Gold Tip Hunter Pro

[gsmitty]

Any ideas/experience with Gold Tip Hunter Pro 340 arrows? Compared to Easton Axis or Injexions 340s?

 

[AlexGraham]

I switched to xt hunters after using axis and injexions but be switching to the pro hunters. I don't think you gain as much as you think with the smaller diameter. And I seemed to have problems with the injexions breaking. If I were you I'd stick to the hunters or the axis

 

[jackwagon]

Great arrow for durability and weight/straightness tolerances, the only real issue I have had with them is that even a .340 spine is relatively light. Not sure if you're into shooting heavy arrows or not (450+ grains), but not necessarily my first choice. Have you looked into GT's Kinetic shafts? They're the same diameter as an Axis and they run a shade heavier... dynamite arrow!

 

[BackcountryMT]

I use the Pro's and love them. I agree with Jack that they are a light shaft but if your looking to build something with a high FOC they are an excellent option. Mine are cut to 25.75" carbon to carbon, standard insert, 50grn weight, accu-lite nock, 3x Trophy Taker Stealth Vanes and a 100grn head. Finished at 430grns and 18% FOC

 

[jackwagon]

I use the Pro's and love them. I agree with Jack that they are a light shaft but if your looking to build something with a high FOC they are an excellent option. Mine are cut to 25.75" carbon to carbon, standard insert, 50grn weight, accu-lite nock, 3x Trophy Taker Stealth Vanes and a 100grn head. Finished at 430grns and 18% FOC

what kind of speed is your prime pushing those at?

 

[BackcountryMT]

what kind of speed is your prime pushing those at?

Im getting 286 at 75#. I took few twists out of the cables to get back to factory specs the other day and finished at 72#@280fps. I hate my little draw length, lol.

 

[StrutNut]

I tried them in 340 vs Beman 340 vs Easton Axis. All arrows cut the same and all where 340's. I wouldnt go back to the Gold Tips as they shot like knuckle balls where the Beman and Easton shot perfect. I ended up sticking with the Axis as they performed better at distance with cross winds. Seems to be less drag and have excellent penetration. By far my favorite arrow.

 

[jackwagon]

I tried them in 340 vs Beman 340 vs Easton Axis. All arrows cut the same and all where 340's. I wouldnt go back to the Gold Tips as they shot like knuckle balls where the Beman and Easton shot perfect. I ended up sticking with the Axis as they performed better at distance with cross winds. Seems to be less drag and have excellent penetration. By far my favorite arrow.

He brings up a point worth touching on - If you're going to shoot GT's I'd recommend you either buy bare shafts right away or cut off factory fletchings and fletch them yourself with a good helical, which will get the arrow spinning, reducing the "knuckle ball" effect and tighten groups, ESPECIALLY if you plan on shooting fixed blade broadheads. And that applies to just about any arrow!

 

[JP100]

I switched to the Gold Tip Hunter pros and love em.
Very tough arrows, have shot multiple animals with most of my arrows.
Run 130gn 2 bades with 4" fletches, shoot better than me. Punch through everything I have shot.

 

[4ester]

I'm switching back to Gold Tips (Kenetics) this year. I shot them 10 years ago and loved them. Local dealer talked me into the Axis on my last purchase. I killed a few animals with them but the durability sucks. With the HIT Inserts there is a lot of force on the bare carbon on the front of the shaft, and they splinter on marginal hits.

 

[5MilesBack]

I'm switching back to Gold Tips (Kenetics) this year. I shot them 10 years ago and loved them. Local dealer talked me into the Axis on my last purchase. I killed a few animals with them but the durability sucks. With the HIT Inserts there is a lot of force on the bare carbon on the front of the shaft, and they splinter on marginal hits.

Kinetics weren't made 10 years ago. And I use HIT's in Axis and Kinetic arrows, along with all my other .204" ID arrows, and quite frankly the Kinetics are the least durable of them all, and I shoot the 200's.

 

[E-2]

Personally, I only own one bow for hunting and target right now. Gold tip offers a good variety of arrows in the same standard shaft size for all my applications. This way I do not have to Re-tune center shot for 3d or hunting or spots. If I want really light arrows I can shoot Velocity arrows. If you want heavy, I believe the "Primos" series arrow is standard diameter and fairly heavy this year, but it only comes in .300 and .400 spine. Like BackcountryMT mentioned you can go up a spine stiffness and use heavy weight if you want up front in the other GT arrows. The large amount of components is also a nice feature with GT.

I also like the Beman ICS arrows, but they do not offer many components for customization.

 

[4ester]

Kinetics weren't made 10 years ago. And I use HIT's in Axis and Kinetic arrows, along with all my other .204" ID arrows, and quite frankly the Kinetics are the least durable of them all, and I shoot the 200's.

My statement applied to Gold Tips in General. Back when I was younger missing the target would rarely cause a broken arrow, but it just seems like any mistake with the Axis and I am picking up pieces. I shot into my compost pile last year with a broadhead last year, clean miss, no deflection, broadhead wasnt hurt a bit and snapped that Axis shaft right in half. I even emailed Easton to see if they possibly had a defective run of them. And they never replied back. Lost me as a customer right there.

 

[Brendan]

I have about 18 hunter pro 340's for sale, most brand new, the rest in new condition for sale if anyone's interested. All done with helical fletching, spine indexed from Jerry @ South Shore Archery. Good for 28.5" DL or shorter - I'd need to measure to be exact.

FWIW - I'm still using almost the same gold tips, I just went up in draw length where these don't work for me anymore.

 

[gsmitty]

Thanks for all the info guys. I might try out the gt's for their toughness. As I've had a lot of splintering with Easton axis.

 

[5MilesBack]

I might try out the gt's for their toughness. As I've had a lot of splintering with Easton axis.

I don't know if Easton changed the construction of the Axis or not, but I bought three dozen of the older Axis 300's for $50/doz on closeout in 2008 when they came out with their "redesigned" Axis lineup. I've never had a single issue with the older shafts that was the shaft's fault. I did have a G5 Striker Mag blade that got pushed backwards through the brass washer and split the shaft down to the HIT insert. But that was a washer problem that I fixed with using a steel washer against the blades, and the brass one against the shaft. And I tend to shoot at a lot of unorthodox stuff. Never tried the newer Axis.