Why use an expandable?

[justin davis]

I'm am always trying out new things just for kicks. I am a fan and have been shooting shuttle t locks for a few years.
The ulmer edge has me curious. But why use them when my shuttle t locks fly so great?

Any reason to try them?

 

[Eagle]

For me, a lot of times it's a murphy's law kind of thing. If I can bump my rest and potentially screw up my tune in some way, then it's likely to happen, so why not have a head that will likely be more forgiving in that type of situation. A lot of times, things like that happen without us even noticing or realizing we've bumped something off, so the most forgiving/accurate option is the best in my opinion.

One thing with mechanicals/expandables that I have to have is a head that will have exposed cutting surface even if the head doesn't fully expand for whatever reason. Something like a tekan/rage fits the bill for me, though I've only shot tekans.

 

[Tilzbow]

I've only used them rarely but a few advantages come to mind; more accurate in the wind, more forgiving of pressure related form errors, bigger cut. Disadvantages include; less durable, more prone to failure and not opening. I've found the Ulmer a Edge to be much more accurate than various FBBH in 10+ MPH crosswinds past 40 yards. The Ulmer Edge aren't super sharp so I remove the blades and run them over a leather strop a few times. I've got big hunt coming up and there's a good possibility I'll need to take a long shot and/or a shot in the wind so 2 of 5 arrows in my quiver will have the Ulmer Edge screwed into them for these situations.

 

[ChadS]

I havent shot a fixed blade since back in like 98 when bows started getting faster and broadheads started planing. I didnt know squat about tuning or know that it even existed so I switched to mechanicals and never went back. Never had one fail me yet and I shot a lot of stuff with them. Mostly Rages and the old Rocky Mountain Gator XP. Quit the gators cause the exit hole was too small. Anyways I have no doubt FBs are more durable and probably dependable and I could get them to fly fine now, but I have kind of gotten used to huge entry and exit holes.

 

[MattB]

I've only used them rarely but a few advantages come to mind; more accurate in the wind, more forgiving of pressure related form errors, bigger cut. Disadvantages include; less durable, more prone to failure and not opening. I've found the Ulmer a Edge to be much more accurate than various FBBH in 10+ MPH crosswinds past 40 yards. The Ulmer Edge aren't super sharp so I remove the blades and run them over a leather strop a few times. I've got big hunt coming up and there's a good possibility I'll need to take a long shot and/or a shot in the wind so 2 of 5 arrows in my quiver will have the Ulmer Edge screwed into them for these situations.

The only other downsides on MBH's are 3: 1) MBH's can lull users into a sense of laziness on the tuning front. IMO some of the bad behavior ascribed to MBH's (deflections, scissoring) is due to a lack of tuning and marginal arrow flight; 2) it seems that either the actuation or inefficient profile can cause animals to run harder than when hit with FBBH's (partially mitgated by b below); and 3) the extra sewing taxidermists occassionally have to do due to the extra large entrance/exit holes.

Two other qualifying points are a) the better MBH designs (i.e. steel ferrule) give up little to the average FBBH in terms of durability. I have shot the Vortex 2" steel for years and have rarely bent a blade, never broken a blade, and the only time I had a ferrule damaged was because 1 batch of ferrules got overhardened; and b) my anecdotal observation is that more blood tends to make the ground from a 2" 2 blade MBH than a 1" 4 blade FBBH.

 

[realunlucky]

I'll be giving rages a try on antelope this year. Like you I've never shot a expendable before and never had problem tunning my Rocky mountain ti or the g5 strikers I had to switch to. My main goal is seeing the difference in flight in the wind.

 

[Jtelarkin08]

I would shoot certain mechanicals on anything deer sized or smaller. I think mule deer, antelope are made for mechanicals.. Anything bigger i shoot fixed blade.. For me if i cant blow through a pig with one i wont shoot a elk or something like that.. And i have never had a pass through with a mechanical on a pig.. But i think if you have a good tuned bow that is shooting well they serve zero benefit

 

[justin davis]

So sounds like the main advantage is flight in the wind?

I tune my broadheads to shoot like field points to long yardages like 100-120 yards. Fixed blades seem tougher to me too

 

[Kawabunga]

For me its form, ill admit i get shakey on any animal im shooting at. I tune wth fixed heads but recently started using Steelheads again, smaller diameter but pretty tough head. For hogs or larger game ill still use a compact fixed but like the forgiveness and little larger cut of the Rockets.

