Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Cut on contact VS chisel point tips

I have been using Slick trick for quite a while now and moved to them from the Muzzy heads. Prior to muzzy I used zwicky's.

I never seemed to get the slice through with Muzzy that I did with the zwickys but the Muzzy broadheads flew 100% better. Then the slick tricks came along and they are absolutely 100% field tip accurate. However they don't do the same slice through of the cut on contact broadheads either.

I suppose I like the chisel points because they can be used over and over and have replaceable parts. The Slick Tricks also penetrate like a bullet which is superb on even thick skinned hogs.

I shot a couple Montec G5's yesterday that a friend uses and they flew pretty good for me. Not exactly field point good but certainly "hunting" good. These heads are cut on contact and are very well constructed heavy duty. They have peaked my interest because they flew decent and have that desireable feature of the razor sharp tip.

I guess it's a good problem to have, several great options to choose from!

I've only hunted deer/elk with pointy-sticks, but always wanted to shoot a chisel-point broadhead, for the effect it had on bones. I always tried to wait for a broadside shot and the chance of whackin a shoulder blade (when aiming lungs) made me favor the chisel.

125grs on heavy alum 33" long shafts, launced from a 74 lb bow, did amazing things, even on "Elkie" bones.

S.B.

The Montecs do cut like crazy, but I worry about the blade durability. If you tweek one, you are screwed and you get to throw away a $10 broad head. Nothing is replaceable on them. They were my second choice after the Slick Tricks. The Slick Tricks fly better and that means a lot more to me than a little penetration. With an arrow, accuracy is paramount. Flinch

Personally, I prefer a chisel tip. The cut on contact heads make more impressive wounds in tissue, but I prefer to have a chisel tip just in case I goof and hit major bone. Of course since I'm currently using mechanical heads, the bone penetration issue is that much more important.

JJ,
I shot the Zwickey's as well (still do some hunts), but the sharpening and balancing that goes with them gets to be a pain. I was looking for a similiar head that had the same characterstics and I came up with the 2 blade 100gr Magnus Stinger. They fly like darts, are easy to sharpen, are tougher than hell, and you get the absolutely best customer service anywhere from them. If you shoot the head into a concrete block and it breaks, bends, becomes unusable send it back and Mike will send you a new one. I have only shot one deer with them, so I don't have a bunch of "game" experience yet, but everything else about them is great. Give them a try, I don't think you will be disappointed!!

Trey

Bowhunter magazine did a penetration test some time ago and it came out exactly like what is stated above. Cut on contact b-heads penetrated more in soft media and chisel tips in hard stuff. For me I know a chisel tip b-head will penetrate 'enough' in soft tissue, but not sure a cut-on-contact head would if hitting bone (one exception may be the BoneBuster heads).

My dad center the shoulder blade on a nice whitetail last year. The Muzzy drove deep enough to take out both lungs and the deer only went 55yds.

JJ, I know you have been around hunting long enuf to know...if a field tip and a broadhead of the same weight wont fly to the same POI...something is out of tune. I tune every arrow individually when i screw on my heads. And when everything is like it should be, they go to the same POI as my field points. I do NOT have to make sight adjustments. I have used COI heads for several years and have been pleased. But this year I am making the switch to the G5. Have heard too manygood things and want to see for myself.

I have used all types of BH from COI to chisel point, even those mech things. All have done what they are supposed to do, some better than others. I think what it all boils down to is personal choice, if a person likes COI, chisel, or mech heads and they shoot good, leave a blood trail that a child could follow than why change. I know there are lots of what if's like " what if I hit the sholder, or a" heavy bone ", but a person can "what if themselves to death. In bowhunting we owe it to the game that we hunt to use equipment that will make a clean kill and I personally don't think that there is a BH on the market today that wont do the job. I remember something an old friend of mine used to say " it aint the canoe it's the Eskimo ". So if your equipment works why change. This is something I say to myself every year so I'll stick with my muzzy's.

Years ago, A friend of mine and I did experiments with about a dozen well know & popular types of broadheads to determine how much force was expended to penetrate 1/4" saddle leather in a six inch wooden frame.
We mounted each of the broadheads in an apparatus which was essentially an arbor press with a dial indicator that shows Foot/pounds expended.
The broadheads were all sharp and ranged from chisel points, pencil points, expandables, two, three, four blade, razor insert versions etc.
The worst with the chisel points required about 8#s of force before the tip poked thru the 1/4" leather stretched tightly in the wood frame.
The best were well made two-blade broadheads that did not have the tip chiseled..They required less than 1# of force to penetrate through the 1/4" leather.
Calculate how many foot/pounds of energy your bow and arrow delivers at 35 yards and you'll find that sacrificing 5 foot pounds unnecessarily is not a good choice for the big game hunter.
My own bows are 75-85# longbows & recurves and the arrows are 730-745 grains with 160 grain 2-blade b-heads.
I have shot thru three bull elk, and killed another ten with penetration that was complete.The bows have a starting velocity of close to 200FPS shot with fingers and so they are fairly efficient.

