Broadheads

[Just Lucky]

Haven't been on here lately since starting up my own business but have some time this evening.  Hope everyone is well. Rainy evening,  and started to wonder I always read about what broad heads everyone likes, but do not hear which one's they do not. Is there a broadhead we all should avoid?

Which broadheads are the worst, and why. I can not think of one that I have used that I would avoid. I prefer montac, but not really sure why, guess because they work.

 

[First-light]

I use Muzzy always have no need to change. Unless my shot is bad they do the job. 

[GreeneHunter]

11 hours ago, First-light said:

I use Muzzy always have no need to change. Unless my shot is bad they do the job. 

X2 !

[Doc]

Browning Serpentine is the absolute worst head that was ever invented .... https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=155782.0

It would load up with fat and hide and became a "blunt". Fortunately they are no longer made, but in case you run into some at a yard sale or something, be sure to buy them only as a novelty item.

There was another one called the Super Hilbre that had a plastic ferrule. You can probably imagine the problems that happened with these. These were around for quite a few years before they were discontinued.

Today's broadheads?........well I'll let others determine which ones are the worst.

 

[airedale]

Those Browing heads were real Doozys, LOL!

Al

[grampy]

For bowhunting, I don't like any expandable broadhead. I stick to the fixed blade heads. Like my Muzzy MX4. Never have to worry if they will open up, or have blades pre-deploy. I stick with what works for me.

[cas]

I'm just getting back into it after a long time away. Open up my gear box has been like opening a time capsule. Found the Barrie Rocky Mountain broadheads I bough in the mid 80's. (the only reason I remembered the brand was because I saw an add on Ebay and it all came back to me. Some Muzzy's that the only thing I ever shot with them was the ground behind a coyote. I found some mechanicals I had NO recollection of buying. But then found a digital photo I took out of a tree stand and you can see the end of it in the photo. 

Last month I bought a cheap bow. ("cheap", being more than twice with I paid for the bow before it, but relatively speaking today, cheap) Due to multiple physical issues, I wasn't sure I could even shoot a bow anymore. So I didn't want to spend a lot. Plan was a new cheap bow and use everything off the old bow. Little by little, item by item that plan fell apart and I ended up buying everything over again.  Doh!

Worst part is I'm being dumb.  Like buying some broadheads, a design and weight I wanted to use. Then a couple weeks later I decided I wanted to go heavier.  So I bought different ones.  A week or so later I decided I wasn't sold on what I bought, plus wanted to go even heavier, so I bought even more.  Despite the fact that I was NOWHERE near the point of needing broad heads lmao. I was still setting up the bow. And since I keep changing things, I'm STILL setting up the bow. lol Of course I had to keep buying heavier field points at the same time. Not lots of money, but still wasting it and it's adding up. 

Anyway I decided I wanted heavy fixed blades to allow me more room for error. Penetrate and break bones if need be. Because of my issues, I can't shoot a lot and I can't shoot far, so drop and speed isn't an issue. Besides, in testing, even light arrows with light heads aren't going particularly fast. 

The most recent unexpected purchase was a target. My old bag target gave up fast. I think the UV light killed up. Them heavier arrows are just pushing the stuffing out of it rather than poking through. When my new target shows up, I think I'll doctor the old one with some gorilla tape and see what kind of damage these broadhead will do. 

[airedale]

I am not much of an archery hunter these days but on occasion I like getting out in the woods on a nice autumn day with my pretty much vintage equipment. I still use the old Bear razor heads on Easton aluminum shafts.

Al

[Doc]

7 hours ago, airedale said:

I am not much of an archery hunter these days but on occasion I like getting out in the woods on a nice autumn day with my pretty much vintage equipment. I still use the old Bear razor heads on Easton aluminum shafts.

Al

I'll bet that those old Bear razor heads have killed more deer than any other head ever manufactured and sold. I still have a bunch of them and every-so-often I pull them out and kill a deer with them. I also have a wad of aluminum shafting and assembled arrows that is so big a bundle that I cannot get both hands around them. They are still killing deer.

Yeah, I went through the stage of buying everything that came out in archery equipment and go-fasters. I have a wall full of bows that were quite high end at the time of purchase. Yes, I bought into the speed freak-ism.

Now, I have what I have, and am no longer trying to buy success. A little late in learning that lesson, but I have been taking deer with the same bow for the past 24 years. My Mathews MQ-32. And you know what?..... the deer these days are just as dead as the ones that I got back when I started with my recurves.......lol.

