Fast Flight on a Kodiak Special

[John D]

How bad is shooting a FF string, on my 67 Kodiak Special.
I was using FF, the bow was fast, arrows flying good, then I change to B50, I noticed a big change, much slower, little more wobble in the arrows, also my point of aim changed. The only reason I switched, is beacuse I heard you can't use FF on the older bows. I would like to go back to the FF.
I am using the bow for target shooting, like I said, the arrows flew like darts before the switch. the KS is 66" 40#@28. Is there any other string material I could use besides B-50 that will give me more speed. I would be grateful for any help. Thanks John

[KPaul]

I would stay away from FF on the old Bear bows.They can't handle it.

[bjk]

Unless you change the tips, you are asking for trouble...could be shot 20 or 200, but you are tempting the fates.

I have read articles, etc... where people have changed the tip material...done slowly, it isn't that difficult.

[McK]

Dank,
I have quite a few older Bear bows, and on some of them I only use dacron.  However, the two I shoot the most, a 1961 Polar and a 1962 Kodiak Special, I have been using 450+ and Dyna 97.  Both of these materials are low stretch modern material "ff" type strings.  I have the loops built up some with extra strands.  These bows are 45#@28 and I draw 30".  I have shot thousands of arrows through both, and once had an arrow nock break resulting in a dry fire.  So far I have not had any problems.  That of course is no guarantee yours wont break.  On these bows as well as several others noise is not a problem, however on some others the ff type strings were noticeably louder, I dont know why and I have tried to figure it out with no luck.
  With the low strech strings these older bears shoot as fast per lb as most of my newer custom bows and the strings seem to last forever.
    I try to keep arrow weight at 10 gr per lb.  As I said I have shot many thousands of arrows over at least a five year period, but I have little money invested in these bows and several replacements in the wings so it is a risk I am willing to take, your situation might be different.
McK

[John D]

Thanks everyone for your input. I think I'll try to get the tips changed, I know my luck. I tried to get in touch with the Bow Doc, but I got no answer, he is a busy man. Is there anyone on Trad Gang that restores bows and can change the tips. Thanks John

[Bjorn]

Dank, as you may have noticed this is a controversial area....if your bow is a 66 inch bow (1956-1959) the tips are made of Micarta; which is OK to use with the non-stretch strings; but folks will say 'don't do it' anyway. You need to decide what is right for you. Bows fail for lots of reasons- old glue, improper stringing, age, etc. Make up your own mind--there is just too much religion out there to get unbiased information. I find that my old Bears shoot at least as well as modern bows using modern strings. I pad the loops for strings on all my bows-new or old-by the way.

[John D]

Thanks Bjorn,
My bow is a 1967.
I'm not sure I know what you mean by padding loops on the string.

[Glenn Newell]

Dank, I own an old 60" Bear Kodiak Hunter and I shoot 450+ strings on it. As Bjorn said I also pad the loops of my strings. I usually add extra strands in the loops of the low stretch strings with dacron to soften the loops. I have always shot 450+ string material on my selfbows as well and never had a problem with these bows and most of them have no tip overlays at all, but the strings are always padded with extra strands of dacron and there is no sign of ware at all on the selfbows...Glenn...