Dating my Polar

[BBK41ND]

Hi to all,I have another Bear Polar that somebody might have an idea of what year it was made.It is a little different from my other one .It has red stripes through the handle lengthwise.It is right or left handeda single layer of white on the tips.the glass on the limbs is the same colored redish brown as my other.on the handle the numbers are     R  ms051    64"   42#   .and under the leather handle is   75 , 16714   .the leather handle is gone but I will make one using my other Polar as a guide.Any help with the year would be great! Thanks Harry

[Jeremy]

The stripes outline the riser, right?  

The dual shelf Polar with the white tip overlays is a 1956.  The '55 had no overlays and Bear went to a single shelf in '57.

[BBK41ND]

Thanks Jeremy,The stripes do outline the riser.I knew I could count on the guys from Tradgang.Thats way cool now I have a 56 and a 58 .Thanks again Harry

[portugeejn]

Harold,
I just sold one of those at the Pope & Young shoot here in Oregon, for a friend of mine but if I hadn't sold it right off, I would have bought it.  I shot it a few times and it is a nice bow.

A while back I replaced the grip on a Polar I own (an earlier model than yours), and took pictures-this may be of help you with your project.

RonP     Polar handle replacement

[BBK41ND]

Hey thanks Ron for the cool thread on handle replace.I hope I can make mine look that nice.Mine has some other gunk and build up on the limbs,Any hints on removing the stuff and not the decals or too much of the finish??? Thanks Harry

[portugeejn]

Harry,
I use Flitz metal polish to remove old gunk on bows (says it is good for polishing fiberglass on the tube).  It is mildly abrasive, so I don't scrub hard in the area of any silkscreens, decals, or lettering.  

I have read that BowDoc makes some really great stuff, but I have yet to hook up with him to buy some.  One of these days we will end up at the same shoot somewhere, as he is in Seattle and I am in Oregon.

Ron