Easton
Easton Archery has made arrows in Salt Lake City and Van Nuys since Doug Easton started tapering aluminum shafts in 1922. The company shipped the first commercial aluminum arrow (24 SRT-X) in 1946 and the first carbon-aluminum hybrid (A/C/C) in 1984. Today its Salt Lake City plant runs the Axis and 4mm Axis Long Range lines used by most Olympic and hunting archers.
Brand ethos and manufacturing
Easton owns its extrusion and pultrusion lines. Every 5mm HIT insert is machined in-house to a bonded fit, not a press fit, which lets the outer diameter stay clean and the weight sort stay tight. Straightness gets verified on a laser spinner; Match Grade dozens ship at plus or minus .001 inches.
Flagship products
- Easton 5mm Axis: reference standard-diameter carbon, .246 outer, 9.5 GPI at 340 spine, HIT insert system. MSRP USD 130 to 220 per dozen.
- Easton FMJ 5mm: aluminum-over-carbon heavy shaft, 11.3 GPI at 340, tank build for elk and moose. MSRP USD 220 to 380 per dozen.
- Easton 4mm Axis Long Range: micro-diameter for wind and penetration, .204 outer, 10.8 GPI at 340. MSRP USD 260 to 420 per dozen.
Warranty and forum reputation
Rokslide 2025 arrow durability threads keep coming back to Easton as the warranty benchmark. Broken shafts get replaced on a photo, no return shipping. HIT inserts are stocked in every serious pro shop in North America; if you break one on a hunt, replacement is a same-day phone call, not a mail-order wait.
Common complaints
Price is the honest weakness. FMJ Match Grade tops USD 360 a dozen, and the difference between plus or minus .001 and plus or minus .003 straightness does not show up on most hunt shots inside 50 yards. Archery Talk regulars point out that the base Axis at .003 delivers 90 percent of the performance.