Gold Tip Gladiators
 

I shoot Gold Tip arrows and was on their web site and saw hte Gladiator broadheads. I am thinking of switching to mechanicals, so does anyone have any experience with the G.T. Gladiators?

RE: Gold Tip Gladiators
 

I switched over to them this year and so far with the varmants (sp) I have shot with them I have been very happy with their performance.

RE: Gold Tip Gladiators
 

Gold Tip Gladiator 100 grain

Accuracy: 3 points
Plywood 3 points
Steel drum 2 points
Orange 5 points
Blades 4 points
Cutting diameter 4 points
Non-mechanical blades 2 points
Total score 23 with a blade sharpness rating of A

The Gold tip Gladiator is sort of a hybrid head. It has two fixed blades and two mechanical blades. It also has a “trocar” style tip and a composite ferule. The mechanical blades are held in place by friction, much like the New Archery products Spitfires. I found that they are slower to open compared to heads that use O rings or rubber bands. I don’t consider it a problem with the Gladiator though, as the head does have the two fixed blades.
The Accuracy is good, but it does fly more like a fixed blade head than a field point. They did not group with my field points, but shot consistently. I am sure with some tinkering you could probably get them to group with field points, provided you have a enough fletching to steer them. In the orange test they got a 5, simply because of the two fixed blades. In the plywood it penetrated most of the way through, but not completely. The two mechanical blades did not fully open, stopping the head short of full penetration. In the steel drum the head fully opened and penetrated one side, bouncing off the far wall.
Overall I like the Gladiator, it is strong, sharp, accurate, and should make one big hole in any animal you hit! The mechanical blades are slow to open, and I believe that to use this head effectively you should be pushing 60 ft/lbs of energy or more.
I was not really sure how to test this head, is it a mechanical with two fixed blades or a fixed blade head with two mechanical blades? Do I shoot it into the Orange or the tire? I decided to test it as a mechanical head, but to give it 2 points for it’s non-mechanical blades. The first time I listed the scores I did not give the Gladiator credit for the two fixed blades, but I really feel it deserves the extra 2 points. This is one of those heads that really mess with my scoring system! That said I think if you want more cutting diameter than most fixed blade heads, but are unsure of mechanicals, this may be the head for you.

RE: Gold Tip Gladiators
 

Thanks guys! Sounds like they are decent broadheads, but I may look at something else. If I am going to switch, I' d be better off with a 100% mechanical instead of one with 2 fixed blades. Thanks again!