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Rage Hypodermic test results - 2013

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0




Pictured above is the new Hypodermic expandable broadhead from Rage. First impression is that Rage did a good job of creating a better locking system than the one found on the standard Rage heads. A small plastic collar that fits over the ferrules shank and against the base of the ferrule holds the blades securely in place.

I found the locking system to be solid and I found no issues that would concern me as to actuation. The blades are released on impact by means of a cutting area on the back of the blades which cuts through the top edge of the plastic collar.

I did not care for the way the blades are constructed but I was impressed with how well the were sharpened. My first impression was that the break built into the blade was too far back but considering the quality of the metal, my concern (in testing) was unfounded.

Very happy with the low drag ferrule which is finished perfectly IMO but holds the blades at too extreme of an angle for my tastes. When deployed, the blades do not provide a significant
angle in relation to the ferrule. While they do come back past 90 degree's, the angle is extreme, in my opinion.
The ferrule is very small and should give an advantage for penetration when compaired to most other expandables out there. I really liked the ferrule construction in every way. Great job IMO.





Rage includes a practice head in each package of Hypodermics and it is of the same in physical dimensions and weight when compared to the hunting heads. I do not feel that any good mechanical design needs to be practiced with when shooting a tuned bow but it is good to see that RAGE included such a head for the sake of those who feel the need to do so.

Sharpness Test

First up was the test for blade sharpness out of the package. Top picture is the rubber band grid that is used for this test. This is the same design that Fred Bear showed me back in the late seventies and the same design that he himself used to check blade sharpness when he was not in the field. Fred's belief was that arteries reacted just like rubber bands (which they do) and if a head could pass through this grid then it was satisfactory for hunting.

The bottom picture shows the head ran through and the remaining bands that were uncut.




The Hypodermic cut all rubber bands that it came in contact with and left one out of four standing. Due to the fact that a two blade head cannot hit all four points, this is something to consider for those who are concerned with missing arteries on marginal shots which can occur by no fault of the archer themselves.

Next up was the flight test

30 yard grouping with one arrow carrying a field point and the next carrying the practice head. A 3" group maximum is considered to be a passing grade for any broadhead that is tested here due to the fact that these shots are made without the use of a hooter shooter and people are imperfect.





The area of this target (Black) where the arrows impacted measures 2.50" and the group was less than 1/2 that area.
3" is passing for any test done on this site with fixed broadheads.
While expandable heads are not graded on grouping due to the fact that this is the purpose of their design, grouping of expandables is included for the sake of consistent procedure.

 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
Next up is the ferrule test





On impact the head bent one blade and caused the arrow to kick back and bounce away from the backstop where the board had been placed. You can see the left side of the board did not get any meaningful penetration from that blade while the right side did get into the board a bit better. This test does not take into regard the condition of the blade after impact and only seeks to see that the blade remains within the ferrule.

The ferrule itself was in prefect condition after the shot and the blades did remain locked in position within the ferrule. It is impossible to say whether or not the blades themselves could take the abuse from this test since they were not embedded nor did the head pass through the board, due to the blade bending, however the ferrule passed this test. A good performance by the Hypodermic, standing up to over eighty pounds of kinetic energy on impact.

If the ferrule cannot hold the blades or if the ferrule bends at all in this test it is a fail.

Next up is the quartering shot

Quartering shots are taken with a bow that produces 280fps and generates 52# kinetic energy.



This picture is to show that indeed the ribs were crossed. This test is done to show deflection potential on a hard quartering shot and shot angle is 20 degrees to replicate an extreme hard quartering shot.
The shot showed no outward deflection but the head did not penetrated behind the ribs until the outcropping of the foam target was met. The head skidded down the ribs until the outward angle was found and then the head came to a stop there.
The cut area is shown below.



Any head that deflects will fail this test.

Blades and ferrule were in perfect condition after this shot.

The Scapula Test

The scapula test is used to determine the quality of the blades and their ability to maintain a cutting edge after passing through bone. A loss of 33% of the cutting edge or less will receive a passing grade in these tests. Maintaining an edge means no roll over or erosion of the edge.



