Rage NC Hypodermic failed

[JAP]

So had an interesting occurrence this past weekend, shot at a doe and my arrow tailed hard left by several yards. Recovered the arrow and noticed that on the blades (rage NC) the locking mechanism was broken. ( see photo for the broken tip compared to my practice one - I did break the other side when I got home and tried cleaning it with a toothpick -also surprised). I bought the 3 pk for the season, used one as practice and harvested a buck with another but this last one in the quiver was the oddball. I admit that I should of checked when installing the BH as this would be easy to catch ( I did just thrown em on) but it seemed to be in its locked “in flight” position when I cocked it and drew.

I guess has anyone had this as a reoccurring problem as the metal is fairly fragile?

 

[Desk Jockey]

No personal experience, but I pheasant hunting with a guy that runs a pretty big leasing operation in Texas. He banned Rage broad heads on his property due to bad hits that lead to nasty tracking jobs. His opinion and a little bit of noise has kept me away from them.

 

[KSP277]

No experience with the no collars. Several years ago I had a rocket launcher of a bow. Monster XLR8 drawing 86lb at 31. This was before the no collars, but it would deploy the blades upon release. Usually just one. And they may go straight up, straight down, hard right or left, or into orbit. I didn’t have the know how then to make it shoot. Got rid of the bow, and haven’t shot mechanicals since. If your bow is hot, maybe it’s slinging a blade out ???. Just food for thought.

 

[JAP]

Your on to something, put the heads on an old lighter arrow (387 grains) I had and sure enough it deployed and went sky high and to the right( bow is at 72lbs and 30). Seems to be more margin of arrow at higher speeds. Oh well lesson learned - fixed for me from now

 

[BDRam16]

No personal experience, but I pheasant hunting with a guy that runs a pretty big leasing operation in Texas. He banned Rage broad heads on his property due to bad hits that lead to nasty tracking jobs. His opinion and a little bit of noise has kept me away from them.

I think that Rage gets a bad rap because the brand name is so famous that many beginner hunters grab them and make poor shots from lack of experience. This is the blood trail I had on a whitetail this season with a Rage Hypodermic NC.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I think that Rage gets a bad rap because the brand name is so famous that many beginner hunters grab them and make poor shots from lack of experience. This is the blood trail I had on a whitetail this season with a Rage Hypodermic NC.

that is a wicked blood trail and I take your point. I have stayed away from mechanicals as they were not legal in one area I hunted until recently. Using cheap old muzzy trocars has been good enough medicine for the deer around me. I have never had a long / bad track that wasnt the result of a bad shot.

I guess that makes me wonder if most broadbeads are going to put an animal down with a good shot, then the focus should be finding a design that (1) flies well so you get that good shot and (2) might give you some advantage in terms of wounding for a marginal shot. Maybe the rage and heads like it check both those boxes, but I just don’t have the experience to say.

 

[SecretSpot]

They are great for deer but very weak. I shot a cow with this one at 40 yards. No I dont normally use mechanicals for elk but the opportunity was there while hunting deer so I air mailed it.

 

[BDRam16]

that is a wicked blood trail and I take your point. I have stayed away from mechanicals as they were not legal in one area I hunted until recently. Using cheap old muzzy trocars has been good enough medicine for the deer around me. I have never had a long / bad track that wasnt the result of a bad shot.

I guess that makes me wonder if most broadbeads are going to put an animal down with a good shot, then the focus should be finding a design that (1) flies well so you get that good shot and (2) might give you some advantage in terms of wounding for a marginal shot. Maybe the rage and heads like it check both those boxes, but I just don’t have the experience to say.

I had a bad experience with a different mechanical before and if I’m going to use a mechanical blade, I will only use one that has the sharp part of the blade exposed when it’s closed. When the sharp part of the blade is tucked in the blade has to do a full 180* to be open and it’s like a giant parachute robbing penetration. Plus if they fail it’s basically a sharp field point. When the sharp part of the blade is already exposed it uses far less energy to open the blade and worst case scenario if they fail to deploy, you basically still have a 1” cutting diameter fixed blade.

