Aluminum to carbon to aluminum

[Rando]

I've run the gamut with arrow materials - aluminum, to wood, to laminated wood, to (gulp) carbon... all were fun to work with and shoot. Last season was all-carbon (Trad Only) out of several bows and they accounted for several animals. That said, I still like the way aluminum builds and shoots and will be going back to my Legacy 2020's... maybe not as durable, but I don't abuse & wreck too many in a season, and I find them much easier to build & tune. Wood is cool, but I honestly don't have the time to match shafts and build them whenever I break a few. For me, aluminum is a great compromise between the simplicity of wood and the technical aspect of carbon.
Rando

[Stringwacker]

As some of you know I'm a die hard traditionalist when it comes to bowhunting. With only a two or three year gap, for the most part I have always preferred a stickbow since I was 13....and I'm now 53. There's a lot of water under that bridge.

I've shot just about every arrow you can shoot. I started with cedar, moved to fiberglass microflites, then to aluminum, and eventually tried the new carbon arrows. All had their advantages in one way or the other and I took game with all of them...but all had their disadvantages as well.

Over the last 10 years, it's been mostly the first 5 years with carbon arrows and the last 5 with wood (douglas fir, cedar, hex pine, laminated birch, etc) From a traditionalist mindset, it's hard to beat wood... yet the stories of inconstancies are largely founded. You can take the best weigh grain scale, the best spine scale, and all the shooting test you can think of....and it's an unescapable fact that wood wanders for one reason or the other over a span of time. I have developed a mild form of target panic over the last few years and I often contemplate whether the wood arrow thing contributed to it...albiet rooted in a base of a self doubt due to shooting performance.

Having a lifetime supply of arrows of all types, I dug out some 2117 Easton Legacy's a month or so ago and shot a few of them. Wow! I've never shot as well. I love not fooling with arrow wraps or paints, being able to heat the tube for glue applications, and the better weight properties that aluminum has over most woods and almost all carbons. The are also straight as an arrow;) I have taken the time to weight tune them to my recurve and they shoot on a string with no fletching easily to 25 yards. Needless to say they shoot well 'with' feathers and my Eskimo broadheads flies like darts. The entire set up weighs 518 grains which is perfect for my 52# limbs on my Black Widow. Come September I think the setup will work fine on a Colorado muley or large cow elk (my only tag apparently)

I did a little research to satisfy my traditionalist spirit. Easton Aluminum was founded in 1939 as an aluminum arrow company. The aluminum arrow even pre-dates the development of laminated limbs for recurves bows. To this day, I read that Olympic archers still use aluminum as the spines and weight consistencies cannot be matched with any other arrow materials.

While carbon is more durable, I like the fact that aluminum starts straighter and has tighter tolerances. I don't mind replacing a few extra arrows for an occasional bend due to it's less expensive pricing. I saw Gamegetter shafts recently on sale for $39.00/dozen!

[dragonheart]

Aluminum is very accurate arrow material.  The most accurate as long as it is straight.

[STEVE R.]

I like the way aluminum flies out of my bows. Carbons are just too finicky in my opinnnion. I also shoot alot of wood arrows. But for hunting , i'll take aluminum.

[stevewills]

i like all the arrow materials...i have a set of carbon,wood,aluminum,it gives me a reason to have to shoot more...but i like carbon and aluminum the most...i just grab what i have the most of and thats what i shoot..