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Bear bows, now VS then

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bear bows
16K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  Hookeye 
#1 ·
The only Bear bow I have a is old grizzly I refinished sevral years back & to me it shoots just fine (never shot a custom or upper end bow so...), but have thoughts on buy'n one a little bigger & was curious if ther was quality issues within the years of manufacture.

Would you hold out for a nice vintage bear made in Grayling (old school quality) or just buy any of the newer bears (mass produced but have been mfg'd with percision machines,modern glues & lams) ??
 
#2 ·
There is something cool about using vintage gear.
But then newer stuff may offer more performance, a warranty, and maybe outright longevity (buying old used gear one never knows what all it has been subjected to).

A few years back the Bear stuff was reportedly questionable. I shot a few and a couple did suck. I tried to tune Grizzly and a Cheyenne and they were horrible. Unusable IMHO. I've had a couple of early 60's Grizzlies and they were MUCH better in comparison, but they too had issues (limb resonance-noise- needed dampeners).

So..............for me it'd be "shoot a classic" or maybe one of the new new ones ;) (try before buy though).

BTW Deer don't care how much you spend :)

I'm shooting/hunting a bow from '83. I've had newer and more expensive stuff, but this one will work just fine.
 
#3 ·
Not so sure your premise is spot on. I took a private tour of the Bear plant a couple years ago and all of the trad building equipment, (presses, jigs etc...) is from Grayling. Except, of course, the newer models that weren't around back then. The only differences would be glues.

Now, we know anything Grayling is good but there are some better years than others. That holds true for Gainesville too. Early GNV had glues issues. What worked at Grayling didn't work in the humid south. Say 78-80. From that point on GNV were Ok and I mean Ok . They looked ok they performed ok but nothing special. The T/D's of that era being a slight exception. Fast Forward to about 2008 or so and Bear started paying attention to the trad market and things have improved. some of the early reintroductions (~2000)were nice too.

Long way of saying current production are fine, but I'm a Grayling man.
 
#4 ·
Basicly I was just curious, had no idea of any factory issues with any year models but glad it was mentioned, food for thought ya know.

At some time I mite throw down for a custom but cash flow is king & dictates what I can & cant buy (mostly cant), so usualy its the cheaper bows I end up with,hense a grizzly that needed to be refinished but its been a fun bow & serves its purpose for now.
 
#5 ·
we are a little bit tackle snobs. we in general go to the high end when kitting up. not that but a few of us can really benefit from a pair of $800 limbs.

I can highly recommend a Warf riser and pair of ILF SF carbon limbs. I have bought many pair of used limbs from these guys off the trading blanket.

you could get into a warf riser and a pair of used ilf limbs for 1/2 the price of a new factory bow. I my opinion you would have a bow that very few of us could out shoot (if any). this bow would give you options to go anyplace you wanted to. far more options than a production bow.
 
#6 ·
I can't speak as to the newer Bears but I've owned and enjoyed some great vintage Bears. I still have a '67 Tamerlane on the rack that I really enjoy. It's seen better days cosmetically, it was that way when I bought it, but still a great shooter.
OTOH I did a little horse trading and got a really high end custom takedown recurve that shot no better than some and worse than other older Bears I've owned.

I ended up Warfing. After finding a riser that best suited me I now take advantage of many levels of quality, length, and draw weight in today's limbs with basically one riser/grip that I'm well familiar with. I simply change limbs to suit all my different pursuits. My little $200 Warf has bested more than one hi-dollar bow at 3D tournaments.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I have eight Bear recurves (I think). Kodiak Magnum #45, #50, #55, from the 70s, #60 2 years old. I like them all.
I also have two Super Magnums #45 and #55, early 70s and I love them.
I have a vintage (70s) Grizzly which is on loan to a buddy.
My newest is a Super Kodiak (two or three years old) which I don't like and am trying to sell.

My only complaint about any of them is that in some years they were made with flat shelves which need to be messed with so you can shoot off the shelf.
 
#10 ·
I have several older Bear Grizzly`s. They all shoot well, but hands down my 1960 Grizzly shoots the best for ME.

I have shot the new Bear models also. I like the Super Grizzly, and the 59 Kodiak replica. I don`t think they shoot for me any better than my 60 Griz, but they sure are nice looking and shoot well.

That said, if I were in the market for an all wood bow and was willing to drop a lot of cash on one……there are several bowyers who make fantastic bows for the cost of a new 59 Kodiak. A bowyer that lives near me makes recurves in one piece for 500 bucks, and 3 piece take downs for $550.00 They are as nice looking, and shoot every bit as good as bows I have paid double that amount for.
 
#11 ·
I owned a checked out Kodiak Hunter years ago and more recently acquired a 2013 model 64" Super Kodiak...and I might note I was a tad hesitant about purchasing this latest one as I did so knowing that it was just a couple years ago that Bear did have some quality issues going on...in 2011...when they released their 50th Anniversary Models along with some new slick offering including the re-release of Bears '59 Kodiak Hunter (which I wouldn't mind owning one of those as well) but as I understand it?...upon doing so?...they became so swamped and backlogged with orders?...they were forced to create a 2nd shift to keep up...and it was the initial months of that time frame where new hires were going through learning curves that the quality issues struck...and mostly on their lower line bows...but I can attest that I firmly believe that all hands that played a role in the creation of my particular Super Kodiak?...were apparently highly skilled...and I looked it over real good...everywhere...with my 3.0 readers and can't find a thing to bee itch about...draws like butter...and silky smooth at the shot...now I won't say it's as good or better than any custom shop bow I've seen...(even though I think I could get away with doing so)...but it sure is hard to believe it could be termed..."A Production Bow"...the quality is there...IMHO?...every pennies worth and then some...I'll let the pics do the talking from here...hope that helps and enjoy...Bill.











 
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