# Easton vs Goldtip



## Hoytkiller (Aug 18, 2009)

They are both good arrows. I used to shoot goldtips and they shot good. I shoot easton's now because there made in the US.


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## bomber497 (Sep 22, 2006)

Hoytkiller said:


> They are both good arrows. I used to shoot goldtips and they shot good. I shoot easton's now because there made in the US.


Makes sense, thanks for the reply. I was just having a hard time with the price difference, but there's something to be said about buying products made here.


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## Nitroboy (Jan 15, 2006)

Well straightness is a very over rated subject, Like you said consistancy is the most important key in arrow performance, If your arrow doesn't have a spine consistancy then nothing else matters at all, weight or straightness

Might I suggest taking say a Easton Lightspeed .003" or a Flatline D.O.A .003" or Surgical .001" and cutting 2" off the nock end and then build the arrow, doing this you just took care of the difference in most straightness tolerances, taking a .003" close to if not better than a .001", I do this to all my target arrows, I am shooting Easton Flatline D.O.A. 400's @ 7.4gpi with 2.5" cut off the nock end and they are straighter than any arrow made in that price range and alot above since I cut the nock end off alittle


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## AKRuss (Jan 10, 2003)

Easton ACEs and Gold Tip UL Pros are both super arrows but they're really different too. The Gold Tip ULs are all-carbon, super light weight and not nearly as skinny as ACEs. The ACEs are aluminum-carbon composite in that they have an aluminum core inside a carbon shaft. They're very skinny, lightweight and barrel tapered. All this accounts for their price tag. I wouldn't get too hung up on specs. I've done a lot of spine and straightness testing over the years and have found that aluminum and aluminum-composite arrows generally meet or exceed advertised specs. All-carbon shafting is hard pressed to be in specs by a long shot. Just my humble opinion. 

T'were I a bit more competitive an archer, I'd probably go with the ACEs but until then I'm sticking with the GTs.


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## bomber497 (Sep 22, 2006)

Thanks for the suggestions and all the input guys. 
Has it been any of you guy's experience that Easton arrows tend to be more consistent with their spine and or other factors? I did take my ULP22s and cut about an inch off the nock end prior to trimming the front as I heard that it would help with straightness because they are rolled on a mandrel during the manufacturing process and the ends tend to be where straightness issues are. Recently I was able to have three out of five arrows touching at 80 yards, which I'm not going to complain about, I just want to have the highest consistency possible for a reasonable price which hopefully isn't asking too much.

Again thanks for the input.

Kevin


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## Ray.Klefstad (Oct 7, 2006)

I like both Gold Tip and Easton arrows (most varieties I've tried: FMJ, LightSpeed, Carbonaeros, ACC), but I always get tighter groups with Eastons. 

Gold Tip arrows are tough and great for hunting though, but I never got as good of groups - most likely due to variations in spine.

I agree with above posters: spine is most important for tight groups. Weight and straightness are overrated. 15 grains variation or .006 straightness will both group well for me - even at long ranges.

I would recommend either of these brands for hunting.

However, I'm mostly using Vapor because they are good and inexpensive at $38 a dozen for shafts.

http://www.bowhunterssuperstore.com/vapor-hunter-arrow-shafts-p-9347.html

Ray


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## bomber497 (Sep 22, 2006)

Ray.Klefstad said:


> I like both Gold Tip and Easton arrows (most varieties I've tried: FMJ, LightSpeed, Carbonaeros, ACC), but I always get tighter groups with Eastons.
> 
> Gold Tip arrows are tough and great for hunting though, but I never got as good of groups - most likely due to variations in spine.
> 
> ...




Thanks for the input Ray. I'm leaning a little more towards Easton for my next target shaft, but the wallet and my wife will tell the tail.


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## bomber497 (Sep 22, 2006)

ttt


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## RHINO (Jul 15, 2002)

A few years ago I bought two dozen GT UL Pro's for outdoor target shooting because I didn't want to spend the extra $$ on the Eastons. They shot okay, but most of the time I felt like my shots were better than where the arrows were landing. Convinced that it was me and not the arrows, I kept plugging along with the GT's trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I should also mention that I had about 6 out of those 24 GT's that I found to be unacceptable in quality (especially for the Pro series). I contacted them about it and they did replace the shafts. Long story short, in my frustration I switched back to what I had left of my Easton Navigators, and my groups improved noticeably. 

The groups with the GT's weren't terrible, but you know when you make those "perfect" feel good shots, and you expect that arrow to pinwheel the X-ring, that just wasn't happening until I went back to the Navigators.

