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Thread: Rage mechanical broadheads...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    Whonnock for 19 years, Mission for 46 years
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    4,720

    Rage mechanical broadheads...

    When I bought my Micro 360 Excalibur crossbow last year the archery pro at Cabellas
    talked me into buying 150gr 2 blade Hybrid Hypodermic Tip heads. I had Rage heads
    before shortly after they came out and wasn't impressed with how their little rubber
    o-ring sometimes allowed the blades to open if bumped etc. These have a locking collar
    and thicker blades so I tried them. On the fourth shot with the same arrow into a proper
    store bought target both top half of the blades broke off inside the target. WTF?
    After resetting my speed dial on the scope from what was working with 150gr field points,
    I had the Rage arrow hitting at exactly the correct elevation at 40 yds...but 3" to the right
    even though the field points were dead on the bullseye. Not very impressed so far! Never
    had this type of issue when shooting my compound bow. The mechanical heads and field
    points were very close to the same.
    Has anyone else had issues with these Rage mechanical heads past 30yds, or of durability?

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    2-4
    Posts
    630

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    They are cheap made in china crap, shoot a quality fixed blade...

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    9,113

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    Quote Originally Posted by Andrewh View Post
    They are cheap made in china crap, shoot a quality fixed blade...

    THIS ^^^ I have tried a lot of different mechanicals and have never had much joy. They break, fly wonky, and just plain suck.
    "When you judge another you don't define them, you define yourself."

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Winnipeg, Manitoba
    Posts
    23

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    I cant say i have ever had an issue with them. Been using them for over 5 years. Have killed bear, deer and never had a blade break.

    As for the rubber o-rings they do sometimes slip, but they dont last many resets. Replace them and they are good to go.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    407

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    I use fixed blades only, a friend uses the rage and has had a few issues with opening at the wrong time and had one that didn’t open at all, if he sees this post i`m sure he will jump in with the pics of that one

    I will give rage this,, they have one hell of a marketing department !, I stick to the basics , less fuss less muss

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Posts
    1,324

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...


  8. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Coquitlum
    Posts
    64

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    I like mechanicals with my bow but like fixed blades with my crossbow.
    !00% Zulu Warior. Hunter and provider. Proud CANADIAN, USA, citizen. ​BLM, ALM.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Langley
    Posts
    6,032

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    I never really understood the benefit of adding any sort of point of failure, even if it's 1/1000 (though it seems a heck of a lot more common than that) The only "advantage" I have heard is that mechanicals are "said" to fly the same as field tips, so no need to adjust "in most cases".

    My fixed blade G5's fly the same at the field tips, at least up to 40 yards which is much further than I would ever shoot an animal with a compound. That said I still test with a fixed blade before I go from practice to hunting. It takes all of 5 minutes. If I needed to make an adjustment (never had to) it would take maybe 10-15 mins? I would think anyone who takes on bow hunting would be able to invest that much?

    A lot of land owners in the US won't even allow people to hunt with mechanicals at all. That's telling enough for me let alone all the posts on various forums about mechanicals failing.

    I'm open to new information, if someone could explain why extra point of failure (nature of mechanicals) and "assuming" they will indeed fly the same is better than just using fixed blades and spending the few mins it takes to test that they are on point and adjust if needed.

    Is there more to do?

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Burnaby
    Posts
    325

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    Quote Originally Posted by caddisguy View Post
    I never really understood the benefit of adding any sort of point of failure, even if it's 1/1000 (though it seems a heck of a lot more common than that) The only "advantage" I have heard is that mechanicals are "said" to fly the same as field tips, so no need to adjust "in most cases".

    My fixed blade G5's fly the same at the field tips, at least up to 40 yards which is much further than I would ever shoot an animal with a compound. That said I still test with a fixed blade before I go from practice to hunting. It takes all of 5 minutes. If I needed to make an adjustment (never had to) it would take maybe 10-15 mins? I would think anyone who takes on bow hunting would be able to invest that much?

    A lot of land owners in the US won't even allow people to hunt with mechanicals at all. That's telling enough for me let alone all the posts on various forums about mechanicals failing.

    I'm open to new information, if someone could explain why extra point of failure (nature of mechanicals) and "assuming" they will indeed fly the same is better than just using fixed blades and spending the few mins it takes to test that they are on point and adjust if needed.

    Is there more to do?
    Tuning is still important with mechanicals as poor arrow flight will seriously effect penetration. Main advantage in my opinion is cutting diameter. You'll be hard pressed to find many (if any) 3 blade fixed heads with a 2+" cutting diameter and if you do then good luck getting them to fly consistently out of a 70lb compound let alone a crossbow. I personally won't shoot bears with fixed heads (doesn't mean it doesn't work,) at least for me the strong chance of losing an animal in thick vegetation due to a lack of a bloodtrail far outweighs the relatively small chance of a mechanical failure. There's also tracking data from the US that shows recovery rates on gut shot deer to be much higher with mechanicals than fixed blades. I think most of the stories you hear about mechanical failures are based on old designs and bows that didn't have anywhere near the momentum and kinetic energy they do now or simply bows that are underpowered to be shooting mechs. Fixed blades will also magnify any form issues just like a bare shaft, obviously practice and confidence in your ability is paramount but adrenaline is a hell of a humbler when it comes to bow hunting vs shooting at paper...crosswinds will also effect fixed heads much more than mechanicals and field points, the groups most people base their maximum effective range off are rarely shot in high country winds. With your setup though (assuming you haven't changed anything) you're definitely right to go with a fixed cut on contact head, for different setups and a longer draw length though a high quality mechanical will actually outperform a fixed blade in most circumstances...before I would have added the caveat "outside hitting solid bone" but after seeing what one of my relatively low FOC arrows did to a bears humerus this May that's no longer a concern either. For what it's worth I do always keep a fixed blade or two in my quiver and they certainly do have their place in bow hunting but for the most part I do personally prefer mechanicals with my setup.
    "You can learn more about hunting with a bow in a week than you could in a lifetime of gun hunting" - Fred Bear

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    2-4
    Posts
    630

    Re: Rage mechanical broadheads...

    Shoot a high quality fixed blade and be done with it. Tune your bow and don't look back.

    I can shoot my Iron Will heads out to 80 no problem at a small rhinhart target with perfect confidence even with a little wind.

    Last weekend I shot two fallow bucks about 4 hrs apart. After the first total passthrough with my Iron Will wide100, I pulled it out of the ground, washed it off and it went back into the quiver. Blade was still sharper than any rage or china crap head brand new. I then shot another buck with the same head 4 hrs later and the results speak for themselves. This was a 50 yrd shot and once again, pass through, busted front leg and into the dirt. Blade took 45 seconds to touch up and it is back in the quiver again. Please show me ANY other head you can do that with. I get to shoot a lot of deer and in my experience all other heads are one and done...

    https://www.ironwilloutfitters.com/f...ade-broadheads

    Pic is second buck

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/S4rsanC9h1bgKJHW7
    Last edited by Andrewh; 10-22-2020 at 09:27 AM.

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