After reading another thread the other day I played around shooting my wolverine 3p's with a rubber band holding them OPEN. My bow shoots around 285 fps and is very well tuned.

They flew very well and made a wicked entry hole.

I shot them with some fixed blades and hand torqued the bow a bit and they flew better than the fixed. There is less blade to catch wind and all in all flew about as good as the closed heads.

I will play around some more, but I think there may be something here.
A "fixed head that handles form flaws a little better than regular fixed heads and will probably penetrate petter than when closed.

It may be a good idea for lower KE setups, or even higher ones.

Anyone try this? Any thoughts

I did some playing around with my rocket steelheads last year to see how they shot open. I didn't even put a band on them to hold them open I just let it fly in whatever position the blades were in. I got very good groups with them. I didn't hunt with them that way but wanted to see what would happen if at the moment of truth I pulled an arrow out with out a band to hold it closed. I could see how the small blades held open would have less resistance than alot of fixed blades.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with what you are doing. In fact, I'd love to see 5 shot do a penetration test comparing the same type head, shot open and closed, as well as an accuracy comparison between a field tip, the closed head and the open head. 5 shot? Anyone?



Edited by - Rangeball on 09/05/2002 16:46:43

SW Iowa Hunter

When you shot your mech without any bubber band , did the target indicate all three blades were open on impact?
I would think the forward thrust on the arrow would open the blades completely.

Rack-attack

Have you tried this without the rubber band , just letting the blades hang loose?
You may very well be on to something here!

"Nocked,cocked & ready to rock"

sound sinteresting but I am not sure I would want to test them that way just for safty reasons

Does anyone have access to a machine shop?

You could open the blades completely , tap a hole the same size as the one currently in the ferrule to hold the blades completely open. You could use the same set screws that are in there now.

"Nocked,cocked & ready to rock"

Haha, I remember when guys debated over whether or not to use vented one-piece heads for fear that the "vent" could be a weak spot that could allow the broadhead to fail if it contacted hard parts in a whitetail. Now there's guys who don't bat an eye shooting flyweight, multi-piece, disposable broadheads at twice the speed, with spindley blade arms flittering loosely in the wind, held onto the broadhead with nothing but tiny watch screws.

My how ideas change! I think I should market my own broadheads; 6-packs of 10 penny deck screws that mount to the arrow with duct tape. They'd be a real steal at $40 a pack and I'd bet they fly just like field points...

~AK (much prefer the beefy stuff) in PA

Because of all the rhetoric; that a mechanical head is mandatory to enable a broadhead tipped shaft to fly straight, or that fixed broadheads must be worthless because they do not fly the same as a field-tipped shaft, or that fixed broadheads are inferior because they do not hit the same spot on the target as the field-tipped shafts do, or that mechanical broadheads make a much better wound channels and penetrate better, one who is uninformed would have to feel ashamed to claim he or she shoots fixed heads.

I pray a law is never passed and made retroactive, requiring that anyone who has ever killed game with a fixed broadhead must somehow resurrect the animal and return it to the wild. Starving and dying animals due to overpopulation vs. available food and habitat would be incredible.<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

AK

You hit the mark dead center. A better analogy cannot be found. Almost poetic.

AK & C903

Your sarcasm cracks me up<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

I'll admit there have been many threads on that topic (mechs -vs- fixed) where your sarcasm would deffinately be appropriate.

But , I see this thread as innovative tinkering , not fixed head bashing.

[img]http://www.whitetails.com/00deer21.gif&quot;&gt;
&quot;Nocked,cocked & ready to rock&quot;


Edited by - bowfanatic on 09/05/2002 20:28:31