When it comes to hunting shafts, I wonder if aluminum might be the best material of all.
Straight? Yep. Stable? You betcha. Heavy as you need it? Durn tootin'
I haven't shot aluminum for 30-some years, but back when I did, it wasn't finicky. Unlike carbon.
I never heard of anyone cutting his 2020s or 2117s or 2219s down a quarter-inch at a time to get them to fly straight.
Fact is, all 3 of those flew great from my 65# Howatt Hunter. The 2117s were fast, but fragile, with that .017 wall thickness.
The 2219s were sturdy, but slow, and I have always preferred the look of a 5/16" (.020) shaft to 11/32" (.022) when sighting down the shaft.
So it was 2020 for me. Heavy as heck, and tough as nails.
Wall thickness determines durability in an aluminum shaft, and that .020 of the 2020 was the thickest.
We hadn't heard of EFOC back then, but we knew lighter arrows flew flatter, and heavy arrows hit harder.
Don't reckon that's going to change.
The only thing wrong with aluminum is that it bends. Some alloys more than others, but they do.
You can straighten them to usability, but not to perfection.
Carbon wins there. It's either plumb broke or perfect.
Still, I think an arrow which carries its weight more evenly distributed through its length, as aluminum does, is easier to tune and less finicky.
For that matter, wood shares that advantage with aluminum. It doesn't have any of the others, though.
I wonder why no one shoots aluminum anymore?
Joe
Straight? Yep. Stable? You betcha. Heavy as you need it? Durn tootin'
I haven't shot aluminum for 30-some years, but back when I did, it wasn't finicky. Unlike carbon.
I never heard of anyone cutting his 2020s or 2117s or 2219s down a quarter-inch at a time to get them to fly straight.
Fact is, all 3 of those flew great from my 65# Howatt Hunter. The 2117s were fast, but fragile, with that .017 wall thickness.
The 2219s were sturdy, but slow, and I have always preferred the look of a 5/16" (.020) shaft to 11/32" (.022) when sighting down the shaft.
So it was 2020 for me. Heavy as heck, and tough as nails.
Wall thickness determines durability in an aluminum shaft, and that .020 of the 2020 was the thickest.
We hadn't heard of EFOC back then, but we knew lighter arrows flew flatter, and heavy arrows hit harder.
Don't reckon that's going to change.
The only thing wrong with aluminum is that it bends. Some alloys more than others, but they do.
You can straighten them to usability, but not to perfection.
Carbon wins there. It's either plumb broke or perfect.
Still, I think an arrow which carries its weight more evenly distributed through its length, as aluminum does, is easier to tune and less finicky.
For that matter, wood shares that advantage with aluminum. It doesn't have any of the others, though.
I wonder why no one shoots aluminum anymore?
Joe
Comment