I still hunt with GT Pro Hunters, because they are a tough shaft and seem to group fine out of my hunting bow. I do have them set up with Easton CB nock bushings and Easton G nocks because I think that is a better system than what GT offers. But to be honest, when it comes time to get more hunting shafts, I will probably be looking elsewhere.


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## bomber497 (Sep 22, 2006)

RHINO said:


> A few years ago I bought two dozen GT UL Pro's for outdoor target shooting because I didn't want to spend the extra $$ on the Eastons. They shot okay, but most of the time I felt like my shots were better than where the arrows were landing. Convinced that it was me and not the arrows, I kept plugging along with the GT's trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I should also mention that I had about 6 out of those 24 GT's that I found to be unacceptable in quality (especially for the Pro series). I contacted them about it and they did replace the shafts. Long story short, in my frustration I switched back to what I had left of my Easton Navigators, and my groups improved noticeably.
> 
> The groups with the GT's weren't terrible, but you know when you make those "perfect" feel good shots, and you expect that arrow to pinwheel the X-ring, that just wasn't happening until I went back to the Navigators.
> 
> I still hunt with GT Pro Hunters, because they are a tough shaft and seem to group fine out of my hunting bow. I do have them set up with Easton CB nock bushings and Easton G nocks because I think that is a better system than what GT offers. But to be honest, when it comes time to get more hunting shafts, I will probably be looking elsewhere.


Thanks for the reply RHINO, that pretty much makes up my mind so long as my wallet and wife will hold-out.

Kevin


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## RHINO (Jul 15, 2002)

What kind of shooting are you going to do with these arrows? Easton ACC's are about $130/dz and there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, and they are pretty comparable to most of the all carbon shafts weight wise. The only reason I shoot the Navigators over the ACC's for targets is because in my spine range the Nav's are a much smaller diameter which is an advantage in the wind for long distance open field shooting. I used to hunt with ACC's too, but they are kind of too nice of an arrow to shove through an animal at 20 yards.

The ACE's are great arrows, and I have shot them as well. But they are really designed for FITA type long distance shooting. They are relatively fragile especially from behind, so when you start packing them together at closer distances like on a field course, expect to ruin a lot of them.


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## bomber497 (Sep 22, 2006)

RHINO said:


> What kind of shooting are you going to do with these arrows? Easton ACC's are about $130/dz and there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, and they are pretty comparable to most of the all carbon shafts weight wise. The only reason I shoot the Navigators over the ACC's for targets is because in my spine range the Nav's are a much smaller diameter which is an advantage in the wind for long distance open field shooting. I used to hunt with ACC's too, but they are kind of too nice of an arrow to shove through an animal at 20 yards.
> 
> The ACE's are great arrows, and I have shot them as well. But they are really designed for FITA type long distance shooting. They are relatively fragile especially from behind, so when you start packing them together at closer distances like on a field course, expect to ruin a lot of them.


Basically I'm planning to shoot 3D and field soon and found that the ACEs had a very low GPI for a composite shaft. I nearly bought some ACCs yesterday, but have some concerns about the weight as I'd like to keep my speed around 280-285. With my Goldtips ULP22s I'm able to obtain this at 29" using around 65 pounds but the GTs are around 7.3 GPI and the ACC 3-49 are around 8.8 with ACEs at 7.5. The ACCs would be around 40 grains heavier with arrow shaft length of 28.25, which I figured to be around a 20 FPS speed loss. I'm going to go by one of the local shops today and chrono my GTs which weigh in at 345 grains, then shoot one of my hunting shafts which weigh in around 400 grains so I can have some accurate speed readings. I can then calculate the speed loss per grain so I can maintain my 280-285 rating. 

The ACEs are very expensive at least to me they are and I may not be able to swing them anyways. I've love to use ACCs and plan to if I can maintain my speed. Plus to top all this off, I destroyed two of my arrows while trying to build a spine finder, which leaves me with 4 and that's not enough for 5 spot tomorrow. Hopefully one of my league buddies will loan me some arrows until I can replace them.

Thanks for the reply.

Kevin


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## Quasimodo (Nov 26, 2014)

I know the thread is old, but my gosh I have to respond. The Eastons have 4 decimal places because the .0005 requires it. The Goldtips would be .0010 if you placed a fourth decimal place. Instead, because it is a ZERO it falls off. The Eastons are .001 plus .0005, or .0015. The Goldtips are .0010, or .001! That is how you compare them, but it is insignificant really. 

That I am sorry to say is the American Education system.


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