Bear Compound Bow Serial Number Lookup
Since we have the chance to sell a lot of dissimilar items through our eBay Drop Off Store, positive things start to stick out that seem to sell extremely well. One item that sticks out are the vintage Bear Recurve Bows.
Bear Archery (1984) Super Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Pronghorn Hunter: York Archery (1985) Crazy bow. Built just for fun. Made almost impossible to shoot. The sight window is a standard right hand design but the grip is upside down. One limb and cable is white, the other is black. One limb has an eccentric wheel the other has a cam. Find the maker of the compound bow and email the picture or serial number to the company, asking for a confirmation on the bow's year of production. Lists of compound bow makers are found at websites such as Hunter's Friend. Check a Bear bow (the name of the maker) for a series of different criteria to determine its age. Bear bows have been in.
Recently on an out of town trip we stopped by an old store like we ordinarily do and saw this recurve bow in the corner. Since we were already somewhat well-known with how well bows have sold from selling them for a client we naturally gravitated to it. It looked to be in perfect condition and came with a quiver and 3 dissimilar sets of arrows. The asking price was 0.00 and we finally got all of it for .00.
Draw Ranger
Based on the dating procedures listed below we determined that this was a Fred Bear Kodiak Recurve bow from 1965 in perfect condition. It was a 60' bow with a 44# pull.
In the 1950's and early 60's, the serial numbers were started over every month every model. This makes these years very difficult to identify by serial numbers. From 1965 to 1969 the first single digit is the year of the bow (Example: 8Z1254 = 1968) The 'K' serial numbers started in 1970 KZ, KU, KT, etc. The sec ond letter was the model. In the 1950's and early 60's, the serial numbers were started over every month every model. This makes these years very difficult to identify by serial numbers. From 1965 to 1969 the first single digit is the year of the bow (Example: 8Z1254 = 1968) The 'K' serial numbers started in 1970 KZ, KU, KT, etc. The sec ond letter was the model.
After we got the bow to our store we noticed that inside the big quiver was a smaller particular quiver. Based on a light embossed marking on this smaller, leather quiver that we pulled out we were able to date it to the late 1940's.
We decided to break this up into 3 dissimilar auctions and started all three at .99. The results of the auctions are listed at the end of this article.
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Dating Your Fred Bear Bow
There are some features and changes that were made to the bear bows over the years that will help narrow the age of your bow or your potential investment.
1. The Serial Number: These bows ordinarily have, what appears to be a hand inscription on one of the limbs that gives a serial amount along with the distance and pull weight of the bow. This serial amount works very well for dating Bear Bows from 1965-1969 when the first digit of the serial amount is the year of manufacture.
For example, a serial amount of 5L212 would be a 1965 Bow.
Prior to 1965, the serial numbers for all Bear bows were started over every month, manufacture these bows approximately impossible to date by serial amount alone. The 'K' series of serial numbers (for example Kz9672) were started in 1970.
2. Patent Mark: Most of the Bear Bows we have sold have the logo and the Us Patents printed on it along with the date of Canada 1953. This date that is printed on all bows made in the middle of 1953 and 1972 is naturally the date of the patent for a working recurve limb and has nothing to do with the actual model year.
3. Decals & Silkscreening: In 1948 the small Running Bear decal was first and then was substituted by the large Standing Bear decal in mid-1953. The large Standing Bear decal also has the words 'Glass Powered Bow' under the Standing Bear.
The large Standing Bear decal was used until 1955 when it was substituted with silk-screening the identification on the bows. By 1956 the silk-screening appeared on all bows.
4. All Wood vs Laminate: If your bow is All wood (no laminations of any kind) then your bow had to be made before the mass productions starting in 1949.
- If the All wood bow has a stamp that reads 'Bear Products' in some form it would have been made before the early to mid 40's.
- If it is stamped 'Bear Archery' it would have been made After the early-mid 40's and Before 1949.
- Also wooden bows with a small 'Running Bear' decal can be dated to 1948
6. The Coin Medallion: starting in 1959 all Bear bows had a coin medallion of one type of metal or another. Below are the approx date ranges for the type of coin used.
Copper Coin - 1959
Aluminum - 1960-1961
Pewter - 1962
Brass - 1963 - 1970
Nickel-Silver - 1971-1972
All coins were flush with the wood until 1972. In late 1972 the coin was raised above the covering of the bow and came in both gold and chrome covered plastic and are still used in Bear bows today.