 

[Zac]

Really I don't think there is any reason to shoot Rage at all while Sevr is an option. That head is much more durable and has better flight. The no collar is a nice touch if it works right, and the rubber bands on Sevr's are very annoying. I don't know if anyone has developed a solid rear blade deploying option yet.

 

[jmez]

^^^^ Go post that on Archery Talk!

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

 

[BDRam16]

Really I don't think there is any reason to shoot Rage at all while Sevr is an option. That head is much more durable and has better flight. The no collar is a nice touch if it works right, and the rubber bands on Sevr's are very annoying. I don't know if anyone has developed a solid rear blade deploying option yet.

I’ve never heard of SEVR before. Went and watched some videos and they look impressive.

 

[Zac]

I’ve never heard of SEVR before. Went and watched some videos and they look impressive.

The 1.5 is something pretty special in the mechanical realm.

 

[D.Rose]

The Sevr 1.5 is probably the toughest mechanical being made today. With that said I would not hesitate to shoot the Rage No Collars. I tested one to see how long the locking mechanism would last and had 76 shots on the head before it gave way and broke. Never was a rage fan but the No Collars are a very solid choice on deer. Any mechanical can fail but I would put the No Collar and Sevr 1.5 up against about any other.

 

[BDRam16]

The Sevr 1.5 is probably the toughest mechanical being made today. With that said I would not hesitate to shoot the Rage No Collars. I tested one to see how long the locking mechanism would last and had 76 shots on the head before it gave way and broke. Never was a rage fan but the No Collars are a very solid choice on deer. Any mechanical can fail but I would put the No Collar and Sevr 1.5 up against about any other.

The Hypo NC is what I shoot now. I posted my blood trail from this year above in this thread. I have been very happy with them so far.

 

[Billy Goat]

I didn't have any experience with the rage nc. I guy I was elk hunting with had what I thought was pretty terrible performance out of one. No pass thru at 30 yards, bent blades on a perfectly broadside cow. Hit wasn't forward, perfect double lung shot. I have a fair amount of experience with spitfires, been playing with sevr. I'd recommend either of them over a rage nc.



70# Vertix drawing 27.5". Gold Tip kinetic Pierce weighing around 450 grain I think. Bent the half-out as well, which likely contributed to the poor penetration.

 

[BDRam16]

I didn't have any experience with the rage nc. I guy I was elk hunting with had what I thought was pretty terrible performance out of one. No pass thru at 30 yards, bent blades on a perfectly broadside cow. Hit wasn't forward, perfect double lung shot. I have a fair amount of experience with spitfires, been playing with sevr. I'd recommend either of them over a rage nc.

View attachment 243661

70# Vertix drawing 27.5". Gold Tip kinetic Pierce weighing around 450 grain I think. Bent the half-out as well, which likely contributed to the poor penetration.

View attachment 243662

Did he recover the animal?

 

[Billy Goat]

Did he recover the animal?

Yes, in that situation he did. But the shot was a best case scenario at 30 yards and broadside. He was prepared to take a shot well past that. My concern would have been on a quartering shot with the possibility of hitting more muscle on entry, or a decent sized bull. I'm not positive how many elk I have seen taken with archery tackle, I think it's probably north of 30, and I'll say it's the worst performance of a broadhead I have seen in my opinion. To the same extent I know someone who had very poor performance out of a Strickland helix. I wasn't there, didn't see the shot. Apparently he hit the bull and watched it go down. Was celebrating (early) the shot and it stood up and walked off. 10-14" of snow on the ground and they never recovered it. Had decent blood for a ways, found the arrow and broadhead. Broadhead was apparently mangled. He suspects the onside leg must have been back and he hit the humorous, or the joint. But never heard the crack that an arrow would normally make on a hard bone impact. Again, I wasn't there, he also threw away the broadhead without pictures, pretty disappointed in that.

 

[GatorGar247]

I bought a couple packs of rage trypan to try out.. I shot a couple into a broadhead target.. after several shots both had chips in the blades.. New target and I never shot near the other head.. I can't bring myself to shoot an animal with one..