Tusker

[Silent footed]

As hunting season has gone on and it's cooled off enough to make more clothing necessary, I've noticed my arrow flight beginning to indicate a stiffer dynamic spine. I suspect my draw length has shortened.

No big deal, I put on some heavier field points and went back to slapping nocks again.

For broadheads, the only ones available to ship fast enough at the new weight for a reasonable price is the tusker Concorde left single bevel.

I'm actually pretty excited. I've never been a fan of the grizzlies I use. I'm a zwickey guy, because the steel is superior to anything I've used; but the tiny bevel on the no mercy doesn't produce enough torque to rotate the broadhead through a wound channel, whereas while pulling a grizzly with its broader bevel from my target, I can actually feel the arrow rotating in my hand.

Anyway,  does anyone like the tuskers? I've been curious about them for a year or two now. I read that they've been produced in Australia since 1964 or something. Kinda cool.  I'm mainly just hoping the steel is better than the grizzly. Has anyone had any luck reusing tuskers after pass throughs where the broadhead has hit a rock in the dirt or struck a tree trunk?

[Wudstix]

No experience, had a pack, but had too many other options, traded them away.

[Silent footed]

A particularly good group of two arrows from 35 yards in the woods this afternoon:

The heavier points really shrunk my groups. I have to say I'm getting pretty excited about these tuskers.

[WESTBROOK]

Yea, Tusker is a real good head...always like the Grizzly though, they get ridiculously sharp!!

[Silent footed]

Westbrook, absolutely. I LOVE that I can sharpen them until they melt hair away from my arm. And I love their broad, aggressive bevel and the torque it delivers to rotate the head on a pass through. The main flaw on grizzly for me is that the steel, while definitely hard, is also brittle: any time I've hit a rock in the dirt or a tree trunk I've broken a head.



It's my only complaint-literally. I also freely admit that I am a tough customer. Lol. But you do have to admit, this tendency to break is a problem for the manufacturer. Especially when zwickey does not seem to chip or break the same way the grizzlies do. I believe the steel is a bit softer, without being too soft. I'd actually like to see grizzly as a company back off a bit on their rockwell hardness rating. It makes the heads too fragile.

Or if Jack Zwickey ever reads this post, he should broaden out the bevel on the "no mercy" lineup, and I would be a lifetime customer.  The whole point of a single bevel broadhead is the rotational force/torque it puts on the shaft during impact to split bones and worsen the wound channel, and the narrow bevel on the "no mercy" just doesn't accomplish this.

[Terry Green]

I've been using Zwickey Delta four blades since the 80s....they rotate through the animal...yep,  double bevels rotate too.  Over a 30 year run I managed an average 38 yard recovery rate.....

Then came the internet and I found out all those dead animals weren't really dead because my heads had too many bevels 

I gave some Concords to a friend of mine who had shoulder surgery and had to drop down to a 45# bow for a hog hunt of ours.....those heads WILL get Scary Sharp for sure!!!

I also killed a couple of hogs with the Aztecs....yes. sharp as you can get. 

[Silent footed]

I've been using Zwickey Delta four blades since the 80s....they rotate through the animal...yep,  double bevels rotate too.  Over a 30 year run I managed an average 38 yard recovery rate.....

Then came the internet and I found out all those dead animals weren't really dead because my heads had too many bevels 

I gave some Concords to a friend of mine who had shoulder surgery and had to drop down to a 45# bow for a hog hunt of ours.....those heads WILL get Scary Sharp for sure!!!

I also killed a couple of hogs with the Aztecs....yes. sharp as you can get.

An arrow through the lungs is deadly no matter what broadhead you use. That's for sure. I am a little intrigued about what you say about double bevels rotating (I don't doubt you though). I have done a lot of shooting with broadheads into a foam target because I tune my main setup using  broadheads and hence end up taking TONS of shots with zwickeys in the past, and now currently grizzlies:

Something I definitely notice for sure is that I can feel my arrow shaft rotating significantly in my hand as I pull a grizzly tipped arrow from my block target. I cannot feel it nearly so much (or at all) with a no mercy or a delta. The difference is amazing to me.

