Vintage recurve bow find

[tamrock]

Today I stopped by the local ARC and got my hands on this old Bear Archery Grizzly bow. Iooking into the age, I believe it was made between 1956 to 1959 based on the lack of the Bear metal medallion and the silk screen label. What year is your Bear Archery bow? - Archery Freaks

 

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[ivan salis]

whats the poundage / pull?

 

[tamrock]

whats the poundage / pull?

54# - 62" It's also a RH & LH.

 

[GibH]

Nice Find! No brainer at that price.

 

[ethanfez]

Nice! I found one but the laminate was split. I'm going to try and fix it this summer.

 

[RustyGold]

Awesome Bear bow! They can be valuable. Great score and even a greater price!

 

[DizzyDigger]

Grant, you have indeed found a rare treasure. The Bear Grizzly bows made in
Grayling, Michigan were of high quality and, in the opinion of those of us who
have shot Bear bows for years, superior in performance to the bows made after
the factory relocated.

BTW, the 54# is based on a 28" draw length.

Is it straight? Limbs are not cocked to one side or the other?

I'm sure there is a quality bow shop in your area with a staff that knows
something about recurves and longbows. Before ever stringing it I'd suggest
letting them have a good look at it to insure it's safe to shoot.

You'll also need a proper Dacron bow string for it, and a stringer so the limbs
don't get twisted while stringing. DO NOT put a "fast-flight" string on that bow,
as the limbs will not take that shock. Bows from that era were designed to
use a B-50 Dacron string. A custom, B-50 Flemish Twist string shouldn't cost
you more than $10, and a tube of string wax is probably under $2. Keep it waxed
(except the serving) and it'll last for years.

If you decide to have it restored, drop me a PM and I'll recommend a couple
of top notch bowyers that know their way around the old Grayling bows.

 

[tamrock]

Thanks Diz, good info. Yes I do have a bow shop in the area. We'll see on the strength of the limbs when I get it to a bow shop. I have purchased thift store recurve bows that have a weak limb before. I've not done any bow action in years. When I was young I'd get every book written by Fred Bear I could to read. I bought a new Bear compound in the latter 70s from the Gart Bros sports castle in Denver and I can't remember what I did with it to this day. Most likely I traded it for something else. ??

 

[Wild]

I still have my 65# wood Ben prison deer slayer and a recurve in the garage

 

[cheese]

My great grandfather used to make bows for Bear back in the day when Bear sub-contracted their work to smaller shops. We have several of them saved back. I didn't know they had much of any value.

 

[tamrock]

My great grandfather used to make bows for Bear back in the day when Bear sub-contracted their work to smaller shops. We have several of them saved back. I didn't know they had much of any value.

There is a market for vintage sporting equipment. Fishing, hunting, camping and a few other things I guess. Once I bought these 1970s snowshoes at the thrift store and I posted the find here on TN. Maybe a few months after that I got a hand written letter in the mail with a note that this person saw the snowshoes and they were interested in buying them, but didn't want to be a TN member just to send me a note. They said because they could see the town I lived on here they were able to then find my address and send the letter. We made a deal on a 100 bucks for the snowshoes. The guy was a collector of vintage snowshoes and he had to have these I found at a thrift store. I think I gave like $19. for the older snowshoes? Who knows what these bows you have are worth? You could have some that archery enthusiasts would be willing to pay good money on to have.?