5 shot

Rocky Mountain Gator



Plywood 5 points

Steel Drum 3 points

Orange 4 points

Accuracy 5 points

Cutting diameter 5 points

Rearward opening blades 1 point

Blades 2 points

Total score: 25, blade sharpness rating A+



The Rocky Gator is a two blade mechanical head with a unique blade opening system. The blades remain partially open at all times maintaining a 15/16" cutting diameter. Once the head hits the target, two fins just above the cutting surface of the blades grab the target material and are forces closed. When this happens the blades are forced open and the head reaches it' s full 2" cutting diameter.

I will be honest I really didn' t really think this head would do as well as it did. I know Rocky Mountain broadheads are of excellent quality, but not every head is going to be the " best" . Well The Gator sure surprised me!

In the plywood test the head busted right through, without any damage at all. In fact the blades would still shave hair off my arm. In the Orange test the head partially opened on the front, remember though there is always 15/16" of cutting surface exposed. By the time it exited the orange the head had fully opened. In the steel drum the Gator penetrated the first wall, and the tip managed to punch a hole in the back wall. Half of one blade broke off, while the other blade looked fine. I found the Accuracy to be typical of a quality mechanical head, which is to say excellent. The gators shot and grouped right with my field points at all ranges. The blade sharpness was excellent shaving hair off my arm with no effort at all, and it remained so throughout the test.

I was really pleasantly surprised at how well this head did in the testing, so much so I may just keep one in my quiver this coming deer season, just to see how it will actually do on game. If you like the idea of always having some blade exposed to increase the entrance wound size, and like a two blade mechanical with good penetration and a large cutting diameter I can highly recommend the Rocky Mountain Gators.

CBM SC

Were these the new Gator XP' s ?

BOWFANATIC

Thanks for the info 5shot![:-]

5 shot

No these were the old style heads with the chisel tip. I tested them and then went to the website to check some figures and saw they updated the heads with a cut on contact style tip. I suspect the new gator xp' s shoud be one outstanding head as well. When they get to market I will get some for testing.

CBM SC

5 shot, I have used those heads some and like them a lot. Not any official test but I have shot the Gators and Muzzy 100' s into the same 3d target before and got about 10" more penetration out of the Gators everytime. And the deer that went down the quickest for me was with a Gator ......in about 20 yrds and 2 seconds apprx. almost instantly ! I will look forward to seeing the results with the new tip.........are you going to test the other new Rocky Mnts ??

davidmil

Well, as always quite thorough in your tests. If only it were a 3 blade. I just can' t make myself go to a 2 blade head with so many good 3 blades on the market.

Sitter

Thanx 5 shot. I picked up a pack last fall mostly out of curiosity. I think the floating blade idea is great. I guess the idea is to keep the arrow moving in a straight line, instead of deflecting off matter and losing KE. I cant wait to see how they do on game. You noted they had the accuracy of a mechanical. In my experience, I found they flew more like the fixed blades. I could not get them to group with my field points, even though other mechanicals have. Im takin the bow in this weekend to get tuned up, so hopefully I dont have that problem any more.

bowhuntinmaniac

5Shot, how does the Gator compare to the Snyper?

5 shot

When comparing the snyper to the gators I personaly prefer the gators, but for those with less than 60 ft/lbs of energy the snypers would probably be a better choice as they are a smaller head and should penetrate better. David wait till the new gator with the cut on contact tip comes out. If the tip is set opposite to the blades you will end up with a 4 blade head. I know the cutting tip won' t be large, but combine it with the 2" main blades and you should get pretty large wound channel. I know that is the case with the snypers. As for the accurcy issue, all I can say is that they did fly like a field point for me, of course not every bow and arrow combination will work the same.