Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

Hey there...

Here it isSaturday evening. I wasout earlier, before dark, shooting my old trusty PSE bow into the "Black Hole" from 20 yards and 30 yards.

Being the curious type, I was experimenting with these broadheads and tips on a common Easton XX75 2315 arrow:

125gr field tips
125gr Thunderhead
100gr 4 blade Magnus Stinger

Out of an old PSE bow (round wheel dual cam, teardrop cables, etc...) the field tips fly like they always do. Dead on accurate. I can darn near Robin Hood an arrow at 20 yards. 30 yard shots are also good and accurate too. Now that I was warmed up, it was time to play with the broadheads (but first flip the "Black Hole" around since I have shot up the front of it all to heck). I had aroll of masking tape to use as a marking device for a previous arrow. Madea 4x4 square taped to the other side of the target....

125gr Thunderhead: This flies great but flies just a hair low compared to field tips. 20 yard shot - flew perfect and hit the piece of tape dead-on but about 1/2" low (estimate). 30 yard shot- flew perfect as well, but hit about 1" low.

100gr Magnus Stinger: This flies excellent and is now my main broadhead. Like others have already mentioned, this thing is wickedly sharp - just looking at it will slice you open! [&:] This flies EXACTLY like my field tips and I'm trying to understand why. How can a 100gr broadhead fly exactly like a 125gr field tip?
20 yard shot - flew perfect. Dead center in the piece of masking tape!
30 yard shot - also flew perfect. Right in the masking tape and a little to the right (my fault), but unlike the Thunderheads, it never flew low.

Do broadheads always have a tendency to fly a hair lower than field tips? I'm just wondering.... I am curious, experimenting, and basically want to goof around with different broadheads before the season. I have read all through 5shot's website http://www.broadheadtests.com and want to see how my rugged old bow will perform with different broadheads using Easton 2315 alum arrows.

What do you think of the results I have posted? A 100gr Magnus Stinger flies more straighter and more like a field tip than a 125gr Thunderhead - even though the Thunderhead is the same grain as the field tip!

Butch A.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

My guess would be you need to make a slight adjustment to your nocking point, or your arrows may be slightly under spined with the 125 heads on them. I would say switch to a 100 grn field point and stick with the 100 grn broad heads if they fly well. Actually the others fly pretty well from the way it sounds.

Broad head tuning can be pretty touchy at times.

Paul

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

Thanks... I think the 125gr Thunderheads may be slightly tooheavy for the 2315's. Here's more technical data if anyone wants it:

65# bow, 30" draw, common everyday Easton XX75's 2315 cut to 30.5".

125gr tip - that "bowjackson" website says my arrow weight is: 568 grains.

100gr tip - same calculations on the site... but now the arrow weight is: 543 grains.

I guess by going with a 100gr broadhead, I am just gaining a tiny bit of fps, that's all. Some broadheads fly great, some give people troubles and don't fly well. My old rugged PSE bow is still setup accurate and true (according to the bow shop). I don't fiddle with it or make adjustments to anything - 'cause I don't want to mess it up! :eek: I will pick up a pack of 100gr field tips to see how they differ compared to 125gr field tips.

Thanks for the reply!

Butch A.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

543 grains? Dang, Butch. I thought I had a heavy arrow. [:-][:-]

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

Yeah, I know.... I don't shoot arrows... I shoot tire irons! Nothing wrong with an arrow hitting like a Mack truck! ;)

I think the 100gr tips make more sense at 543 grains versus 568....

Butch A.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

agree with Paul. Sounds like your nocking point is a tiny bit high. the 25 grains you lost by shooting a lighter broadhead made the arrow impact a half inch higher than your 125's. move your nocking point down (or rest up) a 64'th of an inch then try. Or better yet, take all the fletchings off one arrow and shoot it with a field point. That'll really tell you what happened.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

The tunderheads I have are all heavier than they say they are, thus the drop. The 100 is the worst at 106, all of them.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

Heres my take , if you've got a broadhead equiped arrow hitting right where your field tiped arrow is , dont try and figure it out , just use that setup , and be happy .

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

Wow... I didn't know that. So a 125gr Thunderhead isn't actually 125 grains? More like 130 or so? No wonder.... [:-]

My bow is still setup accurate and the lefty TM Hunter prong rest is still properly aligned for 2315's. Maybe it's just the way 125gr Thunderheads shoot... They fly great, but fly just a hair low, maybe that's just the way they are. Who knows...

This is the my old bow in case you are curious....
1996 PSE Edge 1000C lefty bow
65#, 30" draw, 65% letoff, round wheel dual cam
TM Hunter lefty rest
Tru-Glo 3 pin sights
Shurz-a-peep
Cat whisker silencers
X-ring stablizer

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

No way the 125's are too heavy for those arrows. It's probably a minute nock point adjustment. But if your primary bh's hit dead on with your fp's....don't mess with it. You are all set.Sounds you have your bow exactly how you need it right now. Good luck!

