switching mechanicals to fixed blade

[westhoyt]

Hey everyone , I was trying to switchover painlessly to fixed blade [slick tricks]
but no matter where I move my rest the broadhead hits 3inces to left and 4inches low compared to my FP grouping I went through this a couple years ago and gave up and went back to mechanicals which are the same as my FPs.
Any input would be great or should I go with a different fixed broadhead.
OH my target is takeing a beating from whacking it with broadheads. Thanks

[Foxtail]

The way I see it is the slicktrick is a 4 blade head and would suffer more from wind planing. You might want to try a 3 blade design like a sonic or shuttle t lock. Mind you I have been using Slicktricks and mine hit the same.

[uraarchr]

My slicktricks hit the same.

[Bow Walker]

All I can say/think of is that the heads themselves need to be 'true to the shaft', by that I mean that they need to aligned dead center so that they arrow spins without any wobble. When I do that, my broadheads fly like my field points.

Last time I tested them was out to 55 yards and I was able to hit a plastic coke bottle of the 400ml size that was suspended from a string over the broadhead pit.

It can be a bit finicky to get the heads to spin true on the shafts, but it is doable. You just have to keep trying.

[Gumsehwah]

Try the phoenix broadheads from red feather archery?
These or G5 Montecs.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCgQqwMoADAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redfeatherarcheryonline.com%2 FPhotos.html&ei=f4rpTvHRB-XXiQK12bH7Aw&usg=AFQjCNEB0PsLmHr0ihoxyfD0X7JzGD2I1A

[westhoyt]

So should the heads line up with the vanes , do you add washers or rubber orings, my inserts have been squared with a tool

[Ambush]

Some of the top broadhead shooters in the world have flat stated that sometimes a particular set up may not group BH and field points the same.

It is usualy possible, but not always possible. Now a few will jump on here claim otherwise, but if Randy Ulmer says it, then I believehim.

I assume you are moving your rest to try and correct the problem?
Maybe list your gear. Draw length, poundage, arrow brand and spine, arrow length, point weight, type of rest. You are using a release?
What vanes are you using and how much helical or offset?

I use Nap Spitfire mechanicals and Slick Tricks. Both shoot the same as field points.

You may try getting a few large cut [ bigger the better] fixed blades and try tuning them. Once they fly OK then the smaller ones should fly great.

[Walksalot]

To get broadheads and field points to strike the same is, for some bows, an unrealistic goal.

[BiG Boar]

Why mess with something that already works?

[lowband6]

If your bow is tuned and you spin test the Slick Tricks on the shaft I can't see why they wouldn't fly the same.Although my Slick Tricks do hit a bit lower at long range,like say maybe 3 inches at 60 yards.But I think that's just the 4blades dragging through the air.

[proguide66]

Ive always loved fixed. Especially the old Bear razor heads , they seem to cut a nasty gash.
Sadly the new bow I recieved s a gift/tip from a guest will NOT shoot them..OR the montek 3 blade...drove me tuns to I bought those tiny mechanical ones. They fly like damned bullets with a scope! I guess anything will kill when pushed through ribs and organs though...would still love my fixed to be the ones though. Those damned little elastics are a pain while still hunting.

[matt420]

i my self use rage slip cam and love them never had a problem with them ever, but i am more of a mechanical fan myself when you have the right ones, but if your wanting to switch i would go with the montec G5's, a friends of mine hit a doe from 45 yards with a Montec G5 this year and she went no more then 20 yards and buckled

[Bow Walker]

So should the heads line up with the vanes , do you add washers or rubber orings, my inserts have been squared with a tool
So far I haven't needed to add rubber washer/O-rings. But it is critical to get the supplied metal washer to line up and not be off to one side or the other. As for having to line up blades with the vanes - not necessary. In fact, I have never worried about doing that on any of my broadheads. Never had a problem with them flying properly.

I like the blade locking system on the Slick Trick broadhead - I'm just not a big fan of their metal washer slopping around on the ferule, I think that there could be (and should be ) tighter tolerances there. Or - maybe a plastic washer, or a tight little o-ring, or something.........

[bugler]

My guess is that your arrows are either too stiff or too flexible (spine issue). You tried moving the rest around, I would try slightly stiffer arrow next. If the arrow is leaving the bow cleanly there is no reason that the broadheads would hit different than field points. If you have small issues like fletching contact with rest or arrow spine problems then fixed blades will reveal the problem while mechs and field points will mask it.

[westhoyt]

I am shooting hoyt Superhawk 27 inch draw cranked up which works out to about 56 lbs draw weight
Whisker buiscut rest and radial weave stl hunter 200 arrows. Oh ya and also using a release
Maybe I should try a stiffer arrow next?

[Tuffcity]

Another way of looking at it is that you adjust your pins a month before hunting season and shoot only broadheads after that. The fundementals and muscle memory you aquire during the off-season are not going to change because you switch to broadheads. When hunting season is over, readjust for FP and keep practicing. If you are getting good arrow flight with the broadheads you want to use then just sight-adjust and don't stress about it.

RC

[TheProvider]

How long are your arrows??

[Bow Walker]

A 29" Radial X-Weave in 200 spine is listed as being good for bows that have draw weights from 45# to 60#.....if your arrows are shorter, then I'd suggest that they might be too stiff for your setup and that you might benefit from slightly less spine. If you want to stay with X-Weave shafts you might be better off eother shooting full length shafts or going to the 100 spine and cutting them down to fit your setup and arrow rest. I use APA Safari Twister arrow rests that allow for these shorter shafts.

