There is no difference other than straightness.
I have shot both the elites and gamers and can tell no difference between the two.
I don’t think anybody short of an Olympian or hooter shooter could notice the .002 variance, especially at hunting yardages. Spine consistency from arrow to arrow has a much greater effect.

Zak


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The straighter the arrow, the more true it will fly. Will you be able to notice the difference between the different tolerances and does it matter? Maybe, maybe not. An expensive well dialed in hunting/3d setup at longer yardage could probably see a wider grouping with the lower tolerance arrows. Someone less experienced on a budget with just functional gear target shooting at 15 yards probably won't notice a difference. So to answer your question, comes down to your use case, setup, and budget.

 

It’s just straightness tolerances. If you spin tested the arrows you’d see more runout on the ends of the cheaper shafts. Honestly though, it’s unlikely that everything else about your setup/form is perfect enough for you to notice a difference.

Just get the cheapest one that’s available to you if you like the color. But it’s getting hard to find reds in stock right now. I had to order gamers, and I did spin test them and was very impressed with their straightness. I just ordered them uncut and chopped off the wobbly sides when I cut them to length. But if I didn’t have a saw I’d be happy with them regardless.

 

I had a bad experience once, years ago, when I bought some .006 straightness arrows. I can't speak about RIP TKOs or even other arrows, these days. I just buy .003 straightness tolerance or better, just on principle now.

I do shoot VAP TKOs, Gamers and Elites. I can't tell the difference in accuracy between them out to 80 yards, even with fixed broadheads. I've generally purchased Gamers, but I've actually found a few special deals, where Elite shafts costed me less than Gamers. Otherwise, I'd just buy the Gamers. I really like Victory arrows. The last dozen I built all weigh within 1 grain of each other finished, even with my glue added.

 

Yeah Victory shafts really are exceptional for the price. How are the outserts for the VAPs? I’ve been afraid to use any on my RIP TKOs because I saw a lot of bad feedback about the old Shok outserts damaging shafts.

 

There is a you tube video from Victory on this. They use a state of the art laser sorter. The shafts are identical except for the runout. This is done on the full length of the shaft. Which varies generally from 30" to 32". If you shoot an arrow cut to say 28" or so. You will automatically more than likely straighten it by a couple thousandth. If you cut from both ends probably definitely straighten by .002 to .003. Some of the arrows that get in the "sport" class will be better than .006, they may be .004 or .005, but they could not make the .003 "gamer class.

I usually buy the "gamer" class and cut them down. But if I wanted to save some money and wasn't all anal about it, I would get the sport and cut from both ends and roll with it.

I have used Black Eagle Outlaw, Beeman Bowhunter, And Gold tip Pierce arrows. They are all listed as .005 to .006 arrows ....Pfffft...you cut em down some, square the ends. I have never not had a broadhead spin true on them. If your just hunting and shooting casual target for fun out to 50 or so yards. They are fine.

Would I target shoot at long range with them competitively. No. Would I shoot at a Rocky mountain sheep at 80 yards with them I paid 10,000 dollars to get too.No. Could you run a 3d course out to 40 and keep em all in the vitals. yep. Would you miss a deer at 40 just because of this small arrow diff . Nope

Guys who shoot full length have to pay more attention. The shorter your arrow the better results you will see by cutting.

Some arrow companies I would not necessarily trust there runout dimensions. Victory, Black Eagle, Gold tip, Easton, pretty much, If I got one much off I would make them take it back.

 

Yep. With a 30.75" DL, I can't cut much off those shafts. Plus, I have big hands. I don't like to worry about where my long fingers are in relation to BH blades at full draw. I just cut 7/8" off when I built VAP/VAP TKOs to yield 31" nock throat to insert tip. Gamers and Elites are all straight enough. I wouldn't even consider the Sports, especially after the posts here.

 

I have the VAP TKOs in both sport and gamer and i will say that the .003's group much better at distance.
30 yds and under i cant tell a difference.

but at 60, the gamers group more consistently

 

Thanks for doing that experiment. That sounds exactly like the problem I didn't like about the one batch of .006 tolerance shafts I bought years ago. Never again! I'm no longer even curious about the Sports.

 

Straightness is the only difference. Honestly, a lot of times you can cut out the inconsistencies to have .001 straightness. BUT for me the reason I go with the elites is those few dollars give me piece of mind. I never have to worry about my arrows when they are the best I can get.

I will say I think the RIP TKO are the best in the 5mm arrows so well done

 

I’m not an expert, but I spoke to my bow tech about arrow straightness at length. He says that arrow straightness won’t matter too much until 30-40 yards. The reason is because the arrow is flexing back and forth when it comes off the bow, so if the arrow isn’t gonna be straight what does the straightness matter? Passed 30 yards you should start thinking about it. Food for thought

 

I can't imagine limiting my shots to 30 yards. Even though I'd never shoot a whitetail past 40, I practice out to 80 every year when preparing for elk hunting. If I can't consistently stick my broadhead in an orange-sized target at that range, I'm not ready. And that long-range practice makes hitting a golf ball sized target an easy routine at 40 and 50. It makes no sense to me to ever buy such wonky arrows.

 

I have tested this straightness question on my Ram tester with many brands of arrows. First I would like to point out the shaft cut length, I have a 31" draw and can't cut much off, but my wife has a 25" draw and I can cut a lot off either/both ends. I have found that the straighter shafts have tighter spine tolerances, and that matters more than straightness. I can tell a big difference with varying spines when I put a large fixed broad head on a 31" shaft. Field points, not so much (I assume that mechanical points would not be effected as much as fixed heads, but I have never tested them). I am a big believer in spine indexing. A lot also depends on your expectations, I want a 2" group with a 2" fixed head at 40 yards. If you are a good ind of guy at 10 yards, it will not matter.

 

What method do you use for spine indexing yours? Does the RAM do that, or do you use another method?