shot them at a bag target and they flew great. As we increased the range (50-75 yards) we began to occassionally      miss and we bounced a few off of the stacked tire pile that I have for a backstop. Over the course of the next hour I ended up with FOUR ARROWS THAT HAD SPLIT AT THE NOCK from impact with the tires!
This was all done shooting a 54lb longbow at about 165fps.
I have several dozen Gold Tip traditionals that I have shot literally a thousand times under these EXACT circumstances and never have broken anything.
Did I get a bad batch?
Do these arrows just really suck?
I am starting to think that I got ripped off even at $2.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[bmfer]

My daughter shoots them off her compound. I also work part time at an archery shop(99% compound). Its my experience that speed guys shoot the Impacts more than the hunter guys. Light in grains per inch means it's giving up something somewhere else. And in this case it seems to be thoughness. But that's only my 2 cents.

[Tater]

I have shot the 45/60 Terminator Hunters for several years from 60 pound recurves and I think they are almost indestructable. I just bought two more dozen and that should last me a couple of years.

                 Tater

[Skipmaster1]

I shot the 45/60 Term hunters as well and they are tough!
For my compound I use the cx 300's and 400's and have not has an issue, but they are not the most durable, but tough none the less.

[Luke Vander Vennen]

just a thought, but I've always wondered if it would be possible to increase the durability of a carbon shaft by wrapping it with nylon thread and possibly coating it in superglue if need be. That sure seemed to help on my cedar self-knocked arrows. I think it would be worth testing just to see how well they would hold up. Or maybe I just need to go to bed.

[Apex Predator]

Probably poor glue on the insert.  If the insert moves on impact it tends to break any carbon shaft.  I think if you pull the inserts and re-glue with epoxy your problem will be solved.

[Guru]

Apex, the cracks were in the "nock end" bud....

[JC]

Carbon Express discontinued their awesome Terminator Hunter arrows because they were too durable....no joke. The new Terminator lite is not half the arrow the old Hunter version was, it's too lite and not nearly as tough. As such, I've got a few of the old ones stored away, but have switched from CE's on all my main bows. If you can find the old Terminator Hunter...or Terminator Hunter select version, you will have one of the most durable arrows ever built.

Luke, you got it man...that's exactly what you can do. I've done that with sinew to repair the front of shafts cracked from inserts as well as at the nock end to prevent the nock from splitting. Courtesy of Charlie Lamb.

A drop of goop, because it's slightly flexible, on the nock also helps cushion it from cracking the shaft as well as blowing out (if you are using inserts).

[Tater 2]

Cabela's has the Herminator Hunters on sale(probably because they have been discontinued. I just ordered two more dozen! $64.99 per.
     I do not work for Cabela's

                      Tater

[Tater 2]

That should have read Terminator Hunters
                 Duh

                       Tater

[AnointedArcher]

I kinda like the Herminator Hunters myself  

[insttech1]

JC--they did not discontinue the Heritage series, so it should have the same bufftuff finish.

Thanks for the tip on the lite's...I did not know they were "less" durable.

I have NEVER broken a CE at the nock end...insert end from rocks, yes...but not the nock.

But I also shoot "older" terminator hunter select (camo) 45/60's, that are 11gpi.

I don't think the arrows that you bought "suck", but I am also curious as to which nock you have in them, and if it is too tight on your string?

Those things come with wheelie nocks, and they don't fit trad strings worth a darn.  Replace them with Easton Super 3D nocks, which have a larger throat diameter, and you may be a bit happier.

Take Care,
Marc

[Shawn Leonard]

Like Marc said, I have just started shooting the CEs about 2 months ago. I have had none break at the nock end, but I have had them mushroom at the point end(insert and point shoved up into the shaft) it was not the glue either. I have used it all and even tried JB weld. I am gonna foot the shafts with a piece of aluminum arrow. I also think ya could wrap the nock end with thread and coat with some two part epoxy and that may help. Shawn

[Apex Predator]

I guess I should read the post more carefully before giving useless advice!  

[Longbowwally]

I have cracked two CE Heritage 150's at the nock end. One had hit the steel rod in the leg of the deer target and one was a head on collision with a rock.
But, that is the only two I've had that problem with and I've shot the 150's for the last year.
I think the 150's may be a little less durable than the 250's or 350's, but overall I've been very pleased with them.