No, no, no, I never said anything about a complete pass through. The arrow went in about 8 inches and stayed there. The reason we knew the head didn' t open was b/c the entry hole was only a hole, there was not any cuts from the broadhead blades opening up. It was just a hole. It could have been faulty, but it was brand new. It was opening day of season and he just purchase them prior to season. You guys can believe what you want, but I know what I saw and it will definately keep me from ever using one.

UCo,
I believe you that the head didn' t open ON THE OUTSIDE.......I know first hand because I got one of those " Bullet Wound" entry holes one time when I used one.

However upon examining the vital organs the Lungs had a perfect 3 blade slice thru them and a full width exit hole. I' d bet that' s exactly what happened to the deer you speak of.

That blade retention system is what scares me.........too much energy to open it and the possibility of marginal hit with no exit AND a bullet hole entrance spells TROUBLE for me.

Matt in another thread someone mentioned that they always opened and then closed the blades on Spitfires and they did not bullet hole on entry. The funny thing is I have always opened and closed the blades every time I load my quiver and the first arrow I nock I do it again. The deer I shot last season the blades left a nasty entrance wound! I am not saying they never fail, that would be like saying fixed heads never plane!

See .......that right there is your problem and mis-information.........resulting in you unknowingly mis-leading others !! I have used Spitfires for years and shot about 7 deer with them and they always leave a bullet hole on entry. The blades have never opened completely for me on impact......but always open and cut internally!

What happened to your buddy is .......the blades opened about a 1/2" under the hide and killed the deer as they' re supposed to .....when the arrow came out the blades closed........but I' ll bet anything that if you closely examined the internal organs....they were cut full width and if you really examined the blades they would have shown blood and some flesh imbedded in the slots.....letting you know they fully opened after entry. If they wouldn' t have opened the slots would' ve been clean and there would have been no blood on the inside of the blades. If you guys didn' t take something and scrape out the blade slots in the ferrule you would probably never know if there was tissue imbedded in them!

I think you guys made a snap judgement , based on what you saw ......but it is incorrect IMO. The moral to the story is .....that Spitfires do take some energy and perform as they should.....but if you don' t get an exit hole.....your not going to see much blood because Spitfires don' t get a good entry hole. Some broadheads are much better at giving a big entry wound(like a Snyper or a Hammerhead)....but I have never used a head that put deer down as well and gave as good of a bloodtrail as a Spitfire 3 blade , on a good shot, with a passthrough !! But I shoot 70+lbs of KE and always get passthroughs unless I hit heavy bone....like a shoulder or leg bone!!

I use Spitfire 100 gr. mechanicals and I' ve never had a problem w/ them opening, but I' ve only shot a limited # of deer w/ them. All shots were w/in 20 yds. and well placed, and the furthest any of the deer ran was 50 yards at best.

nuge

Id go with the Shockwaves... They open very quick.... with little force.... I shot them and had a total pass through on a 250 pound buck, at a steep quartering too angle....... DONT worry about the bands........ Shockwaves work great... Or get the scorpions..... Both are awesome

250 Pound buck??? Not many of those running around Virginia. I want to hunt where you hunt![:-]

Well you could be right CBM SC, but I would never want a broadhead that puts a bullet hole on entry anytime. For several reasons. One reason is that a deer could be quartering away from you and could lodge in the offset shoulder and never exit. Therefore leaving a very dismal bloodtrail, as did my friends deer. Correct me if I am wrong, but a quartering away shot is the most preferred shot of the majority of bowhunters. So, if you are right then you convinced me of another reason not to use them. I prefer a cut on impact broadhead such as the shockwave, vortex, or fixed blade.

UCO, I am 99.9% sure I' m right (in this case). And although I really like the Spitfires, I' ll agree with everything you say in your last post. You got to have an exit wound to get a good bloodtrail. And I' ll be the first to tell you .....if you do , their awesome. But I' m sure the Shockwave is about the same!!
JMHO....but if the Spitfire did open fully on impact ..........I think they would be the best broadhead out there for 60#+ KE bows!!But since they don' t I' ve got about 6 other designs I keep trying to find something that does it all.........and still haven' t !! Good luck this season!!

eightwgt,
did you kill this deer in florida? If so is that not one of the largest deer to come out of the state? just wondering.