I have been trying to decide whether to use the 2-blade Rage this fall for elk, mule deer, and whitetail. So, my dad and I decided to do some experimentation on the broadhead. We set a piece of cardboard in front of our broadhead target so we could see what the broadhead actually opened up to on impact. To our surprise, and dismay, it only opened to about 1.25" on 5 consecutive shots. We decided to get a piece of leather and shoot through it just to see if there was a difference, although we couldn't decide if there should be or not. Through the deer hide, the blade opened to 2" 5 out of 5 times. We shot it back into the cardboard and it opened 1.25" again. So go figure? I can't for the life of me understand why that would be, but all I can say is that it sure is. If someone could explain that though I would appreciate it. On a side note, we were using a head with an old cracked o-ring for the first 8-10 shots and it worked flawlessly. I now have no fears of the head opening early. The o-ring was just gone after the last shot and we replaced it and continued on with the test. I also shot back to 60 yards with the "real" head and it shot right with my field tips and the "practice" head they give you.
rage broad heads give a bigger margin for error... so you don't have to practice as much!!! sorry duke, I had to...... :D
I will give this a try A rage is design to kill game, not cardboard IMO cardboard has too much "give", where hide does not.
I tested some out last year and the entry holes were greater than 2" on both tests. DISCLAIMER: These tests were conducted on live deer and yes the animals were fatally harmed during this test.
this is great to hear, being these are my two major concerns with this head...I know mine fly real close to fieldpoints, and hit exactly the same as my strikers, so I am happy. I currently have 6 2blade rages, 3 g5 strikers, 6 or 9 3 blade muzzys, and now possibly a pack of 125 snypers. rages and strikers get quiver time, muzzys are retired to small game such as waterfowl, predator calling, and I have yet to shoot the snypers yet. they should be the same as the rages though.
That is interesting b/c I was thinking the exact opposite; that the leather would be more elastic than the cardboard. Who knows, and to a large extent, who cares? I am just one of those who goes nuts trying to figure crap like this out.
well the way I see it, the leather would be more elasticy sp? but the cardboards actual material would be easier to penetrate. meaning the head could "punch" through it easier with the blades undeployed...sure the leather will bend back at first when hit, but that BH will not go through until the front elbows are out of the way and it is fully deployed....if that made any sense at all. It is hard to put your visualizations into words, lmao. In other words, you can punch through the cardboard but you have to cut through leather. Try this for comparison, set up a piece of cardboard and leather, both pulled tight, step back and fire a baseball at each as hard as you can. Im betting it knocks a hole through the cardboard box but the leather bends back and stops the ball, might even launch it back at you. the bh couldnt penetrate leather without those front elbows bending in deploying the sharp blades to cut their way through... this is all just guesses though.
Hell, Chuck Adams shoots them, what more testing do you think they need??? If they're good enough for the next World Record Elk, then they're good enough for me!!!! Jim, I think they're designed to open on a little bit of friction. I shoot Wasp Jak-Hammers, and my entry holes are always at least as big as the diameter of the head, sometimes considerably larger depending on angle of entry, etc.
Apparently you have never seen me try to throw a baseball accurately:d That is pretty much exactly what I was thinking, you just said it better.
I hate to admit it, but that is actually one of the main reasons I decided to check them out. That and all the positive results from guys like GMMAT.
Rage heads have one major design flaw IMO. The ferrels are weak because they don't have much material left once they've machined all the blade slots. Grim Reaper offers the same damage that a Rage can deliver, with a MUCH stronger package. Watch the GR video clips if you want proof!
