Question on spitfires.
 

I am thinking of getting the spitfire broadheads because of all the praise on this site. I used to say I would never get mechanicals because I heard sometimes they don' t open. I understand that these have to open in order to go in. My question is how do these heads perform on severe or not severe quartering away shots? Shoulder shots? Obviously I will not intentionally shoot for the shoulder but sometimes mistakes happen. Thanks for the help-Sam

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

I hunt with and have shot quite a few deer with Spitfires. The truth is, they are risky on severe angled shots. I have seen a buck just last year that my friend shot and 1 blade hooked on the hide and opened before fully entering the deer causing a brutal 12 - 14" gash along the outside of the ribs. He ended up killing that deer 1 minute later when it circled back through his area and stopped for a second at a recent scrape. If you saw the wound it left you would have thought that buck would have had some serious problems down the road. The shot he took was a very steep angled shot .. but 1 he put exactly where he was aiming.

My point is that they shouldn' t be used on very steep angle shots. I' ve seen a Magnus fixed and a Muzzy do the same thing on deer and would suggest passing up a very severe angled shot regardless the broadhead.

I can attest to their lethality on broadside shots and slightly quartering.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Any more recomendations?

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Nuge,
I' m not going to give any recommendations on Spitfires for you until i hear what your bow set-up is.
Arrow weight and speed.........or at least your bow,draw length and weight.

While a high quality broadhead, NAP' s Spitfire is NOT a head for everybody.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

I have a 28 inch draw, im shooting carbon express terminators at about 240-250 and my arrows are about 28inches at 13 grains per inch. I have 100 grain tips. Any other mechanical advice?

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Nuge,
That' s the problem with understanding what equipment is appropriate for each set-up.......and I don' t mean to pick on you, I promise, but " Abouts" shouldn' t be acceptable when it comes to understanding your gear. The more you understand about how it works, why it works and what it will do , the more informed you can be about purchases such as broadheads.
I promise to do my best to give you good advice, I need some more info though, and the reason I ask is that the Spitfire is NOT the best choice for low speed/low KE set-ups. They open fairly slowly and have a fairly large cutting diameter that needs a good bit of energy to get he most out of them.

Carbon Express doesn' t make an arrow that weighs 13gr/inch? The highest is 12grs /inch and those are the Terminator HUNTER 6075' s
What are your arrows exactly? The difference between a 9.5gr/inch shaft and a 12gr/inch shaft is BIG when you get to the finished product.
Have you actually chronographed your bow or are you just guessing?

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Matt, I don' t know where I got the 13 I was just typing that up fast didn' t realize everything had to be exact.

I have a 28 inch draw
I have 28 inch arrows at 9.5grain per inch w/100grain tips.
I was chronoed at 225 and then I cranked my bow up 10 more pounds and added 1 inch in to my draw length so I assumed it was around 240.

How much KE is requiered for these heads? What is the formula for KE? thanks -Sam

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Nuge,
Your arrows finished (If you are shooting 4" vanes) should weight just about 410grs.
At 225fps and 410grs your KE level was originally = 45-46ft lbs.

If you have upped the draw weight by 10# AND the draw length by a full inch you should be looking at MORE THAN 240fps. Probably more like 250fps +/- which = approx 57-58ft lbs of KE
That' s not bad and its plenty to shoot thru any whitetail you will come across.

That said ,I cannot recommend the Spitfires for your set-up. Sure on a close up perfectly broadside shot they should get the job done, but to get better performance and enough penetration on a consistent basis you need an easier opening, smaller diameter head.
I would recommend you look at the heads with a more modest cutting diameter.......if you like NAP products the " Scorpion" is a much better choice for you. Very sharp, opens quickly and has a cut on contact tip. That would be my choice for your set-up.
Of course there' s always the other proven good penetrators like the Rocket " Steelhead100" or the Rocky Mt. " Snyper" .

I wouldn' t personally shoot the 1.5" diamter " Spitfire" unless I was at or above around 65 ft lbs. of KE (Which I am!:D)

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Matt,

The advise pertaining to KE and mechanicals you are giving the Nuge is great. However, you are using " abouts" to use your words when calculating the Nuge' s speed and KE in my opinion. I have been at this for the better part of 15 years now and in my opinion (everybody does have one :D) if there is any doubt pertaining to potential performance of a mechanical head due to lack of KE, then the best way to go is a fixed blade broadhead hands down. While I agree that there are mechanicals that open faster and have smaller cutting diameters that would work more favorably with a lower KE setup, why chance it when you know a fixed head will do the job every time. This is not meant to be a fixed versus mechanical argument, but with what we know at present about the Nuge' s setup, a fixed blade design is going to work for certain.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Jim,
Point taken.........it' s been a little like pulling teeth to get enough info to even form any opinion.;):D
I guess the jist of my advice is that (I think I can tell already that Nuge is gonna try a mech regardless of what anyone says.....I just have that feeling) And if I' m right (Am I right Nuge?) , if I' m right, I want him to at least be using the ones that will give him the best chance for success given what I do know.