Todays better two blade heads work very well and fly well IF the arrow and bow are tuned and arrow has proper balance point-fletching etc.The archer's loose must be decent of course.

Few archers consciously attempt a thru-shoulderblade shot on a large game animal.
Ribs offer little resistance to a well shot arrow with a sharp b-head.

Sharp b-head shot placement on unalerted big game useing an arrow of sufficient mass from a bow of sufficient weight-cast are the keys to going from the hunt to the table with big game..jim

Hey Jim

Did you try Snuffers and Woodsmans in your tests? I'm curious to see how they worked for you. I too am shooting a stickbow with carbons weighing 600grs and starting out at 185fps.

Scott, The Snuffers yes..Gene Wenzel hadn't made the Woodsman yet..:) been about 12 years ago.
There are a number of great 2-blade b-heads made these days.Some overpriced and overhyped..
Inasmuch as I still shoot wooden arrows, the field is a bit more limited but still good.

Dr Ed Ashby did some very definitive broadhead tests on African game about 16 years ago..He ended up with the 2-blade steel cut on cointact point of good quality hands down on critters up to the size of the Kudu..

I have used alot of Bear, Pearson & Zwickeys years past among others for deer, elk, lion, bear, javelina, but presently use 160 grain Magnus b-heads.Sharp, strong.
I'm a bit anachronistic, having cut my teeth in archery in the days of Ben Pearson, Howard Hill, Bob Swineheart, Fred Bear, Glennn St Charles..but I like archery simple and effective..jim

You sold me and him on Slick Tricks this past season.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I won't be lookin' for anything else for awhile! The two spots in the upper left are where he was standing until he bobbled and fell over -- 10 yards from where he was hit!!

Good thread! I too, have used them all. Just like bullets, projectile placement is all important. Performance of the broadhead is secondary, because all quality broadheads will work acceptably if driven fast enough and with enough weight behind them. I do prefer a "cutting point" but don't usually use them at the sacrifice of accuracy.

Wow I'm glad I posted this thread to get some of you off your A$$'ses and share this info! Jim In Oregon your always a wealth of info regardless of the topic! If you shoot a bow like you do that rifle of yours the game is in trouble. At least with the bow you can be certain it's loaded(had to toss that in)

I think at this point of the experience ladder for me I'll be shooting the most accurate broadhead first and the style second. Right now I find it hard to swap from the slick trick 125's. I have never shot a more accurate broadhead which required nothing more then screwing it onto the shaft.

I killed a nice big wild boar, recovered the arrow after passing clean through the thick shields on both sides. Then with a few strokes of touch up I shot another one with the same head and arrow! This time it did not go clean through and as the boar fell it snapped the shaft. The boar went less then 50 yards and fell within sight of my tree stand. I will use that same head for something again this year.


This is clearly the only animal in North American that can be considered a pachyderm. Nothing else comes close to the thick tough hide of a big wild boar!


Accuracy like this is all you can ask for. Look at the way the thick hide has been split for a copious blood trail.

Mmmmmmmmm....bacon....<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Any suggestions as to where to go to find such a pig? Got a few arrows, some hardcast .357s, maybe a 12 gauge, oh, and a couple of rifles around here that might be able to "bring home the bacon."

Come to Texas. They're cheap to hunt and there's LOTS of them.

The Razorcaps are a good head also. I know Biggie H used em in Africa with great sucess. My only experience with was 1 deer at 22 yards 57# Robertson recurve, pass through and a wicked wound chanel. DougD

I second the Razorcaps. I took two deer with them last fall and couldn't be happier with the performance. I've been a bow hunter since 1955 and I've used a lot of different heads in those 50 years. The Razorcap is a great head.

I've been shooting the G5 montecs ever since they came out, the first ones they made were nice but I didn't like the noise they made when flying. But low and behold they came out the next year w/ bladed cross peices and the noise went away. I have taken two whitetail, a big mulie and raghorn bull. All were over 30 yrds w/ the mulie being the farthest at 50. All were complete pass thrus w/ the exception of a whitetail and it stopped half way out the opposite shoulder. Ihave only had to replace one head and that one hit a rock. They are easy to resharpen and you can get them razor sharp. I practice w/ the head I hunt w/ and just resharpen before hunting. no need for feild tips.

VA nimrod, there are several hog spots listed as sponsors for bowsite.com.

Look at ken moody, they have the Clark Ranch in Tennessee. That looks like a lot of fun.