59/60 56" arrived

[Shaun]

This bow showed up in a very timely fashion and the seller threw in a nice fishing pole hard case to protect it.

 

It is overall a real gem, but I will start with the flaws and then show the good stuff...

Screw hole in the front of the handle. I believe there as a popular arrow holding "grabber" that mounted in this spot.

 

A little leather tear damage at the thin skived bottom edge of the handle wrap.

 

The compass is a nice liquid filled unit in good working condition. It is however possible after market addition. Inside it reads "the Poly Choke Co".

 

[Shaun]

One more minor problem is that it came with a fat 14 strand B-50 endless loop string that has thick mono serving at the center and its too fat for any of my arrow nocks. Seems to shoot great but is hard to tell with all the arrows plucking off the string. I will remedy this with a new string soon.

Now the sweet stuff...

Beautiful fine tips

 

What appears to be all original finish, grip, strike plated, feather rest

 

Very good wood in the riser. Does not look like purple heart in the beam, maybe PH in the thin layer under the maple lams.

 

[johnnyrazorhead]

Very nice bow.Great job Shaun.
 P.S.- I got the horn nocks yesterday.Thanks.Hope I can make them work.

[Shaun]

And some real nice grain pattern on the coin side

 

So, what do you think the "I" beam wood is? Did Bear use Poly Choke brand compasses? Would a 12 strand Flemish B-50 string w/ standard nylon serving sound about right for this 45# bow?

[johnnyrazorhead]

Shaun- My guess is that the sight window is purple-heart,just doesn't show up with 50 year old finish on it.
 And I do not believe Bear ever used a "Poly-Choke" brand compass in their bows.If you want to replace it with an original Bear compass let me know.I could send you one in trade for the horn nocks.

[JL]

I bet a 56" Kodiak will scream an arrow like no tomorrow. Never shot one but after seeing your's, I want to now!

Nice bow!

JL

[alaskabowhunter]

Shaun you have a very nice 1960 Kodiak there, and you bought it at a really good price! That is some beautiful wood in the riser, especially the coin slab. You have purple heart in the site window, very rare. The compass is aftermarket but is installed very nicely and should not be a concern. I'd leave it alone. Hopefully the installer sealed the wood after the hole was drilled for the compass. Good luck, that is a keeper.

[Bjorn]

You did well-enjoy the bow and tell us how it shoots!

[Shaun]

I popped off the strike plate which was loose as a method to check the center wood. It looks like Brazilian rosewood or some similar to me. It may be PH but seems it would still have color where it was not exposed to sunlight.

[PaPaFrank]

Shaun, The bow is a real beauty! Congrats!

[seboomook]

That turned out to be a great bow, look at that grain!
I have a poly choke installed on a remington
11-48 passed down from my grandpa. it was an 8 position screw down choke custom mounted on the barrel end before screw in chokes were affordable and available to all.
works well too, I still hunt with it.
Out of business now, so it looks like it was a period professional installation.

[Shaun]

Wow, what a difference a 12 strand B-50 Flemish string with nylon serving makes. Now the arrows fit and its a mini rocket launcher. Learning to shoot it may take a couple days for this longbow and selfbow hunter, but it has dead turkey walking feel to it.

Brad, I remember the Poly Chock shotgun units. Only problem was they were often dialed to the wrong setting when the bird jumped. Same problem today with screw in choke tubes, oh well. They were common around that era.

[hormoan]

Nice find Shaun, I was thinking dead pig walking   :D    

I tell ya the old 57 Kodiak Special I got recently sure has me impressed. What a joy to shoot!!!


               Brent

[yellow bow]

   :cool:

[d. ward]

Yeah baby thats a sweet one there Shaun...I will want to check that out in Que'bec this spring..bd

[4406v]

I think I looked at this bow a couple weeks ago at a gun show in Ohio.Hard to believe there's more than one 56" kodiak with the compass in the handle like that.The asking price at the show was $800.Although I really wanted the bow I sold a much cleaner '59 for $500 and could not justify spending the money.Hope you got it for less

[bowhunterfrompast]

Very nice bow    come on turkey season

[4runr]

That's a beauty Shaun!