HuntingNet.com Forums - crimson talon broadheads

Crimson Talon 100 grain
Accuracy 4 points
Plywood 4 points
Steel drum 3 points
Tire 1 point
Cutting diameter 4 points
Blades 6 points
Non-mechanical head 2 points
Total score: 24 with a blade sharpness rating of B-

The Crimson Talon is a fixed 6 blade head styled similar to a Muzzy in many ways. The tip and ferrule are very much like Muzzy uses. The blades however do not interlock. While there are 6 cutting edges, the number of actual “blades” is only 3. Each Blade has two cutting surfaces, one large and one small. The larger surface is “twisted” much like helical on fletching. The smaller surfaces are short and straight, but just large enough to open up the wound channel. The manufacture claims that these heads do not require any tuning. The add say’s “ just screw them on and go hunting”. I didn’t find this to be true. I won’t go into ethics, but I disagree with any sort of statement like that. It is up to every bowhunter to tune their equipment and make sure that their hunting heads shoot where they aim.
In the tests I found the heads to be very accurate, I shot them out of two different bows, one tuned for 100grain heads, the other setup for 125grain heads. In both cases I found the heads to shoot very accurately, but not always with the field points. With The bow setup and tuned for 100grain heads the Crimson Talons did indeed shoot right with my field points, but in the bow setup for 125grain heads they shot about 3” left and 3” high. They did however group very well. In the steel drum the head penetrated the first wall with the tip sticking in the back. All of the larger blades were bent, twisted, and “squeezed” down in size to about an inch. In the plywood the head penetrated fully, but again with the same kind of damage as in the steel drum. In the tire the head stopped prior to fully penetrating the first side, and there was some bending and twisting of the blades.
Overall this is not a bad broadhead as far as performance goes. It is accurate, and it does penetrate fairly well in most materials. The 6 blade configuration should really open up the wound channel in soft tissue. The larger blades are very easy to bend. I managed to twist one while shooting into my block target. I will say though that I didn’t break off any blades, but when ever the head struck a hard object the main blades bent and twisted effectively reducing the cutting diameter to around 1 inch or so.
I have mixed feelings about the Crimson Talons. I honestly feel that they will perform well on game, as far as doing what a broadhead should do, cut and destroy tissue while penetrating into the vital organs. That said, I didn’t find their accuracy to be any better than most quality fixed blade broadheads. Yes they shoot well, but I did not find them to offer mechanical broadhead accuracy such as stated on the package. The bottom line, they will perform on game, but you will go through blades fast during practice, and they will cost you twice as much as other quality head