Crossbow Broadheads
Crossbow broadheads have to survive something a compound head never sees. A modern crossbow puts enough energy behind a bolt to pop a compound-spec mechanical open somewhere between the rail and the animal, which is how a shot that felt perfect turns into a long afternoon of looking. Everything on this page is built and rated for that energy, from one-piece solid steel fixed blades to two-inch mechanicals held shut by internal spring clips.
Round out the crossbow setup
- All broadheads for the compound fixed blade and mechanical heads
- Arrows and bolts, plus nocks, vanes and inserts
- Broadhead targets that will still be there in November
- Bow and crossbow cases
- Sights and scopes, and the budget crossbow scope guide
- Missouri deer season dates for archery and firearms portions
Why a crossbow head is a different head
The number that matters is kinetic energy at the rail. A fast crossbow launches a shorter, heavier bolt with far more force than a compound puts on an arrow, and every part of a broadhead feels it. On a mechanical, the retention system takes the worst of it. Blades held closed by a rubber band or a light O-ring can be shaken open by the launch itself, and a head that opens in flight will plane off target and shed most of its penetration before it arrives.
Fixed blades face a different version of the same problem. Ferrules flex, blades loosen in their slots, and lock rings back off under repeated high-energy shots. The heads here answer it either by removing the joints entirely or by using retention designed around crossbow speeds.
Fixed blade crossbow broadheads
The HellRazor Crossbow is one piece of solid steel with a 1 1/8 inch three-blade cut. There is nothing on it to work loose, which is the entire argument for it. If your crossbow is fast and your shot angles are steep, this is the head that stops being a variable.
The Thunderhead Crossbow runs a 1 3/16 inch three-blade cut with replaceable blades and no lock rings or O-rings holding them in. It ships five to a pack rather than three, which is the sensible way to buy a head you intend to practice with.
The DK4 Crossbow sits between the two categories. A single pivoting main blade walks around heavy bone instead of stopping on it, and two mechanical bleeder blades open on impact to widen the wound channel. Spitfire spring clip technology holds the main blade closed at launch.
Mechanical crossbow broadheads
This is the deeper half of the collection, and the heads separate by how wide they cut and how they stay shut.
The widest are the two-inch heads. The KillZone Crossbow deploys two blades from the rear behind a cut-on-contact point, so the head is already cutting before the blades open. The Spitfire XXX reaches the same two inches with three front-deploying blades held by internal spring clips and a Trophy Tip point. The Spitfire Double Cross stacks two stages, a two inch main cut with 1 1/8 inch rear bleeders crossing it, so the wound is cut vertically and horizontally regardless of impact angle.
The widest cut on the page belongs to the Slingblade 2 Ti, which flies at 7/8 inch and opens to 2 3/16 inches. It is machined from one piece of Grade 5 titanium with .031 inch replaceable stainless blades that are individually spin-tested, and practice blades come in the pack. The two-blade Slingblade Crossbow is the simpler version of the same front-deploying idea.
Stepping down in diameter buys you penetration. The Spitfire Maxx cuts 1 3/4 inches on three front-deploying blades, and the standard Spitfire Crossbow cuts 1 1/2 inches on the same platform with spring clip retention tuned for high-speed rigs. The QuadCutter Crossbow and the Ignite 4-Blade Crossbow both put four replaceable blades on a Grade 5 titanium ferrule with X-Lock retention for a 1 3/16 inch cut, trading width for a larger total wound channel.
Two heads sit outside those patterns. The Swingfire uses four opposing cutting surfaces that shift independently as the head passes through, which reduces friction and drag, and NAP field-tested it at 450 fps. The Shockwave Crossbow is the value option, a three-blade mechanical with O-ring retention in a crossbow-rated build.
How wide should you cut
Cut diameter and penetration pull against each other, and the right answer depends on your bolt weight and your shot distances more than it depends on the animal. A two inch mechanical out of a fast, heavy-bolt setup will pass through a whitetail broadside all day. The same head out of a lighter, slower rig can stop in the far shoulder. If you are running a compact crossbow or lighter bolts, the 1 1/8 to 1 3/16 inch heads leave more energy for the exit hole, and an exit hole is what produces a blood trail you can follow.
Grain weight
Everything here is available in 100 grain, and the DK4, HellRazor, Slingblade, Spitfire Crossbow and Thunderhead are also offered in 125 grain. Heavier heads move the balance point forward, which raises front of center and generally improves flight stability out of a crossbow. Match the head weight to the field points you sighted in with, or resight after you change.
Practice, and when to retire a head
Broadhead tuning is worth an afternoon before opening day. Shoot one broadhead-tipped bolt at your sighted-in distance and compare it to a field point group. If the broadhead lands somewhere else, the fix is usually the arrow or the rest rather than the head. Several of these ship with practice blades or have a matching practice head, and the parent broadheads collection carries replacement blade packs so you can leave the hunting blades sharp.
Frequently asked questions
Can you shoot a regular mechanical broadhead out of a crossbow?
Some will hold together and some will not, and you find out which on the shot that counts. The failure is not usually the blades breaking, it is the retention letting go during launch so the head arrives already open. Crossbow-rated versions of the same heads exist because the manufacturers tested that difference.
What grain broadhead should I shoot from a crossbow?
Whatever weight your field points are, so your point of impact stays where you sighted it. 100 grain is the most common on modern bolts and covers every head on this page. Moving up to 125 grain adds front of center and can tighten broadhead flight, but plan on resighting.
Do crossbow broadheads fly like field points?
Mechanicals come closest, because the blades are folded in flight and the profile stays small. The Slingblade 2 Ti flies at 7/8 inch for exactly that reason. Fixed blades present more surface to the air and will show any tuning problem your rig has, which is useful information even when it is annoying.
How many shots before a broadhead should be retired?
Retire a hunting head after it has been in an animal, and retire it after any impact with bone that leaves a blade bent or a ferrule out of true. For practice, use the practice head or practice blades where they exist and keep the hunting blades in the pack.
Fixed or mechanical for crossbow hunting?
Mechanical if you want cut diameter and forgiving flight, fixed if you want reliability with nothing to fail and the deepest penetration from a given setup. Heavy bone, quartering shots and lower-energy rigs all argue for fixed. Broadside whitetails at moderate range are the mechanical's home ground.
Are mechanical broadheads legal for deer?
In most states yes, but a handful restrict mechanical heads, minimum cut diameter or blade count, and the rules differ by species and by season. Check the current regulations from your state wildlife agency before you hunt. Missouri regulations are published by the Missouri Department of Conservation.
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