Crossbow Spitfires Opening Out Of Bow

[srhall32]

Three of us that hunt together and use crossbows each bought a pack of 125 Spritfires.
There are two Equinox and a Vortex. We each took 1 broadhead from each pack and shot them for comparative accuracy to our field points.
Each one of the three broadheads from three different packages opened out of the bow. These were heads that had never been fired.
Does this sound right to you guys?
Before these we used Jakhammers in one Equinox with the o-ring from Wasp and one of the Rocket Aerohead bands. Had no accuracy problems but blew up the base of one of the heads in a Glen Dale deer and then harvested a decent 8 point and the head blew up with only 1 blade left on most of the base gone.
In the other Equinox and the Vortex we used the two blade Rage. No problems opening out of the bow and my son took a really good 8 point with the Equinox and no problem with the Rage head except about 70 yards before the blood trail started. Deer didn't make it 25 yards from there.
So far nothing with the Vortex.
I read somewhere to use scotch tape one wrap around the Spitfires and that will stop the premature opening and not prohibit opening on deer. Anyone tried this.
This is our first year with crossbows - these are heads we used with the vertical bows in the past with the exception of the weight.
Some of our friends are shooting the Tac 15 and Strykeforce without problems with the Spitfires.
Does the Excalibur limbs possibly surge immediately at full draw and just throw too much immediate energy into the arrow?
Looking for a solution.

[mikej]

i've paper tested my spitfires and never had one open early , not sure why yours would be opening in flight. how did you determine they are opening early ?

[srhall32]

Erratic flight and the Glen Dale deer had one or two cuts indicating open blade upon impact.
The Jakhmmer flew perfect 4-5 times and then started flying erratically also. There were no blade marks on the foam deer surface with the Jakhammer but we found the base of the broadhead was distorting. We didn't tie the blades shut since we were going to discard these heads after testing.
The Rage didn't fail at all.

[roly]

I used to use jakhammers all the time, loved them.
I would put two "O" rings on to be sure, my friends said it wasn't
needed, but it gave me that sure feeling

Now I use rage 3 blades and no problems,
just check that the blades are locked before you shoot.

[maple]

That's strange. I've been using Spitfires out of the box for years without any of those issues.

It's also interesting that people check the entry holes for evidence of blades opening prematurely, this varies depending on the density of the target. I've always had the blades open AT impact with a deer or the likes. Three cuts on entry and three on exit ie. the blades open AT impact. Those foam deer are pertty soft and may cause the blades to open sporatically on the surface. Just like ballistic gel and water-filled balloons don't open the blades on the surface, but an inch or two deep. Similarly, you won't open them with a cardboard box target, but you will with a telephone book. Don't know how you can attribute erratic groupings simply to blades opening.

Things to do are.

1. Make sure the blades are completely closed before laying them on the rail.

2. Get some of those mini-rubber bands for the orthodontist's and put one around the blades.

3. Send 'em to me.

For sure you have to have complete confidence in your shooting capabilities, so do whatever is necessary to achieve that.

Maple

[EQUINOXHNTERVA]

Band them puppies. I shoot a equinox and 100 gr spitfires. Just band them or double band them. The spitfires are a good head.

[sumner4991]

I agree with maple . . .you need to put a piece of paper in front of your target in order to be sure.

However, I have had Spitfires open. I use dental elastics to band all of my mechanicals and never have a problem.

You can "over band" a mechanical. wabi put two O-rings on a Jackhammer and it went through a deer without opening. He recovered the deer and the broadhead(in tact). Heart shot.

[srhall32]

I picked up some small bands today at the bow shop. He got some for this problem and Rage heads coming loose in the quiver, etc.
They are just like the dental kind so I will try them tomorrow and hopefully get going.
I hope so since the Spitfire has been a tough expandable for us.
Thanks for all the input.
Steve

[wabi]

I agree with maple . . .you need to put a piece of paper in front of your target in order to be sure.

However, I have had Spitfires open. I use dental elastics to band all of my mechanicals and never have a problem.

You can "over band" a mechanical. wabi put two O-rings on a Jackhammer and it went through a deer without opening. He recovered the deer and the broadhead(in tact). Heart shot.

I've been re-thinking the possibilities that caused that failure for a few years now. My latest brainstorm has me thinking along new lines. The O-ring on a head acts a bit differently than dental bands when the blades open. The dental bands can usually stretch & break, but the O-rings stretch just a little, then roll back. I usually (always) found the O-ring on the arrow shaft after the shot. I'm thinking now that by having 2 O-rings they jambed together with enough force that it prevented them from rolling as the blades tried to open. The blades may have expanded outward slightly, but had nowhere near enough leverage to break the O-rings.
If I were going to use mechanicals again it would be dental elastics only!

[Kelley]

Been hunting with 100g spitfires for 3 yrs and never had a premature opening. They are shot from a Equinox and a Exocet. No bands or o-rings.
Kelley

[sumner4991]

Been hunting with 100g spitfires for 3 yrs and never had a premature opening. They are shot from a Equinox and a Exocet. No bands or o-rings.
Kelley

The Spitfires . . .I really, really, like them. However, the blades are spring loaded. Eventually, they will wear out. Just don't know if it's the second shot, third, . . .somewhere along the line, it will fail. The Spitfire is so accurate and deadly, I decided to still use them. I just put an elastic on them for insurance. The elastic doesn't disrupt the performance at all. The Spitfires I had were given to me to test. I'm not sure how many times they were shot before I got them. Out of six, two would open prematurely . . .could have been tampered with before I got them . . .I don't know. However, I shot a groundhog at 40 yards with a Spitfire with an elastic on it. I'm not sure if it was a Spitfire that had the opening issue or not. I just banded them and kept them because they shoot extremely straight.

