Can anyone help identify this bow?

Bow Hunter Brandon · 07-25-2003, 08:42 PM

This is very important to me. This is my grandfather and he is no longer living. I finally found one picture of him with the bow and want to identify it.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/ph...3-med.jpg?6462

LBR · 07-25-2003, 08:50 PM

Do you have the bow, or just the picture? If you have the bow, does it have any identifying marks? Sorry, I have no idea from the picture.

Chad

Bow Hunter Brandon · 07-25-2003, 09:35 PM

I have one of his two bows. I cant tell if its the same or not. I think its not. He seems to be working to hold the wight of that bow and the one I have is only 25#. It does look just like that one however. There are absolutly no marks on the bow I have at all. I can tell you that picture was in the 50' s.

JimPic · 07-26-2003, 09:04 PM

Straight pistol-style grip and static tips-could be a Bear Grizzly(early 50' s model)??

http://www.archeryhistory.com/recurves/pics/bear51.jpg

Bow Hunter Brandon · 07-27-2003, 09:06 AM

I apreaciate the information everyone. I do think it was a bear. My dad remembers him telling him at one point he had a 50# bear.
I have a 1964 Grizly I may try to locate one from the early 50' s that matches the wood patern and color in the picture.
Should I be conserned if has aluminium in it?

Arthur P · 07-27-2003, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Should I be conserned if has aluminium in it?

YES!! Those bows with aluminum laminations were famous for blowing up, even back then. Bear had to replace a whole lot of them, so many it nearly bankrupted the company.

If that bow has aluminum in it, it was made between 1949 and 1951. If the aluminum is an interior lamination, it is either a Grizzly or Kodiak. If it has two aluminum lams with one being an exterior lam, it' s a Polar. If it' s a Griz or Kodiak the difference is that the Kodiak was a 64" bow and the Griz is 62" . Hope that helps.

c903 · 07-29-2003, 03:26 PM

Hard to discern from photo, but size and configuration of grip leans towards an early " Kodiak."

If the bow is a " static" limb bow, especially an early " Bear," you should have no problem determining that it is a " static." Most of the " static" limb bows that I observed looked like a straight " longbow," especially when unstrung.

Also, the " Bear" static' s that I saw, which were very few, had a " hump" on the tip, between the limb and string. I thought it was some type of reinforcement for the tip. However, I once was told that the " hump" was a built-in anti-brush snag guard. I am not positive that the info was factual, but it does make sense.

To me, the " static," at least the few I saw, was an ugly bow.

PowDuck · 08-08-2003, 08:08 AM

Can' t help you on the ID but gotta say, Congratulations on having a picture like that of your grandfather. I wish I had one of mine in the outdoors. He was a fisherman/duck hunter extraordinaire.

Neat to see the old picture with the barred turkey fletchings, crested arrow, etc.

If you think it' s a Bear (and that seems to be the consensus of the more knowledgeable people here) her' s a link to the Bear collecters site. http://www.stickbow.com/stickbow/Collector/beararchery/

Bow Hunter Brandon · 10-23-2003, 06:49 PM

Figured I would bump this back up to see if anyone else has some info.

KENTUCKY BOY · 10-24-2003, 06:32 AM

LOOKS LIKE A OLD BEAR TO ME. IT IS SOME WHERE AROUND 1950 BECAUSE THEY STARTED MAKEING LAMINATED LIMBS IN THE 60' S. I HAVE 4 DIFFERANT BEAR BOWS LIKE YOU HAVE IN YOUR PIC.

HOLD ON TO THEM THET WILL BE PRICELESS LATER ON