I picked up some of the very first Grizzly 3 blade heads from Bill Dunn at the PBS banquet last weekend. Yesterday I had a chance to mount some on arrows and put them to the test. I am impressed!!
You probably have already seen the other thread where Bill talks more about the development of these heads. I think he is really on to something here. I love a three blade, and I REALLY love a head with a long sleek cutting angle.
The first thing I wanted to see was just how tough this head is. I first tried shooting it into a piece of 1/4" plywood set in front of a foam target butt. I was shooting a 55# recurve and the head blew right through and a good 10" into the foam behind it. It looked more like it was shot with a shotgun slug than a broadhead.
That was way too easy. I then set up a 1/2" piece of particle board backed by the 1/4" plywood. This combo at least slowed the arrow down.
The broadhead went all the way through the particle board and out the other side of the plywood.
The Grizzly 3 blade has a wide ferrel measuring 3/8". While some might prefer a smooth transition from the head to the shaft, others think that having a larger diameter head can actually aid penetration. Once the head has opened the hole the shaft itself would have no resistance in passing through the opening.
Head mounted on a Gold Tip carbon shaft.
Head mounted on a 11/32" wood shaft.
You might be familiar with the original Wensel Woodsman broadheads. I have killed a lot of animals with those, and they are good heads, but always had an issue with tip curl on hard objects. It was easily rectified by filing a tanto tip to the end of it.
The Grizzly head does have a very pointed tip and I wondered whether or not it might need a tanto tip to prevent curling. Here is the head that I shot through the particle board/plywood combination. I'm not sure if you can even see it in the picture, but it did curl ever so slightly after twice hitting that material. Nothing that I would worry about at all, but certainly if you are concerned about it a tiny bit of a tanto tip added with a file would completely eliminate it.
Personally, I think the sharply pointed tip is better for penetration and I will be leaving mine as is.
At 2-7/8" long, this head is a lean, sleek, and tough broadhead that is designed for maximum penetration. More and more we hear of people wanting to shoot lighter bows but worrying about giving up penetration. Many have switched to a 2 blade head to help in that department. I think this new Grizzly 3 blade offers another great alternative to help get as much as you can out of your set up.
I am not a broadhead tester and really have nothing to compare it to for reference. So take my results for what they are worth. But I came away thinking that these are more than up to anything I might want to shoot them through. I plan to start out with turkeys in a couple of weeks and then black bear next month. I also plan to use them on an elk hunt next fall and have complete confidence that they are going to perform fantastic!
Topic: Playing With The New Grizzly 3 Blade (Read 979 times)