The shot is supposed to be against the high ridge of the scapula but with such a head, there is the chance that the orientation on impact will impact that ridge as was the case here. A second shot was taken to give a fair grade to both bone only as well as the harder ridge area.



Note that the blade that hit the ridge, retracted back into the ferrule. This blade rode the edge of the ridge within the ferrule while the blade that was in flesh only maintained it's full cutting area.
The blade that impacted the ridge received a twist near the center of that blade. The twist was small enough that the head was able to be re-closed despite this bend.





 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
The second shot showed again that the blades retract on hard bone impact, as can be seen in the picture below.


The hole has been highlighted in this picture.


Lines leaving the area of impact are stress fractures.

Below are the blades after the bone test and the results of the sharpness test after the bone test.





The blades were 100% dulled on all points of contact.

To highlight this fact the head was run through the rubber band grid again, with the results shown below.



No bands were cut after 3 passes through the grid.

Overview

I am not impressed with this head as it did not perform within a reasonable expectation when considering the price . The blades ended up baseball dull after the bone test, which is not what I want to see in any broadhead. The ferrule is top notch IMO but needs to be fitted with better blades, considering what I saw.

While penetration is not part of testing, this head gave the results I would normally expect to see, given a head that is of this size.

The downside of this head is that it covers less area than a smaller three blade expandable and also has a greater resistance to penetration than a smaller multi-blade head but then again, that may not be an issue with a bow that has plenty of kinetic energy.
What is of further concern is the fact that the blades are driven back into the ferrule when hard bone is contacted, as was seen in the scapula test.

The reason for my concern is that the next thing the blades are contacting is the lungs. The lungs are not the most substantial items to deploy a head. With the fact that the blades are already bowling ball smooth after exiting the bone, this suggests that without their cutting edge, the same result will happen as the head enters the lungs. The dull blades will act to resist as they did in the bone and will continue to stay closed or only partially open.

I am not saying this is a 100% guarantee but it is a 100% possibility considering how the head reacted in testing. I personally saw this same thing happen with a Rage low K.E. head not one year ago where the head retracted and stayed retracted throughout the process of entering and passing through a hog. While the entrance and exits were good on the flesh side, the bone and internals held a small hole as tests on this head showed here. The animal which this happened to was very much alive and in it's bed when it was killed over 8 hours later.

I love the ferrule but beyond that I am not inclined to use this head due to cost and function. This head passed 2 of 4 standards and therefore received a 2 star rating.

Special Thanks to Geauga Outdoors Supply of Middlefield, Ohio
for providing the Rhinehart Target that was used in this test. Their prompt service and great pricing helped to get this test up and also helped to keep the overall cost of testing to a minimum.



http://www.geaugabow.com

More tests can be found at
http://bowhunters.proboards.com
 
Last edited:

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I'm gonna have to get some rubber bands!

The pics of the scapula reminded me of the deer I shot last season using a magnus buzzcut.



The arrow passed through, leaving a blood trail Ray Charles could have followed. Not that I needed blood due to the fact that the deer only went 30 yards or so and bled out in minutes. I never considered checking to see how sharp the blade was afterward though. I still have it, maybe I'll cut some bands with it.

Are the same tests used for all heads? I'm sure the buzzcuts could pass the scapula, flight, and sharpness test. But I'm not sure how they would do on the quartering shot and I doubt they would do well after being shot at a board.
 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
I'm gonna have to get some rubber bands!

The pics of the scapula reminded me of the deer I shot last season using a magnus buzzcut.



The arrow passed through, leaving a blood trail Ray Charles could have followed. Not that I needed blood due to the fact that the deer only went 30 yards or so and bled out in minutes. I never considered checking to see how sharp the blade was afterward though. I still have it, maybe I'll cut some bands with it.

Are the same tests used for all heads? I'm sure the buzzcuts could pass the scapula, flight, and sharpness test. But I'm not sure how they would do on the quartering shot and I doubt they would do well after being shot at a board.

The only heads that get quartering tests are the expandables due to the fact that back when there were only jackknife style heads, this was a big concern. I keep doing it this way due to the fact that some do indeed deflect. One that comes to mind it the piston point which slid as this one did and there was another that escapes me right now but it deflected so severely that I never did find the arrow :D

I have done most of the Magnus heads and actually tested the first stinger before it was released for sale. They passed testing without a hitch. The only blade of theirs that ever failed was the 150 grain stinger and that was during the time when they were having those blades made in china. Since they took everything in house I haven't seen any issues with the integrity of their blades.

