Herters ID needed

[GANGGREEN]

I just traded for two bows here on tradgang.  I'm happy with the trade and got the Shakespeare bow I was wanting but also got an interesting Herters recurve that I can't identify.  It's the bottom bow in the picture.  It has the standard black glass limbs on the inside, the mustard glass limbs on the outside and a laminated riser rather than a rosewood or other similar riser.  Specifically I'm interested in a model and what the appropriate brace would be for the bow.

It came with some sort of fast flight string and it throws an arrow FAST but it had a good bit of handshock so the member that I traded with also had a B-50 string made up for it for me.  It's not as fast with the B-50 string and has a good bit of twang (I'll deal with that later) but it shoots very, very accurately with the B-50 string.

Here you go, I'm hopeful that some of you smart guys and gals will know what it is for me.

 

[George D. Stout]

Need serial number...the date is in there.  It's a pre-60's bow.

[GANGGREEN]

George, there's a Herter's decal on the bow and the handwritten 60" 49# @28", nothing else.  I suspect that the riser may have been refinished at one point but I'm not sure.  

I was having a hard time getting into the Herter's bow section on archery archives but was able to get in there by googling it rather than going through archery archives.  I see a 1966 Herter's Perfection 60 model that has roughly a 10 inch brace height and used Brazilian rosewood and hard rock maple laminated riser.  Might this be it?  Unfortunately, most of the pictures in the Herters section of archery archives won't show on my computer either.

I'd still be interested in any personal stories or opinions on this bow.

[George D. Stout]

At 60", you won't be using a 10" brace height. More like an 8" to 8 1/2"...you will need to see what works best for you.  The later Herter's bows were measured from tip to tip, rather than from string nock to string nock like AMO bows.  So you may want to run a tape across the belly from notch to notch to see if this one is the same.  If it is you may come up with 58", and that would be an AMO length.

Bob Barrie designed the shelf to peak for better arrow clearance; Bob was the bowyer for Herter's, and later went on to form Rocky Mountain Razor broadheads.  The Herter's made a lot of nice bows, but the one you have makes a really nice hunter; not as blocky as the Sitka and Sambar models that served as their flagship bows in the 60's.

[GANGGREEN]

OK, thanks a ton George.  I couldn't see trying to get a 9 3/4 inch brace on that bow either so I appreciate the advice.  So far it's a shooter but a bit noisy, I'll have to add some string silencers or velcro on the limbs to see if that helps.

[mahantango]

Looks an awful lot like my 1961 Turkish Hunter. The serial # would help. If it was refinished the shelf may have been reshaped, mine has an even more pronounced arch to it.

[GANGGREEN]

mahantango, there was no serial number on it so I'm guessing someone re-finished the riser.  I don't think I found any Turkish Hunters on the archery archives site but maybe their information isn't complete.  Thanks.

[bkupris]

I would also say it is a Turkish 17 degree Hunter with the shelf rounded off. I have a 1959 model. Measured mine and it is 63 1/2" tip to tip and 61 1/2" nock grove to nock grove. Herters called for a 58 1/2" string on this bow (1962 Archery Archives)

Oh, it should be rock maple and black walnut and probably a leather covered grip originally.

[GANGGREEN]

Very interesting, I guess that could be a black walnut/rock maple handle.  I haven't measured tip to tip but I measured nock groove to nock groove as the bow is strung and it's 58" so you might have it guessed.  I'll unstring it and check the measurements again.

I'm really impressed with the knowledge of the people on this forum.  Thank you.

OK, I just unstrung it and measured.  It's 59" tip to tip or 58" nock point to nock point.  I wonder if it would have been considered the 59" model in their catalog.  

This thing hammers an arrow hard and shoots pretty well.  I'm considering calling it billy bad*ss.  Even so, I'm just not in love with it and may put it up for trade for certain Shakespeare model bows.  I'll have to do some more research and shoot it a bit more.

[bkupris]

OK, I just unstrung it and measured.  It's 59" tip to tip or 58" nock point to nock point.  I wonder if it would have been considered the 59" model in their catalog.  

Did you make that measurement along the belly of the riser/limbs?

[GANGGREEN]

No, straight line.  I'll try again, whoops.

[GANGGREEN]

bkupris, good call.  I'm an idiot.  It's 63.5" along the belly from limb tip to tip.  Thanks.

[bkupris]

GANGGREEN

Well at least now ya know what you got  

[GANGGREEN]

Yeah Brian, I really appreciate it.  I'll check archery archives again to see what years it was made just because I'm curious (and I'm thinking of selling or trading it).  What brace height do you use with yours?  I think I'm just over 8 inches and it seems to like it.

OK, I went back to AA and found out that the bow was manufactured from 1959-1962 in my configuration.  There's no brace height listed but the deluxe turkish 17* hunter from 1963 lists a brace height of 8.25-9.25" at the same length so I may actually increase the brace heighth a bit to see what happens.

[bkupris]

Originally posted by GANGGREEN:
Yeah Brian, I really appreciate it.  I'll check archery archives again to see what years it was made just because I'm curious (and I'm thinking of selling or trading it).  What brace height do you use with yours?  I think I'm just over 8 inches and it seems to like it.

OK, I went back to AA and found out that the bow was manufactured from 1959-1962 in my configuration.  There's no brace height listed but the deluxe turkish 17* hunter from 1963 lists a brace height of 8.25-9.25" at the same length so I may actually increase the brace heighth a bit to see what happens.

Hi Ganggreen

I am shooting mine with a 56 1/2" string and BH 10 1/2" to the back (not belly) of the riser.

[GANGGREEN]

OK Brian, thanks.  I took mine up to 8.375 to the belly of the riser so I'd guess we're pretty close.  The bow's really a shooter but I just haven't fallen in love with it for some reason.  I'll keep playing with it though because it really wails an arrow.

[bkupris]

Ganggreen

Not my favourite bow to shoot either but capable of doing the business. I look at mine being 50 years old as a nice collectors piece and still shootable. Not bad