1961 Grizzly

[Biathlonman]

Ever wonder what's hiding under the factory camo of a 1961 Grizzly?  Got this one in yesterday and the original paint, grip, and decals were in pretty rough shape.  To wet/windy to shoot today so started in on a restoration.
 
 

[warpedarrow]

Now that is a naked bow.  I think that I would stain the wood just to have some color.

[Biathlonman]

Think it's going to get paint again...

[crazynate]

Sweet bow. Bet it shoots darn well. Good luck restoring it

[ron w]

Really neat.......love to see it finished and in the field.

[Biathlonman]

Anyone have any photos of the original they'd like to share?  I'd like to see some photos of the original non-leafy camo so I can try and duplicate it.

[Wade Phillips]

Biathlonman -

Bear first put down a dull green base, then sprayed on wide strips of black and brown paint.

Silk screens and lettering were put on top of the spray paint.

Most 61 camo grizzly bows that I've seen, have a standard cow hide leather grip.

The factory original black pigskin grip on this all original 61 Grizzly might be difficult to duplicate.

         

           

[Horney Toad]

something interesting on auction you all might want to check out:    272533889703

[glittergoat]

I checked it out and gobbled that one up. :-) Its a nice bow. It certainly is a restored bow and not an odd duck. I can see that the logos are stickers. One thing that is odd is the serial number and I wonder if whomever restored it made a mistake:

FF636-7

Hey Wade - you ever seen a hyphen in a Bear Grizzly serial number?

[4runr]

I've had a couple Bear bows with - in the serial.

[Wade Phillips]

Originally posted by glittergoat:
I checked it out and gobbled that one up. :-) Its a nice bow. It certainly is a restored bow and not an odd duck. I can see that the logos are stickers. One thing that is odd is the serial number and I wonder if whomever restored it made a mistake:

FF636-7

Hey Wade - you ever seen a hyphen in a Bear Grizzly serial number?

glittergoat -

I don't follow serial numbers much, and especially not on refinished bows.

Remember BowDoc refinished a 70" 1959 Kodiak Special for me that became a two year project (2003-2005 if I remember correctly)... In his defense it was the worst looking bow I ever owned as it was heavily water damaged. The wood not only looked like drift wood the outer surface was as soft as driftwood.

The Doc brought it back to life, put new overlays on it and created a serial number for it. Anyone who has ever read one of my posts on the subject of serial numbers, knows I've never believed much in using serial numbers for dating bows simply because the pattern changed so much over the years and anyone could write anything on any bow at any time. That being said, if you understand parts of the history of the pattern and its changes it is sometimes helpful.

Anyway the Doc used his decades of experience to create the serial number and as it turned out later when I started the Kodiak Special thread, the Doc was off a bit on his serial number for that length bow.

Regarding your 61 Grizzly, I believe it is a very interesting bow, but not because of the serial number.

The serial number FF636 (forget the -7) is actually a serial number that would have been used in the middle portion of the 1959 Grizzly production...

I own 3 1959 Grizzlies, FE864, FG876A, FJ285.

FF falls in between the FE864 and FG876.

Unlike the 1959 and early 1960 Serial Numbers that begin with two letters followed by numbers...

The 1961 serial numbers generally begin with numbers, followed by letters.

My guess is whoever refinished the bow, knew just the minimal amount of information about the Grizzly serial numbering sequence to be dangerous.

Or perhaps they wanted to create something for us to put up posts about...

[Wade Phillips]

Forgot to mention that a quick first impression to my eye the refinished and shinny bow more closely resembles a non-laminated, solid maple riser 1959 Grizzly than a camo 1961 Grizzly. Guess the 1959 Serial Number helped add to that quick first impression.

[glittergoat]

Wade -

Thanks for looking at it! I find the information you provided to be more interesting as well. I dug through your thread on serial numbers last night and came to the conclusion that the serial number is a bit of somewhat futile information. It is certainly an interesting bow and I always learn a ton from all of you. I really appreciate all of you sharing your knowledge! It was sold by a guy who got it from an estate sale, so he didn't know the history.

And I did a handwriting analysis and it didn't look like one of Bowdoc's. ;-)

[Wade Phillips]

Ken -

Yes, BowDoc's inscriptions are unmistakable. (tried to state that as politely as possible)  

His refinishing was first class.

When others first praised him for his quality refinishing but then complained about the quality of Doc's printing, I would tell them that they should view his printing as his signature because everyone will be able to distinguish his refinished bows from the work of others.

I really like your bow, if you ever want it to go to a new home, you know who to contact first.

[glittergoat]

I know it would be in great hands with you, but shouldn't we make sure that the vintage Bear bows be geographically distributed in case of a natural disaster? ;-)

I remember looking at the photos of your collection and it reminded me of the scene in the Highlander where he sits down in his house in the circular room surrounded by all the history he had collected. Thinking - that's must what Wade feels like!

Biathlonman - I am really excited to see how your bow turns out! I am enjoying the naked maple myself. It looks clean.