Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Mechanical broadhead observations

I have never used a Mechanical broad head on any big game, only turkeys. For turkeys there is nothing even close to the rage mechanical head. It's just devastating in every way and absolutely as accurate as a field point.

I have a weird curiosity of mechanicals, maybe because of my engineering education or simply that some seem like a brilliant design idea. However several I have looked over or fooled with are not what I would call good engineering, rather very good marketing!

The rage for example is a great idea, but I think it has a flaw in that the blades just don't remain closed 100% before the shot. Except for that one problem I think they are pretty darn good. That one problem however would be a deal breaker for me. Now they have come up with a design that incorporates a little sacrificial plastic sleeve to keep the blades closed. I have used these on the turkey broad heads and they are 100% flawless so far. As well as when used on my sheep.

I have corsican sheep on my farm, I sell off about a 12 a year, of those about 8-10 I sell skinned and gutted to local farm workers for some type of feast they have seasonally. I have shot all these this year with mechanical heads to verify operation and function. My Switchback shoots at 63-64 lbs. 29" draw. 440 grain arrows. With the Slick tricks in the past the arrows zip through these 125lb sheep and land well beyond them.

With the several mechanicals I tried they stick out the other side about 1/2 the time and exit about half the time. The angle being the likely difference. The death of the animal is notably and decisively faster with the 2" Rage and NAP broad heads then the slick trick. The gash sliced through them is wicked to say the least. The Grim Reaper was another great Mechanical but it was the least likely to exit, much like the shwacker. However the entry hole is a bloody disaster that is more impressive then any bullet could be.

Speaking of the NAP "rage copy" it's a bit complicated at first because the blades are so tight in the ferrule that it seems as if they would never open and would penetrate straight through without opening up. It's not impossible to get them to open but you cannot do it easily with your fingers by trying to. The risk of slipping and slicing yourself is quite high anyway.

I set up a test of these to see how they would open before I shot a sheep. They opened completely on a terry cloth rag duct taped tightly across a 5 gallon bucket. The blades opened slicing a 2" gash through the soft terry cloth rag and then out the bottom of the bucket as well! On every single sheep they sliced 2" in and out of them with death in seconds, as fast as using my .223 with Vmax bullets works on them.

Anyone handling these NAP mechanicals is sure to question the difficulty opening them up. I assure you they snap right open with 100% flawless precision..... so far anyway. The Rage always open as well, unfortunately they may open too easy without the plastic collar. Using the collar they have never failed me.

I have shot two sheep quartering away deliberately behind the last rib at 25-30 yards. Both the NAP and the rage sliced 2" wide gashes clean through exiting behind the shoulder opposite side. The Grim Reaper worked just as well, but stick into the bone of the front leg not going clean through. Just the luck of the sheeps stride at the shot.

I have wacked, dropped, smacked and tried every reasonable means to get the NAP to open other then shooting it without success. That is very comforting. It's clear to me that the folks that developed these used them on game and figured out the blade tension needed to hold them, and then to deploy them. At first look you will think they cannot open up upon impact, but they do!

In any case they shoot like field points. I have a practice tip with the ones I got for test. I forget it's in the pipe stand when I shoot and practice with it right along with my field points on my 3D targets. It's surprising when I find they hit the same as the field points every time. Even out to 50 yards!

I'm not sure if I would use them on big game, although for turkeys and probably small game and even deer they are likely just fine. They have been 100% flawless on my Sheep, close in size to deer, but build much heavier then deer.

I understand the debate between mechanicals and fixed blade heads. I definitely fall on the side of the fixed blades at this moment. However the writing in on the wall as they say. The NAP and the rage are darn good and dependable. Not to mention field point accurate and they make astonishing huge gashes entry and exit.

The one mechanical I was disappointed with that gets a lot of press was the Schwacker. Those only make a small entry and penetrate the worst of them all. If they exit they make a huge 2" hole, but the entry is just a little 1/2" opening. I cannot see a shred of a reason for why anyone would want this small entry design?

Small entry, with shallow penetration only getting you the big 2" exit for great blood flow ***if they exit. If it does not make a 2" entry and a 2" exit then whats the point of using a mechanical?

Anyway, In closing on this rambling commentary on my current opinions of mechanicals. The commercial where Chuck Adams says " it's like throwing an Axe through and animal" Well that is a very well stated observation. When you see that 2" hole through the chest of an animal it does look like an axe must have passed through it!

Here is a photo of the NAP practice tip. It's clearly just as accurate as a field point!