I was rummaging around in my bowhunting stuff and I found a little box of a dozen 125 grain Snuffers in like-new condition.
I have some Gold Tip Velocity XT shafts that tune out perfectly with a 100 grain, brass, glue-in-glue-on insert and a 125 grain glue-on field point. So, I made up an experimental arrow with one of those 125 grain Snuffers and shot it at a foam target a few times and it was like a laser beam. Great penetration too.
I wonder if any of you fellow Trad Gangers have used Snuffers in the past few years and what kind of results you experienced.
I think of Snuffers as sort of a "retro" head and I remember buying my first ones from Roger himself in the 1980s. I had forgotten what a great broadhead the snuffers are. They are sturdy, well designed, and easy to sharpen to a shaving edge.
I'm just might set up a half dozen arrows with those Snuffers for the 2020 deer season. If they work like I think they might, I will probably use them for bears and anything else that I get to hunt over the next year or two. I'm glad I found them.
Great heads, all i have used for the past 10 yrs, have shot through several deer and one big 300 lbs hog. Just like any head, needs to be sharp and have your confidence that it will work.
They are bad medicine for deer and bear.... although I've only killed deer with them, I've have friends that love them for bears as well. Black bears that is.
Used them for years, then went to stainless ones, when I dropped my bow weight down to 40 lbs I went to Deltas.
How is your shoulder Joe? I had mine replaced because you made yours work after having it replaced. Thank you much!
Best thing I ever did. Mine is working good 2 years now.
A buddy of mine used Snuffers (the big ones) for years and loved them! Blood trails were unreal! He uses Sharks now-a-days. Hey SS Snuffer, how is your penetration with those Deltas out of a 40 lb. bow?
SS Snuffer:
My shoulders are great. I had the 2nd shoulder replaced two years ago and even though the recovery was a little longer and more difficult than with the first shoulder replacement, it's great now. It's good to hear yours is working out well too. I shoot bows in the mid-40s with an occasional practice session with 50 pounds just to get a little extra exercise in.
As long as I go a bit easy on the draw weight, and keep in shape, I think I'll be OK.
Lee the one I shot last year was a pass-thru at 19 yards. Stuck in the dirt deer went 40 yards and left a good blood trail.
Joe I never would have done it if you hadn't posted all about your experience. My doctor had told me I wouldn't shoot again. Thanks Again
I love three blade heads for deer and bear. Snuffers are great and three blade heads are a cinch to sharpen. I use Kustom King Trailmakers now, but used Snuffers when they were available. Have fun, retro stuff is cool.
I still have some of the original 160 grain Snuffer heads that got used for deer and hogs with my MOAB. They leave a distinctive blood trail. Liking VPA and Grizzly Instinct 190 grain from my BR LB.
:campfire:
I've used snuffer for around 20 years and still like 'em for deer and small stuff. I'm lucky enough to still have a couple of dozen 150's and 185's. For elk I use Woodsman's for better penetration out of the lighter weight bows I shoot.
I shot a bunch of bears ,deer and 2 caribou with the 125 gr. and my boys used them when they were small and shot them from 40 to 45 lb. bows and they had adequate penetration on deer and bear .
A friend not long ago gave me 2 dozen unfinished big Snuffers, I have to put them on my belt sander to grind a bevel . I have some green colored Snuffers that I think were the best of all I ever had they seem to have better steel .
Favorite broadhead... still have some 160 grainers that I use every season. Great flight on wood or carbon arrows out of different bows and the blood trails from our whitetails are awesome.
Was bummed when they were no longer made, keep hoping someone'll pick em up again.
Rando
I can miss a deer just as good with a snuffer
as any head on the market.
As mentioned the blood trail is PDG with big Snuffer heads.
:campfire:
I have been using them since the late 70s with great results. Best head on earth for hogs and big midwest whitetails. I have even gotten pass throughs on elk. The 160 glue on is the one you want (200 plus with inserts)
I was given five of the 125 grain screw-in.
