Broadhead question (new bow)

[PaFitter]

I've been hunting with my bow for 7 years and I like to use the late season to fill the freezer!

I assume the field tips are 125 gr and I went out and got fixed thunderheads (I use mechanical on my compound). My question is, why are the broad heads shooting 2-3 inches left? Common sense tells me why they may shoot low. I find it hard to believe this crossbow will only shoot "excalibur" broad heads. Would like to get out this week!!

[Normous]

Welcome, I never got Thunderheads to shoot well out of my Excalibur so they went to the bottom of my favorite list.
Fixed blades and fieldtips often never shoot at the same POI, a scope adjustment is needed.
Many broadheads fly well out of the Excalibur, not just the ones from Excalibur. Try your mechanicals.
Did you weigh the field tips are you sure they are 125 grain?

[PaFitter]

Thanks for the information! The thunderheads are all over the place (so I can't even adjust). I did just try my old mechanicals and it flew nice. So hopefully my last amateur question, Guys seem really hell bent on 125 grain. My mechs are 100 grain, does it matter?

[georgiaboy]

Thanks for the information! The thunderheads are all over the place (so I can't even adjust). I did just try my old mechanicals and it flew nice. So hopefully my last amateur question, Guys seem really hell bent on 125 grain. My mechs are 100 grain, does it matter?

Welcome to the forum!!
If they shoot well and the arrow/broadhead combo is over 350gr (325gr for the vixen) then by all means shoot them. I use 100gr spitfires out of my Ibex.

[JohnDoeHunter]

I've never shot an animal with anything but a Muzzy Broadhead. 1. They are cheap, you get six for the same price if not less than what a three pack of heads goes for. 2. They are "Bad to the Bone" as they say. They destroy bone and make big holes. 3. I've never had a problem getting them to fly good. Some have.
With all that said,my brother in-law shoots Slick Tricks and they seem to be made better than Muzzy heads and work as well. They are made of all steel as apposed to aluminium. I will be getting some and shooting them next year. They are a little more expensive but they seem to be more consistent from batch to batch.

[vixenmaster]

Rule #1 never assume anything with yer Bow & pts. Weigh them or read the package. Thunderheads will shoot out of CB's. Its just a matter of finding the right length fletching & offset or helical. They seldom will ever shoot to field pts POI.

[PaFitter]

You guys are right..... I took for granite the fact that it's easier then the compound. The field tips are 150#

[Ont_Excal]

After you attach the broadheads, do you spin the arrow to see if the head is in perfect alignment with the shaft??
No compromises here, they must be perfectly aligned.

I agree about the thunderheads.
They have always shot well for me.
I've run them through my grain scale and they are very close to advertised weight and consistent from one package to another. The same with the mzzy.
On bigger game such bear and moose I lean toward the thunderhead.
The blades are .027 thickness and the muzzy are .020.
My muzzy 4 blades I favour for deer and smaller game. I like the extra blade.
The trocar tip is an excelent locking mechanism.

It may be easier than a compound but at the moment of truth it's still archery.

[shaftthrower]

I shoot 125gr Th with 100gr brass inserts 4" feathers and L-Noks out of a Pheonix. Spin test and they shoot same as FP. 2 deer and one turkey all hit their mark. My wifes Vixen 125 gr Th allum. inserts 4' feathers L-noks shoots same as Fp. All are 2117 arrows. Feathers are set on an off-set. I have some Slick tricks but haven't tried them yet. Good Luck!

[nchunterkw]

I've found that FPs that are the same length as the BH make a difference as well...meaning if I can shoot FPs that are close to the same length as the BHs then the BHs will tend to hit the same spot. Thunderheads are pretty long. I shot them for years but when they added grooves to them they flew different for me. I recently tried some 125s I still had again and did not have good luck on 2119 Easton arrows with 4" vanes. But I did not spend alot of time with them.

[sumner4991]

There have been a lot of posts over the years complaining about how the Thunderheads fly poorly out of the crossbows. they must not take the speed very well . . .got to be planing for some reason.

[Boo]

Broadheads act as vanes and can misguide your arrow. The longer they are the more "bite" they have in the air. Crossbows all have their tiller a bit off as no two limbs are perfectly the same. The combination of a long broadhead and any tiller issue causes the difference between POI of a target tip and a fixed broadhead and of course is magnified by longer and or wider broadheads. This manifests itself by a consistent difference of POI between a field tip and a broadhead.
Front inserts that are not square will cause more erratic flight but can be rectified by an arrow squaring device like G5s ASD. Really bad tiller can sometimes cause erratic flight as well.
You can also over come some of these issues somewhat by using a higher FOC and more offset of your vanes.
Changing to a smaller, heavier more compact broadhead is the most simple route to try. If you find that it is no better then check your tiller. Mechanicals is an option too.

[Dash]

Thanks for the information! The thunderheads are all over the place (so I can't even adjust). I did just try my old mechanicals and it flew nice. So hopefully my last amateur question, Guys seem really hell bent on 125 grain. My mechs are 100 grain, does it matter?

At longer distance It helps to have more weight up front. With testing at short range there was no real difference. Using the 175gr has improved my long distance accuracy over same conditions. Problem is theres very little choice with broadheads over 125gr. I prefer the 170gr FOC's with helical blazers on the rear. Dead accurate, and hardly affected by wind compared to other combos I've played with.

[Ont_Excal]

I used to just shoot equipment off the rack but not anymore.

I find that with all the outsourcing I have a hard time buying arrows for example that are the same. Depending on a vendors source they have vanes with all colours of the rainbow and vary in length and I have no doubt weight as well.

Thank you all. With help from this forum I'll be able to develop my own arrows that I can take pride in and have confidence in.