Shockwave Broadheads

Shockwave Broadheads

Specs:

Review:

The Shockwave is a mechanical 3-blade head manufactured by New Archery Products, well known as the makers of the #1 selling broadhead in America, the Thunderhead line. As far as mechanical heads are concerned, the Shockwave has to be rated near the top of the pack. For some reason it doesn't seem to have caught the popularity fire like it's bigger brother the NAP Spitfire, but it's not for lack of quality. I shot and tested the Shockwave 125 over the course of a year and was very impressed with them. The Tri-vex tip is cut-on-contact and has the characteristics of a good bone-splitting point. I discovered this from experience.

To test the durability of the Shockwave on something similiar to the shoulder blade of a deer, I shot it through a sheet of 1/4" plywood at a distance of 30 feet. It passed completely through with no damage to any part of the head.

Texas wild hog

I took this Texas wild hog in 2003 with the Shockwave 125

One thing I was eager to test out was the penetrating capabilities of the Shockwave, being an expandable head and some expandables having a reputation of not penetrating as well because of the energy required to open the blades. In Spring of 2003 I took a 150 lb. wild hog with a Shockwave on a Blackhawk Vapor arrow, shot from a Martin Jaguar at 64 lbs. Arrow speed was about 245 fps. Shot distance was 15 yards from a tree stand. The hog was quartering away and the point of impact was near the last rib. The shot was not a complete pass-through. There was not a whole lot of blood in the first 15 yards or so, but then it got more and more until I found the hog about 75 yards from the shot. I did not find my arrow, but there was an exit wound right behind the opposite side shoulder, so it must have poked through the opposite side and then broken off after the shot. I have taken hogs of similiar size and similiar shot angle with fixed-blade heads and got a complete pass-through and out the other side, where the Shockwave passed through but not completely. However, the hog was very dead and left a great blood trail, so obviously the broadhead did it's job. Internal damage was massive.

Whitetail doe

I took this Whitetail doe in 2003 with the Shockwave 125

In October 2003 I shot a Whitetail doe with the Shockwave, with the same bow and arrow set-up. The shot was quartering away at about 7 yards from a tree stand. The arrow entered high and about 10 inches behind the shoulder on the left side. It passed completely through and exited low on the off-side chest after breaking the leg bone. The doe ran about 20 yards, crashed into a tree and was dead, on it's feet about 3 seconds after the shot. I didn't need a blood trail, but there was plenty from the shot and internal damage was significant.

In December of 2003 I shot a Whitetail buck with the Shockwave, same bow and arrow set-up. I didn't make a clean release and shot higher than intended, hitting the buck in the spine right behind the shoulder. Although the arrow didn't pass all the way through and out the other side, the broadhead did completely pass through the spine. One blade was broken in half but the head was unharmed in all other respects.

Texas Whitetail buck

I took this Texas Whitetail buck in December 2003 with the Shockwave 125

For a mechanical head, the Shockwave performed well, but I personally will continue to use fixed-blade heads. The bottom line question for me is, does the mechanical/expandable head do anything for me that my fixed-blade broadhead doesn't do equally good or better? The answer for me is no. I just have more confidence in the sturdiness of my fixed-blade heads. However, if I was going to start using mechanicals on a regular basis, the Shockwave would be right at the top of my list. It has good blade thickness, the blades were razor sharp out of the package, the cut-to-tip point is pretty wicked, and the head displayed field-point accuracy. The Shockwave also has a retail price that is quite a bit less than other popular mechanical heads on the market. The Shockwave is a top-rate expandable style broadhead.

Pros:

cut-on-contact, blade thickness/sharpness, field point accuracy

Cons:

broken blade on one kill

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