One was lost to my deer harvest last year. Despite numerous attempts, it was never found.
I continue in my search for more....
If not, I will hunt with the four left.
Snuffers have a great rep for killing game and being easy to sharpen. Everyone worries about the "Snuffer hiss" but there has been a couple of boatloads of dead critters that didn't seem to notice it.
Love them! I still have a bunch of 160's and some still in the package.
Joe... the Snuffers are/were made at same facility as WWs... so same grind issue you were talking about on the other thread.....
However, I've never ground either so much they were compromised. I use a belt sander to level the bevels but other tools can be used just not as easy.
I did not know that Woodsmans and Snuffers were made at the same factory. The factory grind issues I have run into with Woodsmans were rare -- about one package out of the 5 or so I have bought.
On those WWs with a bad factory grind, the grind was so far off that they had waves in the edges that make it impossible to sharpen them without reworking the grind -- a file would not touch the low spots in the factory edge. They were a mess, so I just tossed them in a box and figured I would get to them some day. The old Snuffers I found are pretty perfect.
I think you are correct in that a belt sander would be the best way to level out the grind of those old WWs and I'll give that a try when I have some time.
Sounds like you got some really bad ones Joe.
If ya blunted the tips, they would make great small gamers. I did that to the ones I buggered up over the years. I just used a white paint marker to identify them with stripes down the blades.
Good idea, Terry. I think I'll do that.
There were several iterations of Snuffers over the years. Origin of the head was back in the 60's, Dad was taking Ben Pearson Deadheads apart and soldering them back together as 3 blade heads. There were both large and small versions from the 2 deadhead sizes. They ended up being called "biscuit cutters" and collectors seek them. I've posted pics of both sizes here in the past.
The original Snuffer "factory" was our garage back home. Dad was a machinist and built all the presses, grinders etc himself. I spent lots of hours as a kid putting Snuffers together. They were built at home from around early 80's to about 1990 when the business was sold to Delta Industries in Iowa. Main drivers for that (as Dad told me in conversations over the years) were 1. Dad was tired of 2 full time jobs 2. Head size was standardizing at 125 gr in the industry and he did not want to compromise the design by making smaller heads, 3. He realized that no one in the family had the capability or interest to continue the business. I was starting college then and was interested in science. He was also looking towards buying land and leaving Ohio.
Delta had the heads for several years. They had some trouble with heat treat occasionally I've heard. They also started smaller sizes. I've seen 145s 125s and 110s in grain weight. Original Snuffers were 160/165 without adaptors and 1 1/2 inch diameter. Smaller ones were just ground down versions. Less metal. Not redesigned.
Delta sold to Magnus, I'm not sure of date, but thinking early 2000s. I bought a box of seconds from Mike around that time. Never heard anything bad about Magnus made Snuffers. He was making the Wensel heads during the same time period. Wensel heads were built on the same ferrule as Snuffers. The ferrule was the real innovation, Dad designed the punch press to make those, there were a bunch of punch stages from flat sheet stock..15 or 17 stages something like that.
One of Dads stories about the head was handing one to Fred Bear at a sportsmans show in the early 80's...Fred said..."Nice head...WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR FERRULES?"
The last I knew Thunder Valley (from Louisiana or MS maybe?) Had the head, they probably had woodsmans too. I know Dad talked quite a bit with the owner and I met him at Compton in MI one year. One time Dale from 3 Rivers was talking about the heads too, have no idea if that went anywhere.
I have my own stash of around 200 of thg he 160's, so I think I'm covered :)
It would be nice to see the head on the market again, though.
R
Thanks for the history, Ryan. The original six 160s I bought from your dad in the 1980s must have been made in the garage. I still have them and they are in perfect condition.
Like I said, I was surprised to find the 125s in my archery stuff. I had thought they were long gone. I figure they will do a good job on deer this year, and a bear in Canada next June.
I have always thought the snuffer was a great design. The lethality of a three-blade head is pretty impressive.
Great stuff Ryan.
Joe... hold onto the 160s... those are the bomb!!!
