Slick Trick Magnums - Test Review from 2008

[Tiny]

I had been asked to post up a review of the Slick Trick that carried the Lutz blades back awhile ago, so here it is.
This review was one that I did under contract for a now defunct sports retailer.


Hope you like it


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1: Testing will be performed With a mid spine arrow at a speed 316fps

#2: Arrow weight will be 305

[white]** The K.E. generated will match the averages for field set ups which was found during polling within 5 popular archery sites during '07.[/white]

#3: shot distance will not exceed 30 yards nor fall below 20 yards.

#4 : All heads will be subject to a 100gr. listed weight by the manufacturer.

#5: A 4 round format for fixed heads and a 5 round for expandable designs.

Test rounds will contain the following :
1 edge retention
2 Flight
3 Ferrule
4 Blade
5 Hard quartering (Expandable)


#6 : End results will carry a symbolic recommendation header.

#7: The pass/fail rating will be shown in the header of the test.
IE. :3/3 & 4/4

#8: One head will be sent to an independent reviewer selected from our volunteer roster.
That volunteer will submit his/her views on that head to the administrator of this site after having shot this head under guideline rules.(That independent review will be written into the overall review as a side bar to the main test.


TOTAL WEIGHT 100 GRAINS

.035"

1 1/8"

right side

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[Tiny]

left side

right side

left side

The proceeding is accompanied by past testing which may be viewed within the following link
http://bowhunters.proboards.com/index.cgi#2006reviews
​

Having received both the featured head and accompanying bone (which is shown in the following test feature) it is the position of ATA that both the broadhead and bone are genuine.
The strike area viewed on the bone allows one side of blade number one to be discounted as excessive.
Furthermore , additional discounting of blade number two is considered due to it's strong approach into that same area.
Discounting should not be considered as total.
The remaining sides of blades one and two have suffered wear for having exited the chosen portion of the remaining bone.
The non-discounted surfaces which would allow a cutting surface to remain are nonexistent.
Furthermore , the intended cutting area of the blades are folded , creating a rounded face.
The ferrule was without detriment and in seemingly good working order.
No blemish or stress was evident from the end point of the shank to the end point of the chiseled tip.
The blade insertion slots were clean and without burring or deformation.
The testers comments were that flight was point on and without error in a total of 30 shots fired from a distance of 30 yards.
ATA cannot and will not endorse these comments and but will instead endorse the source as being able to offer a truly educated insight into what is considered to be perfect flight for a broadhead of this design.
ATA reserves the rights to use this test report and it's findings and to disallow it's copy for private use outside of this forum without written consent and approval of the board of ATA.

BELOW IS THE FIELD REPORT OFFERED BY P2PHANTOM


When I finally put together the broadhead and was ready to screw it in my arrow, the spacer/washer didn't flush all the way in to hold the blades. I looked around , if any from other heads might fit, but couldn't find one.
Notice what I mean by not "flushing in" the ferrule? There's a space of about 2 mm. The ring is stuck right at the tapered part of the ferrule.
I didn't shoot it like that cause the blades kinda' moves in the ferrule and I don't want to damage it.

​

​

 

[Big_Holla]

Pretty interesting stuff. Knowing nothing about the Slick Trick Magnum and it's history with the Lutz blades, were they stronger/better or worse than the blades they currently are supplying with this head?

 

[Tiny]

Pretty interesting stuff. Knowing nothing about the Slick Trick Magnum and it's history with the Lutz blades, were they stronger/better or worse than the blades they currently are supplying with this head?

Honestly, I cannot say without testing them again. There always seems to be whispering about these heads going on with the new owners. Supposedly they changed the blades again but some folks I know are saying they are the same 'ol same old as far as damage is concerned. Nobody I know has said differently but I just cant say for sure. All I can say for sure is that the original blades were darn near perfect and I haven't seen anything put out by slick trick (since then) that would hold a candle to the originals.

 

[finelyshedded]

Another awesome in depth study Tiny! Thanks very much for posting this!!! Glad you found this site!

 

[Fullbore]

Yes, very interesting data. I have never used them, but may try them at some point. Lol. No pun intended.

 

[cotty16]

I love my Tricks!

Here is the entrance and exit on my 2011 buck. I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I think the visuals of these holes speaks volumes.

 

[Tiny]

I love my Tricks!

Here is the entrance and exit on my 2011 buck. I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I think the visuals of these holes speaks volumes.
View attachment 14089View attachment 14090

Not at all since the thread is about the tricks

The testing that I did/am doing for this site focuses on a heads ability to remain intact after meeting a scenario where overwhelming detriment is possible in one form or another. The reason for this is two fold. First, penetration is impeded when a blade losses it's cutting edge or when the ferrule of the head becomes deformed. Secondly, arteries can move around a surface that is not razor sharp due to their elasticity and strength.

