Sitka Gear
GT hunters vs expedition whaaaa???
Equipment
Contributors to this thread:
bow shot 30-Sep-14
bow shot 30-Sep-14
bigdog21 30-Sep-14
VK 30-Sep-14
bow shot 01-Oct-14
bow shot 01-Oct-14
oldgoat 01-Oct-14
Ermine 02-Oct-14
bow shot 02-Oct-14
bow shot 02-Oct-14
bow shot 04-Oct-14
bow shot 06-Oct-14
WapitiBob 06-Oct-14
bow shot 07-Oct-14
bow shot 14-Nov-14
From: bow shot
30-Sep-14
Been using GoldTip XT Hunter arrows on and off over the years. Used XT Expeditions in the inky past too. I've also used just about everything else out there.

The question is this: Has anyone ever found a SPINE difference between the GodTip XT Hunters and the XT Expeditions? Obviously, I'm talking about arrows labeled as having the same spine (55/75 in this case).

I ask this because I just fletched up a batch of Expeditions, and they wag/corkscrew (with field points) something awful.

I am a very experienced arrow builder and bow tuner (35+ years), so briefly, no, NOTHING has changed other than the shafts. Same fletch/jig/points/wraps/rest/length/nocks/inserts/bow/draw weight/nock point/release/rest. Powder test and lipstick test great. Been shooting all summer, form is normal. But the flight is just plain awful.

Shooting my last set of XT hunters side-by-side, the hunters fly as they should: great.

Anyone?

From: bow shot
30-Sep-14
I mean XT Hunters vs Expedition Hunters… sorry 'bout that!

From: bigdog21
30-Sep-14
may have got miss labeled, when you cut your shafts you trim from both ends? are nocks the same and inserts? have you checked straightness. on one of the archery forms I member seeing something on miss labeled gold tip.

From: VK
30-Sep-14
Have you weighed them? I bought a dozen 7595s off ebay a couple years ago that were actually 5575s. I had the same flight problem until I weighed them and figured out they were mislabeled.

From: bow shot
01-Oct-14
Yup. I cut 2" off the nock end and then cut to length from the other before building as usual.

I'll weigh 'em up, maybe do a home-grown spine test. Just need time.

I'll keep y'all posted. Mite take a couple days.

Well, this is what I get for building and testing arrows 1 week away from whitetail season! Thank God I have a few old faithfuls in the quiver ready to go!

From: bow shot
01-Oct-14
Measured the weight, OD and ID and these perfectly match the specs GoldTip gives on their site, so I'm quite sure there is nothing wrong with these.

GT has offered to check 'em out.

Man,this is a bonn be a tough one. I'll let y'all know when I figure out where I went wrong.

From: oldgoat
01-Oct-14
It's always possible the arrows got mislabeled as to which spine model they are. Put a couple of nails in a board and put one of each arrows across the nails and hang a weight off them one at a time and see if they deflect the same amount. Just a thought.

From: Ermine
02-Oct-14
GT Kinetics

From: bow shot
02-Oct-14
Spine and bare shaft tests tonight...

Forgot to mention, shaft weight (in grains) is right on the nail too...

From: bow shot
02-Oct-14
Result: Finding that only some of the shafts behave poorly. so far the ratio good: bad is 4:2. Ran out of daylight. Got home a little late.

From: bow shot
04-Oct-14
Crazy wind (gutsing to 30 mph… testing on hold.

From: bow shot
06-Oct-14
Ok, the results are:

9 of the dozen fly well, and group with the old XTs (3" @ 30y). Three definitely go rogue in flight, parting from the others by another 3-6" @ 30y. I actually totally missed my hanging bag target with one of them.. never found it, lol!

Gold tip offered this: I'm on the borderline for spine, and perhaps rotating the nock may help. Next time buy Velocitys time, and spine up to 340's (the 55/75's are spines @ 400).

I'll just use up what I have, and count the 3 rouges as a loss. Not a big deal for the price, I guess you get what you pay for, which was $60 for the dozen shafts.

That is all!

From: WapitiBob
06-Oct-14
Wet glass vs dry glass (resin content) will change the modulus enough that if you're borderline you could definitely see it in spine.

From: bow shot
07-Oct-14
They profess that they are 100% carbon. Not sure I believe the % of the %. lol!

From: bow shot
14-Nov-14
Update 11-14-2014: Well, I was the wrong ione again. After MUUUCH experimenting, and banging my head against the wall, I found this bug in my system:

Excessive nock pinch.

I opened up the loop 1/16" and all is well.

'Time to call GoldTip and let 'em know...

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