Were they ever a good option? Does anyone still use them? Can anyone share info on their experience with them?
They were very heavy. That's all I remember. Been a long time since I shot them except for fishing.
When I got started 58 yrs a go micro flite arrows were the best there was. I was talked into buying a used Kodiak mag for $45 and putting the $20 difference of a new one into microflites. They were always straight and very tuff, the pro shop owner shot them into a brick wall to prove it. The shop owner said you'll never kill anything with a bow, arrows kill so buy the best ones available. They were heavy and after about 5 yrs I went to aluminum.
I'm not talking about fishing arrows. I have a large quantity of hollow fiberglass shafts, not unlike carbons, that were probably manufactured in the '60s or '70s.
Micro Flite is all that Bob Swinehart used.
45 years ago they sold them at a sporting goods and when I bought 2 of them I treated them like gold and was afraid of losing them or breaking.
But as I remember they were very tough.
I would definitely fletch some up and use them..
I'm asking because I just came across a bunch of them, and I wonder if they are of any use. I probably have a few hundred of them. They are from my dad's old archery shop, and are stamped with his company logo. He may have had them manufactured.
Love them, very dependable and nice hunting weight. I have mostly Gordon's and M J Log/Herters which were both made by Gordon. Probably 6-10 dz in #8's and down.
52 years ago I bought my first bow, a Bear Kodiak Magnum bow and some orange MJ Log fiberglass arrows. I remember they were very heavy arrows. I think I still have 2-3 I didn't shatter hitting rocks, etc. I then switched over to Bear cedar arrows and still couldn't hit anything. :biglaugh:
What spine and length are the ones you have Archie?
Quote from: WVbowhunter on May 13, 2023, 07:58:24 PM
What spine and length are the ones you have Archie?
I don't know, and don't have a spine tester. There are probably a few different variety of shaft types. If they still have some value I'll figure out next what to do with them.[attachment=1]
I shot micro-flies back in the day. As others have said, good weight and fairly straight. I did find that they mushroomed fairly easily on hard impacts though. There were other manufacturers as well, Gordon Glassshafts, Fleetwood glass, Condor Log fiberglass, Farbenglas, Glas-lite, Gilmore Glass, etc.
Difficult to say what yours are. Micro-flites, and some other brands, had quite a bit of texture.
Regardless, the limiting factor nowadays is the inserts. Still a fair number of shafts around, but not a lot of inserts.
Archie if you want to sale a dozen I will buy them. I got a dozen from my grandfather, and they was Bear. I shot many deer, turkey and bear with them. I always lived the weight, I would say take a good wood shaft in a blender, add flexibility of carbons in there, what comes out are those. Really do not know why people arent making them today.
My first deer hunting arrows were Microflights. I had Bear as well. When I moved to San Diego I bought Gordon's at their plant in San Marcos. But by then I was one of the few using them. Most of the men in the club used aluminum.
Quote from: M60gunner on May 14, 2023, 12:39:18 AM
My first deer hunting arrows were Microflights. I had Bear as well. When I moved to San Diego I bought Gordon's at their plant in San Marcos. But by then I was one of the few using them. Most of the men in the club used aluminum.
Dads archery shop was in San Diego, late 60's - mid 70's. Roman Archery. We just dug these old shafts out from his shop inventory from way back. Brought them to Alaska in 1979 with the family when we moved (I was a kid), and they've been in storage ever since.
My second & third set of arrows were fiberglass. The first ones was a sort of off brand shaft called "Mohawks" and the second set was from Bear archery..... but looking back I suspect that they may have been microflites privately labeled.
The Mohawks was crooked as snakes but the Bear archery set was really good; except they came with vanes and shot like crap from my Ben Pearson Gamester recurve...circa 1972.
Looks like he used Roman numerals, so they can be converted using the old Bear charts.
Quote from: toddster on May 14, 2023, 12:23:09 AM
Archie if you want to sale a dozen I will buy them. I got a dozen from my grandfather, and they was Bear. I shot many deer, turkey and bear with them. I always lived the weight, I would say take a good wood shaft in a blender, add flexibility of carbons in there, what comes out are those. Really do not know why people arent making them today.
I wouldn't mind selling some, but I need to figure out what is going on with them first. I posted a pic of 3 different varieties, but I know there are others. I don't know what the spines are, or if there's anything I should be concerned about regarding their condition. (Old, dry, brittle? I don't know if fiberglass has those kinds of problems.) Guys have mentioned inserts... I may be able to find inserts for some or all of them. I know at one point we had many drawers full of hundreds and thousands of different inserts from dad's old inventory, so if I can find them that may change things.
I knew of your dad, never met him that I know of but remember his articles in the old Bow and Arrow magazines. Do you have any idea who made the shafts-any name on shipping labels, outside of boxes etc? Reason I ask is the numbering system of Microflite and Gordon dictates slightly different spines.
Your picture shows numbers 4, 10 and 8, albeit roman numerals. These indicated the different spine groups. A serch of the internet will provide spine charts for both Gordon and Microflite, as well as Glashaft and Duraflite. Just off the top 4's are for 35-40, 8's would be 55-60 and 10's are 65-70 if they were made by Gordon.
Regarding inserts they are vital to find especially the nock end ones. Some screw in inserts for aluminums will fit the inside diameter but don't have the lip for the increased wall thickness of fiberglass so on hard hits the insert is rammed up inside splitting the end. Also very common back in those days were one piece glue in broadhead adapters too for these shafts.
Hated them. Shot several different brands in the 60's and 70's. Had trouble getting inserts to stick using either hot melt or epoxy. Hit something solid and the cracked. No thanks.
Disliked them....fiberglass splintering constantly cutting my hands.