The angle that the blades open up to is one thing that came to mind that could make a difference. But I would be surprised if there is a noticeable difference between them.

 

As long as your bow has sufficient KE to use an expandable head you will be fine wilth either model. I would not be too concerned with penetration, if your arrow is the proper spine and your bow produces enough KE. Too many people are shooting mechanical heads mounted on an under spined arrow from bows that don’t produce sufficient KE. Just my opinion based on years of experience.

 

There is a lot that goes into penetration. A good shot on a still target is paramount. If you will, You do the math on this one. A bow shooting a 311g arrow broadhead included traveling 240 fps. Made a complete pass through on a 500 lb black bear. At 25 yards..

 

The bigger the cut the more it will slow down on impact. You didn't mention what your shooting, bow, poundage, length etc. But the bottom line is shot placement.

 

I forgot to mention my bow specs…. They are as follows:
HOYT Ventum 33 29.125” draw length 73.50lbs
300 Spine victory RIP cut at 27.375”
446grain arrow at 294FPS. That equates to roughly 85ftlbs KE.

I am also swapping to 80lb limbs soon because I can effortlessly draw my bow at its current specs and I want all the performance available. My arrow set up being cut short is VERY stiff already, so I should have no issues even at 80lbs as long as I don’t load up the front of the arrow.

 

Compute your KE. I find 70fp will send most anything through most anything - at real world game yardages. Been using GR 125 Pro Tip Mech since inception and have had no issues. Accuracy, plays a big part not much you can do about smack dab center shoulders, but when I have (only 2 times) the GR tears it up nice and every animal has not went far.

Backyard Pro Tip: Don't hit the shoulder with any broadhead!

 

Agreed but especially with a mechanical. I've busted some heavy bone in the shoulder with three blade muzzies that I suspect a mechanical would have completely disintegrated if it had hit in the same spot and not been immediately lethal. Perhaps eventually due to injury and infection the animal might die but probably not where or on a timeline you can recover it

 

I don't have any experience with the 4 blades, but I've been shooting the 1 3/8th 3-blade Razortip for almost 20 years. I only hunt whitetails and hogs but I haven't found anything better. More pass-throughs than not, and they leave nasty blood trails.

 

The forward opening mech heads are THE most inefficient design.

These benefit from more arrow weight behind them to work better. Bump up to 500g or so and you will be happy.

 

My total arrow weight for hunting with a lighted nock at 80+ lbs will be 485grains. That set up will be pushing 300FPS out of my bow. I’m not too worried about penetration. I’m just curious about efficiency differences between 3 and 4 blades of the same total cut. Obviously more laid back blades will be more efficient, but it’s hard to tell blade angle on their website.

 

Obviously 3 blades produce less friction than 4 blades…it’s also obvious that smaller blades are going to penetrate better than bigger blades. Pretty common sense questions here.

Will any of them give you an issue with your specs? Most likely no, given you can hit where you’re aiming.

 

Either one will be fine in your setup. I don't think you would see much difference at all. The 4 blade pro series 1 3/8" is a great head. I've killed deer with them. Never used the Carnifour. The only thing that you may see is the longer blade on the Carnifour could be a little less durable, but then again the shorter side would be a little more than the 1 3/8". So who really knows. I would pick up whichever you can find cheaper and enjoy. You have plenty of bow and they are both proven heads.

 

Here is the three blade I pulled out of a buck I killed a few years ago in Illinois.

FYI - It wasn't my broadhead....

Found it in the deer, closed up, in a place that I am pretty certain that a muzzy 4-blade would have killed a deer. You can see where the deer was hit in the second picture. I bet that was one sad hunter.

 

Here is the three blade I pulled out of a buck I killed a few years ago in Illinois.

FYI - It wasn't my broadhead....

Found it in the deer, closed up, in a place that I am pretty certain that a muzzy 4-blade would have killed a deer. You can see where the deer was hit in the second picture. I bet that was one sad hunter.

View attachment 8119240

View attachment 8119241

Pretty certain? This doesn't tell you much without knowing the bow and arrow setup.

 

I shoot the 4 blade Carni-four out of a 60 pound bow, and I’ve yet to not have to pull an arrow out of the ground. It’s a deadly broadhead. Then again, I don’t try to make this as technical and complicated as some on here, so I’m sure I’m doing something wrong for an over the top mechanical to actually work.

 

I've shoot a variety of 3-blade fixed BH's over the years and was a bit surprised that the TOTA I picked up in '22 penetrated equally as well. Granted they are fairly small diameter, but they fly great and make a really wicked square hole. The first buck I killed with a TOTA was quartering away and the exit was through the off side scapula. Complete pass through with 'only' 60@29.25" and took a square chunk out of the scapula. Should have taken a photo of that. Thus I've become a fan of 4-blade BH's as well as 3.

