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Zombie Issues

2861 Views 32 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Huntersthompson
Bought a dozen Zombie Slayers .001"/20"/Blazers from a reputable dealer to be a bit disappointed so far.
Shooting out of a tuned TS370, after 8 shots or so, on two shafts, they both split from the rear to near the back of the Blazer vane. The second of two bolts left the insert somewhere in my target. I have shot various brands of bolts through this xbow and have never seen this with any other brand.

Extremely accurate bolts but very disappointed in the durability.

Anybody else experience this? Was this a glitch? Many have raved about the Executioners. Feel like I paid up for the best and received less!
Thanks
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Usually when you see an arrow split like that it is caused by either being barely hit previously by another arrow or by having a semi dry fire which is caused by not quite having the nock securely against the string when shot. As for the pulled insert it happens sometimes usually because of not using the correct glue or just incorrectly applying it.
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My ADF is set for 1/16" and all my other bolts have never shown this. Dry fire is not the root cause. I pull each shot prior to the next so damage by at hit is not the issue. Regarding the insert, when a person pays for a premium bolt, they should receive the quality. Inserts pulling out should not happen. I did find the insert in my target. It appears to not have much adhesive on the OD grooves or in the shaft.

My next purchase will not be BE Zombies.
Bought a dozen Zombie Slayers .001"/20"/Blazers from a reputable dealer to be a bit disappointed so far.
Shooting out of a tuned TS370, after 8 shots or so, on two shafts, they both split from the rear to near the back of the Blazer vane. The second of two bolts left the insert somewhere in my target. I have shot various brands of bolts through this xbow and have never seen this with any other brand.

Extremely accurate bolts but very disappointed in the durability.

Anybody else experience this? Was this a glitch? Many have raved about the Executioners. Feel like I paid up for the best and received less!
Thanks
Did you buy factory fletched or custom arrows!
I cannot tell you accurately. The vendor had these on their site described as I have previously stated. .001/20"/Blazers.
They came with moon and flat nocks. I guess I'm not understanding the reason for your question. Are you saying customs have the potential to crack over factory fletched?
There's not a arrow builder out there that isnt going to have a insert pull once in a while.
As for the split shafts they could have been damaged in shipping, while being fletched, or even when the nocks were installed.
I would contact whoever you bought them from.
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I have emailed Bow Hunter Supply. Hopefully they will stand behind what they sell. And NO, the box came in perfect condition. I'm not going to spend 10-15 bucks to send them back. Next time I'll order from Jerry. It's my understanding he is a stand up guy and stands behind what he sells.
Lesson learned
The splits at the nock end ....First thing I thought of was the nock fit. I have seen tight nocks split the shafts on hard impact. Someone said there isn't a builder out there that hasn't had an insert pull out. Well .... None of mine do. Not for the last 20+ years anyway. I clean the shafts correctly and use a two part/slow set epoxy. It just isn't going to happen if the preparation and materials used are correct.
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Agreed. That was my point. I could see offshore bolts from who knows where failing like these did. That is the reason I was willing to pay for the quality. I'll find out if BE made these or if the vendor made them from raw shafts. BE's manufacturing quality is NOT in question here. It's how do two bolts out of twelve fail in very little use. May have been 22" shafts cut down incorrectly. I have no clue. Just trying to better understand what caused the issue. I have never had any other bolt do this regardless of manufacture in my 40 years of shooting thousands of bolts.

The nock's did not seem tight in any of the bolts. I pulled three out to insert lighted nock's and they felt "normal". And no, these were not the bolts that failed. The ones that failed had the original factory moon's.
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I have never had an insert pull out but I buy custom arrows. I had 4 arrows crack and it turned out that it was bleeder blades opened too far and hit the arrow shaft. Jerry from TappNation sent me 6 new arrows to replace 4. I told him not your fault and explained what happened and said send me the bill. He said Merry Christmas. Now that's standing behind your product!
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There was a time when I purchased premade black eagles as well. I’ve had em come with white mocks, yellow nocks and clear nocks.
The yellow nocks did not fit right into the shaft and would split the shaft when fired.
I bought many dozen of these shafts and only had that problem using the stock yellow nocks.
The clear nocks they had for a while rocked. They wore like iron and would not grove after many shots.
I have shafts from the same package that broke with hundreds and hundreds of shots on them after I switched nocks.
My point is if the nock is easy to turn in the shaft pulls out without effort they will split a Black eagle arrow. Proper nock fit is a must with linear layer carbon. Black eagle carnivore arrows are the same way.
Check the nock fit and make sure there is no burr on the nock before installing and you will have zero issues. Black Eagle makes a fine arrow, nock fit is the Achilles heel in thier system.
I assume they buy nocks from whom ever is cheapest they day they need them. Some times you will get nocks from them that are longer then others as well.
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Dang, I use a lot of the yellow nocks and have not had a problem with them.
Bought a dozen Zombie Slayers .001"/20"/Blazers from a reputable dealer to be a bit disappointed so far.
Shooting out of a tuned TS370, after 8 shots or so, on two shafts, they both split from the rear to near the back of the Blazer vane. The second of two bolts left the insert somewhere in my target. I have shot various brands of bolts through this xbow and have never seen this with any other brand.