So given your good point Jim........yes Nuge if you are in doubt, and it does seem like there is a little doubt still there? A good fixed blade head is always the safe bet. If you ARE going to try a mech do yourself a favor and don' t stray from the styles I mentioned.

The rest of my advice Nuge: Weigh your finished arrows on a scale........shoot thru a chronograph and then you' ll know. And knowing is half the battle.:)

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Matt,

Every time I see one of your posts, I crack up with the little video clip of you (I' m assuming it' s you) beating the crap out of Saddam...Had to show it to my wife. It' s a howl. T-minus ten days and counting. The juices do flow...Jim

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Jimimac I think thats George Bush in his clip.

Well yes I will probably try a mechanical. The only reason I wanted spitfires was because they don' t require rubber bands. I don' t want them to freeze or break or anything. I currently am shooting muzzys but plan on going to mechanicals just this year for deer and will probably still use them on turkeys next year. The reason is I am just on the edge for the spine of my arrows and it is causing my muzzys to fly far right. I went to the shop and got the rest moved and now my bhs are only shooting a little right. However I cannot move the site over and more than what it is. It is all of the way over. My rest had to be moved quite a bit and Im getting uneven wear on my prongs (moleskin) and I don' t think this is a good thing. So I am looking for mechanicals to use that fly right with my field tips, when I get a new bow I will go back to the muzzys or if I really like the mechs then I will stick with them, either way the mechs will be used for turkeys.

My only concern with the rocky snypers is they leave a very small entrance hole. If i do not get a pass through this= very small blood trail. But i guess as long as I hit it well I will probably find it anyways. Who makes the steelhead? What about the shockwaves Matt?

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Nuge,
The Shockwaves use a rubber band as well.......really though, I have been using rubber band style mechs since 1997 and haven' t had a single one break or fail in anyway.
If you get a package of Steelheads (Made by Rocket Aeroheads) probably the best penetrating 3 blade mech on the market and they come with a bunch of replacement bands if you get leary of the ones on the head at the time. There are a ton of guys who swear by them.
Its easy to see a dry rotted band, and nothing to replace them periodically.
Plus these styles open quicker.

As far as the Snyper goes I believe guys were getting rather good entrance and exit holes? They are alittle different shaped, sort of oval, but plenty big enough.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

I had a friend shoot a 120" deer with a spitfire late on opening day last year. It was so late he really didn' t know how well he hit the deer so we waited till morning to look for it. Good thing we did b/c the thing didn' t open at all. Luckily he hit it perfect and the deer expired 60 yrds. away. The blood trail was almost non existant all the way up to the deer. The mechanical head I have had the most success with is the Shockwave 100 gr. broadhead. The o-ring is located at the bottom of the blades so it actually helps it open. That would be my choice on the knid of broadhead to use.I have never lost any of the 7 deer that I have shot with one.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

Does the ring ever break or freeze prematurely.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

WHAT!! UCObaseball he got a passthrough and the blades never opened? I shoot Spitfires and unless he dipped them in superglue or they were rusted severely or damaged I really find it hard to beleive they didn' t open at all.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

UCObaseball I read on the site that if you get a passthrough with spitfires that when the bh comes out the arrow stops more and sends the blades back forward. THis resulting in thinking they were closed the whole time.

Matt so should I get shockwaves, steelheads, or scorpions.

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RE: Question on spitfires.
 

That sums it up to me !! Your compensating......and I personally wouldn' t do that with mechanicals !! What does your bow paper tune like ? Maybe you could try a lighter weight head= 75 grain ?

If your determined to use a mechanical .....I think the RM Ironhead XP may work better for what you want........it has no o-ring , modest 1 1/8" cut, and a cut on contact tip.....which should work better with your KE ! Good Luck !!

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

I think i' m going with the rocky mountain snypers.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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!;)

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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!! ;)

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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.

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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 !!:D Good luck this season!!

RE: Question on spitfires.
 

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.