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Bear Supermag 48 Opinion

64K views 36 replies 24 participants last post by  Hawk 
#1 ·
Hi, I'm new to this forums.

I'm looking for a short recurve bow. My draw Length is 29 inches. I'm interesting in Bear Supermag 48.

Need opinion about this bow.

Thanks,
 
#2 ·
I think the SuperMag was one of the worst bows Bear ever made. I think they're very good looking bows on the plus side of things, but the extremely sluggish performance and fact that almost all used SuperMags have stress cracks on the riser are good reasons to steer clear, in my opinion.

I like the 52" Kodiak Mag a lot more but it's not a very zippy performer, either.
 
#3 ·
I bought one the first year they came out, 1966. Very slow and very unforgiving of poor shooting form/errors. I shot one deer with it and moved on to a Red Wind Hunter. If I wanted a super short bow I think I would be looking at Fedora, Kemp Quick Stick or even a Shrew. I think if you got a Super Mag you will be sorry. Almost forgot, I have a friend in Mass., John Tlucz, who makes the L'il Sucking recurves....48". He runs an ad in Traditional Bow Hunter. His bows are not speed demons but they are extremly stable and accurate and very pleasant to shoot. He has not made many bows in the past few years but I saw him this summer and he is back at it. If you would like contact info let me know.:)
 
#5 · (Edited)
I've had a Supermag and even though it was easy to carry, short to get through tight arrows, it was abyssmal to shoot. Even though I don't have your draw length, at 26" I could feel it starting to stack - this was confirmed by checking with a bow scale, not much but there was an increase from what it was drawing per inch from 24" on. Slow, too, but didn't have a chronograph, just felt slow compared to other bows.

From what I've shot, spoke to others, I would say one of the 52" Cascades, a Little Suckling recurve or what I used for a while, a Shrew. The shrew was 52" and a joy to carrry, not too bad to shoot, either.

Then again, I've pretty sucessfully come to terms with a 58" bow. Now I don't try to shoot from a blind, but some of the areas I hunt are pretty much jungle and you'd think a short bow is the way to go - form me it isn't.
 
#6 ·
fg -

Papabull said:
I think the SuperMag was one of the worst bows Bear ever made. I think they're very good looking bows on the plus side of things, but the extremely sluggish performance and fact that almost all used SuperMags have stress cracks on the riser are good reasons to steer clear, in my opinion.
Yup. at 29" doubt you'll be very happy with it.

Viper out
 
#9 ·
Just to add one more voice...I have a 52" bear power mag and I never touch it. I draw 27.5". It pinches my fingers and is also slow and hard to shoot. My 45# warf is so much faster I bet you'd need a 55 to 60# power mag to approach it in performance. If you're looking for suggestions, I would look hard at Quinn archery.
 
#11 ·
The Super Mag was designed when treestands were becoming popular and the advantages of a short bow were becoming a good thing to have. Bear archery made various bows in all areas of use to satisfy various bowhunting demands. I have owned and currently own a bear super 48. I have a 29 inch draw. This bow hits a wall(stacks for me) at 29. I am stll ables to shoot it very well out to 25 yards. After that my form and shot execution dont allow for good accuracy. Get a longer bow if you are still working on your shooting. The super 48 is not as forgiving as other bows. Dont let anyone tell you that this bow is junk and can't be shot accurately(Its up to the user). I've seen alot of deer killed with these short bows. In any case its a great bow designed with a purpose. Good luck!
 
#13 ·
I agree with everything that has been said.........oh I have used the supermag a lot and still use it a lot :). Just think of it as a 38 special (standard velocity) belly gun. at times it could very useful! maybe more so than anyother bow under the circumstance.

remember, 2" 38 special revolver double action only and you will do fine with the supermag :). I think I am on about my 8th pot boiler pig with the supermag. that ain't too bad a record with one bow :)

rusty
 
#14 ·
Ok, I'll admit this 3 arrow group was only 10 yds.



one of the things that close the deal for me with the supermag 48 is



the DAS SRF sight. Even in dark pig tunnels I can pick up the SRF. I shoot the sight lined up to the left side of the string. The system is automatic for me now. I don't even realize the SRF is there anymore.

bow is 45#@28. I like to shoot 30" 2016 with 3blade woodsman off the bow with my 28" draw.

