Crossbow bolt thread size

If you came here because you were about to buy field points and wanted to know whether they would screw into your bolts: they will. That is the good news and it is most of the answer. The reason this page is longer than one sentence is that "will it thread in" is not the question that actually goes wrong - and the three questions that do go wrong are the ones product listings describe most carelessly.

In detail

Points, heads and shafts that thread together

01Matching a point diameter to your shaft

$4.97/Amazon

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NAP Bullet Field Point 5/16 in 100 gr

New Archery Products

9.0/ 10

A dozen precision-machined steel bullet points per pack from a broadhead maker, screw-in, easy to pull out of a bag target. The reason it leads here is the option list: NAP offers the same point in 100 and 125 grain and in 11/32, 9/32 and 5/16 inch diameters, so you can match the ferrule diameter of your shaft rather than accepting whatever came in the box.

Published spec	Value
Weight	100 gr
Diameter	5/16 in
Per pack	12
Fitment	Screw-in, threaded connection
Material	Precision-machined steel
Weight options	100 gr and 125 gr
Diameter options	11/32 in, 9/32 in and 5/16 in
Intended use	Target practice in cardboard and foam

What it does well

• Three diameters and two weights in the same point, so you can match your shaft
• A dozen per pack, which is the right quantity for a season of practice
• Made by a broadhead maker, so the weights are consistent with its heads
• Cheapest item on this site

Where it falls short

• The listing calls the 5/16, 9/32 and 11/32 figures thread diameters, which they are not - they are ferrule diameters
• One shape, so it is not a replacement for a practice head that mimics a broadhead in flight
• Steel rather than stainless, so it will surface-rust if stored damp
• No thread specification stated anywhere on the listing

Our rubric

Fit

9.4

Consistency

8.8

Durability

7.8

Value

9.6

02A spare dozen with a tapered shoulder

$9.99/Amazon

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AREYCVK 100 gr Field Points, 12 pack

AREYCVK

8.0/ 10

Twelve CNC-machined high-carbon-steel points with a tapered shoulder, in a case, for less than a tank of gas. The tapered shoulder is the specification worth noticing: it is what lets you pull the arrow back out of a foam or bag target without taking the target with it.

Published spec	Value
Weight	100 gr
Per pack	12
Fitment	Standard screw-in thread
Material	High-carbon steel, CNC machined
Shoulder	Tapered, to reduce target damage
Fits	Recurve, compound and crossbow arrows
Diameter	Not published
Included	Storage case

What it does well

• A tapered shoulder, which the listing ties directly to easier removal from foam and bag targets
• A case in the box, so a dozen loose points do not end up in the bottom of a pack
• CNC machined, which is what keeps a 100 gr point actually 100 gr
• Cheap enough to keep a spare dozen in the truck

Where it falls short

• No diameter figure published, so you cannot match it to a shaft before it arrives
• No thread specification stated
• An unbranded maker with no warranty behind it
• The listing covers recurve, compound and crossbow arrows together rather than specifying crossbow fitment

Our rubric

Fit

7.4

Consistency

8.0

Durability

7.6

Value

9.2

03One-piece steel, nothing to come loose

$54.95/Amazon

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G5 Montec M3 100 gr

G5 Outdoors

8.9/ 10

One solid piece of 420 stainless steel with a 1-1/16 inch cut, no vents, cut-on-contact geometry and every head spin-tested before it ships. There are no blades to replace, no screws to loosen and no collar to fail. For a fast bow, a fixed one-piece head is the most reliable thing you can put on the front of a bolt.

Published spec	Value
Weight	100 gr (125 also offered)
Cutting diameter	1-1/16 in
Blades	3, fixed
Construction	One-piece MIM, 420 stainless steel, no vents
Sharpening	Diamond cut, cut-on-contact
Quality control	100% spin-tested
Per pack	3

What it does well

• One piece: no blades, screws or collars to fail
• Every head spin-tested before it ships
• Resharpenable, so a head survives more than one animal
• Cut-on-contact geometry starts cutting immediately

Where it falls short

• A 1-1/16 inch cut is narrow next to a 2.25-inch mechanical
• Fixed blades plane more in wind than a closed mechanical
• Needs careful tuning to fly with field points

Our rubric

Flight

8.2

Penetration

9.4

Consistency

9.0

Durability

9.6

Value

8.4

04The mechanical most crossbow hunters land on

$57.49/Amazon

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Rage Hypodermic Trypan NC

Rage

8.6/ 10

A one-piece titanium ferrule, .039-inch stainless blades, a hybrid tip and No Collar retention — meaning the blades are held closed by the ferrule geometry rather than a rubber band you have to replace every shot. For a fast bow, the collar is the part that fails, so removing it matters.

Published spec	Value
Weight	100 gr
Blade thickness	0.039 in
Type	Mechanical, expandable
Ferrule	One-piece titanium
Retention	No Collar
Tip	Hybrid
Per pack	3

What it does well

• No Collar retention removes the consumable rubber band
• A titanium ferrule is lighter and stronger than aluminum
• .039-inch blades are thick for a mechanical
• Ferrule alignment adapter helps it spin true

Where it falls short

• Most expensive broadhead here
• No cutting diameter published on this listing
• Mechanicals lose energy opening, which matters on a slow bow

Our rubric

Flight

8.6

Penetration

8.4

Consistency

8.8

Durability

8.8

Value

7.2

05The tightest published straightness tolerance here

$29.97/Amazon

$39.99 25% off

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Carbon Express Maxima Contour Crossbolts

Carbon Express

9.0/ 10

Dual Spine Weight Forward is not marketing: the shaft has two spines, a stiffer section forward of a softer one, and Carbon Express claims it cuts oscillation in half. The figures are the reason to buy — .002 inch straightness checked to a ten-thousandth, spine sorted to .0025 inch, weight sorted to 1 grain. Nothing else on this page publishes that level of sorting.