The innerlocs' are the same way . . .spring loaded. Eventually, the spring will wear out. I called the innerloc tech. and asked how long they would last . . .they didn't know. That was a couple of years ago.

I like the simple lever mechanicals the best. Put an elastic on them and you are ready to go. I change out the elastics every year before season starts.

Only problem I've had is seeing deer. They must have gotten the scouting report on me.

[Kelley]

I don't resharpen the blades. It is worth it to me to change the blades and the keeper. I change the blades because I don't want one to open prematurely and it is cheaper than a new broadhead. I do sharpen the point when it won't stick when I drag it across my fingernail. I do the same with my fishhooks.
Kelley

[Horizontal Hunter]

That's strange. I've been using Spitfires out of the box for years without any of those issues.

It's also interesting that people check the entry holes for evidence of blades opening prematurely, this varies depending on the density of the target. I've always had the blades open AT impact with a deer or the likes. Three cuts on entry and three on exit ie. the blades open AT impact. Those foam deer are pertty soft and may cause the blades to open sporatically on the surface. Just like ballistic gel and water-filled balloons don't open the blades on the surface, but an inch or two deep. Similarly, you won't open them with a cardboard box target, but you will with a telephone book. Don't know how you can attribute erratic groupings simply to blades opening.

Things to do are.

1. Make sure the blades are completely closed before laying them on the rail.

2. Get some of those mini-rubber bands for the orthodontist's and put one around the blades.

3. Send 'em to me.

For sure you have to have complete confidence in your shooting capabilities, so do whatever is necessary to achieve that.

Maple

I have been shooting the 125g Spitfire out of my Exocet for several seasons. Never a problem. Never needed any "bands." I have always found the blades to be very tightly secured. I remember the first time I took one out of the package. I was concerned that they were too stiff to open and I was worrying about them opening. Don't play with the blades opening and closing them as it wears on the clips and that might cause a premature deployment of the blades. Just screw them on and spin test them. I have never even had one that had a wobble in it.

IMO they are a great broadhead and leave a massive blood trail.

Bob

[Tom]

That's strange. I've been using Spitfires out of the box for years without any of those issues.

It's also interesting that people check the entry holes for evidence of blades opening prematurely, this varies depending on the density of the target. I've always had the blades open AT impact with a deer or the likes. Three cuts on entry and three on exit ie. the blades open AT impact. Those foam deer are pertty soft and may cause the blades to open sporatically on the surface. Just like ballistic gel and water-filled balloons don't open the blades on the surface, but an inch or two deep. Similarly, you won't open them with a cardboard box target, but you will with a telephone book. Don't know how you can attribute erratic groupings simply to blades opening.

Things to do are.

1. Make sure the blades are completely closed before laying them on the rail.

2. Get some of those mini-rubber bands for the orthodontist's and put one around the blades.

3. Send 'em to me.

For sure you have to have complete confidence in your shooting capabilities, so do whatever is necessary to achieve that.

Maple

I have been shooting the 125g Spitfire out of my Exocet for several seasons. Never a problem. Never needed any "bands." I have always found the blades to be very tightly secured. I remember the first time I took one out of the package. I was concerned that they were too stiff to open and I was worrying about them opening. Don't play with the blades opening and closing them as it wears on the clips and that might cause a premature deployment of the blades. Just screw them on and spin test them. I have never even had one that had a wobble in it.

IMO they are a great broadhead and leave a massive blood trail.

Bob

First off Mechanicals are not for everybody.

Mechanicals are NOT a maintenance free hunting head. Even if you use rubber bands, O-rings, or other devices to hold them shut, they could fail and open in flight. Rubber will parrish the more it is exposed to sunlight and the weather. Also as Bob said above, it does not have to be shot to have the retaining clips wear out. It is just a dimple that holds the blades closed and every time a blade is opened, that dimple is deformed a little so it will not hold the blade as strongly.

Way back when I first started with NAP Spitfires I did alot of research to find out what I would like the best. I even questioned the company about speeds when the Max first came out and they responded to my e-mail, not only with answers, but with data to back up their head (if someone could find this, I had previously posted this to this site, if it is still here). I was told that the heads would remain closed at speeds of 450fps so the newer crossbows would be no problem. They also showed me data of how they tested the heads (frozen in water, mud, ect) without any failures. The proper way to test a mechanical head is to put a piece of paper on the front and one on the back of the target. The front paper will give you a true image of the head in flight, just before it enters the target. The back paper (MUST BE TIGHT TO THE TARGET) with show if the head opened on contact and how it was deployed as it exits the target.

The company also told me that their clips should be changed after 5 shots. To me 5 shots means 5 openings and closings. When I go hunting I use brand new clips and blades. I also shoot their practice blades for practice and when I feel the need to prove to myself again that the practice blades fly exactly the same as hunting blades, I use OLD BLADES AND CLIPS ...... I also keep in mind that these old clips could fail and give me a flyier (which is why I very seldom shoot real blades).

Are the advantages of mechanicals worth the troubles, who knows, but they are for me and I have used them for many many years. I also do my maintenance and have never had a premature blade opening during use. I have even tested these heads through mesh screen of a pop-up blind (new clips) into a target with a sheet of paper on the front. The paper told me that the head was still closed when it struck the paper.

People if you do not want to do your maintenance with a mechanical, please stick with a fixed head. Not saying that a lack of maintenance was the problem this time. Anything that is made by a human not only can fail, but more then likely will, just good quality stuff will last longer then the cheaper stuff.

[mikej]

well said tom