 

[MattB]

One other place where really large expandables shine is for body shots on turkeys - the large cut realy improves the odds of recovery. There are a few guys on another website that had incinsistent results with fixed blades who I convinced to try a 2 3/4" head and they were all VERY thankful. A lot of folks go to the head shot-only type of heads (guillotines, bullheads), but there are a number of aspects of those that are a PITA (i.e. generally require different arrows, potential resighting, quiver issues, etc.). The big MBH's are less of a compramise.

My personal perspective for use aligns with Jtelarkin08's: I love them for smaller and mid-sized game, but used fixed blades for elk, moose, and boar hogs. I've zipped them through a bunch of sows over the years with no peneration issues.

 

[justin davis]

Yea I agree on expandables for turkeys! Big cuts for those crazy birds with small vitals.

I'm wondering mostly about big game? Thinking of trying ulmers. But need convincing as I'm scared to not use a shuttle t lock or wAc em fixed blade!

 

[bowuntr]

My question is "why would you take a chance?" If you've had such great success with your fixed blade, why would you be looking for something else? Just wondering... Ed F

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I like 1-3/8" cut Grim Reaper Razortips, a bit more forgiving, shoot better in the wind, but if yours do everything you want why switch?

 

[Zackman]

I agree with Ed on this one. If you really like your fixed blades, then why change? Simply for the sake of changing?

I did this myself about 4 years ago for one hunt. Killed a deer, but changed back to my trusted blades as soon as I returned from the trip.

Choose something you trust and go for it!

 

[SDHNTR]

I see small advantages in wind and with a wider cut, but for the most part the cons outweigh the pros, IMO.

 

[justin davis]

My question is "why would you take a chance?" If you've had such great success with your fixed blade, why would you be looking for something else? Just wondering... Ed F

Yea hence why I have never switched. Just curious mostly why guy use expandables.

 

[_Nick_]

Yea hence why I have never switched. Just curious mostly why guy use expandables.

I'm trying the Ulmer Edge this season. Main reason was that I'm trying to minimize wind drift (went narrow dia shafts as well)... out in the desert I get some nastily windy days. I see little advantage aside from that. If they fail, or do anything less than a perfect job, I'll go back to standard broadheads. But, people report good success with the Ulmers, so we'll see!

Edit: trying them out for mule deer.

 

[OBP]

I love expandables for the size of the holes they make. I use the spitfire max with a 1 3/4 cutting diameter and they do not compare to any fixed blade I've used in that regard (slick tricks and montecs). I've never had an issue with one not deploying and high winds don't seem to bother them as much on longer shots.

 

[squeekieslayer]

For me, a lot of times it's a murphy's law kind of thing. If I can bump my rest and potentially screw up my tune in some way, then it's likely to happen, so why not have a head that will likely be more forgiving in that type of situation. A lot of times, things like that happen without us even noticing or realizing we've bumped something off, so the most forgiving/accurate option is the best in my opinion.

One thing with mechanicals/expandables that I have to have is a head that will have exposed cutting surface even if the head doesn't fully expand for whatever reason. Something like a tekan/rage fits the bill for me, though I've only shot tekans.

I am not sure... but it seems to me that "murphy's law" is much more likely with an expandable head vs a fixed. How many "BH didn't open," "MBH deflected," "rage was open at full draw," etc conversations have you heard? If you bump your rest enough that it effects your tune, it is going to effect your POI, either way.... its a miss or a bad shot. In my opinion, a MBH does nothing on this front.

IMHO: Only advantage besides huge holes in turkeys would be possibly less wind error... but it mostly just allows for lazy/not tuning of a bow.

joe

 

[5MilesBack]

But need convincing as I'm scared to not use a shuttle t lock or wAc em fixed blade!

Well, I too use Wac'ems and Shuttle T's and when I was in MT a couple years ago I did a lot of shooting in the wind at long range. One day we were shooting 80 yards with a strong right to left crosswind, and my BH's kept hitting about a foot left of target. We were shielded from the wind behind his garage, but the arrows caught the wind as soon as they cleared the garage. The guy I was shooting with said, "Here.....try one of these Grim Reapers". I screwed one on and hit the bullseye with it. I kept shooting it and was amazed at how well it flew in the wind versus my 125gr Shuttle T's. So, since that time I've always had at least one mechanical in my quiver, but picked up the 125gr Spitfires because I couldn't find the Grim Reapers locally in 125gr. Shot my 300+ bull two years ago with the Spitfire with devastating results and huge blood trail. However, I also keep my Shuttle T's and Wac'ems in the quiver too.