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

Thanks....

The100gr Magnus Stingers are now my primary broadhead. They flygreat and with so much power, theyactually penetrated right through the "Black Hole" target, and poked out about 8" on the backside!

Mybow (Patsy) is a classic old bow.... Ain't the fastest thing out there.... ButI love it and am comfortable with it, and it works. I remember a bunch of people on here helped me "guesstimate" the fps that it shoots. With all the calculations and arrow weight and KE and whatnot, the rough estimate was about +/- 230 fps on a good day. That's still fast enough for me. Accuracy and shot placement are more important to me than a bow shooting 9000 fps.

Butch A.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments) UPDATE!!
 

UPDATE....
Hey again,

I went up to the bow shop with my old PSE bow earlier. I asked if they had time to quickly check the nock point, the rest, etc... "Sure, no problem, be right with you..." was the response.

Long story short, they put on a T-square that clips to the bow string. The rest is setup right and aligned perfect. So is the nock point. But to make sure, they grabbed a spare 2315 arrow and nocked it. The "prongs" of the TM Hunter rest were making the 2315 sit just a microscopic hair low - I mean, not even a 1/64 of an inch. The guy said to not worry, but then he took an allen wrench and just barely nudged it. So now, everything is absolutely perfectly aligned, straight, square, and true....:D

I told him the story with the 125gr Thunderheads and also about the new 100gr Magnus Stingers and how they each fly. He agreed that NAP broadheads are a teeny bit heavier than advertised, but since the Stingers fly so well, use them and go bag a deer this season!

Thanks to all who replied!!

Butch A.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments) UPDATE!!
 

You can't tell by measuring it. That is a decent way to start, but no way is it the final adjustment. That is why you broad head tune, or bareshaft tune. It will let you fine tune the set up a bit more to your actual shooting style, arrow, and bow. There is no one measurement for every bow.

My advice would be to go with the 100 heads and leave it alone since it shoots well that way. However if you were actually going to fine tune it better I bet changing your nocking point very slightly would fix it. You could even do it with your tiller probably. Like I said, with your set up I wouldn't bother though.

The final tuning usually has to be done by you, not someone else.

I actually show that arrow as being kind of weak at that length for your set up. So it might be the lighter tip that is helping it. You could drop a few lbs of draw weight as well to check that.

If you could actually run an arrow thru a chrono and give me the speed and weight of the arrow I could get it more accurate. It's deffinately not too stiff which is why the tip change may have effected it.

Paul

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments) UPDATE!!
 

Thanks... That is exactly what I am going to do.

I learned a ton of information over the weekend from this site, surfing the internet, and from the guy at the bow shop. (i.e. tuning a bow for broadheads - even though they are the same grain as field tips - because99 times out of a hundred, they will fly different.)

If I was to stick with the 125gr Thunderheads, then I'd have to adjust the nock point a hair and/or my sight pins to get the Thunderheads perfectly zeroed in. But then if I wanted to goof around with target practice with field tips, the field tips would be off.

Since I found the 100gr Magnus Stinger and have it aligned vertical with the bow string, it absolutely perfectly flies like my 125gr field tips. No maintenance required! :D

The guy agreed and told me that there isn't any more performance features or enhancement that I could tweak out of such an old bow. It's set and will stay set and will keep on shooting 2315's forever. I should just keep on keepin' on with 125gr field tips and the 100gr Magnus Stingers and bag a big one this coming season! [8D]

Translation: If itain't broke, don't fix it...

Thanks again!!

Butch A.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

I quit using thunder heads. I use to use alluminum arrows with thunder head 125s and would have to mix and match to find which heads like which arrows. I swithced to carbons 5 years ago, still using thunder heads and still had problems.The next year I switched to muzzy 3 blades, slick tricks, andalso different mechanicals (steal heads and spitfires all in 100 grain) and never saw problems with any of them, that is with few exceptions. I liked the proformance with thunder heads but seemed like I was always having to play with them to get them to fly right. Some would fly low, while others flly high, right, or left.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

Something else to think about, If you push your knock up to get a slight high tear in paper, you will have a little more leay way with arrow weights. Id test your set up through paper first, as it sounds your nock might be a little high. Id try to push it to the point of getting a slight high tear.

RE: Explain this.... (broadhead experiments)
 

I can relate. I have my old 86 hoyt excel and love it. I have gone through many bows and never stuck with one, other than my old excel. I bought a brand new razor tech when they cam out, but ended up leaving it at home most of the time, taking the old excel. I think I might give the old girl a rest this year. I just built a bow that I really like. I think it just might take the place of my old excel, that is for the next 20 years;)