Heads that fold under hard bone impact will allow for less blood letting and in cases where the shot placement is less than perfect, can actually lead to a non recovery. Just as a round ball can pass through the chest of a person without killing them, so too can a broadhead (which does not carry a cutting surface) allow a deer to escape and even survive.

Testing was/is being done so that persons wishing to have the best head on their arrows may do so without the expense and time invested in the same discovery. I will use the Rage broadhead to highlight what I am saying....
On Archerytalk (the forum) a poll has been put up which asks respondents to select one of the following answers that best fits their experience, when using the Rage head.
#1: Recovered the deer #2: did not recover the deer and then there are a couple more options to throw balance into the responces.
Over a 4 year period the answers always showed the same conclusion. The conclusion was that over 50% of people using the Rage head lost deer.

Similar polls have been posted (in that same time period) questioning other expandable heads as well. Heads such as the Spitfire from N.A.P., which had sales just as high in number as the Rage. The negitive results were much lower for these heads.
While many people blamed the Rage function for their losses, many more could make no claim at all as they just didnt know why and had no guess to add to it.

What testing showed for the Rage was that it was prone to losing it's blades and the mass of the head itself retarded penetration to a far greater extent than other expandables being sold at that time. Adding to that was the poor retaining system for the blades which caused many arrows to veer off course on the shot. While the faults relating to the retention system were in part due to the hunter not checking their equipment prior to the shot, the fact that the retainer required such attention brings this head into question.

In testing, I found (on average) that 10% or less of all broadheads being sold from 2005-2008 were able to pass all aspect of testing but 100% of all heads being sold were capable of killing a deer. My own feelings on heads is that I would rather have a perfect head when that once in a lifetime trophy steps into the shooting lane.

 

[Tiny]

Should have said "RE-TESTED 2006


I will add the previous test for the 2003 Slick Trick which carried the original blades. This test has poor photo's since back then I didnt have the camera's that I do now and I wasn't doing this for any other reason than discovery, which I was sharing with a forum.

Hope you can get through it... Poor quality as it is.





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Phase 1: (85 gr. 2003 model)

On inspection, this head seems to be a solid design.

The one piece body with trocar style leading tip is small...very small but gives confidence when inspected.
The strength of the metal removes any doubt one might have , due to the small dia. of the Ferrel itself on first inspection.

The blades are (again) a confidence builder.
Very heavy material in comparison to other replacement blades out there.

The blades are assembled within the body (which is a one piece design) and backed with a steel washer (included)to keep the blades in the body of the Ferrel.

This was one thing I did not care for or rather I should say,it made me a little nervous because the blades were not rock solid within the body.
(Movement of the blades from side to side was limited yet evident)

Next it was time to shoot.

These heads flew as did my field points and I will say that (so far) these are the best 4blade head (in flight) that I have used so far.

I had the opportunity to do an actual kill with the slick trick on a sizable opossum and the results were excellent.
5' from point of impact to end of flight.

Now I know that this is a poor test (seemingly)but none the less , I was impressed

Breakage occurred on one head,through the body in total at the intersection of the shaft.

The break left 4 separate pieces of the broadhead inside the shaft.

The broadhead itself did not shed away parts of itself (beyond the break off) but snapped in half through the cross section where it is machined to receive the blades.

The blades were in great shape!.

Another head took a very good hit which caused sparks to fly and there was no ill effect to the head at all except for a VERY SMALL bend on the leading tip.

A few swipes with a file put it right back in order and also allowed me to see the hardness of the metal itself.
(quality material which didn't give away to the file easily)

So far the Slick Trick head has had a good showing with the exception of the loose fitting blades which still unnerves me a bit

The breakage ...I am just not convinced that it is the fault of the head yet.

It could be that the metal is overly hard which would/could lead to higher breakage on hard impact or... it could have been a fluke

That remains to be seen

 

[Tiny]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(2005 100gr. Re-test)

First impressions:

Outstanding upgrades

Blades went from .30" to .35" for a nearly 20% improvement on something that was good already

The front section of the Ferrel is longer overall and the dia. seems to be marginally larger although I did not Mic. it.

This just seems to be a stronger head from a hands on inspection when having the older version to compair it too.
-----------------
Flight :
(Done with a Reflex Grizzly in de-tuned state)

The Reflex can group arrows together in near robin hood style but there is a tuning flaw put in that will pick up flight problems in a head.

* Note: Nobody should be hunting with a un-tuned bow but it happens (alot) and I do this to show what can happen - not what will happen.

50 arrows were shot for warm up before shooting for Pics below.
Below are pics of the results at 30yrds.

(arrow to right is 100gr. Slick Trick equipped)

(arrow to right is Slick Trick equipped)

Notice the grouping ....very good and very tunable.
I expect no problems out of a tuned bow
-----------------------
For the sharpness test this head took top honors by inflicting 28 shots on target before being brought to the state of having a lacking edge.

Just outstanding! and lets keep in mind that this is a .35 blade which is going to have an uphill battle compared to thiner blades on getting a good edge to begin with.

