Post by Twanger on Nov 24, 2006 16:35:30 GMT -5
I tested some Steel Force 125 gr cut-on-contact heads today, and was pretty impressed.
I got four 3-packs as part of a promotional deal with no strings attached. Steel Force is sponsoring our deer management group, and we can try their broadsheads free and see how we like 'em. These are long skinny heads with bleeder blades set at right angles. They penetrate about as well as the Shuttle T-lock 100gr heads I've killed 3 deer with this year. The Steel Force heads are made of stainless steel, and have a dull grey finish so they don't gleam in the sun.
So, I put these broadheads through their paces at ranges from 20 to 40 yards today. They hit 1-inch low compared to my 100gr heads at 20 yds, and 2 inches lower at 30 yds.
I found out one thing right away. These are long broadheads, and a spin test is a must. I've got a couple of arrows with wobbly inserts, and for a while was shooting two good shots, and a third shot about 5" off, and scratching my head over it. The shorter Shuttle and Slick-Trick heads were not quite as sensitive to straightness, which shouldn't be too surprising. Not wanting to blame the equipment I did this a few times at 30 yds before spin-testing, and voila - one head was WAAAAY out of alignment. After I replaced the head and arrow, and got a good spin test I shot again at 30 yds and got a 1.5" group with 3 arrows. I promptly quit, knowing I'm not gonna do much better than that!
I then set up 6 arrows for hunting, and could only get 6 of 8 arrows / heads to pass muster in the spin test. I'm not so happy with the Beeman ICS 340 arrows, and just may switch next season to something else. I asked Len/Macrotech about them, and he just grimaced. He will sell them, but they are not his favorite arrow.
So I'm sighted in pretty close right now... about 1" high at 20 yds, dead on at 30 yds, and 1" high at 40 yds, and the groups are as good as what I get with field points. Good enough to try these heads on some deer. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow or sunday, and I can post how they perform on game.
I'm also interested in seeing what happens to them after they zip through a deer and bury 6 inches into rocky soil... they don't look as rugged as heads with a ferrule (like Muzzys or the Shuttle T-locks) so it will be interesting to see if they survive.
Here's a picture...
I got four 3-packs as part of a promotional deal with no strings attached. Steel Force is sponsoring our deer management group, and we can try their broadsheads free and see how we like 'em. These are long skinny heads with bleeder blades set at right angles. They penetrate about as well as the Shuttle T-lock 100gr heads I've killed 3 deer with this year. The Steel Force heads are made of stainless steel, and have a dull grey finish so they don't gleam in the sun.
So, I put these broadheads through their paces at ranges from 20 to 40 yards today. They hit 1-inch low compared to my 100gr heads at 20 yds, and 2 inches lower at 30 yds.
I found out one thing right away. These are long broadheads, and a spin test is a must. I've got a couple of arrows with wobbly inserts, and for a while was shooting two good shots, and a third shot about 5" off, and scratching my head over it. The shorter Shuttle and Slick-Trick heads were not quite as sensitive to straightness, which shouldn't be too surprising. Not wanting to blame the equipment I did this a few times at 30 yds before spin-testing, and voila - one head was WAAAAY out of alignment. After I replaced the head and arrow, and got a good spin test I shot again at 30 yds and got a 1.5" group with 3 arrows. I promptly quit, knowing I'm not gonna do much better than that!
I then set up 6 arrows for hunting, and could only get 6 of 8 arrows / heads to pass muster in the spin test. I'm not so happy with the Beeman ICS 340 arrows, and just may switch next season to something else. I asked Len/Macrotech about them, and he just grimaced. He will sell them, but they are not his favorite arrow.
So I'm sighted in pretty close right now... about 1" high at 20 yds, dead on at 30 yds, and 1" high at 40 yds, and the groups are as good as what I get with field points. Good enough to try these heads on some deer. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow or sunday, and I can post how they perform on game.
I'm also interested in seeing what happens to them after they zip through a deer and bury 6 inches into rocky soil... they don't look as rugged as heads with a ferrule (like Muzzys or the Shuttle T-locks) so it will be interesting to see if they survive.
Here's a picture...
