rage 2-blade open on launch from 380

[Carphunter]

Not interested in the standard flame war. Check to see if others have had a similar situation to mine.

This year, had two x-bow Rage broadheads open on launch from my 380.

Blades were locked in properly aligned collar.

First one missed a deer at 30 yds. Scarred the stirrup on launch. Second one opened when i fired at a test target to see if that's what the first problem was.

I've killed deer with these heads with no issues in the past.

at this point, i'm switching to slick tricks until they or the company can make me regain my trust in launching them at an animal.

[mchurch]

A head that won't open on launch from a 380 or a 405 is the nap killzone crossbow. The excalibur x act aka innerloc exp and the latest version of the grim reaper crossbow head with the 2 notch rings also won't open

[W.Miguire]

do what I did and send them back and get you money back and buy some slick tricks .JMO
W.M.

[fergie]

dozens of shots from my 380 and have never had one open and always have them hit my aiming point. harvested a deer at 50 yards this past season with a xbow extreme 2.3". and now with the dr stirrup setup I would definitely know if one opened because of the shield over the broadhead.

[8ptbuk]

Not interested in the standard flame war. Check to see if others have had a similar situation to mine.

This year, had two x-bow Rage broadheads open on launch from my 380.

Blades were locked in properly aligned collar.

First one missed a deer at 30 yds. Scarred the stirrup on launch. Second one opened when i fired at a test target to see if that's what the first problem was.

I've killed deer with these heads with no issues in the past.

at this point, i'm switching to slick tricks until they or the company can make me regain my trust in launching them at an animal.

Same thing happened to me and my brother , We even put a dental band on with the collar and they would open . Move on !

[nchunterkw]

Remember that with a recurve bow the farther you pull the string back the more energy you have. So you are sitting at the absolute peak of the power curve when you release the arrow. As such, the instantaneous acceleration is very high compared to a compound bow. With a compound you draw past the peak of the curve to a lower point, which is the let off you feel. Then when you launch the arrow it starts out with less instantaneous acceleration but gains acceleration as it travels through the peak of the curve. That 380 will certainly create a ton of instantaneous acceleration.

So with all that said, I'm with 8pt. Move on! There are so many really good flying fixed blades you can find one that meets your needs. I'd start with RamCats, Slick Tricks, or Magnus Black Hornets.

[racking up points]

A double banded NAP FOC won't pre-deploy from my MicroMax 360 or my Matrix 410 and they both draw just south of 300#. I did a lot of testing before hunting with them last year. If you like expandable broadheads that fly true and leave gaping wounds, the FOC is hard to beat IMO.

[Fred T]

Have you contacted Rage customer service to get their input?Do they even recommend them for use with higher powered xbows?

[Carphunter]

actually i did contact them. They are recommending switching to their hypodermic heads as they are supposed to be up for the strongest bows.

I know what everyone is saying here.... I just really had liked what rages do and the wound channels they make.

I've got a bucket of slick tricks for now... which i know people love, and i've found fly damn near to my same point of aim as the rages out to 60 yds. they just make a much smaller hole.

I may break out the dental bands and play with rages to see if i come up with something i trust.

[Carnivorous]

Can you trust them when that buck of s lifetime is in your shooting Lane? The answer is probably no so I would ditch them.

This season I am using the executioner heads made in good ol Texas..

[nchunterkw]

actually i did contact them. They are recommending switching to their hypodermic heads as they are supposed to be up for the strongest bows.

I know what everyone is saying here.... I just really had liked what rages do and the wound channels they make.

I've got a bucket of slick tricks for now... which i know people love, and i've found fly damn near to my same point of aim as the rages out to 60 yds. they just make a much smaller hole.

I may break out the dental bands and play with rages to see if i come up with something i trust.

FWIW, some research I did on over 500 bow kills shows that there is no correlation between BH type (fixed or mechanical), size (cut diameter), number of blades (total cut) or anything other BH parameter and the distance a deer travels after the shot. The median distance is 50 yds, with the 90th percentile being about 90yds. The bison I shot with my RamCat left more blood on the prairie than my outfitter had ever seen.

In my mind, if a fixed blade flies true, then there is no need to add the intricacies of a mechanical to the mix. Now, if I could not be accurate with a fixed head that would be a different story.

Good Luck with whatever you choose.

[newbie]

shoot what you have confidence in. I have used rages, slicks, shwackers, strikers and grimm reapers. All worked flawless and I had the confidence in them to use them.
Thats the key, practuce with them know how they work to the point you are confident they will do their part if you do yours.
Im going to try either the ramcats shwackers or new reapers(with the new style hardware) depending what my results are and what requires less work to shoot good.
I have a hard time moving from the Shwackers after what i saw last year. Big gaping wound channel entry and exit, but entry shocked me as it was a 5 inch slash.

[Sparkey]

http://www.qadinc.com/shop/exodus-xbow/

This is what I am using turkey hunting in five weeks.

[DuckHunt]

FWIW, some research I did on over 500 bow kills shows that there is no correlation between BH type (fixed or mechanical), size (cut diameter), number of blades (total cut) or anything other BH parameter and the distance a deer travels after the shot. The median distance is 50 yds, with the 90th percentile being about 90yds.

I'm not sure that's totally accurate. All other things being equal (and they never are), a 2" cut 3-blade head should put deer on the ground faster than a 1" cut 3-blade head.

In my mind, if a fixed blade flies true, then there is no need to add the intricacies of a mechanical to the mix. Now, if I could not be accurate with a fixed head that would be a different story.

Now that's in the 10 ring. I shoot mechanicals out of my Exomax because I can't get it to shoot fixed heads worth a flip. It has been very deadly with a bunch of different mechanical heads.

The first thing I screwed on my Micro was a fixed head and it hit exactly where I was aiming. While I love a big cut, its hard to argue with the effectiveness of a true flying fixed broadhead.

DuckHunt

[SEW]

A double banded NAP FOC won't pre-deploy from my MicroMax 360 or my Matrix 410 and they both draw just south of 300#. I did a lot of testing before hunting with them last year. If you like expandable broadheads that fly true and leave gaping wounds, the FOC is hard to beat IMO.

I use FOCs with both my M380 & M405. No premature openings. As stated by another poster, a recurve xbow has more initial acceleration than a compound xbow. I've read many threads asking is such and such expandible xbow will prematurely open with their crossbow's speed rating. They've not understood the physics of the situation. It's the acceleration rate that can cause premature opening. A M405 with #290 instantly hitting the arrow is a whole lot more than a slightly faster Solution 390 with #155 and likely 80% let off instantly hitting the arrow with #25. The 405 initially hits the back of the arrow with 15.6 times more force than does the Sol 390. The cam'd compound will continue to keep a sustained acceleration rate that may actually increase above that initial #25 but nothing even close to the initial force delivered by the recurve. The recurve will put a decreasing force on the arrow as the launch goes on.
So far, FOCs have served me well with ~15-20 kills.