 

Guys get butt hurt when we state the optimal parameters for these heads.

Sure a very inefficient BH can work. I shot 5 elk back in the day with an almost identical head Spitfire and 440g arrow 80# bow I was shooting at the time. I went away from those after poor performance on a few angled shots( big hogs)

The idea here is to discuss parameters of what works best, right?

I’ve seen those over the top heads and the short wide chisel point heads chop hair on the way in. Is that optimal to have dull blades on your BH?

IMO, those over the top heads work best with sufficient arrow behind them- +/- 500g.

A more efficient tapered COC head turns any arrow into a penetrating monster Giving a hunter another option if he doesn’t want to lose trajectory by going up in arrow weight.

 

I killed 2 axis this week with the grim reaper pro 1 3/8 3 blade.. the doe was hard quartering away arrow entered last rib and came out her chest. Went another 10 yards.. buck was quartering away slightly. Shot through both shoulders. Arrow went another 5 yards. He made it 4 steps she made it 15 yards.. I never heard either arrow hit the deer.. I read on here they are very inefficient heads and they may be but I've never seen this much blood..
I'm shooting a Vtm 34 at 83 lbs and a 480 grain arrow.. 300 fps.

To answer your original question 3 blade with penetrate better than the 4 blade but it may not be enough to matter..

 

Look at the mini mag 4
I like the carnifour but I really like the mini mag 4
In my opinion 4 blade holes definitely bleeed better

 

Everyone gets on the inefficiency bandwagon with the over the top heads, but I had great experiences with the 1 3/8” Pro Series (3 blade). I shot 3 with them last year. I was shooting a 75lbs @ 28.5” V3X 33 with about a 515 grain arrow.

Most of the time you hit them in the ribs with a mechanical and you get that loud wack/thumb, but these things didn’t make a noise. Just blew right through.

First deer I shot didn’t know she was hit, walked about 20 yards and just tipped over. Roughly 4-5 yard shot, almost straight down.

Second deer was almost the same. Same tree as first and almost in the same spot. Straight down shot. She bounded about 30 yards out, walked about 30 more and just laid down and never picked her head up.

Third deer was alert when I shot her. She was about 30 yards. I couldn’t have placed the arrow better if I had walked up to her. Perfect heart shot. She death sprinted about 40 yards and died running.

I didn’t track any of them. All 3 heads survived.

 

I shoot the 1 3/4 reapers now. I shot the 4 blade on one deer. I wasn't overly impressed enough to switch form the 3 blade

 

You wont find a more devastating head than a Whitetail Special out of your set up for deer. I know it wasn't what you were asking about but you got the gusto so put it on'em!

People can bag on them all they want but the truth is there are more IW heads for sale across all bow sites than you'll ever see of the WTS. People can talk exit wounds for blood trails all they want but you cant cover a fist sized hole plain and simple.

 

I shoot the 4 blade Carni-four 125 grn 550 grain arrow 65 pds 250 spine watch m drop !

 

I have just ordered a set of 125 grain mini mags. I’m excited to see what these babies will do! I also have a set of 100 grain Razorcut SS 1 3/4 extra cut heads that I’ll be trying out.

Thank you for all of the input!

 

I've been wanting to try the grim reaper mini mags. Just curious if 55lbs and a 31.5"draw with a 515gr arrow has enough to push them thru?

 

Beyond enough

 

Grim reaper pro series 1 3/8", I've only used them once, result was excellent. 30 yard shot, 30 yard recovery, pass through, 490gr grain arrow going 290fps

 

The 1 3/8", carni four or mini mag are all great choices. If you have even a reasonable draw length and shoot a reasonable amount of poundage, you have more than enough oomph to shoot these heads on deer.

 

You have a valid point. I just like to overthink things sometimes. Thanks for you thoughts!

Thanks. I shot the Grim Reaper 3 blade Razor tips and I shot a big ol' mature doe at about 5 yards..........lol. The arrow didn't exit and there was NO blood at all but I watched the deer fall so I didn't need the blood trail that time. I was shooting a 500 grain arrow around 235 FPS.

So for "me" and they way I hunt (high & close) they were not a good head at all. BUT I don't base things off what's good for me. I try to look at the question and use my experience. So your 446 grain arrow going damn near 300 FPS is a whole different rig. You should have zero penetration issue with that head.

I "almost" got through the bottom of her chest but no hole is no hole no matter how close you are............lol Where I hunt it's so thick and swampy you can lose a deer very fast when you have zero blood to go by. The woods get HUGE when that happens and you have no idea what direction to go.