Old Recurves Questions
 

I have a few questions about some old recurves I have. I hope this is the right forum. I have 3 Ben Pearson recurves that I inherited from my father. My first job was trying to find out info on them to get an approximate age of them. I was able to locate 2 out of 3 but the third one has me puzzled. It is a youth recurve bow, hardwood laminated. The Pearson company logo is partially missing but my best guess is it says Ben Pearson Collegian Bow...or Champion Bow. It measures 53 1/4 inches in length, leather wrapped grip with a white (plastic?) arrow rest. Anyone know exactly what this is?
Second question is this bow and the other hardwood bow, a 66 inch Ben Pearson Deerslayer recurve, are starting to show their age. They haven't been shot or even strung in about 20 years but the varnish is drying out on the limbs and I am wondering if they should still be okay to shoot for old time sake or is it time to officially retire them? If they are still able to be shot ( both are in very ghood shape except for the cracking varnish ) is there some kind of refurbishing I should do to them? I don't need them revarnished to look like new, I'm not talking about that...just rehabing them from a maintenance standpoint to where they are usable again and to keep them that way. Try to preserve them as long as I can. Both wooden bows are from the late 50's, '57-60 or there abouts. The third bow is a Ben Pearson Superjet fiberglass recurve. I restrung it today but I am worried about the fiberglass starting to dry out on it. Is there anything that can be done with it? There is no splintering at all that I can see of the fiberglass but just due to it's age, I figure it must be getting close to that condition.
Oner last question....does the string length determine the weight? I saw on the one website I went to that the bows come in sometimes 4-6 different weights and I was wondering what determines that. Thanks to everyone for your help.

Dave

RE: Old Recurves Questions
 

Dave, I don't know that much about them myself. However, you can go to www.archeryarchives.com They have a lot of information on older bows. You can click on the years for Ben Pearson and it'll show you everybow Pearson made that year and the specs on the bows. It's helped me find a Pearson Cougar a friend of mine has.

Brandan

RE: Old Recurves Questions
 

On the string length, the answer is yes and no.

These bows generally perform best when shot at a certain brace height. So, while it is true that changing the string length will affect holding weight at a given graw length, it is not an acceptable way to adjust draw weight.

The same model can come in different weights, but that is done by varying the stiffness of the limbs. I have never heard of an adjustable-weight recurve, but maybe they are out there. I know there are takedowns that you can just substitute heavier or lighter limbs.

RE: Old Recurves Questions
 

Here are some links to Ben Pearson bow information

http://www.archeryarchives.com/pearson1.html

http://archeryarchives.com/T1958.htm

http://archeryarchives.com/T1959.htm

http://www.archeryhistory.com/recurves/recurvesmain.htm

I would be careful pulling those bows to a full draw. However, if you decide to risk it, use only a B50 Dacron string. Old bows do/can lose draw-weight with age. So, considering that possibility and that your draw length is great than 28", I would scale each bow.

Prepare a shaft to the length you will be drawing on each bow. String the arrow, pull the string on a bow scale, pulling the shaft end (without broadhead) to (flush) with the front of the grip/riser. Check what draw-weight is registering on the scale.

Keep in mind, regardless of what draw-weight registers at your draw, the bow limbs may have also lost some ability to effiency use all the stored energy when string is released.

Careful!