St. Charles Thunderbird Recurve?

[flint kemper]

Has anyone shot one of these bows that Jay made off of his Dad's form or own one? I was curious to hear about them. Smoothness, shot quality,handshock and quietness. Thanks and if you have any pictures that would be nice as well. Thanks Flint  

[Tony Phillips]

I owned one and traded it off. The finish on my bow wasn’t up to what I thought it should have been. It was quiet and had no hand shock but I felt that it was kind-of slow, but then again I was comparing it to my Saluki. They are great looking bows and have a lot of history behind them.

[Bjorn]

I have 2 currently, a 58# and a 53# both have terrific qualities of quiet, smooth, easy to point and shoot. You either love or not, the retro good looks and design. My 13 year old son took his first hog with the 53#. Dacron works just fine with the bow, and with a 12 strand DynaFlight
they are more than a match for most modern recurves.

[Alex.B]

LH/RH      

[Van/TX]

I shot a 53# single shelf one.  It shot just great.  Really liked it....Van

[Bob Walker]

Tony traded the one he had to me. I have to agree about the finish, other than that, the bow is awsome for what it is. Shoots really quiet, no noticable handshock and cool looking. Mine is RH only.

[Bjorn]

Bob the finish on the bow is Tru Oil so it will never look like a glossy Fedora; but it is very easy to apply another coat and make  'new' again. I had Glenn sign and personalize both bows with marker pen and Jay put on another coat of Tru Oil. Consider sending yours to Jay and getting him to have ol'Dad sign the bow for you, and applying some more Tru Oil to the finish-you will be glad you did.

[Precurve]

It's a very quiet, smooth pulling bow that shoots amazingly well.  That it comes off a bow form made in 1952 or '53 is even more amazing.  This bow is actually the forerunner of the first Bear full working recurve, the Kodiak II in 1954.  Mine is a 65# @ 28" single shelf, and it outshoots a Wes Wallace Mentor in the same weight if you want a comparison.  It shoots right with my 1960 Kodiak that's also 65# @ 28".  Probably the quietest recurve I've ever shot.

[Bob Walker]

Bjorn,
Mine has Jay's sig on the top limb and Glenn's on the bottom limb. I just assumed they came that way. Thanks for the tip on the trueoil. I'll hand rub a few more coats in and it should start to do the trick.

[BillW]

Love mine and the finish looks great.
Bill

[Biggie Hoffman]

If anyone knows of an original thunderbird made by Glen, I would pay INSANE money for it...

[vermonster13]

INSANE you say. lol I wish I'd known you were looking Biggie. One sold for $400 just a little while ago. I'll keep my eyes open for you.

[flatstick96]

Originally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
If anyone knows of an original thunderbird made by Glen, I would pay INSANE money for it...

I don't have insane money, and as such I'm sure I'll never own one, but...

I know how you feel - if money were no object, this is the one bow that I would most like to own.

[Biggie Hoffman]

Vermonster...dang, mmmmmmmmmissed another one.

I don't have insane money either but the bank in town does :-)