I picked up some of the very first Grizzly 3 blade heads from Bill Dunn at the PBS banquet last weekend.  Yesterday I had a chance to mount some on arrows and put them to the test.  I am impressed!!

You probably have already seen the other thread where Bill talks more about the development of these heads.  I think he is really on to something here. I love a three blade, and I REALLY love a head with a long sleek cutting angle.  

The first thing I wanted to see was just how tough this head is. I first tried shooting it into a piece of 1/4" plywood set in front of a foam target butt.  I was shooting a 55# recurve and the head blew right through and a good 10" into the foam behind it.  It looked more like it was shot with a shotgun slug than a broadhead.

 

That was way too easy.  I then set up a 1/2" piece of particle board backed by the 1/4" plywood.  This combo at least slowed the arrow down.

 

The broadhead went all the way through the particle board and out the other side of the plywood.
 

The Grizzly 3 blade has a wide ferrel measuring 3/8".  While some might prefer a smooth transition from the head to the shaft, others think that having a larger diameter head can actually aid penetration.  Once the head has opened the hole the shaft itself would have no resistance in passing through the opening.  

Head mounted on a Gold Tip carbon shaft.
 

Head mounted on a 11/32" wood shaft.
 

You might be familiar with the original Wensel Woodsman broadheads.  I have killed a lot of animals with those, and they are good heads, but always had an issue with tip curl on hard objects.  It was easily rectified by filing a tanto tip to the end of it.  

The Grizzly head does have a very pointed tip and I wondered whether or not it might need a tanto tip to prevent curling.  Here is the head that I shot through the particle board/plywood combination.  I'm not sure if you can even see it in the picture, but it did curl ever so slightly after twice hitting that material.  Nothing that I would worry about at all, but certainly if you are concerned about it a tiny bit of a tanto tip added with a file would completely eliminate it.

Personally,  I think the sharply pointed tip is better for penetration and I will be leaving mine as is.  

 

At 2-7/8" long, this head is a lean, sleek, and tough broadhead that is designed for maximum penetration.  More and more we hear of people wanting to shoot lighter bows but worrying about giving up penetration.  Many have switched to a 2 blade head to help in that department.  I think this new Grizzly 3 blade offers another great alternative to help get as much as you can out of your set up.      

I am not a broadhead tester and really have nothing to compare it to for reference.   So take my results for what they are worth.  But I came away thinking that these are more than up to anything I might want to shoot them through.  I plan to start out with turkeys in a couple of weeks and then black bear next month.  I also plan to use them on an elk hunt next fall and have complete confidence that they are going to perform fantastic!

Thanks for that Joe! Lots of us are very excited about these heads. Nicely done

Thanks for the review Joe.  I've been eye balling them for the end of my elk arrows.  Looks like a winner!

I believe this head has answered a lot of our requests. Thanks for the very credible test, but then I would not expect anything less from you. By the way what is your total arrow weight?

I also wondered how easy the head might be to sharpen.  It turns out to be one of the easiest three blades I have ever done.  The grind on the blades is near perfect, and it took very little work to get a hunting sharp head.

I started with a course stone and did two rounds of 15 heavy passes on each third.  Then two sets of 10 more passes on each, followed by two passes of 5 strokes.  At that point they were already sharp.

I moved on to a medium/fine stone and started with 5 strokes on each side, then gradually lighter pressure with 3 strokes, and finally a couple of single stroke passes.

That is all it took to get an extremely sharp head and is where I like to leave my hunting heads.  You could move on to even finer stones and finsih with a stropped edge if you like.  I generally leave mine like this and then touch them up from time to time with a diamond jewel stick.

imbowhunt - I forgot to add that bit of info.  the head itself is 190 grains.  Adding an aluminum adapter put mine right at 223 grains, and I used a 50 grain brass insert on the arrow.  I didn't weight my total arrow, but I think as they sit they are just a bit over 600 grains total.

Here is a better look at the head from the side.



I love the long cutting blade!

Nice review Joe...I have got to get my hands on some of these!

I'm sure bloodied heads will follow soon.

Joe I got some last weekend as well and have found what you have posted to be spot on accurate.  These heads fly like lasers.  And like Joe said very very easy to sharpen.  Good luck this season guys.

I'm waiting for mine. Good test joe    

They look great!

Great stuff right there !!!      


Bill

Thanks Joe!

I will be trying these this fall.

Joe, I can't believe you started this thread. A few days ago I wanted to test the toughness of the Grizzly Instinct as well and I took it and two other well known heads and shot them into a concrete block. Here are the results from that.

One of the heads actually bent all throughout the ferrel, but the Instinct showed less damage than the others. All shot from same bow straight on from 10 yards.

Aluminum adapter in both.

Now why would you take a perfectly good broadhead and do that with it on purpose???        

Looks like the head holds up well    

Thanks

I was asked by the owner of Grizzly heads to remove a pic as he did not want it to be seen as bashing of any other heads on this post.

Gotta respect him for that.