Bringing vintage blades into the 21st century

Equipment
1

I have a set of '71 Dyna Buttonbacks, a set of DG s400 pullouts, and snow on the ground… not a situation conducive to letting things stay copacetic.

I want to see if I can bring this vintage set into the modern era with what I’ve got… McGyver-esque. I’m contemplating pulling the shafts from the Dynas, hardstepping the S400’s, and playing my 5i as a 6i (I’m even thinking about having the numbers welded- filed- removed then restamping, :unamused: ).

See if you can follow me here. Here’s the current setup for my Dynas: (I only play 5i-pw)

iron loft
5 30.0
6 34.0
7 38.0
8 42.0
9 46.0
pw 50.0

Compared to my G40’s (modern gamers) they are 3* weaker. 3/4 of a club difference.

I want stiffer/ heavier shafts so instead of just reshafting the Dynas with x100 I figure hardstepping the pullout s400’s would be the best of both worlds. Heavier than the x100’s and just as stiff (approximately…) The s400 pullouts are standard length, 38" 5i when installed. The 1x hardstep would make the 5i length 37.5" which is exactly what I play now anyway. Perfect… BUT! The loft would still be 3* weaker compared to my gamers. A 2x hardstep would make the 5i play 37" which is my 6 iron length… but the Dyna 5i is actually a 6i in loft anyway… so now I’m back to having my perfect length 6i. This new “6iron” (which would say 5 on the bottom) would play 37" as my current 6 iron does. It would actully be 1* STRONGER than my modern gamers, as stiff as an x100 shaft, and 4 grams HEAVIER than an x100.

The only dilemma I see would be with the PW (which would have a 9 on the bottom). I would run out of pullouts at that point. I’d most likely just pull out the shaft from the actual PW in the Dyna set and switch that into the new PW (or 9i depending on how you’re following me, lol). The actual PW would be tossed into my parts bin anyhow and it currently has a DG x-stiff shaft. I wouldn’t try to make it a Gap wedge or SW… I have those already and like them.

Effectively, if you were to remove the numbers from the bottom of the irons and only contemplate lofts I’m hardstepping S400’s one time. (vintage loft vs modern loft). But because the Dynas are 3/4 of a club weaker it looks like a 2x hardstep. Confusing, but interesting.

For peace of mind I’d really have to consider changing the numbers on irons to reflect the more modern lofts, or just deal with it. Bottom line, I’d be able to use what I have on hand. Put heavier/ stiffer shafts in an awesome set of heads, and have them play like a modern set of irons.

God, I’m bored!

2

P,

Sounds like you have a plan. Personally, I no longer worry about the number on the club. I know how far I hit them and when it comes to iron play, distance control is numero uno. Plus, you’ll often have your opponents guessing.

robbo

3

Pinzer - your post and Robbos reply made me think of something when I was playing a tournament-

I was playing with Elkington and we got to a par 3…approx 165 yards or so
The wind was left to right and slightly helping also with a fair degree of strength to it
I had the honor and selected a 7 iron…
I hooded the face slightly at address to put some hook spin on the shot and swung normal…
this held it up against the wind with no difference to the look of my swing
The ball flew straight because the hook against the fade but the wind took some heat off the shot
It nestled down nicely near the flag and all was good
Elk saw what I hit and pulled the same club.
He did his usual nice fluid motion BUT had no work on the ball turning against the wind
He sailed the green and then looked at me confused as hell about why his 7 iron went 10-15 yards farther

It just reminded me of numbers V yardages…as Robbo said- the number on the bottom of the club is inconsequential… as long as you know how far you can hit each club then it’s the result that matters
and another reason why I don’t like watching what club other guys hit because you have no idea what shot they have in mind :laughing:

Besides that I like your thought process about setting up some vintage gamers that will hold you in good stead with your swing progress
In hindsight it’s just a number on a club… modern clubs are made stronger so they can sell you more wedges and to get the long iron out of your hand and sell you a hybrid- nothing else

4

Great story, Two’… priceless!

And good points, too. I really don’t care that much about how far I hit a “5” iron, accuracy is my first priority for sure; but looking at the clubs last night my thought process went like this:

-I have a nice set of Dynas looking at me. I want to reshaft them… how do I do this?
-Over here are some S400 pullouts.
-Well, putting the S400’s in the Dynas is simple enough, but what about the lengths… and I really want something a little more stiff.
-I’ll hardstep the S400’s… done deal.
-But I play my 30* club (5 iron) at 37.5" now and that’s a “4 iron” for the Dynas… which I normally play at 38"… if I strictly looked at numbers and not lofts.
-I’m going to have to do this as a “loft-to-loft” comparison and disregard the numbers
-The only way to get the length/loft/flex correct is to do a 2x hardstep and that will be perfect apples-to-apples shaft swap… just not numbers-to-numbers.

I’m sure it wouldn’t be a big deal if I had to playing my 30* club (whatever the number is) at 38" instead of 37.5" like I’m used to. That would keep the numbers equal and distances different… but to get it perfect I have to set this up where my Dyna 4 iron is built exactly like my current 5 iron.

Plus that extra 1* lol…