Gold Tip Arrows and Crossbow Bolts

What Gold Tip makes for bowhunters

On this site, Gold Tip covers three product types: arrows for compound and traditional bows, crossbow bolts, and nocks. A glue-in point shows up in the grid too, as a component.

The arrows are all carbon. The maker calls it "100% Carbon Technology" on its product pages, and the arrows split into hunting families that differ by diameter and by how tightly each shaft is sorted. The bolts are carbon as well, in two diameters.

Gold Tip's own site also lists precision target arrows and youth arrows, plus apparel. This site doesn't list target arrows, and no Gold Tip youth arrows are in the grid right now. Stabilizers come from Bee Stinger, a line the 2025 sale announcement says Gold Tip produces. Those are on the Bee Stinger brand page and the bow stabilizer page.

The grid above shows what's on Amazon right now, with filters by type. It changes as packs come and go, so I'll write about the lines and what separates them, not about this week's count.

How to read a Gold Tip arrow name

Gold Tip names carry three pieces of information. Here's what actually changes:

• The family: Hunter, Velocity, Pierce, Traditional, Kinetic and so on
• The diameter in the maker's listing: .246, .204 or .166 inch inside diameter
• The grade: no suffix, XT or Pro, which tells you straightness and weight sorting

The maker writes the diameter right after the name on its own site ("Hunter Arrows .246", "Pierce LRT Arrows .166"). Amazon listings often leave it out, so check the grid's spec columns.

Quick kitchen version of the grades. A plain Hunter is sorted like a bag of apples. An XT is sorted like a bag of apples where somebody took out the lumpy ones. A Pro is sorted like the display at the front of the store. Same apples. Different patience.

Gold Tip hunter arrows: the Hunter family

The Hunter family is the core of the grid. All three grades share the same .246-inch shaft, the same GT nock and the same insert, per the maker. Its pages call the Hunter "a mid-weight arrow" meant to balance speed and penetration. What separates the grades is the sorting:

• Hunter: .006 inch straightness, weight sorted to within 2 grains per dozen
• Hunter XT: .003 inch, same 2-grain sorting
• Hunter Pro: .001 inch, weight sorted to within half a grain per dozen

Spines across the Hunter line run from very stiff to mid-range. The maker lists the XT starting one step stiffer than the others. Fletching depends on the pack: short Rapt-X vanes, 4-inch vanes or feathers, or bare shafts with nocks and inserts in the box.

Spine, explained once: it's how much the arrow bends. A higher number bends more, so a 500 is weaker than a 300. Gold Tip numbers its middle step 340, where some brands use 350. Close, but not the same shaft. Read Gold Tip's own chart for a Gold Tip arrow.

Ted Nugent shafts

The Ted Nugent arrows are .246-inch shafts too, listed by the maker at .006 inch straightness and 2-grain weight sorting, with the GT nock and insert. The grid has them as bare shafts. On paper, they sit next to the plain Hunter.

Velocity XT: lighter shafts for more speed

The Velocity XT is the speed shaft. The maker says it "makes slow bows fast and fast bows faster." It's a .246-inch shaft at .003 inch straightness, with spines that reach weaker than the Hunter line on the light end. One detail matters for parts: the Velocity XT ships with an Accu-Lite .246 nock, not the GT nock the Hunter uses. The grid lists Accu-Lite nocks separately.

Light versus heavy, per the maker's FAQ: kinetic energy depends mostly on the bow, so a light arrow and a heavy arrow from the same bow carry nearly the same kinetic energy. Hunters pick lighter arrows for a flatter path, tighter pin gaps and more room for a misjudged yardage. That's a trade, like ordering the big breakfast before a three-mile walk in.

Pierce LRT: the small-diameter shaft

The Pierce family is Gold Tip's .166-inch line. The Pierce LRT in the grid is the tightest-sorted version, per the maker: .001 inch straightness and half a grain per dozen. It uses a one-piece component system with a half-out insert and the GTO nock. The maker says that system makes it easy to install straight. It also lists a Dyna-Tek Slick Shield coating, which it says aids penetration and target removal.

Spines in the Pierce LRT listings run from stiff to mid-range. The catch with a .166 shaft is parts: inserts, nocks and lighted nocks all have to match that diameter. Gold Tip's .166 nocks are the GTO series, and the grid lists them.

Traditional and Traditional XT: shafts for stick bows

The Traditional family is built for recurves and longbows. The Traditional XT is a .246-inch shaft at .003 inch, with 5-inch barred feathers and a wood-grained cedar look, per the maker. Its spines run from 340 to 600, so it reaches a weaker spine than the Hunter line. The grid has the XT both fletched and as bare shafts, and the plain Traditional as shafts.

For years, nobody at our camp knew the spine of a single traditional arrow in the cabin. I've been making up for that with spreadsheets ever since.

