Rage mechanical broadheads...

[Big Lew]

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?

[Andrewh]

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

[The Hermit]

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.

[MBHunter]

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.

[ian745]

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

[Edzzed]

https://i.imgur.com/nc65QcX.jpg

[Bulala]

I like mechanicals with my bow but like fixed blades with my crossbow.

[caddisguy]

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?

[45freezer]

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.

[Andrewh]

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/fixed-blade-broadheads

Pic is second buck

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S4rsanC9h1bgKJHW7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/S4rsanC9h1bgKJHW7

[IronNoggin]

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


Congrats on the Fallows - did I mention I hate you?? :-P

Fixed broadheads do not perform overly well with many of today's powerful and rather fast crossbows with comparatively short arrows.

My Matrix 380 literally zips them out there.
Tried various fixed blades with it.
Every single one of them "steered" the arrow.
Those you mention definitely would do the same.
Period.

Mechanical broadheads have come a long ways.
Many of the higher end ones today are damn near bulletproof.
I've found the older Spitfires to fly pretty much exactly as field points - right out to 80 - 90 yards.
And i really like the wide and short blood trails they leave.

In short, I simply won't even consider attempting any more of the smaller cutting diameter fixed heads again.

Nog