I guess I should explain a bit more.
I was using the NAP Spitfire for a number of years with my RDX 400 but I'm going to a Viper 430 and I'm not sure the Spitfire can hold up to that speed. I started my window shopping search but can't find anything that tells me what speed the broadheads are rated for. I hate to ASSUME anything but I'd love to find a mechanical that will hold up.

 

Hold up how? Hold up tp.the contact with a deer, or stay closed at the shot? If your meaning hold up for reuse, you'll be hard pressed to find a mechanical bh that'll consistently be able to be shot again.

 

Since you're shooting a crossbow, I'd suggest you get on Crossbow Nation and do a search. I'm sure you'll get much more targeted (no pun intended) feedback there. I'm a fellow crossbow shooter, going on 10 years now, and that site is a treasure trove of information.

 

You could also call Lancaster Archery and get their opinion. I have found them to be very experienced and helpful over the past 40 or so years! Their staff covers a lot of experienced archers and hunters who readily share information like your request. Good luck!

 

Those folks are great, but based on my experiences there, I don't think that crossbows are their forte.

 

My Ten Point Siege likes Grim Reapers. The deer not so much. You can get replacement blade kits also.

 

SOOO many to pick from. A lot of good BH's out there but I'm going to try those EVO-X from Ten Point.

 

Perhaps you might find this interesting. Our Picks: Best Crossbow Broadheads for 2024 - Crossbow Magazine

 

Check out Ranch Fairy and Draggin Deer Outdoors on YouTube. Also the Ashby foundation has great info on arrow weights and broadhead design. They all have great info on broadhead performance and tuning for accuracy. I’ve heard good things about g5 deadmeat v2 as a mechanical. Most people I know who use a crossbow shoot fixed broadheads. I shoot a 250gn cutthroat single bevel out of a centerpoint wrath 430. Shoots right through a deer even if you hit a bone. I had a shot last year that cut a rib in half on entry caught the heart, lungs, and exited through the shoulder blade.

 

What’s it take to push a 250gr? It sounds heavy but like it would punch through well. I’ve only run up to 125 but was thinking of moving up to 150. I had heard someone else talk about 200gr. Need to be a Xbow over 400 fps?

 

Why? Have 125s failed you? Have you run into a reason to need to change your setup?
Switching to a 100 or 125gr COC broadhead, single bevel, and learning how to sharpen broadheads will so much more for your setup, unless you are looking to have a setup for elk or moose. Most bows/xbows today are built for speed, not weight. They'll push the weight, but it'll be underperforming. I think the hype around going super heavy is a tad ridiculous for strictly whitetail hunters. The heavy and super heavy setups aren't going to give you any extreme ability that you won't get from a average weight setup. The key points are sharpness, and quality of the broadhead. Everything else is arbitrary and preferential.
Now that said not everything has to be done due to a need for it. Wanting to switch a setup to a heavy/superheavy setup is fine, it'll just take work to tune the arrow and get your bow shooting to your expectations. I think alot of folks look to go to heavy setups with thinking that it'll close the gap for "marginal hits". However, heavy setups don't allow for a small margin of error in shot placement..... poor shots are still poor shots and will produce the same results.

 

I kindly agree to disagree.

Light arrows dissipate energy faster through tissue on a good shot faster than a heavy arrow. Same thing as a light vs heavy bullet. Higher weight arrows will carry energy longer than a light arrow will, allowing a greater chance of a full pass through. As far as on deer goes, yes a light arrow is plenty to kill a deer with a good shot placement but may not pass through fully. The lethality of an arrow is cutting as much tissue as possible for the most lethality. A shot into and animal with one hole is sufficient in most cases. However having a greater stance of a wound cavity all the way through and out the other side is even better imho. My single bevels are sharpened to razor sharp, sharper than any factory broadheads I’ve had. There are a lot of opinions surrounding this topic however when real world testing and hunting performance are evaluated. The most effective arrow setup by the numbers is a head that is as sharp as you can get them, higher overall weight, and a high FOC weight percentage. (Forward of Center).

FOC has gains in arrow flight stability as well making the arrow fly true and straight. I’ve not had any arrows or bolts impact at an angle. Weight in a bolt is actually easier on your crossbow limbs and string than shooting lighter bolts allowing less wear and tear on the equipment. It also makes the shot significantly quieter on my centerpoint wrath 430 than with a 400gn bolt.
We all want to make good shots however a lot can happen during an arrow flight to impact. Deer love to move before impact sometimes causing an arrow to impact other than where you were aiming. It doesn’t hurt to build an arrow that will perform in the off chance of a bad shot. I built my setup so that if something happens I didn’t account for it should still be lethal. However that does not excuse me from being as ethical and accurate as I can be.

We all make our own decisions and need to be comfortable with what we hunt with. If what works for you works then by all means don’t change it. If you want to look at the data and shoot what works the best. Then do some research and act accordingly. That’s what I chose to do. It doesn’t mean everyone will or needs to. It brings me confidence that I can shoot through any deer at most angles that will hit vitals and be confident my arrow setup will do its job. You can kill a deer with a 55gn .223 with a well placed shot and you can kill a deer with a 500gn 45-70 with a well placed shot. However the results on bone and penetration are not the same thing.

