Who Built Your Broadheads? Meet the man behind Grim Reaper’s Made-in-America leader.

Grim Reaper Broadheads are 100% made in the USA and built by Jay Liechty on his machines and under his watchful eye.  Who built your broadhead? Were they made with slave labor or from technology stolen from American companies? Many Americans want to distance themselves from Chinese products and choosing Grim Reapers is an easy and effective choice.  Each make and model of broadhead is designed and extensively tested by Leichty, assuring they are reliable and incredibly lethal.

A Savvy and Innovative Hunter

Years ago, I met Jay Liechty on an early season antelope hunt in Montana.  After a long day of flying and driving, I turned in early and on the way to my bunkhouse passed an open garage where Liechty was building an angus cow decoy out of scrap material he found there.  “It’s going to be big enough for two people,” he said as I asked what he was building.  The next morning, I headed to breakfast and found the acetylene torch still sparking as Liechty had worked the entire night.  “I’ll have it finished by the afternoon hunt,” he said as I passed by.  The next day a large black angus “cow” with four camouflaged legs and hunting boots for hooves got Leichty close enough to outsmart a wily Big Sky pronghorn. He is also an avid elk hunter as the picture below indicates, although not with an angus decoy.

Building a Better Broadhead

Many broadhead brands are made in China where the production process meets many challenges.  Language is the primary obstacle and it’s not uncommon for products to be built sloppily or not work because the American buyer and the Chinese production company couldn’t communicate effectively.

I met a seller of inflatable turkey decoys at the SHOT Show who told me, “I had to fire six artists, before they (The Chinese) could get it right,” he lamented.  Honestly, it still wasn’t right.  What type of steel and aluminum go into the product.  How sharp are they? Leichty controls all of these details, personally.

A Thriving Company in Utah

Grim Reaper is a family-owned company, not some conglomerate that is bought and sold on Wall Street.  Amy, Jay’s wife handles most of the business affairs like marketing, ordering raw materials, and paying bills.  There is a face and a family behind every pack of Grim Reaper Broadheads, and they make their money the old-fashioned way- earning it through hard work and producing a quality product.

Celebrating 25 Years in Business

In 2024, Grim Reaper will celebrate 25 years in business, a monumental success in the face of the many corporate buy-ups in today’s market.  Twenty-five years ago, most American brands like Remington, Browning, Bear, and others were self-owned but have fallen to mass efficiency and been gobbled up by larger corporations.

Listening to customers and product value are two company strategies that have kept sales strong.  Whereas most broadheads are sold in three-packs and some in just a two-pack, Grim Reaper Broadheadss are sold four to a pack.  Leichty reasoned that he could add a practice point that would still provide customers with three sharp blades and one to practice with, a superior value over the competition.

After a year or two trial, customers asked that Grim Reaper package four sharp heads instead, giving the option to use one as a practice point or to hunt with.

Most Popular Broadheads

Grim Reaper’s original broadhead was the 1 3/8-inch Razor Tip which is still sold today.  At the time it offered a Trocar tip with three inserted razor blades that produced a devastating wound channel and lead to the slogan, “Watch em Drop.”  It was a very strong head that is ideal for deer and elk.

More recently the Whitetail Special features a two-inch cut from three blades and has the new Pro-Series head that is machined on three sides to give cut-on-contact performance.  Customers report gaping wound channels.  With the popularity of modern crossbows, Grim Reaper offers a complete line of crossbow heads in several grain weights that fly true to aim at speeds up to 500 fps.  For the complete line, go to GrimReaperBroadheads.com.