Anyway, Terry, I love the zwickey deltas. They are a bada**, indestructible head, and insanely durable. And they are TOTALLY  effective on literally any game walking the planet. No doubt about it, and I will probably go back to them eventually. I do think the single bevel concept is cool but it's definitely not necessary for hunting at all. However, I like the concept of them and have been having fun with them for a couple of years now, and have taken last year's and this year's deer both with one.






Glad to hear the Concordes will get sharp.

[Wodje96]

I have some and used them a bit. The tuskers are pretty good head ime. you can file sharpen them more easily than the grizzlies. I always have trouble getting SB heads as sharp as I like, I actually added a small second bevel to the concords I have, that got them the way I like. With all that said my quiver is full of zwickey eskimos that I could shave with right now

[Terry Green]

Dozens and dozens of kills...whitetail...way back befor we thought we needed total pic documentaries for social media...

Entrance an exit wound evidence of rotation always.....

Somehow our ancestors made it and WE are here without a single bevel ultimatum....and we are still way ahead of them in number of kills with single bevels....also to all the bullet kills.

 Both concordes and aztecs were a piece of cake to sharpen to an eye bleeding level..... If you can't sharpen those heads you need to get out of the business.  Neither of which were single bevels.

NOT nocking single bevel heads....just not wanting double bevels to be deemed uneffecient.....that would be CNN reporting 

[Silent footed]

Terry, I have 100% faith in double bevel broadheads, and I don't want anyone reading this to think otherwise. Double bevel broadheads get it done. They sever arteries, and well, end of story.

Look, I am in no way saying that double bevels are inferior; and that isn't what this post is about.  My post has only been about the design and quality of 3 manufacturer's single-bevel broadheads; but I completely get what you're saying about the single bevel hype. Single bevels are NOT required for hunting. A zwickey delta (double bevel) is ALL a guy ever needs.

Lets put it this way Terry: a good friend of mine was out there hunting with a flint head that I made for him (until he injured his shoulder this year); and he had already killed one deer with a flint before I knew him. So there is no way I would ever tell you a double bevel head is inadequate; since even a stone point gets the job done...

I want to get this straight for anyone reading this post too: single bevel broadheads (and even steel broadheads in general) are NOT needed for hunting. You will never hear me saying otherwise.


Here is a picture of the only necessary equipment for hunting: made from all natural materials picked up by me when I lived in Indiana, atop a fox hide quiver, made from a fox harvested and tanned by myself, so don't worry Terry, if I have faith in stone points, then I've definitely got faith in your double bevels.

[Silent footed]

I have some and used them a bit. The tuskers are pretty good head ime. you can file sharpen them more easily than the grizzlies. I always have trouble getting SB heads as sharp as I like, I actually added a small second bevel to the concords I have, that got them the way I like. With all that said my quiver is full of zwickey eskimos that I could shave with right now

Interesting. So you put a microbevel on your concordes? I've heard some guys like to do that. Personally, I haven't seen any reason to.

Hey though, I think I know the answer to your trouble getting them as sharp as you like:

My first step on taking a broadhead out of the package is to spend some time "flattening out" the face of its bevels on a very course stone: I find that the factory grind tends to really be just a "roughing out" job, and when you lay that bevel on the stone, there are bumps and valleys on the face of it that are invisible to the naked eye. This results in some parts of the blade not getting touched by the stone during a stroke. The solution is to spend some time on a very course stone. This takes all the bumps down until they are level with the valleys, and you shouldn't have to go to a microbevel to get it sharp anymore:

I alternate stroking in two directions and I know i'm getting close to done when the scratch marks begin matching the stroke direction within a few strokes after switching. Some guys use a permanent marker and that works fine, but my grandpa operated a sharpening shop when I was growing up, so I learned a thing or two.

[tecum-tha]

Belt sander with some water dip every few second takes the Concorde down to almost finish sharpness in no time in comparison to the rough stone by hand method.
Takes 5 minutes per head, then finish off with Gatco System at 22 or 25 degrees. I like how they fly. We will see if they deliver enough bloodtrail….