 

I guess I mislead the message I was trying to send.
I consider my setup and average weight setup, well actually I have 2. My primary is 542 total grain weight, only shooting a 125gr SB, my back up is 535, w/ a 100gr SB.
In my experience thus far, I have yet to not have a pass through on any of the deer of pigs that i have shot with them.
Now I would put a mid 500s grain setup against any 600(heavy) or 700(super heavy) total grain weight setups and you aren't gaining any appreciable advantage. All I am getting at is that you don't need to go insanely heavy to achieve pass through nearly every time, you just have to go heavy enough. If 530-560 can get pass through pretty much everytime, you cant gain any more penetration if it's already passing through.....
I also sharpen my broadheads to razor sharp. I believe it is key to achieve the best possible result.

 

Yes I do agree with that assessment. Seems like you have a very effective setup. 550gn average is no slouch weight for an arrow. Your arrow weight is only 15gn lighter than my bolts. I went with the head I did mainly to negate the effect of bone I might contact. I’ve not shot a deer yet where I did not hit at least 1 rib.

The buck I got this year was at such a steep downward angle I had to hug the bottom of the scapula in order to hit both lungs and liver. I wouldn’t have taken the shot shooting a light arrow and an expandable.He ducked a little at 30 yards and I blew through the lower half of the scapula like it wasn’t even there. I’ve seen lighter arrows and expandables stop instantly in the shoulder. The last thing I want is to wound a deer.

Many people dismiss me when I mention this stuff because they have what works for them and say that what I’m talking about is not beneficial. I can understand the thought process that I’ve used this and it works so why change it. However I’ve always been a person who seeks the best rather than settle for the first thing that works.

Everything in life is a cost/benefit comparison. There is much to gain in stabilization and penetration the higher you go, however you loose trajectory. There is a balance that must be struck.

I don’t mean to be confrontational or say my point is better. I just merely like to search for objective truth and evidence to support my claim.

 

Also crossbows shooting heavy only loose a flatter trajectory and time from bow to impact. My crossbow shoots completely flat from 0-20 and has more drop 20-30 and 30-40 however where I hunt it is usually very difficult to shoot 40 or more. As long as you have your correct range the drop is not a problem. I use a range finder and have my scope dialed in for all ranges from 20-80 yards. It will hit point of aim out to 40 no problem.

However the gains in flight stability and penetration are worth it to me to sacrifice a flatter trajectory.

Bows FPS ratings are based off a single weight arrow by manufacturers. As soon as you step outside of that weight your rated FPS will change.

If you want some proof here is a video at a guy shooting an over 1000gn arrow from a bow less than 150fps. Completely goes through a pig at 15 yards from the butt to the heart.

Also a 735gn arrow from a youth bow at 40lbs draw weight. Through ribs, lungs, and buries in the oppositeshoulder.

if high weight can do this at low velocity imagine what it can do at twice or more the velocity.

 

I don't take much out of context, the back and forth is the point of forums, I believe anyway.
My setups are, primary 20 inch victory xbolt (325 gr) w/ 110gr insert, pushing alien archery V2 (125gr) for total 542 total, my back up is 22 inch victory xbolt (343gr) w/ 92gr insert, pushing alien archery Replicant (100 gr) or sawtooth A2 (100gr) for 535 total.
I was shooting the victory voodoo micro diameter arrows with a total weight of 557, but even that heavy I was having issues with limbs and strings because of the lack of contact friction on the rails. I can't explain why else it was happening at those weights... those things were missiles, I wish I chrono'd it before I switched arrows. No issues since switching to the xbolts.

 

Sounds like you have your setups well ironed out. How have those broadheads held up after harvests? I looked at them a while back when I was searching for a broadhead to use. I’m not super keen on multiple piece assembled heads as they have multiple failure points. I shoot a Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear cutthroat, its machined out of a single piece of steel. Made me feel better about durability and being able to sharpen/reuse.

Here is the head I pulled out of a tree after going through my deer. Sharpened up nicely afterwards.

 

I'll take pictures later, I've taken deer with all of them and they have all done perfect, no chatter from the alien archery broadheads, none for the most part from the sawtooth, except one. However it went through big boar hog and stop In a cement block, had a little chatter on one blade, but nothing that killed the broadhead. I actually sharpened it and killed 2 more pigs with it. For what those broadheads are(relatively thin) it survived a concrete block. I was in awe the the furrele didn't bend. I'm impressed with the durability for the cost. Now the alien archery heads are very thick for their size so that definitely helps them. And what really drove me to them is the cost, for under 60$ I'm getting 6 vs roughly same price for 3 sawtooth or kudus. And they send a couple extra blades every time I order some. So it's alot of bang for the buck.

 

Thanks for sharing! The price point did seem alluring. Maybe I’ll give them a try if I chance out my inserts. I’ve been having problems with the inserts falling out or loosening after a kill with my bolts. I’m probably gonna at least take them out and re-epoxy or go heavier on the insert. I wanted to give the new Magnus single bevels a go but they were only 150gn.

Those alien heads seem to have such a steep angle on them I thought they might not perform as good as a shallower angle. My cutthroats are over two times longer than they are wide. A shallower angle slices easier than a steep angle. But it’s hard to argue with real world harvests.

Where do you hunt pigs? Down south somewhere?