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Muzzy Trocar - Test Results

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0




Pictured above is the new Trocar broadhead from Muzzy. First impression is that Muzzy did a good job of modifying the Blitz in order to offer a new head for this year.
I was happy to see that the ferrule had a high diameter waist that would allow for less drag through bone.

My only concern were for the blades, which are not of the traditional Muzzy construction. This was easy to see, even before the heads were removed from the package.



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 picture shows the bands cut after running the trocar through the center.



The Trocar cut one rubber bands that it came in contact with and left three out of four standing. I was shocked at this since I felt that these heads had a good edge on them when they came out of the package. I ran each of the three heads through the grid with the same outcome each time.

While these heads feel sharp to me, they are in need of touching up before being taken into the field IMO. This is why Fred used this method for testing broadhead sharpness. You can never tell for sure unless you put a head to the test.


Next up was the flight test

30 yard grouping with one arrow. 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) measures 2.50" and the group was outside of that area by 1".
3" is passing for any test done on this site with fixed broadheads.

The picture shows three cuts in the black at 3 O'Clock. These shots were made with the Blitz which is a proven aerodynamic head. The three shots at 1 O'Clock high/right were made by the Trocar.

As can be seen, the trocar can group but is just not perfect as is the Blitz. I could easily tune this head to be spot on but this is not the intent of this test. This test is to show if a head can or cannot hit with a field point out of the box and without fine tuning.

Since the Trocar could not achieve that result, this test will not recieve a star.

 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0


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.
The blades showed no bending and the ferrule was in perfect condition.
An outstanding performance by the Trocar, 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.


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.






As can be seen below, the head completely severed the forward edge and received a great deal of damage on that blade. The remaining blades which passed through the flat of the bone came through it with slightly better results. The head had over 66% damage to the cutting edge on the remaining blades
which would fail this test, even if the other blade had been in
perfect condition.

Since all blades were damaged, this will result in no star rating for this test.







Overview

I was disappointed with this head as it didnt rise to the level of quality that was seen in the forerunner blitz design. The blades started out poor before testing and ended up pretty much worthless after the bone test.

Flight was better than any muzzy to date but when comparing this head to the Blitz, it came up short. The ferrule was the only positive in the entire test.

More tests can be found at http://bowhunters.proboards.com/index.cgi#2013


Special Thanks to Geauga Outdoors Supply of Middlefield, Ohio
for providing the Rhinehart Target that was used in this test. Their prompt service and great pricing helped to get this test up and also helped to keep the overall cost of testing to a minimum.



http://www.geaugabow.com

 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
I guess Muzzy's aren't as bad to the bone as they claim. I've never been a huge fan of Muzzy heads. This review confirms why. Nice write-up as usual, Tiny.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Yep, well done as usual. I killed a couple of deer with the old school Muzzy 3-blades back in the day. I was still a young archer and can't truly comment on them like I may today if I tried them again.
 

Fullbore

Senior Member
6,439
126
South Eastern Ohio
Another one bites the dust! Lol.

I have killed deer with so many different broad heads over the years. Is there a broad head out there, that can pass this test?

Here we go again, but it all boils down to shot placement and keeping your blades razor sharp. IMO.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Another one bites the dust! Lol.

I have killed deer with so many different broad heads over the years. Is there a broad head out there, that can pass this test?

Here we go again, but it all boils down to shot placement and keeping your blades razor sharp. IMO.



With the new bows on the market "placement" within the vitals should not be as critical as it was in years gone by. The old "Stay away from the shoulder" / "Don't shoot them straight down in the spine" / "Don't shoot quartering to" etc. To me "placement" is just an excuse for poor performing broadheads. If I draw a bead on a deer and know vitals are there, my broadhead better be up to the job. I know my bow is capable, I know my arrow is capable, if the broadhead doesn't cut the mustard, I'll get one that does. If I have to worry about what's protecting the vitals then I really should be questioning my broadhead. To me a broadheads ability to pass through on a broadside behind the shoulder shot is the bare minimum I expect from a head.
 

Fullbore

Senior Member
6,439
126
South Eastern Ohio
I agree, Joe, but some people take low percentage shots. Don't you agree that broadside and quartering away shots are what we all should strive for?

I just haven't seen a broad head do well on this thread yet.

Great Thread, Tiny.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
I agree, Joe, but some people take low percentage shots. Don't you agree that broadside and quartering away shots are what we all should strive for?

I just haven't seen a broad head do well on this thread yet.

Great Thread, Tiny.

The answer to your question is yes but what tiny is testing is what does your broadhead do with bad things in the way.
 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
I did over 200 broadheads a few years ago and the average passing head was 10% of the total. NAP had the highest passing designs back then. Many of the newer manufacturers are using cheap processing and this is why you see what I see... many times.
I will just keep on going through the newer stuff until I have them all done and then we will know :)


Another one bites the dust! Lol.

I have killed deer with so many different broad heads over the years. Is there a broad head out there, that can pass this test?

Here we go again, but it all boils down to shot placement and keeping your blades razor sharp. IMO.
 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
The answer to your question is yes but what tiny is testing is what does your broadhead do with bad things in the way.

You are totally correct and this is why I do this format. After spending all the time and money to get me on that once in a lifetime trophy, why would I want to shoot a head that comprises all of my hard work.
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
I agree, Joe, but some people take low percentage shots. Don't you agree that broadside and quartering away shots are what we all should strive for?

I just haven't seen a broad head do well on this thread yet.

Great Thread, Tiny.

It looks like they all take a dump when they hit bone. I know my rage 2 blade 125 grain chisel tip sure as hell did.
 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
It looks like they all take a dump when they hit bone. I know my rage 2 blade 125 grain chisel tip sure as hell did.

I hear this a lot and while it is high, it's not all heads. Check out the Killzone test I did here. That head was a 4 star performer.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
I agree, Joe, but some people take low percentage shots. Don't you agree that broadside and quartering away shots are what we all should strive for?

I just haven't seen a broad head do well on this thread yet.

Great Thread, Tiny.

We should strive for those shots. But we shouldn't rely on getting them. It's up to the deer and luck that a textbook shot presents itself. For all those other times I want a head that performs in non textbook shots. Personally I think bows and technology has progressed beyond the point of having to wait for that broadside shot. The weakest link seems to be the broadheads and they should be being built for the capabilities of today's bows. Which is a lot to demand considering the BH is what takes the brunt of the abuse.
 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
We should strive for those shots. But we shouldn't rely on getting them. It's up to the deer and luck that a textbook shot presents itself. For all those other times I want a head that performs in non textbook shots. Personally I think bows and technology has progressed beyond the point of having to wait for that broadside shot. The weakest link seems to be the broadheads and they should be being built for the capabilities of today's bows. Which is a lot to demand considering the BH is what takes the brunt of the abuse.

Thank you!
 
With the new bows on the market "placement" within the vitals should not be as critical as it was in years gone by. The old "Stay away from the shoulder" / "Don't shoot them straight down in the spine" / "Don't shoot quartering to" etc. To me "placement" is just an excuse for poor performing broadheads. If I draw a bead on a deer and know vitals are there, my broadhead better be up to the job. I know my bow is capable, I know my arrow is capable, if the broadhead doesn't cut the mustard, I'll get one that does. If I have to worry about what's protecting the vitals then I really should be questioning my broadhead. To me a broadheads ability to pass through on a broadside behind the shoulder shot is the bare minimum I expect from a head.

X2 My opinion on broadheads exactly the same.