I recently made the switch to Killzone broadheads. I shot one into my foam target tonight and it only put about a 1" slit into the target. The little dents in the ferrule were on both sides. So I reset the blades and shot it again. This time I had a perfect 2" slit on entry. I took the remaining heads and shot them all once into the target. For those that shoot them, do you typically do this, or something else to break them in?
Why do you think they need to be "broke in"? I never shoot the heads I am hunting with at a target. That's why they have practice heads. I take the killzone heads out of the package, screw them onto my arrows, and go hunting. Using them for target practice only dulls them, and personally, I would never hunt with one that has been shot at a target. Dull broadhead = lost deer
My thought was that the spring clip was a little tight and that is why upon deployment of the first shot it only opened up a 1" slit. Not the full 2". The second shot was a perfect 2" cut on deployment. To be fair, I shot the arrows into a soft foam target and have checked all of the blades to verify their sharpness.
I have taken 3 deer using Killzones, and seen pictures of many other deer that were taken with Killzone Broadheads. Trust me, you don't need to "cycle" the broadhead or do anything to the springclip. These heads deploy just fine when they hit an animal. I don't think I have ever heard of, or see evidence of one not deploying upon impact. Soft foam or not, anytime you shoot a broadhead into any type of target, you lose a degree of sharpness. Granted, it may not be much, but you do. The first time I shoot a Killzone broadhead is at an animal I intend to kill. I want my broadhead as sharp as it can be when I send it thru an animal I intend to harvest. I think you owe the animal you hunt a humane death, and a factory sharp broadhead is the best opportunity you have of doing just that. My opinion is if you want to practice with broadheads with blades, instead of matched practice heads, then use fixed blade head, or mechanicals, that have replaceable blades. Just makes sense to do so.
I shot Killzones for one season and when I did, I too noticed that one of them did not deploy on the first shot into a layered foam target. After that first shot, it deployed every time. That being said, a foam target and a live animal with bone and hide are obviously different. Even though one of my Killzones did not deploy into a foam target on the first shot - I was completely confident they would deploy on an animal on the first shot out of the package. They did seem slightly stiff out of the package which probably contributed to not deploying on the first shot - along with the fact that the foam target may not provide enough resistance to deploy the blades. Again, an animal with bone and hide would provide plenty of resistance. On a side note Beehunter makes a valid point about sharpness. You should not shoot your hunting heads into a target unless you plan on replacing or re-sharpening the blades. Even if you've "checked them for sharpness" they are not going to be as sharp as they were fresh out of the package and in my opinion your equipment should be in the absolute best condition. Sure a "slightly dull" blade will cut just fine but a 100% sharp blade will cut even better. Why not have the better of the two? When I practiced with mine, I replaced the blades before I went hunting. Just my two cents.