My bows are right in around the 60# mark (61# and 62#) I shoot Gold tip shafts, the arrow that I like is the lesser expensive XT Hunter or the even lesser expensive Expedition Hunter. At the weights that I shoot - I use the 5575 spine shafts and mine are cut down 27 3/8" in length.

Cutting them short like that (from the whole shaft length of 30") does a few things for me - it increases the stiffness a bit, it increases the straightness quite a bit, and it allows me to shoot an arrow that is lighter overall. My arrows stick out past my arrow rest by just 1" - the carbon shaft end (just behind the insert) sits on the prongs of my arrow rest, with the insert and tip(s) protruding by about 1". Hope that makes sense.

[westhoyt]

Arrows are 30 inches from end of knock to tip of field point Thanks

[Ambush]

Arrows are 30 inches from end of knock to tip of field point Thanks

Cut the arrows to the proper length and try again. Cutting will stiff the spine.
If you're having a shop do it, take your bow and arrows with you. Draw the bow, mark the arrow and cut them about one inch in front of your rest.

[westhoyt]

So I just tried my arrow in front of a mirror and the tip of my arrow sticks out about 3.5 inches past my whisker buiscut rest
Is this ok? To cut them shorter is really getting tip of arrow close to hand.
Also do blazer vanes fly better than regular vanes.

[Bow Walker]

I've been shooting for almost 20 years and have never even come close to injuring myself because my broadheads were "close to my hand" when I draw my bow.

It'll cost a few inserts, but your arrows will fly better for being the correct length and spine. Give it a try with 3 or 4 arrows and do a test with them versus the longer ones.

[westhoyt]

Well remember a whiker buiscut is mounted behind riser ,not on it or in front of it, you know what I mean.

[westhoyt]

1 more thing, do I not have to worry about a fixed blade hitting base of riser if arrow is cut shorter. Thanks , the more I read the more technical it is

[bugler]

It is probably best not to have the broadhead draw back past the front of the riser but there should be enough room for it anyway, if it is a newer bow. Regardless, you should be able to tell if the blades would make contact by eyeballing down the shaft with an arrow on the string, or carefully measure from the edge of the arrow to the riser and compare to how far the blades protrude from the shaft.

Another way to test if it is a spine problem without cutting the arrows is to turn the bow down a few pounds (if you think the arrow is too flexible) or up a few (if you suspect too stiff). This is assuming you have room to crank it up or down a bit.

[Bow Walker]

My broadheads draw even with the berger hole on my riser, and there are no problems at all.

It's got to do with the type/style of rest that is employed.

[westhoyt]

Ok went out to range today, I fired off some shorter arrows and they seem to group a bit better, and than tied broadhead and the point of impact is a litle bit closer with my field tips. I think I will try adjusting my rest again. Thanks for the help so far.

[Bow Walker]

You're definitely heading in the right direction.

Are your arrows cut so that the insert is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in front of the rest prongs?

[westhoyt]

Ya the insert is about 1/2 inch ahead of rest

[Bow Walker]

Well, I think that's about as short as you want them to be, now for some fine tuning...

[westhoyt]

Tried moving rest this morning, but no success.
Than I noticed something, My field points and mechanicals fly flat and have tight groups at 20yrds, but I can see my arrow dive when I shoot fixed heads , I squared my inserts and spintested arrows so I am stuck again. My groupings did tighten up shooting shorter arrows.

[Riverbc]

http://redhawk-archery.com/bh-tuning.jpg

[backcountrybowhunter]

I found the same problems different bows shot different heads better than others, started using tekans and they shot well and tryed the rages the last two years and never lost an animal and never had one go further than 40 yards, watched all but one fall, but definetly not the strongest head on the market, almost all blades damaged but did do what they are ment to.

[jessbennett]

I found the same problems different bows shot different heads better than others, started using tekans and they shot well and tryed the rages the last two years and never lost an animal and never had one go further than 40 yards, watched all but one fall, but definetly not the strongest head on the market, almost all blades damaged but did do what they are ment to.
really.???? i had a rage 3 blade go through a big mulie this year, break two ribs on the way in, and blow right through the shoulder blade on the exit side, and hit the ground 30 yds behind the deer and was still razor sharp and no damage at all? hmmmm..... weird.

[backcountrybowhunter]

yupp really have taken 4 deer with them, all pass throughs but the blades and rest of the head were bent or damaged in some way

[Bow Walker]

Must be a package of the earlier design for the heads. They have worked on it and toughened them up considerably.

[jessbennett]

yupp really have taken 4 deer with them, all pass throughs but the blades and rest of the head were bent or damaged in some way

well one way or another, they got the job done.. all pass through=doing what its suppost to.

[Cervid_Seeker]

I've been shooting the fixed G5 Montecs. Great broadheads and have always passed through deer and killed them pretty quickly. I use the same arrows for hunting as I do for target shooting and the same weight Montecs as my field points. I just unscrew the field points and screw in the broadheads. They fly almost exactly the same out to 40 yards which is farther than I have ever shot a deer at. Maybe I'm just lucky but sure love those Montecs. Easy to sharpen to boot.