New toy

[hondo1892]

My Dad is in the process of moving. Maybe I should say my sister and I are in the process of moving my Dad. Any how he used to own an old Bear long bow and a recurve. I was wanting the long bow but some time back he give it to someone. So I ask for the recurve, its a Kodiak Magnum with a 45 pound draw. He bought it used when I was about twelve so it has to be at least forty years old and probably older. It's probably been thirty years or more since it was last shot. I strung it up with the old string and pulled it back a couple of times and the string seems to still be plenty strong. It looks new I didn't see any damage to the string anywhere. He also had five cedar arrows with broadheads on them and were still in the original box with directions on straightening them if they warped. The broadheads were missing the razor blade inserts and they were not in the box. So I need to get some to replace the old ones. Since I've been out of the recurve game for more than thirty years I have some questions for any of you that shoot traditional bows. Where can I get good quality cedar arrows with field points on them? I know the "Traditional Archer" magazine has advertisements for cedar arrows but I would like to find a quality arrow maker with out ordering from several venders. Back when I was a kid you could get good ones from K-mart but now most archery store don't carry any. Another question is do any of you shoot carbon arrows out of your recurves? I don't want to use carbon but was wondering just in case. We tried shooting aluminum arrows from our old recurves when they first came out and had really poor performance, I think because of the weight difference. I'll try to get some photo's tomorrow of my new old stuff.

[harry]

One place I have used
http://www.3riversarchery.com/buy/arrow ... ood-arrows

[JerryB]

It sounds like you came into a real treasure. I really enjoy the old bows, I have a couple of recurve bows and an old lemonwood longbow plus a short longbow I made from osage about 20 years ago. One of the recurves is a Browning that I bought new in 1972 and the other one was a custom made 40# bow. They all shoot good.
Watch yard sales and flea markets for old arrows, I have found a couple of old quivers full of cedar and glass arrows.

[Rusty]

I'll second 3 Rivers. they are great people to deal with.

If you're buying cedar arrows be careful who you deal with. I bought some a few years ago from a local maker and it was an absolute disaster. I ended up with fletching that came loose. One even became detached while I was shooting and drove the fletch thru my hand.
I since gave up on wood and switched to aluminium for my longbow.

[GunnyMack]

3rivers is probably your best bet.
Yes carbons will work, just have to find the correct spine.
Buddy of mine was making compressed cedars years ago. He made a die to run them through. It really made a difference in the shaft stability. Tremendous amount of extra work but worth it. Good deal of waste as well.

[minish]

As said above, 3 rivers is a great place and you can get anything you need from them(even good advice). However, if you want to get some really nice arrows at a reasonable price, directly from the maker, check out "Elite Arrows". My son has been using them for years and has been very happy with them. I reluctantly switched to carbon a few years ago, mainly for durability. I buy the shafts that look like wood but I buy the blemished ones for a big discount. They cost less than twice as much and last about 10 times longer. Good luck and have fun.

[hfcable]

an old bow can become brittle with age and fail. was shooting as a teenage with my neighbor and he had a recurve bow that was very nice about 30+ years old. we shot for a while, and then he took it to full draw at his next turn and it snapped as he was aiming and suddenly he was on the ground bleeding. safety glasses saved him from eye injury but they were broken even at that and he had a deep laceration through the eyebrow and forehead and onto the nose.

I had an older bow that I just put away and displayed after that.

of course, YMMV.

[hondo1892]

Well I did notice the fiberglass looked like it was dried out so I may just have to hang it in my shop. I would hate to have it brake on me.

[pokey]

Nice gift. A Kodiak magnum was my first bow, back in '72ish. They are quite collectable now. It should be fine to shoot, they usually give you clues before they fail. Cracks , separated laminations , splinters , etc. Bear built a fine product back in the day. Is yours old enough to have been made in grayling Mich? Or later in fla.?

[Booger Bill]

Back in the mid-late 50`s my dad and I got into bows and deer hunting. My dad was 6ft 5" and thought because he was so big he should get a heavy bow. He bought a used 90 lb bow! A friend of his came to the house and dad flexed the bow to show him. I wasn't home but dad said the bow busted in three pieces and sounded like a shotgun went off! Think he got a bruised face too.

[m.wun]

May want to get some string wax and possibly get some beaver balls on the string, they help with vibration and noise. Plus they look sweet!

[hondo1892]

Just made it home from Michigan, been moving my Dad down with us. Pokey the bow was made in Grayling no clue when though. Way back when I was a kid my Dad took me and a couple of my cousins to the old plant. It had been turned into a museum or maybe it was part of the plant before it moved don't really remember. Most of Fred's mounts and many of the different models of bows were on display. It was '78 or '79 when we visited and I don't remember when Bear moved.