Tell me about your broadhead tips bending/breaking

[d. ward]

holy smokes those are all great looking broadhead pics.I love to see the one's that were doing their jobs getting used out in the forest rather then collecting rust in some storage box you gotta love em bd

[amar911]

I have fairly recently had the front part of some broadheads break completely off at the front of the ferrule and on a line perpendicular to the ferrule/shaft. I contacted the manufacturer and he will be determining the cause and will hopefully fix the problem. Because he is a TradGang member, is a super guy, is going to try to fix things up, and has taken ownership of the problem, I am not going to mention the brand of the broadhead or show pictures that would identify it, even though the pictures are pretty dramatic. The design is a good one, but it seems that the heat treatment (by a contractor, not the manufacturer) may have caused the problem. I was unhappy about the situation, but penetration was still surprisingly pretty good and did not result in the loss of any animals -- although the animals could have easily been lost under slightly different circumstances. If anyone thinks I am talking about the ABS Ashby broadheads, I'm not. They are excellent, although very expensive. The ones that broke were expensive too, but not as much as the Ashbys. The new 2 blade VPA heads and the new Tuffheads both look good, and I am eager to try some of each of them. Their designs, like the design of the Ashbys, does not appear to lend themselves to the kind of failure I have described, but I will know more later after some torture testing.

I have also had failures with the old Bear Razorheads, which I quit using as a result, and also quit shooting the replaceable blade broadheads when I started seeing some failures in them too. I like heavy, thick bladed broadheads for bigger game. Just about any decent broadhead of any design is adequate for the average deer. I shoot lighter poundage bows, lighter arrows and lighter broadheads when I am hunting deer and smaller animals. When I have heavy poundage bows, heavy arrows and heavy game, I want a super strong, heavy broadhead that won't fail me. With some animals, a broadhead failure could get me or someone else killed, and that would be REALLY bad!!      Cost of the broadhead is not a major consideration when lives are at stake or where the cost of the hunt dwarfs the equipment costs.

Allan

[SS Snuffer]

Last years buck, Stinger 125 gr. Don't know if the tip is bent cause can't pull it out with a pliers. Broke th furrel trying to pull the arrow out. 4th deer with stingers, I won't be switching. Broke a rib before hitting the leg bone. Magnus would replace the head but I won't send it in. It did it's job!!

[TxAg]

wow

[Wudstix]

Shoot Magnus Mag I, Ribtek, Ace, STOS and have not had any bending problems.  Ribtek is by far the toughest head I have ever shoot.Magnus and ACE are close behind.        

[SuperK]

Use the "search" and look up "single bevel experiment" posted (June 2008).  Starting on page 3,"Kingwouldbe" posted many pictures of all different kinds of broadheads that were bent, broken and busted.  That was an eye-opener for sure.    :eek:

[JamesKerr]

I have had tips bend only when I shot the head with the original needle tip. I modify all my heads to tanto tips and never have one bend. My latest broadhead the woodsman elite 175 grain comes with a chisel tip and it will not bend.

[ncsaknech1ydh]

I have been shooting Bear Razorheads for years and bent plenty, I practice with broadheads year round so they get alot of abuse.

I ordered a 6 pack of Stricklands Helix 155 grain heads this spring which are .072" thick and have been shooting the heck out of em all summer into all sorts of stuff, they fly like darts and are super tough when comparing them to the Bears, just one look at them and you can see they are not going to break or bend, I am sold on them and will be using them this fall...look out critters!  

[Burnsie]

Curled the tip of a Zwicky Eskimo over when I hit the shoulder of a nice buck.  Penetration was barely the length of the broadhead.  Saw the deer 15 minutes later standing in the field feeding. Not sure what happened???

[TxAg]

anybody else?

[Gen273]

This is a very informative thread!  I hope there will be more posts and pictures in it.

It does not matter how great all our equipment is unless the sharp thing on the end on the arrow can do its job.  For there will be times in the real world of bowhunting which will require the broadhead to do its job under less than perfect circumstances; and to me that is what Separates a great broadhead from just a good one.

[straitera]

Great luck w/Bear 125gr w/o bleeders for decades. Through bone a number of times. Wrinkled one once on a rock. Straightened it & shot it again. Switched to heavier Ace 160gr (battleaxes). Way stout.

[Builder]

I believe it has more to do with the Rockwell hardness when the metal is tempered as to it's thickness. If it is tempered properly you shouldn't be able to bend it. I have on several different heads put them in my vice and tried to bend them with a vice grip, if they bend their to soft and usually will not sharpen as well either.

[Charlie Lamb]

[MnFn]

100 grns. I hit bone on an average whitetail buck at very close range, maybe five to ten feet, as he ran by me. I took one step and and was able to pick up my arrow.