As far as the blade integrity test goes, I use the scapula because it offers a good area of solid bone. If you penetrate that area then you are going to be in the goodies so you generally dont have an issue. That said.... I have seen deer survive one lung hits and even posted a report of one such deer that was recovered 2 years after the shot. The head failed on entry but carried 2 blades through the lung. When the deer was shot two years later, the top of the lung was all shriveled and grey but the lower portion was perfectly fine.

This deer carried the head and broke the arrow against a tree as she fled the area and had the broadhead been very sharp, it would have cut through the lung as the arrow swung before breaking off. I got to see the original shot and run as well as the autopsy of the deer when it was finally killed, so I was able to use this deer as an example of why a head needs to stay sharp after passing through bone.
The site that these tests show up on is pretty heavy on the field autopsy threads and there are a number of them that show one lunged deer that are killed much later on in the year and sometimes perhaps years later. This is why the members there generally seek out perfect heads.

Try that rubber band grid. Easy to make and serves as a good check of equipment before and after the hunt. :)
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Good stuff Tiny! I like the rubberband test. Never would have thought of that but it makes good sense.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Very interesting. Thanks for doing the test an posting it up. I always look forward to your tests.
 

buckbuster217

*Supporting Member*
3,136
85
Byesville, Ohio
Great post Tiny, and very interesting, I had wondered about these heads and you have answered all my questions and more about them. Thanks for the testing and posting the results, looks like I will stick with the slick tricks
 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
Great post Tiny, and very interesting, I had wondered about these heads and you have answered all my questions and more about them. Thanks for the testing and posting the results, looks like I will stick with the slick tricks

You are welcome but this highlighted comment has put me in the hot seat in the past.
Soooo.....

Keep in mind that I don't do any of this with an agenda other than to help people out.
These heads are expensive and I feel it is better to spend bad money once, as opposed to a million times, just to find out the same thing.
If a head isn't worth the money due to a specific flaw, then sales will drop off and the manufacturer will either fix it or stop making it.
I like that scenario because everyone makes out when things work this way in the market. :)

The Puckett bloodtrailer, Hypershock, piston point and many more heads are no longer being used due to the fact that they lost a lot of people a lot of animals.
If good testing had been used to alert people before they had used those heads, many more animals would have been recovered due to the fact that those heads would not have been used in the first place.

I am not saying this head is good or bad.... I expressed my opinion at the end of the test and that's all it is... an opinion.
This head would kill a deer effectively most of the time I suspect. :smiley_chinrub:
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Bottom line: Still need to shoot a well placed arrow. However, when something happens (limb you didn't see/deer that twitches or spins) it is good to know how they might perform on a lesser shot placement.
 

Tiny

Junior Member
207
0
Bottom line: Still need to shoot a well placed arrow. However, when something happens (limb you didn't see/deer that twitches or spins) it is good to know how they might perform on a lesser shot placement.

We are on the same page there :)
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
You are welcome but this highlighted comment has put me in the hot seat in the past.
Soooo.....

Keep in mind that I don't do any of this with an agenda other than to help people out.
These heads are expensive and I feel it is better to spend bad money once, as opposed to a million times, just to find out the same thing.
If a head isn't worth the money due to a specific flaw, then sales will drop off and the manufacturer will either fix it or stop making it.
I like that scenario because everyone makes out when things work this way in the market. :)

The Puckett bloodtrailer, Hypershock, piston point and many more heads are no longer being used due to the fact that they lost a lot of people a lot of animals.
If good testing had been used to alert people before they had used those heads, many more animals would have been recovered due to the fact that those heads would not have been used in the first place.

I am not saying this head is good or bad.... I expressed my opinion at the end of the test and that's all it is... an opinion.
This head would kill a deer effectively most of the time I suspect. :smiley_chinrub:

Out of curiosity what was the issue with the hypershock. I've only ever seen one deer shot with it and the hole was amazing. It still looked flawed to me though and I never would have trusted it.