7. Maker Location: in 1978 Bear moved all manufacturing and offices to Gainesville, Florida. If your bow shows Gainesville on it then it was made after 1978
8. Model Of The Bow: Check the Model of the bow. Below is a each year output chart for the most favorite Bear Bows.
Wood cope Take-Down 1969-1972
Wood C-Riser Victor institution 1973-1975
Magnesium cope Take-Down A-B-C 1971-1978
Kodiak Static Recurve 1950-1953
Kodiak Recurve 1954-1966
Super Kodiak 1967-1976
Grizzly Static Recurve 1949-1957
Grizzly Recurve 1958-1978
Super Magnum 48 1966-1976
Kodiak Magnum 52' 1961-1977
Kodiak Hunter 58' and 60' 1967-1977
Tamerlane 1962-1968
Tamerlane Hc-30 1965-1967
Tamerlane Hc-300 1968-1972
Kodiak special 1955-1967
Temujin 1968-1970
Tarter 1968-1972
Victor Patriot 1973-1977
Victor 1972
Polar (recurve) 1957-1970
Alaskan (leather grip semi-recurve) 1959-1961
Alaskan (recurve) 1966-1970
Tigercat 1964-1978
Bearcat 1964-1971
Black Bear 1972-1978
Little Bear 1965-1978
With this information you should be able to get really close to dating your Bear Bow if not pin-pointing it to the year.
If you are looking to price your bow I would propose first logging into your eBay catalogue and do a Completed Auction quest on the normal keywords that match your bow, i.e. Bear Grizzly Recurve and see what has sold in the past 30 days.
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Our eBay Results: Within 6 hours of listing our 1965 Bear Bow by itself starting at .99 it had already reached 2.50 which was interesting but based on our investigate not surprising. What was surprising was that it stayed at 2.50 for the next 6 days. On the last day with 8 minutes left it was up to 2.50 with over 40 watchers. ordinarily on these types of auctions we tend to refresh and refresh and refresh the auction all the way to the end to watch the bidding but we got busy writing more listings and forgot. When we did remember to go back and check the auction it was over and had ended at 2.55
The other 2 auctions for the quivers and arrows sold for a total of .00. So our preliminary .00 venture at an old store ended in 2.55 in sales. That was approximately a 0.00 behalf (minus gas and eBay fees of course).
How To Date Your Fred Bear Bow| Industry | |
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| Website | beararchery.com |
Bear Archery is a manufacturer and marketer of bows and archery equipment located in Gainesville, Florida owned by Escalade Sports.[1]
History[edit]
The company was founded in 1933 as the Bear Products Company in Detroit by Fred Bear and Charles Piper.[2] The initial focus was on silk-screening and advertising support work for automotive companies.
In 1938 Fred Bear hired Nels Grumley, a woodworker and bowyer, and the company expanded to offer hand-made bows.[3]
Fred Bear sold the advertising side of the Bear Products Company in 1940. The archery business was named Bear Archery.
In 1947 the company moved to a new facility in Grayling, Michigan. The Grayling plant focused on making and marketing recurve bows and longbows in a growing archery market. Bow manufacturing changed from hand-made bows to mass production using fiberglass and other modern materials.
Fred Bear sold the company to Victor Comptometer in 1968,[4] but remained the president of Bear Archery. Bear Archery was not one of the first compound bow manufacturers, but eventually found success with early models like the Whitetail Hunter.
Bear Archery moved manufacturing from Michigan to Gainesville, Florida in 1978.
Over the next three decades Bear Archery changed hands in a series of mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs from Victor Comptometer to Walter Kidde & Co,[5] Hanson PLC, U.S. Industries,[6] Fenway Partners[7] and the North American Archery Group.
In 2003 Escalade Sports acquired the North American Archery Group and currently does business as Bear Archery Inc.[8]
References[edit]
- ^Bear Archery, Inc. DBA Escalade Sports. business.gainesvillechamber.com
- ^Bear Archery Turns 80Archived December 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Arrow Trade Magazine
- ^The Bows of Bear ArcheryArchived January 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Stickbow.com
- ^Rick Rappe. Vintage Bows- II. Lulu.com. pp. 26–. ISBN978-1-105-72997-3.
- ^OK Victor takeover by Kidde, Chicago Tribune, March 9, 1977
- ^Companies Being Spun Off By Hanson PLC, AP News Archive, February 22, 1995
- ^Fenway Partners Buying 6 Firms From U.S. Industries, The New York Times, August 15, 1995
- ^Indiana company buys Bear Archery, Gainesville Sun, By Joe Coombs, June 26, 2003
External links[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- Dick Lattimer (11 March 2006). I Remember Papa Bear: The Untold Story of the Legendary Fred Bear Including His Secrets of Hunting. Gun Digest Books. pp. 92–. ISBN0-9721321-3-9.