NAP KillZones

Pictured above is the new Killzone expandable broadhead from New Archery Products. First impression is that NAP did a great job of employing a superior locking system, similar to that found in the Spitfire Broadhead, also manufactured by NAP. A small dimple retainer over one blade seats into a drilled hole in the opposing blade to achieve the locking system.

NAP recommends that this head not be used with any compound bow when speeds exceed 350fps AND these heads are not for use in crossbows period. I will not argue this with the manufacturer but after seeing the quality of the retaining system, I wonder to myself why. I suspect liability only but then again, I have not talked to anyone at NAP to confirm this. Lets just leave it at no crossbows.

I found the locking system to be solid and maybe a little too solid for some folks who are concerned with expandables not opening properly. I found no issues that would concern me as to actuation but I mention it due to the fact that if I did not then some might wonder if it is just their heads that act in such a way.

I liked the way the blades are finished at the ends via angle cut rather than tapering to zero as many blades do. The bevel cut allows the head to stay intact 100% unless it breaks at the relief at the forward area of the main body. Good job on the attention to detail.

Very happy with the low drag ferrule which is finished perfectly IMO. A sweeping base allows the sliding pin (which guides the blades through the ferrule) to remain unharmed as it is sheltered from hard impact. This protection is achieved as bone rides the sweep up and over the pin ends. The chisel point is classic NAP design and a proven design which I do not expect to see anything negative from.




NAP includes a practice head in each package of Killzones and it is perfectly the same in physical dimensions and weight when compared to the hunting heads. I do not feel that any good mechanical design needs to be practiced with when shooting a tuned bow but it is good to see that NAP included such a head for the sake of those who feel the need to do so.

Sharpness Test

First up was the test for blade sharpness out of the package. Top picture is the rubber band grid that is used for this test. This is the same design that Fred Bear showed me back in the late seventies and the same design that he himself used to check blade sharpness when he was not in the field. Fred's belief was that arteries reacted just like rubber bands (which they do) and if a head could pass through this grid then it was satisfactory for hunting.

The bottom two pictures show the head ran through and then the remaining bands that were uncut after clean up.





The Killzone cut all rubber bands that it came in contact with but left two out of four standing due to the fact that a two blade head cannot hit four points. Something to consider for those who are concerned with missing arteries on marginal shots which can occur by no fault of the archer themselves.

Next up was the flight test

30 yard grouping with one arrow carrying a field point and the next carrying the practice head. A 3" group maximum is considered to be a passing grade for any broadhead that is tested here due to the fact that these shots are made without the use of a hooter shooter and people are imperfect.





The area of this target (Black) where the arrows impacted measures 2.50" and the group was less than 1/2 that area.
3" is passing for any test done on this site with fixed broadheads.
While expandable heads are not graded on grouping due to the fact that this is the purpose of their design, grouping of expandables is included for the sake of consistent procedure.

Next up is the ferrule test




The top picture for this test is the board test head close up. It was so perfect afterward that I saw no reason not to use it. As can be seen in the pictures above, the blades pined the head in the board and stalled it's advance. Many such heads will separate their blades under such stress but there was not even a bend in these blades and the ferrule was in perfect condition.
An outstanding performance by the Killzone, standing up to over eighty pounds of kinetic energy on impact.

If the ferrule cannot hold the blades or if the ferrule bends at all in this test it is a fail.
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Next up is the quartering shot

Quartering shots are taken with a bow that produces 280fps and generates 52# kinetic energy.



This picture is larger to show that indeed the ribs were crossed although it took two shots to do it. This test is done to show deflection potential on a hard quartering shot and shot angle is 20 degrees to replicate an extreme hard quartering shot.
Both shots showed no deflection and the head penetrated behind the ribs with a pass through. Below is the exposed ribs to show impact damage for this head.



Any head that deflects will fail this test.

Blades and ferrule were in perfect condition. It should be noted at this time that the entire test so far (aside from flight) was done with one head. This head is currently being set aside for reuse by myself during the upcoming season. With that said, this is a good time to state that NAP recommends replacement of components after such shots are taken. While this head obviously can take multiple shots without damage of any kind, NAP does not recommend this practice at all.

The Scapula Test

The scapula test is used to determine the quality of the blades and their ability to maintain a cutting edge after passing through bone. A loss of 33% of the cutting edge or less will receive a passing grade in these tests. Maintaining an edge means no roll over or erosion of the edge.



The shot is supposed to be against the high ridge of the scapula but with such a head, there is the chance that the orientation on impact will impact that ridge as was the case here. A bit more than is required to show what we want to see but the Killzone came through it perfectly.







As can be seen, the head completely severed the ridge and only received a very small twist near the base of that one blade. The twist was so minimal that the head was able to be re-closed and activated as if it were not damaged at.








Overview

I am very impressed with this head as it did everything beyond reasonable expectation. The blades ended up perfectly the same after the bone test and the ferrule also maintained perfection after testing. While penetration is not part of testing, I was surprised to see how well this head did considering it's size. I would opt to use the smaller diameter Low K.E. model that is being offered this year but I also would not hesitate to use this particular head if I had too.

The downside of this head is that it covers less area than a smaller three blade expandable and also has a greater resistance to penetration than a smaller multi-blade head but then again, that may not be an issue with a bow that has plenty of kinetic energy.

Overall I really like this head for what it is and I would recommend it to anyone who was looking for a large two bladed broadhead.

As a final mention, this head is not barbed and no barbed heads will ever be tested here. Barbed heads are not only illegal in some states but I personally find them to be borderline immoral, since they cannot be removed by a non-fatally wounded animal. Barbed heads are best left on the display shelf gathering dust IMO.

Killzones do swing back very easily but not sloppy. They lock open but it is a friction lock and that lock will break with little pressure added by retracting the arrow, which allows the blades to swing forward again. The reason I like the friction lock is because if a head does not penetrate the offside, the head can continue to cut as the animal runs. This is a big plus IMO.​