Help identifying bows

[Polifemo]

Hi,

Is one of these bows a Bear Grizzly?

What about the other one?

Any info is much appreciated!

 

 

 

[papabear08]

Bear Super Grizzly model and the other is a Ben Pearson probably a Palomino.

[Polifemo]

Thanks!

Do you have any idea about how old they might be?

[papabear08]

SG mid 70s BP early 60s

[Polifemo]

Thanks :-)

Additional pic of the riser of the BP-bow (if that's what it is)

 

[Polifemo]

Another pic.

Seems like they've been stored standing by the look of the limbs...

We'll see when I get my hands on them!

 

[jhk1]

I believe the Ben Pearson is a Silver Sovereign "Tartan" model, not a Palomino.

[papabear08]

After seeing these new pics of the full riser no it isn't ornate enough to be a Palomino. Not sure they were writing the specs. on side like that with the Sovereign series but someone out there will know for sure.

[Polifemo]

A Silver Sovereign Tartan seems to be correct.

A Lower end bow, right?

[D.Sheppard]

I do not know if everyone knows about this Ben Pearson catalog library,

 https://files.secureserver.net/0fbm9bk3jOBvjC

A wealth of knowledge about almost everything Pearson. You just need to download them, cant just view them.

Its cool just looking thru them !

[Polifemo]

That was cool! Thanks :-)

I did not find the Silver Sovereign Tartan in there, but it was fun looking att all the other bows!

[Polifemo]

Picked the bows up today and they are in a descent condition.

I was surprised to find this hole in the riser of the Super Grizzly (but I don’t know anything about older bows…). Was that a standard feature?

   

Have shot the Ben Pearson bow and it’s a smooth and rather slow bow but the arrows hit with a certain impact!

A bit unsure about the brace height for this one… Does anybody know? (I would guess that anything around 7” won’t hurt the bow).

Paid 90 bucks (for both of them) which seems like a fair price.

[mangonboat]

The stabilizer/bowfishing reel/ quiver adapter bushing was standard on most Bear bows starting in 1971. Your Super Grizzly looks like a 1974 or 75 bow. Nice pair , especially for what you paid.

[Polifemo]

Yes, nice bows :-)

As I suspected the Grizzly is 55# (found the writing - that was almost invisible - on the bow) which is on the heavy side for me...
I'll give it a year or two.

I'm shooting a similar bow that is 45# and I'll continue workin out on that one, and maybe some day I'll shoot the Grizzly as comfortable :-)

[Polifemo]

So now I've been shooting the Ben Pearson Tartan a bit. (The Bear Super Grizzly will have to wait...)

When I got the brace height right (about 7 3/4") the bow came to life somehow. Still I would say that it is a very smooth and rather slow shooting bow but it's more "alive" now.

The limb tips have a "rubbery" feel to them when the bow is strung and it's quite easy to torque them if not releasing properly and sometimes I tend to put the arrows all over the place...
I see this as being a good way the work on form and release and that it in the long run will improve my archery!

I shoot much better with my KG Archery longbow, but I really love shooting this old bow :-)

     

     

     

     

This of course was my best group :-) (The other ones I keep for myself ;-)

Oh yes, it seems like "handshock" wasn't invented in the early 60's because there is none!

The bow is also super quiet.

[Polifemo]

Contacted Bear Archery today in order to try to date the Super Grizzly and this was their reply:

"It looks as if it was made anywhere from 1963 to 1970".

[Twitko]

As far as I am able to read Bear catalogs - Super Grizzly was in production in 1973, 74, 75 and 76. No sooner, no later (the guy of Bear Archery who replied your question has to be ***)

[Polifemo]

Originally posted by Twitko:
As far as I am able to read Bear catalogs - Super Grizzly was in production in 1973, 74, 75 and 76. No sooner, no later (the guy of Bear Archery who replied your question has to be ***)

That's why MY bow is so unique ;-)

(I had my doubts about the dating of the bow...)

[mangonboat]

Peter, I think you would enjoy digging around on the history of your bows. There are a lot of guys around who lived through the lives of the Super Grizzly. For example, I was in high school when  the Super Grizzly was first offered as a upgrade to the VERY popular Grizzly. The Grizzly has been around in various design iterations since the mid-1950's, and that includes some great-looking and great shooting bows,  but there have been no design changes since 1970, just some materials changes. One of the features that helps date your bow is the reddish stripe in the riser; that was a feature common to the Super Grizzly and the Super Kodiak in 1973 and 1974. Bear reintroduced the Super Grizzly about 5 years ago to offer, once again, an  upgraded Grizzly with  tip laminations to make the bow fast-flite string compatible. The mid-70's Super Grizzly is a solid bow, overshadowed perhaps by the Super Kodiak and the Kodiak takedown.

Ben Pearson bows are a whole 'nother ball game. Ben Pearson made more models than any other manufacturer  and they cover the spectrum in terms of designs and materials. With their manufacturing capacities, they made tons of very affordable bows as well as some of the most expensive, advanced bows of that era.

[Polifemo]

Absolutely!
I should, and will, investigate a bit more.

Regarding the serial number it's hard to tell (as the writing is almost gone) but I can read the last digits that are 414.
What is written before that, if anything, is impossible to tell.
The lenght (58") and draw weight (55#) can be clearly seen though.