Traditional bows need their own spine math. Start with the maker's spine selector and the recurve arrows page. Bows themselves are on the hunting recurve bow page.

Crossbow bolts Gold Tip makes

The maker lists bolts in two diameters. What it states for the two in the grid:

• Ballistic: .300-inch inside diameter, .005 inch straightness, 20 and 22-inch lengths, 4-inch Duravanes, a 110-grain insert, flat and moon nocks
• Nitro: .272-inch inside diameter, .005 inch, 20 and 22-inch lengths, 4-inch Duravanes, a 60-grain insert, a moon nock

Both are weight sorted to within 2 grains per dozen. Gold Tip's site lists Swift, Superfly and Pro versions as well; those aren't in the grid right now.

Here's the thing with bolts: your crossbow maker decides the length, the minimum weight and the nock, not the bolt brand. A .300 bolt and a .272 bolt need different nocks and inserts. Read your crossbow manual first, then shop. The crossbow bolts page covers lengths and nock types across brands, and best crossbow bolts has a ranked list.

Never dry-fire a crossbow, and only shoot bolts that match what your crossbow maker specifies.

Gold Tip nocks and components

The nocks follow the diameters. Most listings in the grid are 12-packs, per Amazon:

• GT .246: the Hunter, Hunter Pro, Traditional and Ted Nugent nock
• Accu-Lite .246: the Velocity XT nock
• Accu-Tough .204: for .204 shafts
• GTO .166: for the Pierce shafts
• Kinetic: for the Kinetic shafts, which the maker lists at .204
• HD pin nocks: fit over a bushing instead of pressing inside the shaft

Uncle Walt asked if a pin nock was something you wear on a lapel. In a way, yes. It sits on the outside.

General nock fit is on the nocks page, and lit options are on the lighted nocks page. The glue-in point in the grid is listed for Gold Tip's 30X, a target shaft.

How to choose within the Gold Tip lineup

Pick the diameter first

Every insert, nock and lighted nock you buy for the next few seasons has to match the inside diameter. Standard .246 shafts take the widest range of parts. The .166 Pierce shafts need the GTO nock and the matching insert.

Then match the spine to your bow

Spine depends on your peak draw weight, your finished arrow length and your point weight. Use the arrow length you'll actually shoot, not your draw length. Gold Tip publishes a spine selector on its site, and its own numbers (340, not 350) are the ones to use for its shafts. General background is on the hunting arrows page and the compound bow arrows page.

Then pick straightness, and don't overspend on it

My one opinion on this page: get the spine right before you pay for a tighter grade. The reason is in Gold Tip's own FAQ. It says the difference between .006 and .001 inch is noticeable, especially with broadheads, but "not dramatic." A perfectly straight arrow with the wrong spine still flies like the wrong spine.

Check the balance point

The maker's FAQ suggests 8 to 12 percent FOC for hunting arrows. FOC (front of center) is how far the balance point sits ahead of the middle. Quick math: balance the finished arrow on a finger, measure from the middle to that point, and divide by the arrow's length. Heavier points and inserts move it forward.

Fletched packs or bare shafts

Gold Tip sells three package types, per its FAQ: fletched arrows with nocks installed and inserts included; shaft packages with nocks and inserts in the box; and shafts only, with neither. If you don't own a high-speed cut-off saw and a fletching jig, start with fletched. The maker's FAQ also says to use the smallest fletching that still stabilizes the arrow, since bigger vanes add weight, drag and wind drift. Options are on the fletching page.

Care, inspection and warranty basics

The maker's safety page says to inspect every arrow before every shot. Its method: hold the arrow at both ends, flex it away from you and anyone nearby, and look and listen for cracks, splinters or nicks. Rotate it and repeat four or five times around the shaft. Discard any arrow that shows damage. Shooting a damaged carbon arrow can cause it to fail and injure the shooter.

The same page says to cut carbon shafts only with a high-speed cut-off saw, and to leave the arrow at least one inch in front of the rest at full draw.

The warranty is one year from purchase, limited to defects in materials or workmanship, with proof of purchase. It doesn't cover damage from hard objects or other arrows, improper cutting, fletching, cleaning or assembly, normal wear, or non-Gold Tip components. Claims start with an email to the maker with photos, the part number and the receipt.

Broadhead and crossbow rules vary by state, so check your state wildlife agency before the season.

Who's behind Gold Tip

Gold Tip was founded in 1989, per Escalade's September 2025 announcement that it had bought the Gold Tip business, including Bee Stinger, from Revelyst. Back in 2013, Bowhunter reported that Bushnell had bought Gold Tip and described the company as based in Orem, Utah. I couldn't verify on the maker's site where the shafts are made today, so I've left that out.

Diameter, spine, straightness. Write all three on the arrow tube, in that order. (Walt writes the vane color. We've agreed to disagree.)