The loft of irons has come down pretty much across the board in recent decades. They have been “strengthened”, which means the face angle reduced in order to achieve more distance.
A typical 7-iron today will have less loft than it’s equivalent from the last century. The difference is up to two clubs so a 7-iron today might have the loft of a 5-iron from 30 years ago, which means the number inscribed on the bottom of each iron has never meant less.