Good stuff... Thanks for the history Ryan!!!
I keep watching for 160 grainers, but I'm always a day late & dollar short... I too hope someone picks up manufacturing em again!
Rando
Love the history Ryan! Thank you! Ryan got me on Snuffers in early 2000 and I've been shooting them ever since. The edge Ryan can put on one is scary!
160's are awesome and desirable. Keep my eyes open for them.
:campfire:
my 1st kill with a snuffer was a liver shot pass through on a duck n roll buck. 50 yard trail to a bedded up dead 6.
What Ryan said was 100% fact and then some. I did a story for the American Broadhead Collectors Club newsletter way back in the late 1970's. Visited the Rothhaar homestead outside Bucyrus, Ohio several times. I started using the big Snuffer's and the results were fantastic ! Roger would sign his books as they were published and make sure I got one ! BTW, he was a great shot .......He introduced me to Donnie Assenheimer and I started shooting his bows. What a super combo. I was real active in the Michigan Bow Hunters during that time shooting Snuffers and I recall most of the other bow hunters laughed at me for using those real "heavy" broadheads !!! I got the last laugh :biglaugh: I still have my batch of the first Snuffers I got from Roger. You can't hardly destroy them .......just keep sharpening them !! Tom Rogers AKA "Horserod"
Great stuff and history thanks for posting.
Ryan,
I bought many 'seconds' from your dad, actually your mother, after sorting them out at the family kitchen table. Thanks for the memories.
Cheers,
R
I sharpen them with automotive body sandpaper on a stone counter top or a piece of glass. I start with 400 grit and go to 600 grit. I tried to change the blade angle years ago with one of the file and stone tools set for the new angle but it doesn't change the very tip.
Still looking for more...
Ive been using the 160s since I went back to trad bows in 1992............... They just work.........
Amen!!!
:campfire:
I rummaged around and found my 6 original 160 gr, Snuffers. Like I said, I got these from Roger in person in the 1980s. I rigged one up on an arrow. By my rough calculations, this arrow should be close to tuned, and I will test shoot it once it stops raining here.
Darn nice head. It gets razor sharp very easily, and that 1.5" diameter cut is impressive.
I do envy you guys who have a large supply of them. Like I said before, I only have 6 of the original 160 grain, and 12 of the later-issue 125 grain.
Well, my rough guess was correct. The 160 gr. original Snuffer that I put on a shaft shoots great. It results in an arrow that will average 505-510 gr.
The quality of the steel is very good. Getting the head razor sharp was quick and easy.
I might try this combo on whitetails this season.
I only have 5 of the 160's left. Nice heads
Smokin Joe, expect short blood trails.
:campfire:
I have had 5 of the 125 grain Snuffers for about 10 years now and have never tried them. Seems like every year I grab one and put it on the stone for an hour plus and make no progress. They fly well and I would like to try them but I can't get them even almost sharp.
I use a flat stone and the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup. Just traded for some more 160's.
:campfire:
I use the 160 Snuffer exclusively as far as 3 blade heads, I bought a whole lot when they came out and continued to purchase regularly for a long time. I don't have as many as Ryan but I'm pretty close so I'm set for the rest of the ride.
It's hard to not like 1.5" holes on both sides.
All my broadheads are 160gr, a big stash of Magnus Classic 160's for double bevel and 160 glue on Cutthroats for single bevel.
I have a good number of 190 grain VPA and Grizzly Instinct, 160 grain Snuffer and 2 blade ACE/Magnus heads. Also some Ribtek 190's
The generosity of stick bow shooters is amazing on this site and others. Have some original Snuffer 160 grain heads coming my way that won't be used by current owner.
:campfire:
That's excellent. I have been told that Snuffers in the original 160gr glue-on are not easy to come by.
Joe that is true. Well below the quantity that Ryan has. !!!!
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I turned several buddies onto the big Snuffers. Loved their reactions when following the (short) blood trails...😂😂😂
Indeed!
:campfire:
They had some snazzy apparel as well.