[grampy]

19 hours ago, Doc said:

I'll bet that those old Bear razor heads have killed more deer than any other head ever manufactured and sold. I still have a bunch of them and every-so-often I pull them out and kill a deer with them. I also have a wad of aluminum shafting and assembled arrows that is so big a bundle that I cannot get both hands around them. They are still killing deer.

Yeah, I went through the stage of buying everything that came out in archery equipment and go-fasters. I have a wall full of bows that were quite high end at the time of purchase. Yes, I bought into the speed freak-ism.

Now, I have what I have, and am no longer trying to buy success. A little late in learning that lesson, but I have been taking deer with the same bow for the past 24 years. My Mathews MQ-32. And you know what?..... the deer these days are just as dead as the ones that I got back when I started with my recurves.......lol.

I too still have the MQ-32!! Bought mine in 2000, so 23 years old now. Still shoots just fine. I may have to take it out again this year!!

[fasteddie]

I thought the Tekan 2's were awesome until I found out that they are illegal . The blades don't fold back . 

[TACC]

I thought the Tekan 2's were awesome until I found out that they are illegal . The blades don't fold back . 

There not legal anywhere or only in NYS?

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[fasteddie]

9 hours ago, TACC said:

There not legal anywhere or only in NYS?

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Each state has their own laws so I can't answer the question .

 

[Grouse]

I'm still using 4 blade Satellite broadheads.  I just like them and have never been disappointed by their performance.

[chrisw]

I like to try out a myriad of heads but I favor fixed heads now for the most part, big cuts aren't always the answer. Last year I used Ramcat Diamondbacks at a 1" cut, neither deer made it 40 yds. This year I've picked up some Tooth of the Arrow heads and Magnus Black Hornets so far. I just picked up my new bow, built arrows using a different recipe and figured I'd try some new heads as well. My new rig is an Elite Era (carbon) and I'm shooting Victory Velocity Xv's in a 250 spine, max hunter vanes with a true helical fletch, with 100 gr Ethics inserts to a finished weight of 475 grains with about 18% FOC. I'm excited to put it to use.

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[Just Lucky]

On 7/4/2023 at 2:10 PM, Doc said:

Browning Serpentine is the absolute worst head that was ever invented .... https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=155782.0

It would load up with fat and hide and became a "blunt". Fortunately they are no longer made, but in case you run into some at a yard sale or something, be sure to buy them only as a novelty item.

There was another one called the Super Hilbre that had a plastic ferrule. You can probably imagine the problems that happened with these. These were around for quite a few years before they were discontinued.

Today's broadheads?........well I'll let others determine which ones are the worst.

 

Was the idea of a serpentine to fly like a field tip? I never really notice a difference between field tips and broadheads when practicing, other then the damage done to the target. I also don't shoot long distance when practicing. 

 

[Doc]

11 hours ago, Just Lucky said:

Was the idea of a serpentine to fly like a field tip? I never really notice a difference between field tips and broadheads when practicing, other then the damage done to the target. I also don't shoot long distance when practicing. 

 

I don't think so. I think the theory was that they would cut a large cylinder of meat and cause horrific destruction to any veins, arteries and whatever. But instead they simply plugged up with hide, hair, and fat and then simply became a blunt with inadequate penetration. It was a failed technology, but they did get around a bit simply because it was marketed by Browning.

[Untwisted Pretzel logic]

I use small (1" to 1 1/8"), fixed heads. Slick trick or Muzzy, always did the job if I did mine. I did try a NAP expandable twice with my cross bow.  Had a weird result. The deer spun around 180 degrees and bolted about 50 yards before piling up.  Never had that happen before; deer generally go in the direction that they are facing after the hit.  Can't say anything bad about the results of the NAPs, just that something out of the ordinary happened.

[cas]

On 7/5/2023 at 6:31 PM, cas said:

 

Worst part is I'm being dumb.  Like buying some broadheads... 

I'm still being dumb, only dumber.  

The third series of broadheads I bought came. Helix FJ4.  "Damn these are dull. Really dull."  I tried sharpening them. I'm no novice at sharpening things. Tried and tried and worked on one of them. After quite a bit of effort I could feel it was sharper, but nowhere near what I'd call sharp. Then the next day I saw a picture of one with the tip curled over.  Hmmm.... (though it could have been a knockoff) 

So last night I ordered even more of another brand.  (and I keep buying more expensive ones every time. Pissing away the money.)

