CARBON BOLT TESTING & WEIGHTS

[GREYWOLF]

I have been testing some different makes of carbon bolts this week. And I found some very interesting stuff. Lets start by saying weights and spline weights very greatly.

1) the BLACKHAWK CROSSFIRE 20" is 22/64" dia. and weighs 13.9 G.P.I. and is rated for X-BOWS with 95 to 200 lbs. draw weights

2) the CARBON EXPRESS CROSSBOLT 20" is .348 " dia. and weigh's 13.7 G.P.I. and is rated for X-BOWS with 90 to 200 lbs. draw weights

3) the EASTON POWER BOLT 20" is 11/32" dia. and weighs 10.5 G.P.I.
and has no bow draw weight rateing ?

4) the BEAMAN THUNDER BOLT 20" has a 22/64" dia and weighs 10.5 G.P.I. and also has now bow draw weight rateing ?

5) the GOLD TIP LAZER II 20" has a 22/64" dia. and weigh's 10.5 G.P.I.
and I have been told it's rated for bows up to 225 lbs. ?????????

Looking over these stats and shooting a MAX at 225 lbs. I am a little bitt worried about some of these lower G.P.I. made bolts . I think they will be fine for the EXOCET 200 and PHOENIX But I am thinking about going to the BLACKHAWK for the MAX . GREYWOLF

[ALINALBERTA]

Greywolf, I know you are pointing out the diff. in grains,but I am just going to mention that 11/32,22/64, and .348" diam. are all the same o.d. shaft. It seems logical the heavier arrows would be better suited for heavier draw weights,but if different material,who knows

[bait pile willie]

greywolf,where did you get the wt. for goldtips I have been doing my calculations for bolt wt. off their website where they say its 8.6per in. I cut them back to 181/2 in. and try to shoot around330 gr.

[Rich]

Speaking of difference, I was at Bass Pro yesterday and weighted the GT II's, the six arrows ranged from 263-275 grains. How much of a difference does 12 grains make as far as accuracy goes out to 40 yards.

Thanks Rich

[gad]

On the past I was shooting the gold tip from the exomaX, but I havent had any problem with them. Just they are not as durable as the beman thunderbolts when your bolt passes through the target and hit something hard (like a wall, yes, it happens to me some times... ). I switched to the bemans just to the desire to make the bows living for more time, since a lighter bolt will let some energy dissipate on the frame of the bow.

Also, I think that most of the energy that the bolt cannot absorb could be handled with the dissipator pads. I see three dry fires with one exocet 200 of a budy with the dissipator pads and nothing bad happens with the bow. His first dryfire was without the dissipator pads, and both limb tips broken.

I would never worry to use a lighter bolt since I installed the dissipator pads.