carbon less forgiving?

[ace6160]

Alright guys, I appreciate all of the help you've been givin me with all my newbish questions.

I started out shooting aluminum, but due to limited funds, coupled with the durability, I went with carbon last year.

I have yet to shoot at anything besides a coon with them, and I was wondering if, at shooting 55#, I should go with aluminum and the added penetration, as well as the added tendency to be forgiving? Are aluminum that more penetrating and that much more forgiving?

I shoot goldtip expedition hunters 5575, with thunderhead 100's, at probably about 230-260fps, 29'' draw, 31'' arrows.

Used to shoot xx75 2216s.


Thanks for your help gentlemen! I know I probably sound stupid so thanks for the help.

[Kelly Johnson]

Penetration is influeced by speed, weight and friction thoguh the medium (deer or target...fat shaft drags more)

Carbon is no less or more forgiving than alum.

Proper spine is key for both shafts.

You may want to trim your 31" shafts down a bit;)
Or maybe not if they're shooting well for you.

[archerjustin]

Stick w/ the carbons if you're shooting them well.

[TnRidge]

Carbons are more forgiving in spine ,lighter, more durable ,and in most cases ,penetrate better than aluminums of the same spine because of the smaller shaft diameter .
Note: heavier aluminum arrows with a small shaft diameter may penetrate better because of increased downrange momentum , but the increase in penetration will be offset by the decrease in arrow speed due to the heavier weight .
I shot aluminum arrows for 20 years ,before switching to carbons 6 years ago . I'll never go back to aluminum arrows .

[waterboy_fishing]

Carbon are more forgiving than aluminum if you happen to miss and hit something solid. Carbon will retain its form while aluminum will bend on a solid impact. Carbon arrows will shatter though if the impact is great enough.:fish: :sick: :yikes: Sorry my five year old duaghter got a hold of the mouse.

[Backwoods-Savage]

The only negative I've heard is that you must check your new carbon arrows because it seems there are several crooked arrrows per dozen. I'm sure that is somewhat dependent on where you buy them but I've heard this from several archers.

I still shoot aluminum and have no problems so do not see any point in switching yet. But the new aluminum arrows with the uninocks you must be very careful with or you'll ruin a lot of them fast. There is no glancing off when you hit another arrow. First set of them I got I robin hooded 3 arrows really quick. Lesson learned there. Be careful when target practicing.

[Rasher]

What tn and w.b. said and then some, carbons are more durable than alums. but you have to be 6 times as carefull with them. What I mean is you can tell when your good old game getter 2117's are damaged right,when their bent-their bent-right, keep in mind that carbons dont show damage right away, they can crack and you might not know you have a problem till you trigger your release, an industry standard says you are supposed to bend-flex and roll each arrow after each shot. Most people only do this after a bad shot. I switched last summer to carbons and dont have any plans to go back, I also shoot heavy 10-12 gr./inch arrows so the weight is there too.

[waterboy_fishing]

I was shooting at the archery barn the other day and had a nock come off my arrow. Kind of funny flight pattern after that. The reason that happened is because I had hit the nock with another arrow and had put a small split in the shaft. Inspect your arrows carefully. Carbons are definately not indistructable.

[walleyeman2006]

if you want more forgiving go with longer vains or feathers the extra drag helps a lot and make sure you paper tune...paper tooning is a must when shooting broad heads you have to have a smooth flight to be sure your broad head doesnt stear the arrow.......as a rule the faster the bow the less forgiving it is gonna be becasue the faster and object is flying the more an error will be exagerated....

but at the same time a fast bow gives you more room for error in yardage estimates

[aquaticsanonymous]

I had a carbon arrow explode on me the other day while shooting at a doe! I was told by one guy I know that I may not have had the arrow fully knocked, and another person told me that I may have had a crack in the arrow. I have no idea what happened, all I know is I did not get the deer, and my arrow is in pieces.