RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

Mechanical heads are definitely not for everybody. The two main factors that determine this, in my opinion, are your KE levels and how well your bow is tuned. To address the first, if, on paper, your bow is generating acceptable levels of KE...(50-55 ft. lbs on whitetail sized animals)..then you should have no problem using small to average cutting diameter mechanicals.....Steelheads, Snypers, Shockwaves, etc... However, if you start getting over a 1.5 inch cutting diameter and/or the efficient head design changes then you can run into some problems. That is where "extra" KE comes into play. 60-65 ft. lbs is even better to get mechanicals in the 1.5 inch range to work effectively and I would probably recommend a minimum of around 65 ft. lbs if you are going to use a 2 inch cutting diameter head or larger.

Ofcourse, this is assuming that your bow is well tuned and proper shot placement is there. You could have 70 ft. lbs of KE but if your bow is not tuned properly then that KE will not get placed where it needs to and your head will not work.

Most mechanicals on the market today are of very good quality and design though there are still a few that you won't catch me using even with my setup.

1. Check your KE levels on bow jackson's website www.bowjackson.com.

2. Make sure your bow is well tuned.

3. Pick a head that fits your setup.

4. Use proper shot placement.

...and you should have no problem using many of the more popular mechanical heads out there.

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

You should never walk out into the woods with equipment you are not 100% satisified with or confident in. If you believe what you heard about spitefires than by all means get rid of them and use what you are comfortable with..

I know for a fact that they do work and work well. I use shockwaves now as I have turned the lbs down on my hunting bow a bit and the shockwave is smaller. They also work and work well.

Fact of the matter is in order for any broadhead to do it's thing, it has to be put where it can do its thing. Shoulder bones isn't one of those places..

I don't know why for the life of me, that when people make a bad shot with a fixed broadhead, they will say I made a bad shot.
When they make a bad shot with a mechanical, more than likely they will say, it's mechanical broadhead failure. Don't know why it's true but it is, none the less.

At any rate, Good judgement and arrow placement comes with experience. It takes time to learn what works for ya and what doesn't.

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

[8D] Have tried mechanicals but felt more confident with my trusty Thunderheads. They are real rib busting broadheads! That is very important to me because they are very likely to be hit upon entry & or exit. I have just found them very much to my mindset. I don't knock mechanicals, except the cheepies.

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

Stay away from spitfires and use rockets! I have been using the Rockets since they first came out. I use the 3 blade Miniblasters and now the Slammerheads. I have shot probably 15 deer or more with them. I get complete pass through unless I hit off side shoulder after it has gone through the vitals. Almost all the deer do not make it more than 50 yards, I had one go 80 yards, most go about 20 yards. It is kind of amazing the way the fall so quickly. I only shoot Broadside or Quartering away shots! I do not want to risk injuring a animal and not finding it. With the Rockets I am batting 100%. I have been bowhunting for 30 years. I went through the troubles of tuning fixed wing broadheads for years, some flew good, some did not, even though they spun perfect. With the Rockets I just match the weight of the fieldpoint and the broadhead that I use, 95 grains with the Slammerheads. I never had a problem with arrow flight with the Rockets. They are great on turkeys too! I shot a 220 lb field dress deer at 45 yards this year and I got cmplete pass through, he went 30 yards and dropped. I shoot a 60lb Bowtech Pro 40 DC and Carbon Express 300 arrows that weight 365 grains. I do believe carbons help give better penetration with the mechanical style broadheads. I will never go back to fixed!!!!

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

ive had good luck from steelheads, spitfires and rocky mt assassians. i had terrible luck w/ rocky mt revolution's.

but--ive had the best luck w/ muzzys.

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

i've used vortex 2" cut 2 blade heads for about 4 years not one failure only two times did i not get a pass through both this year,first one i hit the shoulder opposite side of entry she didnt go far.
second one hit a doe arrow looked like it only went in about half way down the shaft upon recoving this doe,she had a hole in her arm pit and a cut on her leg but the arrow never looked like it went in that far.these heads work great.

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

Hey, Bees! Now I understand why you don't see any difference between straight and crooked arrows. You're shootin' mechs! :)

I tested several brands of mechanicals a few years ago and decided they'd be ice skating on the streets of hell before I ever used 'em. First, out of the ones I tested, only the NAP Shockwaves were what I'd call 'hunt ready' right out of the box. Sharp and totally functional.

Rocket Steelheads and Rocky Mountain Assassins would not open without grabbing each individual blade with a pair of pliers and pulling them open. Further inspection revealed a lot of crud and machining chips in the Assassins and the Steelheads had stamping burrs that had to be filed down before they'd work properly.

Out of the mechanicals I've tried, I experienced a 75% rejection rate. I'm sure there are too many people that do not check their heads before using them, and I'd bet most of the 'failures' you read about can be directly attributed to that.

Anybody that thinks they can simply take mechs out of the package, screw them onto their arrows and go hunting is a fool! They MUST be checked out thoroughly for function and sharpness before they go to the woods. Not doing so is just plain unethical.

Anyway, I'd rather spend my time getting fixed blade heads ready to hunt rather than spending that time FIXING THE JUNK THE FACTORIES PUT ON THE MARKET. When I pay for functional heads, I darn sure expect to GET functional heads.

But I can't finish this post without giving credit where credit is due... I must say that Bruce Barrie and the folks at Rocky Mountain are top notch. When I contacted them about the problem with their Assassins, they went out of their way to make things right. Two thumbs up for them!

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

Yep maybe, I take the time to tune the bow to shoot, four bladed muzzy, and steelforce arrow heads. Those are what I used to qualify my tunning. I get all to group with the filedtips.

Like you I have not yet found a shockwave defective out of the box. I take them out and take the rubber off and tip them up. the blades should fall open immediately. If they don't check for a burr or bend blade. I never had any that didn't pass yet.. then I check sharpness which is usually good. then put the rubber back on and spin it on the shaft. Ready to go then..

By the way what is the straightness on a CXl 250 arrow??

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

MrFishy.......there is a lot to learn in Bowhunting and reading peoples success or failure ...is tricky business. PAbowhunter is dead on and that has much more to due with the stories than the actual broadheads. Spitfires are extremely tough, very dependable, unbelievably sharp(especially compared to any Rocket), and give a great bloodtrail . But like any of them.......your bow has to be tuned, your KE adequate, and your shot placement on ..........if you do that your in business.......if not.......well you can have the best fixed blade on the market and be sitting here typing a post about how they don't work !! ;)

RE: mechinacials. dont think i ever use em...
 

It's funny how some of you people can get on here and rip mechanicals and you probably haven't even shot a deer w/ them. Here are my results in the past 4 years I have been using the spitfire 3 blade mechanical. 12 deer taken, 2 deer lost (bad shots) all but 1 was a complete pass through. To add to this this was all with only 6 different spitfires. This year I took 5 deer lost none and took 3 w/ the same head. Just clean them sharpen them and put them back in the quiver.