Published spec	Value
Length	20 in
Weight	390 gr
Diameter	0.348 in
Straightness	+/- .002 in
Spine tolerance	+/- .0025 in
Weight tolerance	+/- 1.0 gr
Vanes and nocks	3 in Dragon Vanes; moon nocks installed, C-Nocks included

What it does well

• Straightness, spine and weight tolerances all published and all tight
• Dual-spine construction claims 50 percent less oscillation
• Both moon nocks and flat C-Nocks in the pack, so it fits more bows
• Laser-matched sets rather than randomly boxed shafts

Where it falls short

• Three per pack, so a full quiver costs more than it looks
• 390 grains is mid-weight; heavy-bolt shooters will want more

Our rubric

Flight

9.4

Penetration

8.2

Consistency

9.6

Durability

8.6

Value

8.0

The thread: 8-32, almost everywhere

Archery settled on one thread a long time ago. It is designated 8-32: a number 8 screw diameter with 32 threads per inch. It lives on the back of every standard field point and broadhead, and on the inside of the insert glued into the front of your shaft. Component makers describe it as the industry standard precisely because it is - 3Rivers Archery, which sells screw-in adapters for traditional shooters, says its adapters use "the same thread used by all arrow inserts (except Easton Deep Six)".

Crossbow bolts are not special here. A crossbow bolt is a short, usually stiff arrow, and the front end is built the same way an arrow's is. That is why a 100 gr G5 Montec intended for a compound bow threads into a TenPoint bolt without an adapter, and why you can practice with generic field points and hunt with a brand-name head on the same shafts.

Where fitment actually fails: three things that are not the thread

1. Ferrule diameter, which half the market calls thread diameter

This is the single most common confusion, and the listings cause it. Field points are sold in diameters - 5/16 in, 9/32 in, 11/32 in are the usual three - and that figure describes the shoulder of the point, not the screw. NAP's own Bullet Field Point listing calls them "thread diameters", which they are not. The thread is 8-32 on all three.

What the diameter has to match is the outside diameter of your shaft. Get it wrong and the point either steps out wider than the shaft - which catches on the way into and out of a target, and spoils arrow flight - or sits narrower, leaving a lip for the shaft's front edge to take the impact. Neither stops the point threading in. Both are wrong.

Crossbow bolts are not standardized on one diameter, which is why this matters. Most carbon crossbow bolts sit in the 5/16 in class, but Easton's 9MM shafts are deliberately fatter and some small-diameter shafts are thinner. Our what size crossbow bolts do I need page covers how length, nock, diameter and weight are each set, and by whom.

2. Insert or outsert - and whether your bolt even has one

The thread you screw into belongs to a component, not to the carbon. Most bolts ship with a brass or aluminum insert bonded inside the front of the shaft. Some use an outsert, which fits over the outside, and some premium systems use a half-out that does both. Three consequences:

• A point that will not start is usually a damaged or glue-fouled insert, not a wrong thread. Epoxy squeeze-out in the threads is extremely common on factory bolts.
• Insert weight is part of your arrow weight. A brass insert adds meaningful grains up front and changes front-of-center, which is why some bolts are sold specifically with brass inserts. See the crossbow bolt weight guide.
• Some practice points are sold without an insert. TenPoint's own field practice points, for instance, state that they screw into an arrow insert that is not included - which is fine if your bolts have them and a problem if you bought bare shafts.

3. Grain weight, which has to match between practice and hunting

The thread being universal means you can practice with a 100 gr field point and hunt with a 125 gr broadhead. Do not. Point weight sits at the very front of the arrow, where it has the largest effect on both total arrow weight and balance, so changing it between practice and the hunt changes where the bolt lands.

Buy field points in the same weight as your broadheads, and replace them when the shoulders get chewed. 100 vs 125 grain broadheads is the full argument over which weight to standardize on, and how to sight in a crossbow with broadheads covers the verification step that catches the difference when it survives anyway.

A quick reference

How to check yours in two minutes

1. Take a field point out of the bolt you already own. If one came with the bolts, it is the reference for both thread and diameter. Keep it.
2. Measure the shaft's outside diameter with calipers if you have them, or compare the point's shoulder to the shaft by eye - a correct point is flush, not stepped.
3. Check the weight stamped on the point or the pack. Then buy field points in that weight, and broadheads in that weight.
4. If the point will not start, look into the insert with a light. Glue, grit or a burr is the usual culprit. A bolt with a stripped insert is a bolt to retire, not to force.
5. If you shoot an Easton small-diameter system, read the shaft's own component chart before buying heads. Deep Six and 8-32 are not interchangeable in either direction.

What to buy

For practice, the NAP Bullet Field Point is the pick here precisely because of the diameter options: the same point in 100 and 125 gr and in 11/32, 9/32 and 5/16 in, so you can match your shaft rather than hope. A dozen costs less than a single broadhead. The AREYCVK twelve-pack is the spare-dozen option, with a tapered shoulder the listing ties directly to pulling arrows out of foam and bag targets more easily - though it publishes no diameter figure at all, which is exactly the gap this page is about.

For hunting on the same shafts, both a fixed head like the G5 Montec M3 and a mechanical like the Rage Hypodermic Trypan NC use the same 8-32 thread and come in matching grain weights. The wider field is on best crossbow broadheads, with the fixed-and-mechanical argument on mechanical vs fixed blade. If you are buying shafts as well, start at best crossbow bolts.

One last thing worth saying plainly: none of this fixes a shot you cannot range. A point that matches your broadhead in weight and diameter is the first step; knowing whether the animal is at 32 or 44 yards is the other one, and the best rangefinders for crossbow hunting covers that.