Extremely accurate bolts but very disappointed in the durability.

Anybody else experience this? Was this a glitch? Many have raved about the Executioners. Feel like I paid up for the best and received less!
Thanks
Could be the Blazer vanes may be too tall or go too deep into the shooting rail. I use Vanetec 2.88" vanes from Jerry and they work perfect out of my TS370. Just a thought.
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Jmalone,
Great info
These did have yellow nocks and they did not fit tight. I can easily turn them in the shaft with my thumb and index finger. Not easy but I can turn them. All other bolt manufactures I have are tight to the point of needing pliers to turn.

Tom,
I have .035" clearance on the cock vane to bottom of rail.

I did talk to Bow Hunter Supply regarding these. They keep redirecting me to BE for resolve. I'll give Randy a call and see what he has to say. I think I'll just take it on the chin, glue in the nocks on the last ten and look elsewhere next time. Tom raves about Blood Sport Hunter bolts so I'll order some and see how they perform. $29.00 on Amazon. And they take returns without questions when there is a problem!

Thanks All and Happy New Year
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Jmalone,
Great info
These did have yellow nocks and they did not fit tight. I can easily turn them in the shaft with my thumb and index finger. Not easy but I can turn them. All other bolt manufactures I have are tight to the point of needing pliers to turn.

Tom,
I have .035" clearance on the cock vane to bottom of rail.

I did talk to Bow Hunter Supply regarding these. They keep redirecting me to BE for resolve. I'll give Randy a call and see what he has to say. I think I'll just take it on the chin, glue in the nocks on the last ten and look elsewhere next time. Tom raves about Blood Sport Hunter bolts so I'll order some and see how they perform. $29.00 on Amazon. And they take returns without questions when there is a problem!

Thanks All and Happy New Year
Farm Deer, BloodSport Hunters will not disappoint for off the shelf arrows. ;)
As a follow up. I believe Jmalone hit the nail on the head. I glued in all remaining nocks with a small amount of JB weld slow cure epoxy on Thursday night. Today, shot remaining 10 bolts 3 times each and then shot two of the ten 12 times to compare to the first two failed bolts. Not one of the shafts cracked and must say; they are dead accurate.

I do believe that the yellow nocks are small in diameter for the ID of the shaft and may have had a small gap after shooting a couple times. I cannot say I witnessed any gap when shooting the first two but I wasn't really looking for that issue either. I can share that I pulled an orange nock out of my decimator bolts, same ID as Zombies, and it fit very tight.

Thanks Jmalone for sharing your prior experience.
Thank you also Tom for your insight on BS Hunters
Farm Deer, BloodSport Hunters will not disappoint for off the shelf arrows. ;)
I got a laugh out of this. My wife (professional bench shooter for savage arms) went nuts with these arrows. She spent a whole day, swapping scopes and adjusting timing, tiller, trigger tension. LOL! it was the arrows :D What a mess she was making (with these shafts) on the target. They are sitting right here beside me,on the other side of the den. I have no idea why. She screamed like a baboon on crack when she got it all figured out :D
Figured out means....she found out she got screwed when she bought them.
Jmalone,
Great info
These did have yellow nocks and they did not fit tight. I can easily turn them in the shaft with my thumb and index finger. Not easy but I can turn them. All other bolt manufactures I have are tight to the point of needing pliers to turn.

Tom,
I have .035" clearance on the cock vane to bottom of rail.

I did talk to Bow Hunter Supply regarding these. They keep redirecting me to BE for resolve. I'll give Randy a call and see what he has to say. I think I'll just take it on the chin, glue in the nocks on the last ten and look elsewhere next time. Tom raves about Blood Sport Hunter bolts so I'll order some and see how they perform. $29.00 on Amazon. And they take returns without questions when there is a problem!

Thanks All and Happy New Year
They also have the Bloodsport witness fo $34.95 right now if you prefer a 325gn to a 300gn.
My ADF is set for 1/16" and all my other bolts have never shown this. Dry fire is not the root cause. I pull each shot prior to the next so damage by at hit is not the issue. Regarding the insert, when a person pays for a premium bolt, they should receive the quality. Inserts pulling out should not happen. I did find the insert in my target. It appears to not have much adhesive on the OD grooves or in the shaft.

My next purchase will not be BE Zombies.
My guess is you just happened to get. Some bad arrows . I would get hold of the company and tell them . I wouldn’t quit my zombies just yet . With equipment anything can and will happen.
I wouldn't say the arrows are bad, just some loose nocks. I use .001 and .003 Zombies and BE from Bowhunter's, and have never had a problem . I will add that I don't shoot hundreds of arrows since all three of my crossbows hold zero.

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