The starting edge was not the best I have ever seen (most are not)but very good and certainly good enough to get a thumbs up from myself.

After warming up and getting the second stage ready it was back out into the cold (Need to get a heated range up ) for the BK2 test.

As I expected , the flight was flawless when shot out of a tuned bow

(The feather arrow is the Slick Trick Head)

Now it was time to pound the snot out of these things and see what the new design had to show

The plate was set over the boar shoulder (about a 225# pig)and the distance was a standard of 30yrds.

Once again the first shot brought a wonderful CRUNCH back to my ears.

The arrow was thingyed and nock down @ 5 O'clock when I retrieved the shoulder and took it back to the kitchen for dissection.

The wife is finally over the shrill speak that she hits me with (I think), actually just chuckled and walked out saying "I just dont get it".

As you can see , the arrow did not make good penetration.

notice the lack of arrow to the left

this is the tip on the opposite side of the inside shoulder

The damage to the shoulder would have had the pig on three legs for the rest of his days but he would have had the rest of his days to work on it
( save infection )

A lesser bone would have yielded to the head but a shoulder joint or spine would not as evidenced.
This is for the most part , the draw back with multi blade heads and as you add blades you drop penetration.

Simple as that and this fact should not be held against a head when comparing a 4blade to a 3 or 2 blade head.

Here are some of the Pics of the super job the head did do on the shoulder joint.

 

[Tiny]

The Head?.....a slight bend in one blade and it was so slight that I had to look very carefully to find it but I may have one pick that shows it.

Notice the bend on the center blade (facing camera)
Another thing is the blades after they were extracted.
They were in great shape

I MEAN SHARP!!!......I MEAN CUT MYSELF WASHING THEM SHARP!

I give the New Blades a thumbs up so far

Here are some shots after the shot

Do you see any blade damage?....me either

And finally there is the board test

This was a first for any head in as much as the head made the pass through from 30yrds. out and the blades survived not only w/o damage but in sharp condition.

I mean sharp!

I really wish that I could send you all a blade so that you could be as amazed as I am (cause you would be I am sure)

Look at the following Pics and tell me you wouldn't expect some blade damage in some form ???

is this awesome or what?!

 

[Tiny]

And here are some pics after the wood chips were removed

Alright guys and gals....here is my final verdict on the S.T. heads.

Thumbs up!

For a 4blade design they have exceeded all others and now stand as the all time champs.

I am glad that The man behind the head took the time to correct previous flaws and my hat is certainly off to him for his efforts.

A point was brought to my attention that needed addressing.

I did assume that the Slick Trick would pass based on the knuckle joint being split.
Being such a hard area to penetrate I did not hold this against the test results.

It had just never happened before.

So....I went back out and shot it again and then went further and shot the scapula 12 times with the same head (after the first Pics)
to see what these blades really had in them.

The impact shattered the bone better than anything (to date) and carrying the shoulder back to the house was like juggling a water balloon.

I do wish now that I had not taken a free pack from the manufacturer :-/
Although it certainly had no ability to soften my view , it does make me wonder if I couldn't have found more to P&M about had I not.

Anyway....here are the pics

This is the head that broke the Boar

HERE IS A PIC OF A HEAD THAT TOOK THE SCAPULA TILL THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT TO HIT

As you can see , there are a few scares on the scapula hatchet but hardly what I would call bad damage.

Two of the blades still carried a good edge after a dozen shots.

OUTSTANDING!


I am really sorry about a couple of these Pics people...its hard to get a good Pic and be close enough to see anything worth seeing.

 

[finelyshedded]

Outstanding Tiny! Thank you!

 

[Tiny]

Outstanding Tiny! Thank you!

Happy to be of service

 

[Jackalope]

Good Stuff man.

 

[Big_Holla]

Very impressive!

 

[bowhunter1023]

Hell yeah! Well done sir!!! :smiley_clap:

Thanks for sharing that with us and for doing the work. Can you repeat that with a Rage and someone call Kaiser... mischeif.gif

 

[Tiny]

Hell yeah! Well done sir!!! :smiley_clap:

Thanks for sharing that with us and for doing the work. Can you repeat that with a Rage and someone call Kaiser... mischeif.gif

Going to have a test out this week with the new hypodermic from Rage. I have a couple tests from back in 2006 where the original Rage failed testing (both 2 &3 blade) but they have since then improved those heads so who knows how they would do today. I suspect better than back in 2006.

 

[Archertl]

Great testing tiny. I have a pack of Slick trick razor trick magums that I picked up discounted. If you are interesting to do a test on them I'll send them send them your way.

 

[Tiny]

Great testing tiny. I have a pack of Slick trick razor trick magums that I picked up discounted. If you are interesting to do a test on them I'll send them send them your way.

Thanks for the offer but these heads are the 150/175 grain that do not meet the criteria for testing. I am also trying to focus on the newer heads which many people have not had the opportunity to use in the field. I appreciate the offer.