Going back to aluminums and staying there

[beemann]

I shot a 2514 for awhile and had the arrow snap off right behind the insert on any kind of hard hit.  Since then I stay with the thicker wall thickness and have never had an arrow snap behind the insert... Good stuff aluminum is.....

[Wudstix]

I'm partial to 2219 for most of my bows and 2215 for the lighter ones with lighter heads.  Just like the 22xx shafts.  When I'm getting serious though I still lean towards tapered footed shafts.

[beemann]

I still have a good stash of 2219 Swaged shafts from RJ's archery.  Man they are still my all time favorite.  Wish you could still get em.  I thought I had a lead on the swaging machine but it got quiet...

[Kevin W]

Don't know if I should start a new thread or not but...

I have always shot Carbon Express Heritage and went to get some more to find out they are hard to come by now! Since I've got to get new arrows, this thread got me thinking about trying aluminum due to the price of carbon arrows these days.

I have ZERO experience with tuning or building aluminum arrows. Is the process very different from tuning with carbon where you cut the arrow to stiffen it to get good flight, playing with head weight, etc? What things do I need to know when choosing an aluminum arrow?

[RIVERWOLF]

Kevin, You "could" add your bow info draw length ,and get some help and -or go to 3Rivers website and use the arrow chart for aluminums . That will get you choices narrowed down .  Several choices in a spine range in weight and wall thickness/dia.

If your under say 55#, Easton tributes are a great "cheaper" choice shaft to experiment with .Test the water with

Aluminum is a great arrow choice .

Best with your quest my friend...................

[Kevin W]

Sorry, should have thought about that.

Black Widow PSR, 52# @ 28" with a 26 3/4" draw.

[Ben Maher]

Kevin - 30" 2016 w/125gn point would be a good place to start

[RIVERWOLF]

Ben is likley spot on...but you have options
If you are firm on 125 points and no weight added...1916 will likely be in your zone also.

If you want to play with point/adapter weight , arrow length, strike plate thickness, string material ....lots of others will work and you can look over the charts to see what kind of "total" arrow weight you will be looking at....

Small dia. thick wall are "hardy"   others to take note of ....1820...2013-2114/2115 ...even 2018 ....1820 is only avaiable in  29" length I believe. Its small dia. thick skin  make it an excellent hunting arrow imho with shorter draw lengths .
I generally got them to fly great out of 40# recurves , but I think the PSR is built with more of a Longbow grip/shelf/rest ?  If that is the case it would/could work as well .

As you know, a lot of factors go into what spine arrow works BEST for you and your setup , shelf cut  ,shelf material thickness, STRING MATERIAL,  release..etc...these are good starting points and considerations for some testing/tuning.

The 1916 & 2016 likely EXCELLENT starting points with best (on paper;) spines with those specs and keeping the nose weight @ 125 gr.....Both these arrows are avaliable in the cheaper tribute shafting.

Best with your quest my friend !

[Ben Maher]

My fellow Alloy afficiando is quite correct ....

I'd also note that I still have a soft spot for the 2114 ....

Jack Howard's fave shaft if I'm not mistaken .... Sure , not as tough as a 2016 but really versatile in terms of spine I have found . Also let's me ad a bit more weight up front and not get 'loggy' flight . 2115 is even dandier

2018 is an amazing hunting shaft but sure is heavy when I get 200gns up the front

[Kevin W]

Do the #'s in aluminum arrows designate something (wall thickness, spine, length etc.) or are they just #'s the manufacturer used at random?

Is the Easton # system pretty standard across the different aluminum arrow manufacturers or do they all have their own system?

[dnovo]

The first 2 numbers are shaft diameter and the next  2 are wall thickness.  A 2016 is the same diameter as a 2018 but the 2018 has a thicker wall and so is a step up in spine. But then a 2114 is larger diameter but thinner wall but spines about the same as the 2018. There were shafts as large as 2512 and they spined high because of the diameter but had thin walls and could be damaged easier. I used a lot of 2018 way back and could straighten them easily.

[NinjaVanish]

I can vouch for the 2018 toughness. My HOA requires a 16 ga wire in between the slats on my fence. I have broken several carbons in that crap. It hasn't rained here in a while and I skipped two 2018s into and through that wire yesterday. Both were undamaged. I was pleasantly surprised.

[Kelly]

2114's spine about the same as 2016's, around 63# on 26" centers.

[Kelly]

2115 is about the same spine as 2018, 68# spine on 26" centers.

[Tajue17]

1916, 2114, 2016 and 2018

[beemann]

Kevin the arrow on the left is a 2219  On the right is a 2514.... the 22 and the 25 is the outside diameter.  The 19  and the 14 is the wall thickness...Hope that helps...

[Brazos]

I started shooting aluminum again about 12 years ago.  I like wood shafts and still shoot them but for day-in day-out shooting aluminum is my go to arrow.  They are cheap, tough, and easy to get weight, etc.  Carbon cost too much and don't shoot any better.  When I was a kid everyone shot aluminum (carbon arrows weren't invented yet).  When carbon arrows hit the scene I swore I would never shoot aluminum again.  When I started shooting a longbow in the 90's I shot wood and carbon.  At some point about a dozen years ago I needed new shafts and XX75's were cheap so I bought some and they worked better than any shaft I had shot out of my longbow.  Then I started buying aluminum shafts for all my longbows and haven't looked back.  I never bought the fancy wood grain aluminum arrows.  Just the cheapest plain Jane Easton arrows.  Some are blue, some are purple, ....

[Sean B]

I just fletched you a dozen 2117s for my Black Widow that I ordered back in '95. Although I've shot just about everything in the last 35/40 years I keep coming back to aluminum. They fly great, easy to tune and now, inexpensive!!

[PrimitivePete]

I have Autumn Orange XX75 2117's, 175 grains upfront I'm using with a Bobcat Barnes Osage Self bow that are flying great and likely what I'll use this October.

[Richmeister]

What would be a good size aluminum arrow suggestion for a 40 lb recurve pulling 44# at 29.5"...?