Carbon v ACC

[GREYLEG]

I was thinking about switching to carbon or acc arrows for next year. I was wondering what the pros and cons were for the two.

[P. Beyer]

They aren't as good as aluminum for peneteration...if your hunting, but if your a 3-d or target shooter.... Go for it if you wanna spend the $$$

[MQ1ofKy]

I beg to differ .......I've bow hunted for 20 years now & have never found a shaft that will out penetrate an ACC shaft. I've shot them all...penetration is a matter of kenetic energy,mass,and resistance.....with these 3 things in mind the ACC will outperform any aluminum....I shoot ACC-360's & have for the past 6 seasons....I myself am changing to carbon shafts....I can't justify the price of the ACC's any longer...$12 a piece for hunting shafts is out of hand...I just purchased a Dz. Cabelas carbon hunter extreme shafts for $50 ..Bowhunting world mag. rated this as one of the top shafts on the market..They are made by Beaman for Cabelas and even the mag. said they couldn't tell the dif. between them and the ICS shafts...They don't have the tolerances that the ACC's have at .005 but they will suffice in the field....Looking forward to trying them.
)))----> Mike

[cald]

If you are looking to shoot a lighter arrow and still have a stiffer spined shaft then carbon or ACC is something to look into. Most carbons are small diameter, around .300. Gold tip 22-series and CAE's carbon vision 350's are larger diameter. That can help if you shoot a strong helical fletch with fixed blade broadheads. Determine what you need for your set-up and shop around and get the different specs. on the different shafts so you know what you are getting. Check out the local pro shop, the mfg's websites and you can ask Cabela's technical support about specs. on the shafts they sell. Spine, shaft weight, shaft component weights and whatever else you might think of.

[45 Caliber]

Guys...

Couple of questions about carbon:

What would be the equiv. to a 2117 in Carbon?

Myself, I like for an arrow to either shoot through an animal or if the shaft goes into the animal, at an angle, I would prefer a shaft that bends and not breaks. I once shot a big doe with a xx75. The deer was coming straight up the mountain at me at an angle. I hit the deer in the lungs/liver. The didn't go alway through the animal and bent. When the deer ran, the arrow caught a lot of brush, thus moving the arrow inside the deer, in which did more damage than a high powered rifle. Needless to say, the doe didn't go very far.

Does carbon shafts flex any? Do they break easy?

[cald]

With my limited knowledge and experience with carbon arrows I have found them to break. I hit a buck behind the shoulder and lodged into the far shoulder blade and when the buck took off the carbon arrow snapped in two. The hit was good and the buck did not go far. I've never had an aluminum shaft break, just bend. They say carbons will bend and resume to their straightness unlike aluminum. Break or bent I don't care as long as I put the broadhead in the vitals and hopefully get a exit hole to strenghen the blood trail. Matching a carbon to a 2117? The nice thing about carbons is that 2 or 3 different spined shafts match our bows needs. If your shooting fingers and need some flex in your shaft choose a little more carefully. If your shooting a release you can find a carbon that is strongly spined and in your weight range for a finish arrow weight. A 2117 spines out at about .420, looking at the easton chart. On most pass-thru shots a carbon shaft should be able to be re-used. I watched a Primos video where a guy shot a rock and the shaft just shattered into dust, must of hit dead on. When target practicing I've gotton to be very careful not to bend, break, or lose a arrow, they are just too expensive now, carbon or aluminum. But after the arrow leaves my bow toward a deer I don't care if it can't be shot again.

[MQ1ofKy]

When it comes to durability the carbons or ACC's are tough...Like I said before, I started shooting ACC's 6 years ago...I purchased 1 dz..Out of that dz...I still am using 4 of the originals w/2 new ones...Most were lost of the years of shooting and hunting...very few were broke...3 years ago while hunting in south Texas I shot a nice 100 # Sow w/an ACC 360 w/a Patriot 2 blade broadhead...I remember seeing sparks flying up from the rocks on the other side of her...I found my shaft about 10 feet off the ground in a tree...I used the same shaft to take 2 deer that year...They are durable....
)))----> Mike

[Xtreme]

If you all want to see for yourself. Take a aluminum, carbon and ACC of the same weight and spine parameters and shoot them into something reasonable like foam or a untouched part of a Mckenzie target. Measure the penetration and go from there. Like MQ1 said, the only difference between all carbon and ACC's is straightness and price. With the technology now at hand on some of these arrows straightness does not even equate into the argument.

I cant speak for the other brands but the Gold Tip pro shafts that I have tried have been perfect.

On nearly all of the independant tests that have been done, carbon out penetrates aluminum at least 30%. This is due to the fact that carbon recovers it's original shape upon impact much quicker.

[DC]

Very interesting thread. I've always shot XX75s. A friend recently gave me some ACCs. I am very intrigued by them. I haven't even shot them much yet (just got them this winter). I have a few spined for my recurve (3-18) and a few for my compound. According to the FOC calculations it appears I can continue using my Bear Lite's (110 grains)also. I don't really want to switch to a pre-sharpened broadhead. I wondered about the durability. I expect them to be very fast but at the ranges I shoot speed isn't very important. I'd like to try the "fatter" Goldtips too.

I notice the warning printed on the arrow about breakage in game. Apparently a carbon shaft breaking in game can leave some nasty carbon fibers behind? As anyone had a problem with that? I would assume just careful trimming of the ribs or at worst a shoulder would eliminate the concern?

[Xtreme]

Dc, I'll clarify that warning for you. When carbon arrows first came out they were like any other "cutting edge" product. They had their faults and growing pains. All of a sudden some Olympic shooters started kicking some butt with carbons and it scared the !@#$ out of the aluminum arrow industry.

To counter the threat there was an aggresive add campaign by the aluminum boys saying carbons could cause cancer etc. It's all B.S.

Proof in point , now that a certain carbon arrow manufacturer was bought out by the aluminum manufacturer very little is said now about carbons being danderous.

I have hunted with carbons now for about 8 yrs. The last 3 or 4 have been with the Gold Tips. Not one time have I had one break and leave splinters in an animal. If it ever does happen just cut away a little meat around the wound and all will be well.

Carbons were a little ''iffy" at first, so is any new cutting edge product. In my opinion they have far more going for them than against them.

[Highbow]

Very true extreme, Easton now has it's own carbon arrow, copy cats.

[dac]

Just my opinion I like aluminum for hunting and I shoot ACC for 3D. Carbon will out penetrate aluminum when both arrows are of equal weight. When I shoot 3D I want the speed and the flat shooting of the light carbon but when I hunt I want that weight of the heavy aluminum driving that broadhead after impact.I have killed several deer with carbon and aluminum and aluminum is what I am the most comfortable with.