I am a senior with a 24 handicap that plays closer to an 18 with my irons (but closer to a 30 with a horrible short game). I play 18-year-old Ping I3+ and 22-year-old TM Burner LCG irons. Both 5 irons, at 27*, are the lowest loft I can reliably hit with the 4 and 3 irons banished to the garage.
So I am now looking at new Game Improvement irons (like Sub70 739s and similar) and see that lofts have come down (today’s 6i is 27*+/-). My core question is whether other improvements in iron and shaft design would likely make me able to hit a modern 5i (at 24* loft) or whether this loft creep over the years is just marketing hooey; and I should only order down to a 27* 6-iron. Thanks for your thoughts.
Bonus question. I am attracted to Maltby TE Forged irons, a ten-year old design still being sold. Have advances by other makers likely lapped these Maltby’s performance-wise?