Broadheads- Mech. VS Fixed

[midwesthunter]

I shoot a hybrid broadhead. It's the NAP 2 blade blood runner. Blades cut 1-1/8 if don't open. When it does cuts 2-1/4". I have seen mechanical ones not open or deflect on impact. Some people shoot them so they don't have to tune there bow. I hate some of the marketing. Example rage. Expands the kill zone or find your game or money back. Just giving people excuse to take a bad shot.

 

[Nomosendero]

Only failures have come from leg bone and scapula impacts and the screws come loose?
What if your shot is off and you hit a leg bone?
The more moving parts, the more that goes wrong. I read one post about a bent blade after shooting a turkey.
Get your bow to shoot a broadhead with no moving parts and you don't need to worry about what didn't work correctly.
Sharpen it up good so it will shave and it doesn't really matter who makes it. The less the blade angle the more penetration but if you shoot deer or turkeys the blade angle doesn't matter much. Most fixed blade broadheads are considerably tougher than mechanical's. The blade is supported along the entire length.
The mechanical heads all have one thing in common, a hinge point, the entire integrity of the head is based on how good the hinge point it is and how much leverage can be exerted on the blade. Some of the hinge points are very weak, some have the hinge point at one end of the blade that allows the blade to bend easier.
If you are shooting big hogs through the front plate or elk you will find out how good your head is.

True, I don't need to be worried that maybe I forgot to tighten a screw.

 

[Nomosendero]

I shoot a hybrid broadhead. It's the NAP 2 blade blood runner. Blades cut 1-1/8 if don't open. When it does cuts 2-1/4". I have seen mechanical ones not open or deflect on impact. Some people shoot them so they don't have to tune there bow. I hate some of the marketing. Example rage. Expands the kill zone or find your game or money back. Just giving people excuse to take a bad shot.

Those do look good

 

[MHO]

There is always the what if factor. I have personally used both many times and have not had any problems. I have gone with the fixed for the past 5 or 6 years. Just because of the what if. I have always tried to take any variable out that can go south on me. I really like the G5 Striker 100 gr. Ive personally whacked everything up to elk with them and have never had anything go beyond 75 yards. Good luck.

 

[SpencerSS]

Only failures have come from leg bone and scapula impacts and the screws come loose? -SpencerSS
What if your shot is off and you hit a leg bone?
The more moving parts, the more that goes wrong. I read one post about a bent blade after shooting a turkey.
Get your bow to shoot a broadhead with no moving parts and you don't need to worry about what didn't work correctly.
Sharpen it up good so it will shave and it doesn't really matter who makes it. The less the blade angle the more penetration but if you shoot deer or turkeys the blade angle doesn't matter much. Most fixed blade broadheads are considerably tougher than mechanical's. The blade is supported along the entire length.
The mechanical heads all have one thing in common, a hinge point, the entire integrity of the head is based on how good the hinge point it is and how much leverage can be exerted on the blade. Some of the hinge points are very weak, some have the hinge point at one end of the blade that allows the blade to bend easier.
If you are shooting big hogs through the front plate or elk you will find out how good your head is.

I'm just giving a peice of data from ongoing research. It is a factual statement. You don't have to tell me what's better, I know. As far as personal preference, I only shoot compounds for work. I've been hunting with a traditional bow for 8 years now. Back to the broadheads, I wouldn't use anything but single blade/single bevel, even if I went back to compounds. I'm currently hunting with the Grizzlystick Ashbys and the 200gn Massai.

 

[mthunter86]

I shoot mechanical broad heads and you could not get me to switch back to fixed. I have worked in 2 different archery shops across the state of MT for 10 years now and have heard all kinds of second hand negative comments on mechanical heads. My first statement is i have heard very few actual shooter bad experiences. I ask the few that have had a bad experience where their shot hit. i get the same answer 95%+ of the time.... i get a long pause and a well uh the shot wasn't perfect but i know my fixed blade would have killed that animal....wrong! don't blame your broad head for poor shot placement.

the other comment i consistently hear and its in several of the posts here is "its mechancical what if it fails?" again 98% of people are shooting mechanical bows with drop away rests and so on and so forth. What if they fail?

