Mechanical Broadheads- Can You Re-use Them?

My friend, who invited me to hunt his property on opening day, said the shot would probably be 60 yards. “Deer enter the field late in the evening, and you should get a shot,” he said confidently.  I had a Ravin R26X for this hunt and planned on using the new Rage NC (No collar) broadheads.  I set up a practice target at 60 yards, using a Final Rest Grip-N-Rip rest, and dialed in my target points at the extended range.  Switching to the Rage NCs, I was delighted that the first shot was spot on.  After pulling the arrow from the foam target and examining the head, I wondered if I could shoot it again.  For the next six shots, I maintained a three-inch group.

Sharpness is Essential

The only way to learn if your expandable will shoot accurately a second time is to try it.  If the blades are bent or fail to close, dispose of it safely.  Few mechanical heads can be resharpened, so DO NOT use it in a hunting situation. The best plan is to mark an arrow with a large “P” on the cock feather and use the arrow for practice.

Rage Trypan Titanium 1.75

I tested this head in my previous post, comparing the Rage Trypan Titanium 1.75″ to target point performance. As you can see in the image above, a second shot using a new shock collar had the shafts nearly touching. I used the Morrell High Roller foam target, which stops and does little damage to broadheads.

Retention Bands Are Important

I wondered how important the shock collar was for the Rage Trypan when shot from a TenPoint Crossbow Vper launching at 430 fps.  Using the same head again, I found that the head struck four inches to the right and noticed that the blades had fully deployed upon impact.  Even broadheads designed to function without a retention band may open in flight when shot a second or third time.  Since you will be using these “recycled” heads for practice only, no harm is done.

Engineered for Re-Practice

Sevr Broadheads are designed so that the blades can be locked shut so that a hunter can practice with the actual hunting head.  Since the blades are locked shut and held inside the ferrule, they remain razor-sharp. As shown in the image above, this locking screw can be inserted with a small Allen wrench. The red plastic device helps handle the blades safely, and the tapered end will unlock the blades from the engaged position so they will slide back into the ferrule.  Each head comes with three retention bands to reshoot the head in practice.  For the Sevr website, click HERE.

Bullet Hole Broadheads-

One advantage of fixed heads is the ability to practice with them with minimal worry of damage.  You can use heads with replaceable blades or resharpen those with fixed blades.  The latter takes minimal effort, and you may notice very little difference in blade sharpness until you practice repeatedly with the same head.  I experimented with a pack of Grim Reaper Micro Hades 3-blades during these tests.  As I began to extract the arrow from a foam target, I noticed that the impact had six slices around the impact.  I shot the Micro Hades in the same hole.  For the Grim Reaper website, click HERE.