Info on Hit Crusader 4 limb recurve. Picts

[dachba]

I'm looking for any information I can get on my Hit Crusader 4 limb recurve with, of all things, letoff.  The bow is 38# @ 28" but at about 24" drops down to the mid 20's holding weight.  I believe Hit made these as competition to the first compounds but am not sure.
Dave in Ft. Collins, CO


 
 
 
 
 

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Dave,
I wish I could help, but I haven't ever seen anything like it.
I sure am interested to see what someone else may be able to share about them.

[dachba]

Earl
There is information out there.  When I bought the bow some time ago (on Ebay) I got a fair amount of information but seem to have lost it.  Now that I've decided to sell it, I'm having trouble reaquiring the data.  

Here is the data from the auction.  The bow is labeled a "Hit Crusader" but in the auction it is called a "Hitt Crusador". Auction text follows: "You are bidding on an older and quite rare, recurve bow made by Budd Hitt of Archibold Ohio.  This is the "Crusader" model.  It has the factory camo finish, length is 60" and weight is 35lb.  Hitt bows were made in very small numbers.  He tried to come up with a design to compete against the "compounds" that were then making inroads into the traditional recurve market.  Check out this limb design.  If you want a conversation piece in the traditional bow meets, here it is!  This was called a "dual limb" design.  Take a look at his limb shap.  The shorter limb was supposed to further speed the return of the main limb, once the rrelease was made...propaganda deleted...If you look closely, you will see that the main limb is itself of a very unusual curve.  Between the top of the secondary limb, and for a distance of approx. 6", the limb nearly runs flat! There was a lot of thought and work behind this design.  It certainly belongs in a good collection." END OF AUCTION TEXT.

Dave again: He doesn't mention anything about letoff but I measured a drop of about 10 lbs from around 24" to 28".  I'm going to remeasure this to be sure (a bit tricky with my bow scale).

One look at this bow tells you a bunch about American ingenuity.

[PAPALAPIN]

DAVE

BUDD HIT made some fine bows, and they are a bit scarce.  I have a HIT SPARTAN and a TROJAN in my collection.

I have never seen or heard of the CRUSADER.  Sounds like a unique bow.  

I sent you an e-mail about it.

[dachba]

Jack, I replied via email and gave you my email and phone number.  I have an ad for the bow under this sites classifieds.
Dave

[devildog66]

Dave,
That Hit bow was made in 1971 judging by the serial #.  The Crusader was the culmination of his limb design which was one the first to use a "duo-curve".  I would recommmend that you not shoot one if you want to maintain the collectability as they are relatively rare if not highly desirable by collectors.  Unfortunately Hit Bows are not as collectable as more common Bears of the same era but it is due to the lack of name recognition rather than the unique ingenuity of his designs.  Bud made a few different designs in the early 70s in order to try and compete with the compound.  Jennings even contacted him about making limbs for the first compounds but Bud recognized that he couldn't take on that task if for no other reason than the liability involved (compound limbs were not the most durable back than is what I gather). Bud's most collectable bow is the Black Ace target bow. (link below from Three Rivers)http://www.archeryhistory.com/recurves/pics/ace.jpg  
 His fixed limb bows were also not a one-piece design; the limbs were permanantly glued and bolted but were not one-piece as we think of it.  Bud's nephew is a Hit collector and he lives in Ohio.  Do a search of Hit bows on the Widow Wall forums and you should find his contact info.

Regards,
DD66

PS If I remember Bud's serial # order that bow is the 143rd that he made in that year, 1971, but I am not 100% certain on that aspect of the serial #.  I talked to him a few years ago when he was living in South Carolina and he had briefly told me about his numbering.  He had considered bringing back the Black Ace but I do not think that it ever came to be.  Here's an e-mail address but do not know if it is still active -  [email protected]

[dachba]

devildog66
Thanks a bunch for taking the time to give me that bit of history.  I'll do the search you suggest and try to gather more info.
Thanks
Dave in Ft. Collins, CO