# Independent Broadhead Test/Review *Pic Heavy*



## 2_Smithereenz

_*This broadhead review is my own personal testing and I DO NOT represent any manufacturer nor am I sponsered by any manufacturer to advertise their products. This is simply one man's quest to determine what works and what does not work. I just wanted to share my results with those who may be interested*_

I just bought a 60lb. Bowtech Guardian and plan to use it from now on versus my 70lb. Mathews SBXT, for obvious reasons the heavier of the two is starting to wear on my shoulder a bit and thus not quite the pleasure to shoot as it was when I bought it. Through no fault of the bow itself because both bows are great in my opinion, but age has taken a toll on my body and I am forced to "Back Off" if I want to continue with my Bowhunting Career.

With my new set up and the Bowtech maxed out somewhere in the vicinity of 61lbs. it was time to downsize my archery tackle accordingly, with lighter weight arrows and broadheads to match.
I settled on some new Victory V Force HV 350's which have not arrived yet, and I am currently using some Carbon Supreme Maxima 250's cut down to 26" and weighing in at a mere 315gr. and chronographed at an impressive 295 fps.
Although this has nothing to do with my broadhead testing, as I am only testing the (actual) cutting diameter, actual weight, and for the expandable heads used in my testing, I am comparing the abilities of the broadhead to open reliably.
Testing was done by shooting each broadhead through a piece of leather 1/8" thick to simulate the hide of a whitetail deer, which doesn't take into account that grissle and bone can also come into play.

First up is a *75gr. Muzzy 3-blade*. 
*Pros*- Extremely Sharp! Well constructed and ease of assembly I will give it a 3 of 5 rating. Good flight characteristics and actual weight of head on my Hornady 350 grain scale was 79.5 grains. 
Actual cutting diameter was 7/8" measured with a Starrett Steel Rule.
*Cons*- Small cutting diameter, but it *IS *_as advertised _so I can't knock the broadhead for that. 
_I would recommend this broadhead _









Next is a *85gr. Thunderhead 3-blade*. 
*Pros*- Excellent Flight characteristics, very sharp blades, well constructed and ease of assembly I give it a 4 of 5 rating. Actual weight was 87.3 grains.
Actual cutting diameter was 1"
*Cons*- I have none.
_I would recommend this broadhead_









I also shot this head through a 1/2" piece of plywood, which is thicker than a deer's shoulder blade. I wanted to see how my particular 60lb. set up was going to penetrate if the worst should happen and that being a broadhead to the shoulder blade. To my surprise, the bow and this 85gr. Thunderhead performed flawless. The Thunderhead remained intact and didn't seem to faze it a bit. 
Penetrating the plywood and burying into my broadhead target behind it a full 8-10" which I feel is more than sufficient to break a shoulder and continue on through the lungs. This is the only broadhead that I performed this test with, only because it answered my penetration questions and didn't see the need in punching holes through plywood for no good reason.
*Front side (Entry)*








*Back side (Exit)*









Next is a *100gr. Thunderhead 3-blade*, and a 100gr. Magnus Stinger 4-blade (2-blade with bleeders)
*Pros-* The 100gr. Thunderhead was pretty much the same as the 85gr. version and tested very well in all aspects with the same cutting diameter of 1" only 15gr. heavier than the 85gr. version. Actual weight was 104.5 grains, actual cutting diameter was 1" 
Flight characteristics are exceptional. Ease of assembly I give it a 4 of 5 rating.
*Cons*- I have none
_I would recommend this broadhead_









*Pros*- *Magnus Stinger 4-blade *is also a very good broadhead with very good flight characteristics and no assembly issues. Each head comes already assembled and all you have to do is screw it into an arrow shaft and shoot. It doesn't get any more simple than that and it gets a 5 of 5 rating on ease of assembly. Actual weight was 105.1 grains, actual cutting diameter was 1" 
*Cons-* Actual weight from broadhead to broadhead vary just a bit from 1-2.5 grains. Which I thought was a bit more than quality standards should permit?
_I would recommend this broadhead_

The last 2 broadheads in my testing were in the expandable catagory. The 75gr. Wasp Jack hammer 3-blade and the 75gr. Vortex 2-blade.
First the 75gr. Jack hammer 3-blade. I shot each of these through the leather to simulate deer hide and to intitiate the opening process, with a piece of newpaper stapled to my broadhead target 12" behind the leather. This would tell me if the expandable broadheads would intitially open upon contact with the hide, then the newpaper would show what I could expect for the exit wound. This is the best way that I could think of to simulate the test without actually putting one through a deer.
With that said, the *Wasp 75gr. Jack hammer *did exactly what it was supposed to do. It opened upon traveling through the leather and left 3 razor cuts on the newpaper just as it should have. It also penetrated deeply into my broadhead target approximately 12"
Actual head weight was 80.4 grains, actual cutting diameter is as advertised at 1 1/4"
_I would recommend this broadhead._

Last is the *2-blade Vortex 75gr*. This head did not perform well at all. To say the least I was disappointed in it's performance. It is designed to open up before entry and did not do so reliably. I only shot it through the leather twice and once it did open, and once it did not. The instance where it did not open when passing through the leather, it also did not open when it passed through the newspaper and into my broadhead target. So this can only leave me to believe that it would also have passed straight through a deer leaving almost no entry or exit wound to speak of. 
_I would *not *recommend this particular head._

I hope you enjoyed my Independent Broadhead Review, Thanks for reading.


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## swampcruiser

*Great review*

Those are definitely some good old standby's. I had the same type of experience with votex heads, it killed the deer but did not open properly, and came apart.


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## ks.bowhunter

Great report.I too had a bad experience with vortex.I recovered the deer and it made a great would channel but the head was completely destroyed.


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## rollingstonebow

*Broadhead Review*

Say, thanks for doing this mini test I appreciate it very much. I do happen to shoot Thunderheads.


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## 2_Smithereenz

Your Welcome.
I was doing the testing anyway for my own benefit, so I thought I would share with you all.:wink:
I've shot Thunderheads for probably 15 years or longer now, and they are one tough broadhead, they fly extremely well also. I've shot a bunch of them through shoulder blades as well as plywood over the years and all of them have held up nicely!


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