Yet another broad head "I need opinion" post

[VTbowman]

So ive been shooting archery for 30+ Years and ever since mechanicals came out I was all over them. Love them. So. No bashing of one style over the other.
Im interested in those who hunt with mechs out of a crossbow and what you use, your pluses n minuses.
Im sure a fixed blade guy will chime in. They always do. Thats cool too.
Im new to crossbows so I can bare to hear those opinions as well.
Thanks in advance.

[paulaboutform]

Well, from what I've read here and mechanical fans I know, there are two standouts. The NAP FOC'S and the NAP Spitfires. I'm one of the guys that prefers the fixed broadheads. Something to consider though, what is the largest cutting surface of the mechanicals? The FOC is a HUGE two blade with, I believe, 3 1/2" of cutting surface. The Spitfire, again I believe, is a big three blade with about 3 3/4" of cutting surface. Now consider the Toxic Broadheads. I know they work like gangbusters and are extremely accurate out to 70yards (as far as I've tested them). They're a fixed, replaceable blades broadhead with 5" of cutting surface actually 'coring' out a wound channel creating massive hemorrhaging. Just food for thought. I did pick up a couple packs of 125gr Spitfires on sale however just because of the rave reviews and great results guys here have gotten.

Paul

[VTbowman]

I went crazy over the design of those Toxics. Never could get them to fly true. Sold them. Lol
I use Rage Hypo on my compound arrows. Anyone have crossbow experience with the Rage version for xbows?
Im not familiar with the FOCs. Gonna have to look at those.
I have Zombies at 18" is this helps.

[SEW]

The FOCs require some energy: usually not a problem. SFs and FOCs are what I've used over the past 15 + years for virtually all deer hunting. Outstanding performance! A major attribute of the FOC is the very low inflight noise.

[Kegbelly]

My hunting buddy uses the Rage crossbow heads, he's happy with them and has killed a few deer with them since he switched from vertical to xbow a few years ago. He shoots the practice head in the backyard then switches to the real deal to hunt. He shoots a 425 grain arrow at about 350 fps and they did the job with no problems, he hasn't lost an animal. I came real close to getting some this year but I like my Stingers too much to change everything up.

[racking up points]

You didn't mention which model you shoot. The FOC is a great head, but since they are a 170gn head brass inserts will provide more FOC than is necessary/beneficial. If you plan on using them, build your arrow around that. IMO, you'll need 200gn-230gn in the snout of an arrow that's 16-20" long. But if you shoot any of the models that shoot below 350fps I'd stay away from the FOC. It takes a lot of energy to push 3" of blade through an animal.

[newbie]

I have shot the Swacker 100 2" for a few years now. Fly great open everytime and can leave a heck of a hole.
You can practice with the same head you will hunt with, just add a few wraps of electrical tape and replace as needed.
easy to resharpen or replace blades.

[longbow joe]

I have used the spitfire 125 grain for years with great sucess. Lately i have been using a cabellas lazer strike 2. 125grain crossbow its made by nap (spitfire ) its the same as a spitfire but has a foolproof o ring design .only like 29 dollars for 3 of em tough head i have only killed 2 bucks with them but both went less than 30 yards. Check out the customer feedback on cabellas site ....nothing but good. My new favorite. True frield point accuracy out of all 5 of my excaliburs with basically any carbon bolt i use

[VTbowman]

My bad. I didnt mention my xbow is a micro 335.

So from what Ive read so far was that its prob to light a xbow for the FOCs. Ive never gone with Spitfires but can take a look. Thank hou all for chiming in!

Im not agains fixed either. I went with Excalibur due to its simple and dependable design over a compound model.
I can give fixed a look see for the same reasons.
Ive tried over the years to use them but either it be me or my Mathews bows I never could get them to fly good. Never once was this the case with any mech head. But im not a closed minded guy so I will just have to "buy n try" as they say.

[Normous]

For deer this Excalibur user uses and prefers the NAP FOC.

[IronNoggin]

I chose the 125 grain Spitfires when I picked up my second bow (Exomax). This was due to a PH Buddy in South Africa who specializes in archery hunts there. His take was that these were "the bloody best of the lot" when it came to consistently downing game.

When I moved into the 380, the Spitfires came with. They fly right true from this bow too. They have also taken a remarkable number of critters from this bow, and to date (quickly touching wood) I have never lost an animal I have put one of these into. Big entrance and exit wounds, great and short blood trails.

I expect to continue using them into the foreseeable future...

That said, Paul has me right wondering about the Toxics. Gonna spin a couple of their 125's tomorrow, and try to run one through a bear thereafter. He's had great success with these, and I've finally decided not to let him have all the fun!

