Broadhead planning?

[Colt SAA]

I know that with a vertical bow, if it's not tuned properly, fixed blade broadheads will often cause the arrow to plane. Do any of you have the same problem with your crossbow?

Thanks.

[vixenmaster]

Some of the non vented blade models will certainly plane. FPS is one of the main causes, the faster it goes the more the air is disturbed

[steve rodo]

I just came in from shooting BH's @ 40 yards with the new arra's.Boltcutter's 150 gr .A little whistle but deadly accurate .I also shot the BH out to 60 yds just for curious.They were 1'' low with boltcutter's 150 gr.But all in line of the windage.Just a drop in arra's.


I use to tune my arra's with the vanes .But i find it didn't do much difference ,maybe 1/4'' at most with untuned BH out to 60 yard's



So in theory i dont see much difference ,for hunting it's good enough for me.
Dont know my speed yet .ill check it tomorrow.

I jumped up to 150 gr on FP & BH's though with new arra's
.LIke i said ,my windage didn't change just the elevation a little.
My vanes dont even line up with BH what so ever.

[sumner4991]

You want to make sure your arrow is built correctly . . .mainly just make sure it's straight and balanced, including your broadhead.

At the higher speeds, the fixed broadheads must be perfect to fly perfect . . .so, don't waste your money with the cheap, thin broadheads when using fixed broadheads.

Imperfections in the broadhead, such as the tip being cut slightly off center or the broadhead seated poorly/uneven, is the main causes of planning.

I avoid the majority of planning issues by shooting mechanicals . . .again, avoid the cheap ones.

Use a good spinner and you can eliminate most problems before you ever shoot the arrow.

The very thin replaceable blades on some of the fixed broadheads WILL bend when shot into a target. I've had them bend so slightly that I could not tell by looking, but, it would show up by 8 inches when shot. So, I shot it once and it was dead on and shot it a second time and flew 8 inches off target.

[nchunterkw]

Sumner...just curious....if you put the arrow with the bent blade on a spinner it would look fine - meaning the ferrule is not bent at all?

Colt,
You need well tuned arrows to shoot fixed blades out of a crossbow too. In some ways it's a bit harder to do because the arrows are shorter making tem a little harder to stabilize in flight. Many on here find that 2" Blazer's fletched with a lot of helical (AZ-EZ Fletch Bolt tool) and a high FOC (~20%) give them very good flight. I personally shoot heavy fixed blade tipped arrows because I feel they give you a better chance at a pass thru on an errant shot. Ones I have good luck with are the G5 Montec/CS, the Magnus Stinger 2 blade and the Slick Trick Magnum or Xbow Trick. An arrow squaring tool and a spin tester go a long way toward helping you shoot fixed blades right on with your FPs.

[Riflemanz]

I couldn't get the boltcutters to fly good out of my 355 but the Rage and rocket did fly good.

[Boo]

Fixed broadheads will plane if your tiller is off by much, your front inserts are not squared, your broadheads are not very straight and if the arrow/broadhead assembly hits something on the way to the target.
Tiller never prefect and broadheads are never perfectly aligned with the axis of the shaft. So it's like many things on the bow or in life. It depends on your expectations.
Having said that so are happy with 3" at 30 yds and some want 1" at 30 yds. Neither are right or wrong it's just the guy will higher standards usually has to be lucky or work harder to get what they want.
There are ways to compensate for the above irregularities without correcting them. Extreme FOC, hight arrow assembly weight or fletching are 3 examples.

[steve rodo]

I couldn't get the boltcutters to fly good out of my 355 but the Rage and rocket did fly good.

I havent tried anything else .I stayed with them cause they shot good from the git go .

[Boo]

I couldn't get the boltcutters to fly good out of my 355 but the Rage and rocket did fly good.

It's rare to hear that the Bolt Cutters fly poorly. Mechanical broadheads are a short cut to accuracy. They eliminate the effects of things like poor tiller, inserts that are not square, not enough vane offset etc. Nothing wrong with using mechanicals. I'm seriously considering using the T3 this year but not to over come accuracy issues.

[sumner4991]

Sumner...just curious....if you put the arrow with the bent blade on a spinner it would look fine - meaning the ferrule is not bent at all?

Correct . . .I couldn't figure out why the broadhead flew off like that . . .perfect one shot, eight inches then off the next. I looked it over, shot it again and way off. Spun it . . didn't notice a thing(but, I wasn't looking at the blades specifically during the spin, so, I could have missed that). I finally decided to put in new blades and it flew perfect again . . .it was a Wasp Boss, but, there are several on the market built in a similar manner. Those thin replaceable blades are made to bend so a hit on bone will not stop the penetration and will keep cutting muscle tissue. But, at the same time, this makes it impossible to test them before hunting with them. About all the mechanical blades are made that way, but, since they are folded, the broadhead still flies straight even if the blades aren't exactly perfect.

I switched broadheads immediately because, at the time, I was testing all my broadheads before I hunted with them . . .well, I couldn't be guaranteed that it would shoot perfectly after the test . . .see what I mean.

Anyway, I found the big cut mechanicals to be easier and just as deadly. The added bonus, I don't test them. I make sure they pass the spinner test and I'm ready to go. I just make sure the arrows are straight and the broadhead is seated correctly. If I can give them a fast spin and there's no wobble, then , it's good.

Took a LOT of testing for me to be comfortable with that.

My fixed blades . . .I still test them. I like the Slick Tricks . . .very well built, strong blades, and lots of cutting surface. But, you got to shoot them before you know for sure if those blades are perfect. . .and I might add, I've never found a bad Slick Trick. But, I have only tested a couple of dozen.

Be sure to take a good look at the tip of the broadhead . . .the tip must be dead center, otherwise, it will push the arrow. I had that happen . . .don't assume they are perfect.

[hummer]

Fixed broadheads will plane if your tiller is off by much

What's a tiller

[Boo]

Fixed broadheads will plane if your tiller is off by much

What's a tiller

Tiller is basically the evenness of the limbs. If one side has much more work potential than the other side then your "tiller is off" and it will cause erratic fixed broadhead flight. If the tiller is really off then it will even cause field points and mechanicals to fly poorly. Keep in mind that tiller is never perfect and if a bow does what you want don't stress over your tiller.

[ranger]

I couldn't get the boltcutters to fly good out of my 355 but the Rage and rocket did fly good.

It's rare to hear that the Bolt Cutters fly poorly. Mechanical broadheads are a short cut to accuracy. They eliminate the effects of things like poor tiller, inserts that are not square, not enough vane offset etc. Nothing wrong with using mechanicals. I'm seriously considering using the T3 this year but not to over come accuracy issues.

I used the Montec and T3's with my Vortex and ProFusion with no issues and now I'm going to use the Boltcutters with the 380. I have had more luck with fixed blades over Mech but it seems the newer mechs have gotten way better over the years.

[maine hunter]

i like the g5's montecs, fly great and very solid. the boltcutters were good but was off 3'' off at 20-30 yards,montecs right on the money.

[fuzzy]

...