 

Been experimenting with different fletching styles. Not really wanting to remove some because I may go back to them, I figured heck I'll just order another dozen arrows. Then I'll be set probably for the life of this bow (or more likely for as long as I'm physically able to shoot one).  So I did. 

Shooting 300 spine, what I've been trying to shoot was being fussy. Trouble with tuning. Zero confidence in it.  Then for the heck of it I tried some heavier, 100gr inserts. Same exact problem but amplified. Hmmm...  I wonder if I'm just underspined?  So for the heck of it I bought a couple 250 spine shaft.  Ended up moving nock height a smidgen and its shooting bare shafts perfect at 30 yards. M@tha#^&#^**&!!!   So I ordered enough to make a dozen.  Now I have more in arrows than I paid for the bow. Doh!

 

(last night I went through everything I've bought, good and bad and totaled it up. I was stunned. Did it twice because I swore I must have made a mistake. I've almost spent seven times more on other stuff than I did on my "cheap bow".  Some of which you may see for sale here soon! lol)

Edited July 14, 2023 by cas

[chrisw]

I'm still being dumb, only dumber.  
The third series of broadheads I bought came. Helix FJ4.  "Damn these are dull. Really dull."  I tried sharpening them. I'm no novice at sharpening things. Tried and tried and worked on one of them. After quite a bit of effort I could feel it was sharper, but nowhere near what I'd call sharp. Then the next day I saw a picture of one with the tip curled over.  Hmmm.... (though it could have been a knockoff) 
So last night I ordered even more of another brand.  (and I keep buying more expensive ones every time. Pissing away the money.)
 
Been experimenting with different fletching styles. Not really wanting to remove some because I may go back to them, I figured heck I'll just order another dozen arrows. Then I'll be set probably for the life of this bow (or more likely for as long as I'm physically able to shoot one).  So I did. 
Shooting 300 spine, what I've been trying to shoot was being fussy. Trouble with tuning. Zero confidence in it.  Then for the heck of it I tried some heavier, 100gr inserts. Same exact problem but amplified. Hmmm...  I wonder if I'm just underspined?  So for the heck of it I bought a couple 250 spine shaft.  Ended up moving nock height a smidgen and its shooting bare shafts perfect at 30 yards. M@tha#^^**&!!!   So I ordered enough to make a dozen.  Now I have more in arrows than I paid for the bow. Doh!
 
(last night I went through everything I've bought, good and bad and totaled it up. I was stunned. Did it twice because I swore I must have made a mistake. I've almost spent seven times more on other stuff than I did on my "cheap bow".  Some of which you may see for sale here soon! lol)

I hear all of that. I'm the same way, that's part of the fun I think. You can look into certain things as much/little as you like. I typically look into more than most, but to me it's just part of the journey, experimenting with vanes/shafts/combo's/FOC/spine etc... I just put together what I'm hoping is a winning combo for this fall, more range sessions will tell if more tinkering is warranted but so far they're doing exactly what I hoped for. I went 250 spine this time around, the archery shop guy thought it wouldn't work but my research told me otherwise, thankfully I was right. Victory XV 250 shafts (8 gpi) with 3 true helical AAE Max hunters, 100 gr. Ethics inserts, 100 gr heads put me at 470 grains and roughly 18% FOC. Strapping a few "Tooth of the arrow" heads and Magnus black hornets on soon for the real flight test to 75 yds.

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[Untwisted Pretzel logic]

5 hours ago, cas said:

(last night I went through everything I've bought, good and bad and totaled it up. I was stunned. Did it twice because I swore I must have made a mistake. I've almost spent seven times more on other stuff than I did on my "cheap bow". 

You're not alone. I'm sure many go through the same process trying to find what works, whether it be hunting equipment or fishing stuff. I used to be bad that way with fishing lures. My wife considers it wasteful spending - me, I call it "research".

[cas]

Part of the problem is the internet has made it far too easy to order things/waste money. Amazon, "it's $12, what the heck, why not.. click!" Two days later I'm starting from scratch. lol It's allowing me to experiment, which while I'm enjoying it, I'm not getting anywhere with it because I keep changing things. 

I just keep going heavier and heavier with the arrows. They're shooting well now, and they're quiet. In part because every time I bump it up, (I'm in the low 600's now) it's still faster than my old bow was with "regular" weight arrows with 100gr points.

Edited July 16, 2023 by cas