Need some help with identification, Jack Howard Gamemaster Jet

[shoot4fun]

I need some info on a Jack Howard Gamemaster jet I bought at an estate sale. It has been spray painted but I was able to remove enough of it so far to see that it is 52#'s and the ser# is F-63.
The bow is fairly long and I dare to say it's at least a 64" possibly a 66" bow.
Is there a sight where I can find more info on the bow, such as the year it was made and possibly the brace height.
Thanks,
John / shoot4fun

[ckruse]

It's a 66" bow, if it's a Jet. I don't think there is any known record of when these were built. None published anyway. The brace height is measured from the high point of the grip, and should be about 6 1/4" to 6 3/4". Enjoy! CKruse

[PAPALAPIN]

Before Jack passed away you could call him and give him the serial number.  He would call you back and tell you when it was made, who originall bought it, and all the info on it.  Sadly, we lost that with is passing.

You have just purchased the best recurve bow ever made. You will possibly never find a smmother, faster, more beautiful bow. F-63 indicates to me that it is one of the earlier bows.  Say mid '80's.  However, according to JACK, there is absolutely no difference between one made in 1985 and one of his last ones made in 2004.

There are onoly two possible differences.  Most were made with laminations of rosewood and Africam Vermillion for the riser.  These were his standard bows.  He did make some that he camo painted.  For these, the riser is made of one solid block of hardrock maple.  Jack felt that there was no point in using beautiful exhtic woods in the riser if it was going to be covered up with paint.  The unexpected result here was that the hardrock maple risers actually produced a slightly faster shooting bow.  Jack claimed that this was due to the fact that the one piece maple riser was more rigid than the laminated rosewood riser.  He continded that a more rigidity resluted in more speed.  My 56# Maple riser shoots faster than my 57# rosewood riser.

His standard bow had black glass on the back and white on the belly.  He did make some with all black glass on special order only.  

For this reason, when Jack introduced the GAMEMASTER CLASSIC at 64" he had a steel rod molded into the riser.  This was to make it more rigid than if the rod were not there .  You can actually put a magnet on the riser and it will hold in place.

You need to know that he Jet is designed to be used with special string material that actually stretches, unlike B-50, flemish, or fast flight strings.  They are still avail by orderingthem from Charlie Lamb.  Charlie also make the feather rest that Jack provided foir his bows.  Send me an e-mail and I will provide you with his contact info.

Tee Gamemaster bows are few and far between.  You are very fortunate to find one.  The last year that Jack made them hea was selling them for $1000.00, and worth every penny.  I doubt that you paid close to that at an estate sale. I would be willing to bet that I could pay you three times what you paid for it and it would still be a bargain for me.  If you find one on **** where the buyers determine the value, they will go from anywhere between $350.00 and $600.00 dollars used, depending on condition. In new, unused condition, even higher. You have a real collectors item there, and one of the best shooting bows ever.

By the way, that bow was not meant to be hung on a wall and looked at.  It was meant to be brought out into the woods and hunted with.  You would honor Jack Howard and the original owner if you took it out and bagged a trpphey with it.

Welcome to the very exclusive group of Jack Howard owners.  You are in good company with the likes of ckruse, Charlie Lamb, Phil Magistro, highcountry, Kelly Peterson, and many more.

[shoot4fun]

Thanks for the info !! I will send you my email. I am a widow man but I can't wait to shoot this jet!
 The fellow that owned the estate really knew his stuff. I got 2, X-85 widows, a RW Hunter and this Howard. I couldn't believe he had the Wing and the Howard spray painted, but hey, he used them for hunting. In fact, the only thing on the Howard that wasn't painted was the gamemaster jet emblem. I was hoping no one would recognize what it was. If any of you recognize my handle, you know that I love to collect Bear razorheads. This man had gobs of bear heads, all loose in boxes or on arrows. He also had a big box of the pearson swithcblades, a young feather burner , string jig , ect ect ect.
Well, believe it or not, I could not stay until they started to sell all of the sporting good items ( had to go to my Sons football game). I was about to stroke out !!
 There was one fellow there I sorta knew and I left some standing bids with him for the bows and the heads.
Later that eve, he called to let me know the all of the heads were going too high, at least what he thought was high, so he didn't get any of them for me. FYI a huge box of Bears, switchblades, other misc heads, Young feather burner, all went for $60. I cringed when he told me he didn't buy them but there was nothing I could do.
My gloom turned to happiness REAL FAST when he said he got all four bows for me. He seemed a little nervous about the prices and he hoped that $55 for the Howard was not too much! Needless to say, the gold brick I got out of my of pants at that moment will easily pay for all of the bows!
The Howard has 3 small holes on the riser, (where a sight had been mounted)but other than that, I see no more blemishes. I still have more paint to remove though. This one has the laminated riser(beautiful), black glass on the back and white on the belly so Papalapin, you've nailed it.
I will send you my info ASAP, I need a string !
Thanks again for all of the info, it is greatly appreciated!
John / shoot4fun

[shoot4fun]

Thanks for the offer on the JET but I'm going to hold on to it until I get to shoot it a few times. I got the email addy, thanks for all your help!
John / shoot4fun

[PAPALAPIN]

JOHN

If you decide to let it go, maybe we can do some swapping for fair value both ways.

I have 49, 54, 56, & 57# jets,  i COULD USE A 52# to fill in the gap.  Won't trade my Howards, but I have others you nay be interested in.

[shoot4fun]

Thanks Jack, I'll keep that in mind.
John / shoot4fun