How do you tell if a bow has original finish?

[jr1959]

I bought a 1970 Grizzly off this site that is in such great condition I suspect it has been refinished.  The previous owner didn't know whether it had been refinished or not.  What do you look for and How can you tell?  Just curious.  Jim

[OldSkoolArcher]

I would look at the silkscreens, specs, strikeplate, rug rest etc.

[Horney Toad]

A 1970 grizzly that was not used much may very well be in great shape with the original finish. Back in the day many people bought a recurve with good intentions, never got around to shooting the bow and stuck it under the bed for many years.

[jr1959]

The rest and side plate are not original.  I bought this from Zip if anyone knows the history.  Silkscreens look perfect.  Specs are in black.  Jim

[oldbohntr]

You just can't tell with some of them. A topnotch refinish guy these days- bowdoc for sure - makes it better than new! So good, you'd never confuse the old with the new.  I used to rehab a few bows, and have spot-finished a problem or two ..... but not to mislead a buyer.  As stated on another thread, I don't consider a professional cosmetic repair to be bad, if it is openly recorded at the sale.  

That said, I picked up a 1971 Grizzly at an auction last week that is also like new, finish-wise. So good that I had to wonder....but, here's the deal: with all due respect to your bow-and mine- there's simply very little incentive to refurb a 1970 or '71 Grizzly without stating that it's been done.  What are you gonna have when you're done?  A real good 1971 Grizzly! Not a shabby bow, maybe, but not payoff for deceit.

I've collected old bows since 1980. Some turned out good -some didn't.  Some must have been misrepresented..or worse.  Doesn't matter.  Some were better business deals than others....some went-honorably-to new homes.  If you never sold one with an undisclosed defect, that's all that matters to me.

I hope your "new" bow shoots as good as it looks. If it doesn't, then you "get" to find another new bow! (No offense....the chase has always been fun for me.)  
Regards,

[portugeejn]

I have often thought that some of the early to mid-70 bows have good finishes are because they got stuck away when their owners bought compounds.  And like Horney Toad said, got stuck under the bed for many years.  

RonP

[JimB]

Keep in mind that a lot of bows from that era had camo cloth limb socks on them which protected the limbs from a lot of scuffs and scratches.