Unfortunately, not all Gold Tip Traditional Blems are equal. 5 of my last 24 from two dozen I ordered were not straight - quite a bit of wobble on four of them. One of the 24 had little nicks all the way up and down the shaft, across the length - kind of looked like mechanical cuts.
The other thing to think about is the weight tolerances. Gold Tip advertises +/- 2 grains on their Expedition and XT shafts, so that means they should be within 4 grains of each other for the dozen (+2, -2 = 4 grains spread if you think about it). On my dozen XT's this year, I found that to be accurate - my dozen were all within a 3 grain window. On my Expeditions this year, however, I found they were a 7 grain spread....
.... on the traditional blems I ordered - these were the exact weights and conditions of the shafts, as I kept track of them:
3 worst looking of the bunch (large black spots and lines):
1) 258 Nicked shaft - the one I noted above
2) 259 Bent shaft - wobbled badly
3) 261
7 "not so bad" looking:
4) 258
5) 258 Bent shaft - wobbled slightly
6) 259
7) 259
8) 259
9) 262
10) 264
14 looked like they didn't have ANY blemishes at all (perfect looking arrow shafts):
11) 256
12) 258
13) 258
14) 261 Bent shaft - wobbled badly
15) 261 Bent shaft - wobbled badly
16) 261
17) 261
18) 261
19) 261
20) 261
21) 262 Bent shaft - wobbled badly
22) 262
23) 264
24) 269
So, I had a spread across two dozen arrows of 256 to 269 grains - a 13 grain difference across the board. Not a huge deal, but the 6 that were bent or damaged bothered me, so I contacted Gold Tip and was told to ship them back for a replacement. I have. They should have arrived on Thursday of this past week. The lady I spoke to on the phone was very polite and helpful - one of the many things I have come to like and appreciate from Gold Tip.
So... I took 11 of my best looking shafts, and the best of the "not so bad looking" and made my hunting arrows with them. The 5 remaining "not so bad looking" were made into practice arrows, and the one worst looking one that wasn't bent or damaged was used for bare shaft tuning.... so I've been fairly happy with them.
Don't get me wrong here guys and gals - this isn't meant to be a hit on Gold Tip or buying traditional blems. I still plan to buy them again, and I've used Gold Tip for years. However, you should realize, as I have come to realize - these aren't weight matched, top of the pick shafts - they have cosmetic blems, and more than likely your dozen won't be within that +/- 2 Grains tolerance.
For the money, they are a great deal, and I'd still recommend them to most anyone.
All the best,
Glenn
Topic: where gold tips are made??...... (Read 790 times)