At both the ata shows i have been at in the last 3 years there were independent broad head tests. all heads were shot into ballistic gelatin. The top 5 penetrating broad heads both years were expandable! After the penetration test the shoot the top 10 broad heads into ballistic gelatin with cast in shoulder bones from many different animals. i have yet to witness a mechanical fail or come apart in either test.

i spend hours tuning my bow and have yet to find a fixed blade broad head that will match my field tip past 60 yards. my mechanicals match my field tips out to 100 yards no problem.

With all that said i will stick with my mechanicals and keep adding to the successful kill counts.

 

[squirrelduster]

mthunter, what head are you shooting?

I have been shooting the wac'em head and it seems to fly just as good as the field tips. I haven't shot them past 50 yards so I can't really say what they will do but at 50 yards they shoot as well as I do. Normal group is 5 or 6 inches with no wind. I can't shoot field points any better than that. I shoot a Destroyer 350 with hunter elite shafts and blazer vanes set at 70 pounds.
The mechanical heads typically cut a larger hole than fixed blades but also create more drag so penetration is normally reduced. Ballistic gel is funny stuff, it does not duplicate tissue. It provides a stable medium to test penetration with broad heads and expansion characteristics in bullets.
There are quite a few bullets that expand better in gelatin than in real world hunting situations. Until gelatin starts wearing hair and growing bones it is only a simulation of a perfect situation. As you know the hide and hair of an elk or large mule deer can be pretty tough and then you hit a rib bone and after that the stuff that looks like ballistic gelatin. By the time it gets there your expandable may have bent blades or worse.
I am sure there are some good mechanical heads around, and the majority of them shoot right out of the box with no bow tuning. My big problem with mechanical heads is the pivot point and how the blade is supported after it deploys. Most have quite a bit of mechanical leverage on the pivot point allowing the blade to flex, bend or break completely off.
This "possibility of failure" I am not willing to risk. If I finally draw that elk tag I have been waiting the last ten years for, I want to make sure that I have done everything possible to create the perfect situation. My broadheads will be razor sharp and tough as hell. To watch one of the monster 400 inch bulls run away with a broadhead stuck in a non lethal spot due to a mechanical failure of the head is something I can not bear to see. I believe all our game deserves the same respect as a once in a lifetime hunt.
I don't want to be like one of your customers and be wondering for the rest of my life if that animal would have died with a fixed blade but didn't with the mechanical when I placed a less than perfect shot. Not all shots are perfect, especially on game.

 

[sp6x6]

Penatration, 21 animals up to 1000 #, one trip ACC 2 BLADE

 

[squirrelduster]

sp6x6, I have looked at that head and it is one of the few mechanicals that I believe would work consistently.
First point is it cuts even if it does not deploy, second point is the majority of the blade is captive in the steel ferrule. Third point is the two blade would have better penetration than the three blade.
Looks like a great choice!
How do they fly?

 

[sp6x6]

Dont copy? I shoot 2 blades various types, I am current shooting steel force phat head .80 thick, one of the thickest, x2 most others, cut on contact w/bleedr

 

[squirrelduster]

Sorry SP6x6 I thought you were using the NAP blood runner. That is the head I was commenting on. One of the few mechanicals that look good.
The Phat head looks like it would be bullet proof. I may give some of those a try, I like the heavy duty blades.
Always looking for the best thing available. We spend thousands of dollars on everything else and some people look for the cheapest broadhead.

 

[mthunter86]

mthunter, what head are you shooting?

Im shooting rocket steelheads for most critters. not because its my favorite head but because when i was a store shooter for rocket for several years i was given broadheads for 5$ a pack. Needless to say i bought about 160$ worth and haven't come close to loosing them all yet. I think the only thing my steel head lacks is cutting diameter. I have shot 50+ big game animals from 5-80 yards and never had a failure. I also have yet to have an arrow that did not pass through the animal completely.

In the last couple years i have seen a ton of elk shot in front of me during archery season. If i had to buy a broadhead this year id probable shoot a tekan II or a rage.

 

[bigngreen]

I come from a fixed blade background but I was having issues getting the results I wanted when I switched over to a modern bow, I despise mechanical broadheads for the most part because my earlier experience was with the type that open from the front over themselves. But I did find that the Tekan II had everything I was looking for, solid shank with cut on contact point, slide back blade design, and they shoot on top of my field points at any range. I've resharpened the Tekan II many times but I'm getting down to the point that I may have to use the Tekan.

 

[kstrick]

I shoot 125 gr Hell Razors. Flys like a field point. My thoughts:keep it simple. Shot placement is the most important factor no matter what broadhead you choose.