Simmons Shark 125 grain

Accuracy 4 points
Plywood 5 points
Tire 4 points
Steel drum 6 points
Cutting diameter 3 points
Blades 2 points
Non-mechanical head 2 points
Total Score: 26 with a blade sharpness Rating of C+

The 125grain is the smallest head in the Simmons line. It has a cutting diameter of 1 3/16” and can be shot as a two blade, or with the bleeder blades, it can be shot as a 4 blade head. Simmons heads are unique in that they resemble a sharks tooth, the rear of the blades are concave sweeping outward. This gives the head a distinctive profile.
I tested the head with and without the bleeder blades installed. With them the head had a good deal more blade surface in which destroy soft tissue. Without them the head penetrated better, and accuracy improved a good deal. . The bleeders are made to bend or break off when hitting bone or hard materials. I found that they worked very well. They bent in the plywood and steel drum, but broke off clean in the tire. Overall I found the bleeders were designed well, and worked as they are made too. The down side to them is that the accuracy was not as good with them installed. Of course I was shooting 4” right helical vanes. With a 5” feather I suspect the extra control would improve accuracy a good bit. After testing the heads both ways I personally prefer to shoot them without the bleeders. They also increase the weight of the broadhead by 12 grains or so.
The following results are from the head shot without the bleeders. I found the accuracy to be excellent. They grouped consistently and very close to my field points at all ranges. In the plywood the head fully penetrated and without damage. In the tire the head again fully penetrated without damage. The steel drum test was very impressive. The broadhead fully penetrated both sides, and without damage. This is outstanding performance. No other fixed blade head has fully penetrated both sides without loosing all of its blades. The only other head that made it all the way through undamaged was the Rocket steelhead 125, and it managed mostly because it didn’t fully open on the first side. With the bleeder blades installed the head made it through the tire and plywood. In the steel drum the bleeders kept the head from fully penetrating the rear wall, but the performance was still respectable.
All and all the 125grain Simmons shark is one impressive head, its strong, accurate, and penetrates very well. I think the combination of the moderate cutting diameter and unique blade shape help to promote penetration. The heads are not ready to hunt with out of the package. You will need to sharpen them, but I found this a very simple task, even for the bleeder blades. I was very impressed with the performance of this broadhead. I think it would be an excellent choice for someone looking for a two blade 125 grain head, or those that want a larger 4 blade cut on contact head and are willing to shoot larger fletching to better control the arrow.

Thanks 5shot! Good review as always! 26...wow...that' s one of your highest scores isn' t it? Simmons heads have always seemed to have a loyal following, glad to hear they performed so well. Might have to give them a try one day.

Thanks 5shot for your time and effort , the traditional guys love those heads and now I see why if they penitrate like that .

Thats pretty amazing on the steel drum test. Just curious, how did you sharpen the heads? I would imagine that they would be pretty tough to sharpen on a stone or s-24 because of the way the blades are shaped.

5 Shot,
I have heard only good things about the Sharks, and was wondering if you knew where I could find some and for how much?? Thanks alot.

I used a redi-edge sharpener. You can find it at cabelas. it does a good job on most fixed blade heads and doens' t cost an arm and a leg. You can find the heads at www.simmonssharks.com Keep in mind this was the 125 grn version. I have some 160' s and 190' s to test yet. The 160' s did well in the tests, but don' t penetrate like the 125' s, at least not in my materials. They did however cut one heck of a hole! I should have those results ready by next week.

The guy who markets those things is Jerry Simmons.He is a traditonal bowhunter from Alabama and he is a deer killing machine.His heads are more geared for the tradional hunter.But the 125 grain shark is a mean head if you can get it to fly with the bleeders.If I was looking for a 2 blade head for hogs or hard to kill game that would be it.Once again great job 5 shot.I havent found one of your tests yet that did' nt jive with real world results on game.Thanks.

CB

Thanks CB. You are 100% correct. The Simmons heads are geared towards traditional bowhunters for the most part. It think the 125' s are the exception. I have some 160' s and 190' s to test yet, and am in the middle of setting up a bow to shoot the 190' s. The big problem is finding the right shaft to spine out correctly with such a heavy head! With bleeders it goes over 200 grns, but I have a pile of arrows, a saw and all day to play so I am sure I can come up with something.

5-shot, I' m not sure what your draw or poundage are, but I can tell you that I use a 190 grain head, have a 32 inch draw, shooting 68 pounds, and the best shaft that I can use is a 2613, 2419 will also work for me, but the 2613 is a bit better. Hope that helps.

Bobco, thanks for the tips. I managed to get some shorter 2317' s to work, but I will tell you those 190' s are something! the head it' s self weighs as much as some peoples raw shaft!! It does take a very stiff arrow to get the to shoot, but I magage to get some very good good groups out to 30 yards without to much effort.