Cheers,
Nog

[galamb]

I manage inventory and do all the (buying) for rifles/ammo/hunting accessories etc where I work. Because of that I'm always getting "samples" from the various buyer shows etc, so I have tried/tested a whole box full of broadheads - primarily mechanical.

Now, I shoot a Vix II - prior to that I had a couple of older recurve Horton's, so I have never shot the uber-high-speed massive KE bows that many of the guys on the forum are shooting.

If you do (shoot any of the 350+ bows) my opinion would be that you can use any of the mechanical's on the market (from the major mfgs) and get deadly results - as long as they will fly for you.

Because I "don't have" gobs of speed and power I try to measure (not very scientifically - no "controlled" shooting, but "real life") penetration, pounds required to deploy on impact and durability of the broadhead.

Penetration is measured simply as "inches into" a solid foam block target @ 25 yards. Pounds to deploy is measured by chucking the head into a drill press and measuring how many pounds (persistence scale) measures for the head to penetrate a tin can with a piece of material stretched over the cut off end and the durability is simply a "look at" for damage after firing into both a solid foam and bag style target.

Without going through all my notes, a few things stick out in my mind.

Regardless of "which model" (with one exception), the Rage broadheads are absolutely the "worst" penetrating of the dozens of brands I have shot. A T3 from G5 penetrates "double" the number of inches of the best penetrating Rage. Now before all the "lovers" jump on, I will state that if you shot "gobs of power" it doesn't matter - you don't need 23" of penetration on a deer that's only 14" deep - but if you shoot "light bows", with the exception of the Rage 40KE models (designed for sub-40lbs KE), you are better off shooting "anything" other than Rage.

The T3's have great penetration but also took the most (11 lbs) to deploy. So again, with a low KE impact they gobble precious energy just to "open up" - they also damage easily making them (maybe) a "one shot" product - not good when they go for nearly 50 bucks a pack of 3 - but if shooting BIG game, something to consider.

My two current "go to" heads are Battle Axe's (Axe archery - hybrid - small fixed blade with 2 long expanding blades) and a recent acquisition, Stiletto's from Dead Ringer (and the entire Dead Ringer line looks very promising). Both have "cutting surfaces" sufficient to cause some serious damage "even if they don't deploy for some reason". Since head like this have come to the market, I won't shoot any other style ("just in case").

Last one I will mention is the "Blood Runners" from NAP. I found that they "deploy (at least) momentarily" upon firing, even with my (wimpy) Vix II. They are spring loaded and are meant to fully extend on impact, but if I don't orient them correctly, they deploy on firing and "catch" the foot stirrup and launch totally wild. There are others that are not "held closed" by bands or clips - those should either be avoided or carefully tested on all of Excalibur's current bow offerings to make sure the don't prematurely deploy.

[paulaboutform]

I went crazy over the design of those Toxics. Never could get them to fly true. Sold them. Lol
I use Rage Hypo on my compound arrows. Anyone have crossbow experience with the Rage version for xbows?
Im not familiar with the FOCs. Gonna have to look at those.
I have Zombies at 18" is this helps.

Until I got the Excalibur bug all my archery experience has also been with compounds. Keep in mind that some broadheads may just belong in the junk box. I don't believe Toxics fall into that category. Erratic flight from a compound can be from a bow or arrow setup that's incorrect. There are a lot of potential variables. The beauty of crossbows is many of the variables are reduced by eliminating much of the human factors and tuning factors. ie, a crossbow with proper tiller, a proper squared and true arrow, squared insert, broadhead and nock will yield tight groups off a solid rest with most broadheads. Nonetheless, it's still fun to test and experiment. Good luck with the search.

Paul

[acreek]

I did not like Spitfires when I shot them years ago from my compound, so I won't try them from my crossbow. My two top mechanical head choices would be RamCats and Grim Reapers. The Reapers flew great from my compound and left easy following blood trails. It would be my first mechanical head choice. I have no personal experience with the RamCats but others have had impressive enough results that I may try them one day.

[884savage]

I use the Rage Crossbow heads in 125 grain. I've loved them and had zero issues. The past 2 seasons I've been blessed with giant bodied bucks that dressed well over 200 pounds. Neither of them was a match for the head, and both died in under 70 yards.
You MUST pay attention to the collar that retains the blades though or you'll get opening in flight. If you are a guy that can and will pay attention to that closely, then they are absolutely deadly. I'm sure other mechanicals are comparable or possibly better, but I've yet to find one.

I'm shooting 18" Zombie Slayers with 2 inch Blazers, 110 grain brass inserts, green ignitor nocks, and 125 grain 2 blade Rage heads. I'd guess I've shot 20-25 deer with them in the last 10 years, and I've yet to have a complaint.