I have tested a few mechanicals and out of 4 packages of different heads I' ve bought, only one package contained heads that were fully functional out of the box. The others needed a good bit of cleaning and even some metal removal before they would open freely. Some I had to disassemble the heads just to get the blades open! You couldn' t pull the things open with pliers. The ones I tested were Rocky Mountain Assassins (2 packs), Rocket Steelheads and NAP Shockwaves. The Shockwaves were the only ones of those I tested that I considered each head in the package to be hunt ready right out of the package.

I messed around with them enough to know mechanicals will do the job IF the hunter does his job and makes sure the blades open freely and are sharp before screwing them onto his arrows and IF he matches the design and cutting diameter of the head to the KE he' s getting out of his bow.

As for what I use, I quit trying to reinvent the wheel and am back to hunting with fixed blade, cut on impact type heads exclusively now. They' ve been working fine for me ever since I made my own broadheads out of old saw blades when I was a kid.