5/16-18 Piloted uses the same 5/16-inch, 18-thread pin as standard 5/16-18, but adds a small pilot shoulder that seats into the shaft before the threads engage, for extra alignment. Quarter King carries 189 of these cues, priced from about $70 to about $310, mostly from Athena, Action and Outlaw.
Every item is brand new and 100% genuine, backed by its full manufacturer warranty. Free shipping on orders over $98 (contiguous US) and 30-day returns. Every spec on this page is checked against the manufacturer's published data by our Wilmington, NC store team.
4.9/5 average from 916 customer reviews across 5/16X18 Piloted.
A flat-faced joint relies entirely on its threads to center the shaft on the butt as the two pieces come together. A piloted joint adds a short protruding collar, machined to a close tolerance, that slides into a matching pocket in the shaft first, so the two halves are already lined up before the threads take over. The thread count and pin diameter are identical to plain 5/16-18; the pilot shoulder is the only structural difference. That small addition changes how the two halves are machined to fit each other, which is why the piloted and flat-faced versions of this pin are not treated as one interchangeable size despite sharing the same printed thread numbers.
Because the pilot shoulder carries part of the contact load instead of leaving it entirely to the flat thread faces, piloted joints are generally described as giving a slightly softer, more cushioned hit than an equivalent flat-faced joint, while a pure flat-faced pin tends to feel stiffer and more direct. The tradeoff suits players who want dependable, foolproof alignment every time they reassemble the cue, which matters most on cues that get broken down and put back together often, like the break and break/jump models that make up a large share of this size in our catalog. The pilot shoulder also tends to hold up better on cues that see frequent joining and unjointing, since the shoulder, not the thread crest, takes most of the wear from repeated assembly.
Athena carries the largest share at 42 cues, followed by Action (34), Outlaw (31), Eight Ball Mafia (27), Griffin (18), Talon (15), Voodoo (15), Stealth (6) and Players (1), with prices from about $70 to about $310. Representative picks include the Action IMP20 Impact Cue and Action IMP76 Impact Cue, both in stock, along with the Action CAL02 Calavera Cue and Action CAL04 Calavera Cue, currently out of stock, and the Action INL09 Inlay Cue, also out of stock. Shop the full range under Athena, Outlaw and Griffin.
Despite sharing the same thread numbers, a piloted 5/16-18 shaft will not properly seat on a plain flat-faced 5/16-18 butt, since the flat-faced butt has no pocket machined for the pilot shoulder. It is also a different, unrelated pin from 5/16-14 Piloted, which uses a coarser, older thread pitch, and from the flat-faced 5/16-18 we carry separately. Before ordering a replacement shaft, confirm which version your butt takes, then check tip diameter under shaft size and shaft material under shaft type, or run it through our shaft fit finder. The glossary has more background on joint anatomy if you're not sure which version you're holding.
It means the joint has a small protruding shoulder that seats into the shaft first, ahead of the threads, to help center the shaft on the butt during assembly.
No. The flat-faced butt has no pocket cut for the pilot shoulder, so a piloted shaft will not seat correctly even though the thread numbers match.
Generally softer. The pilot shoulder shares some of the contact load with the shaft, which tends to cushion the hit slightly compared with a pure flat-faced connection.
Athena, Action, Outlaw, Eight Ball Mafia, Griffin, Talon, Voodoo, Stealth and Players currently have 5/16-18 Piloted cues in stock or available.
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