Now I don't think I will be shooting any indoor leagues with the bow but it does have it's place.

rusty
 
#15 ·
as you can see I am shooting the SRF off the belly side of the bow (DAS suggestion). Work great and helps protect the sight. I just drill two holes in brass bar stock. the supermag had two predrilled hole in the riser for a quiver. The top hole turned out to be prefect for the SRF. :)

rusty
 
#16 ·
Fred Bear himself once said something to the effect that if a tiger comes for you while you are in a howdah on the back of an elephant, it might be a handy bow to have in your hand. But when he killed a tiger at 70 yards from such a howdah, he used his regular length Kodiak.
 
#17 ·
forgiveness - stay tuned. I bought a horse bow from the Tradtalk store. I am taking it out to work it over tomorrow. I got to go over to Mike Westvangs and pick up my hunting gear from a recent trip. We are going to take a look at the horse bow.

we'll plot the force draw curve out to 29" and I'll be taking the chrono. there well be three of us shooting the bow so we will get several impressions.

it looks like a dandy. I'll have some pics as well as the data.

It is less expensive than the supermag.

rusty
 
#18 ·
I own a supermag 48 and really like it. I boought it for training purposes I'm primarly a long bow shooter and bought this little bow to work on my form to shoot this bow accuratly your form must be excellent it is extrememly unforgiving of sloppieness. mine is 65lb at 28 and it does stack badly.
I'm a little guy and only draw 28inch but working with this bow has really helped me refine my form. Strangely mine is pretty fast at least on a par with my jeffery royal hunter. It shoots cedar or aluminum equally well.
 
#19 ·
Hey Forgiveness.

If you are still out since posting this old entry, I have some preliminary opinions about the Bear Super Magnum 48" bow. I found a used one last month and bought it today. I shot it a bunch in the store this month.I bought it today. I read about the stress cracking and this bow may come apart tomorrow but it is shooting dandy right now. I read alot of comments about sluggish performance. This bow is not fast. I am getting on average 167 fps out of this bow with a 475 grain arrow(including a 125 grain point). I draw 27.5 inches and it does not pinch my fingers and I can shoot wearing a ball cap with the the cap's bill facing forward. I am a deer hunter and whitetails are not armor plated and I bet this rig will get the job done. I put the same arrow I described with a 125 grain Ziwikie Eskilite broadhead through a buck's shoulder blade, the rib under it and a rib off side last year with my 62 inch longbow which shoots at about 180 fps. I bet 13 fps will not make much difference. I bought this one for a tree stand bow. Yesterday I had a doe below my tree, 11 yards out and could not get on her with my 62 inch longbow. I think this bow will resolve that problem.

Tjay
 
#20 ·
I have one. Killed one deer with it. Shot it two under back when I was using it years ago. It's a pain to shoot and not a bow you want to practice much with and certainly not learn fundamentals on. Rusty's analogy to the short .38 is a good one. It can serve a limited purpose if you can shoot it enough to become accurate enough but it's certainly not a shooter's bow.
 
#21 ·
I have a 72 model, I've managed to keep it in good order, I like the fact that it is 48 lbs. I probably draw 27 inches when I shoot this bow, because I use a high cheek anchor with it. It probably is a short range bow, althought I can do pretty well with it out to 30 yards (I have some kitty little bottles sitting around different spots in my yard to shoot different range sequence shots). I'm no robin hood, but I can pincushion the one at 30 yards pretty easily. This is not to say I would shoot game at that distance with it, because I'm getting an 8 to 10 inch group. Now, I've spent a good deal of time working on form and release, and this is the best I can do, your results may vary, but this is not a long range bow.
It is however, a great short range, brush, hog, deer, armidillo, small game bow. Its quick, I think the extremely small site window helps with target acquisition for small points on the target (aim small, miss small). At ten yards, if you can get a hog in the sight window, you can make him bleed in a meaningful way.
I'm kind of old school on arrows - I like to shoot overweight arrows in this bow, because it smoothes it out. Plus, (and I'm sure the rocket scientists will disagree) a heavy arrow has more energy at the target. My fav for this bow is a 2216 aluminum with 125 gr. three blade broadhead. I have shot it indoors at short range with carbon arrows ("realwood") and 100 gr broadheads. It shoots a lot flatter, but I can feel the difference in dampening (or lack thereof).
In the brush or on a stalk, this is the bow I want. At the target range (and I'm not a target archer) not so much.
It does stack, but who cares, form is everything, if you don't practice enough to draw and release whatever you are shooting, then you just can't buy a solution to that problem.

Plus, its cute. I like short girls, ok.

harlen
 
#25 ·
I have one.

It is a great novelty.

A terrible bow to shoot unless you are about 3 feet tall. Finger pinch and inefficient come to mind.

And I've made a kill with it.....;)
 
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