Beautiful old Bear Alaskan on Australian ebay.

[Mick Smith]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ARCHERY-BOW- ... 339f82dbfb

It's in Adelaide and it could be yours for just $145 (buy now). It's a left or right handed 40# bow and it looks like its in good shape. I'm so, so tempted.

[greybeard]

Hi Mick,

From reading the description and looking at the images it would appear to be an expensive wall hanging, no way would I be tempted to shoot the bow.

Replicating the design would be a safer option.

Daryl.

[Mick Smith]

Yeah, that was what I was thinking Daryl. Even it I decided to shoot it, I would be constantly worried about it exploding. It might be okay, but it's getting quite old now and I don't know how well the glue they used in those days would hold up over such a long period of time.

It would be nice to own, as a piece of history, but as you say, it really wouldn't be safe to shoot.

You could probably duplicate it Daryl, with your skills. I don't know of many people who could though.

[Dennis La Varenne]

Daryl and Mick,

Why would you not shot it and why do you think it would explode? Yours is a common view of the old bows, but I have quite a few old Bear static recurves (Kodiaks and Grizzlys) much older that this Alaskan and I shoot them without the slightest concern.

I have given two away and I still have 4 left at last count, as well as two each of Bear Cubs and Polars made at the same time as the static recurves with the characteristic Bear burnt orange coloured glass which is full of lengthwise streaks which many mistake for cracks but are only the result of the colouring not taking to the glass fibre as well as it does these days except for clear glass where it can still show as light coloured streaks.

I have had one Grizzly blow up, but that was only because it was already fractured through the core of an upper limb just below the static recurve which I missed on examination. The rest are fine and continue to be so.

I do not subscribe to the view that because a bow is old, it is therefore unsafe. If they are damaged, then yes. But not if the bow is undamaged.

By the way, these Alaskans are far from rare on eBay.

[Mick Smith]

I'm just trying to talk myself out of buying the Alaskan Dennis. I know, if I bought it, I would shoot it.

As tempting as it is, I've decided that I don't want to become a collector of bows (again). As far as shooting it is concerned, I already have bows that perform very well, so I don't need another bow for shooting purposes.

I've done a lot of shooting of a wide variety vintage bows in the past, although none were as old as this Alaskan. I still have a nice old Browning recurve that was made in the 1970's that I still shoot from time to time. I bought it for my son to use before he drifted away from archery and I've never sold it because I regard it as belonging to him.

The bow in my avatar is a classic Bear Kodiak Magnum, built in the early '70s. I shot that bow for many years and it never let me down. As you say Dennis, they generally won't self destruct unless they have some underlying problem. To me, it would be more of a disaster to ruin a good old vintage bow than what it would be to ruin a modern bow. Modern bows can be easily replaced. Vintage bows are a finite resource.

[Dennis La Varenne]

I appreciate your position on the bow, Mick, and I do understand.

My system with an old bow is to brace it first and both feel and examine the back and belly surfaces for lifting of any fibres/splinters and then go over any jointing and glue lines looking for separations. If there are and they are accessible, I re-glue them using modern adhesives and they seem to hold OK.

After that examination, I will start to draw the bow out slowly on a tiller and listen closely as well as look for one or the other limb going out of tiller suddenly which usually means that that limb is going to blow. If it shows that, then I junk it. I don't want bows I cannot shoot. That may seem harsh to many, but that is how I work.

If the examination on the tiller shows a sound bow right out to full draw, then it is shootable and I keep it.

I am not interested in damaged bows even if they are rare. If they are damaged according to the seller, I am just not interested in buying it even if it is at a giveaway price.

I am not advocating that others follow my example. That is a purely personal thing.