Here's a description of the photos to follow. The same broadhead was used for each shot. I sharpened it after removing it from the package and again after the bone and wood shots were completed. An Axis N-Fused 340 was used for most of the shots, however I did switch to a Beman 340 for one or two shots just to see how it flew. Neither shaft was damaged in the least.
I used my current hunting setup, a 58 pound Tall Tines recurve and approx. a 580 gr. arrow. As far as sharpening, I established the edge I prefer on the head before and after the tests using a KME broadhead sharpener. This is what I currently use and my intention was to do a few simple tests for myself to share with you guys. As I said earlier THIS IS WHAT IT IS and you are certainly welcome to draw your own conclusions. Hopefully you can find something useful in what I have done.
FLIGHT
I unscrewed my 250 gr. field point and replaced it with a new 250 gr. VPA 2 blade. After doing two spin tests, one on the tip and the other using a spin check (ZERO wobble), I proceeded to shoot one arrow at a time into a dense black foam broadhead target. Each time on release I picked up a tight spin off the bow all the way to the target. The black background and yellow fletch made that possible. No wobble, flip, unusual noise or other funnny business. Good enough to go.
Suffice it to say that the 2 blade head flew just like my field points do at 15 yards, at least I can't shoot or see the difference:^)
"Flesh, Bone, and Wood Plank Shots"
For each of these I mounted a piece of "fresh critter" (the first was a shoulder blade) against an unused section of broadhead target in order to provide the most resistance. The idea was to see one, how the arrow penetrated the "tough stuff", and two, how much farther it would then penetrate into the dense foam - which obviously is a harder material to slice through than the body cavity of a big game animal filled with soft tissue. I also took the time to mark the points on the shaft where each arrow met the bone and also measured the total pentration using a tape measure after I carefully pulled the whole thing from the target.
After those shots I placed a 1 inch thick piece of pressure treated deck board against the dense foam. I took a shot that hit with the grain and another smacked against the grain. Both easily split the thick board.
Upon examination I found that - other than dullen edges, the head was no worse for wear. The tip remained perfect, and a quick spin check found the head to still be true. That tip is a BRUTE.
Finally, I went back to my KME and a well oiled coarse stone to bring the edges back to life. First, with a push-pull motion to "make a burr", then a series of forward strokes only, getting lighter and lighter as I alternated sides. One photo shows how easily the resulting edge cut hair from my forearm - using only the course stone.
What can I say at this point other than so far so good. I'm actually pretty impressed with the toughness, flight characteristics, and sharpening ease of these heads.
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Topic: New VPA 2 Blades on the Way! (Read 945 times)
