Bear Montana Modifications

[Greg Owen]

I just got a Bear Montana longbow. I have seen photos of the tip mods but not of the handle modification people mention. Does anyone have a photo of their handle after they have modified it? Thanks.

[Louutah]

Greg,
    I did not modify the grip on mine, but I did add a leather tennis racket wrap-on grip, that added some padding and change the "blockiness" of the grip so that it was more comfortable to me.

[mike g]

Speaking of the Bear Montana....
    I always wonderd what would happen if ya took a good basic bow like the Montana and you found a good used one a few pounds Hvyer than ya needed....
    And then ya traped the limbs, redo the tips and modified the grip to your likeing, How good of a bow would you wind up with....

[dagger dog]

Greg,

 i shoot a Montana 45#. you can modify the grip,by rolling a 3/32-3/16" leather thong into the upper portion of the grip leather before it is glued onto the bow leave enough of the thong on both sides to form the lacing.

 the thong rolled up into the upper part of the grip leather causes it to flare out at the top. glue it to the bow with Barges rubber cement.

 if you want you can insall it a little high on the shelf side , installed this way it makes a shelf similar to the Patriot,a nice 5/16-11/32"
channel that the arrow rides in.

 you may have some tuning problems but they are easy to correct by moving the roll lower or higher and front to rear.

 sorry i don't have some pics i can up load.

[Greg Owen]

Ok, I have a question about 'traping' the limbs. I am assuming you mean makijng them trapezoidal? Which side is thinner, the side closest to the archer or the one closer to the target? And by how much is it thinner? I might try this since I think I am a little over bowed with this Bear Montan now. Thanks again for any help.

[mike g]

Trap the sides on the Back of the bow

[Shaun]

The back (side away from the archer) is under tension and both wood and glass are stronger in tension than compression. The theory is that you need less material on the back and can make the limb mass less by making the back narrower than the belly (side towards the archer).

There is also a "How-to" archeived thread on modifying a Montana with good info.

This is on my to-do list as I picked up a 55# Montana in the bargain cave a couple years back with just this project in mind. When I do it I will add a post on the modifications and results.

[Greg Owen]

Ok, I understand a bit better now. Any ideas how much of a taper? I am not a bowyer, and am just thinking I might try this. My idea would be to draw the bow on a tiller stick or something and then draw the arc that it makes on butcher paper. Then trap it a bit and make sure the arc is the same. Does this make sense?

[Greg Owen]

[Shaun]

I would not worry about the last 7 or 8 inches of the tips, this part does not bend much. You might check the arc with paper just for fun, but don't think it will change much if you are fairly semetrical in your wood removal. You will most likely loose from 2-6 lbs of draw wt depending on how much you trap the limbs.

When you file or sand the edges, keep in mind that fiberglass can "run" or lift a fiber if you file into the grain. That is, you want to file from the wider part of the limb toward the narrower (tips) part.

Start with a slight change - like 20 degree trap and see how much difference it makes in draw wt and feel. Then go steeper if you think it still needs more. Hard to put it back, so go slow.

Take some pics and share the ride if you attack this project.

[Greg Owen]

If I do try this I will document it. I just wish my Bear Montana bow was a 60# version. Mine is 50# and I only draw 27". If I lost 5# I'd be getting fairly close to 40#. Thanks for the help.

[Littlefeather]

The Montana is a great meat and potatoes bow. I've killed more game than I can to count with one. No real need to trap the back but it is imperative that the tips be reduced to half their factory weight. It's like having bricks tied to the tips when you shoot the factory tips. The Safari Royal is the same way. Reduce the tips and shape the grip and go hunting. It's a solid bow without all the pizazz of a custom. Kinda like my hunting truck. You always know it's there to get the work done! CK

[Greg Owen]

I think I am ready to try the trap on my bow.  Would a dremel tool work or should I file and sand?

[Shaun]

A file or block with sandpaper. Dremel has too small a working area and may gouge out a spot. Take some photos as you go.

[Greg Owen]

Thanks for the help. I am better at photography than I am at archery so the photos will not be a problem.  So once filed and sanded smooth how should I refinish it?

[Soilarch]

Has anybody (like littlefeather) chrono-ed a bow before and after shaving the tips down?

Is it a performance gainer, or a shock reducer, or both, or neither?

Just curious

[Dave Bulla]

One tip on trapping the limbs that is just pure speculation on my part....

I don't think you will want to remove the same amount all the way from the fades to the tips.  I mean, if you trap the edges say 1/8" in at the base of the limb, I doubt you would want to trap them in that far out near the tips.  Try to keep it all in proportion.  The limbs are wider and thicker near the fades than at the tips so probably the percentage of removal would be the same but if you sand in 1/8" at the base, I doubt it would be more than 1/16" to maybe 5/64" out at the tip.

If the sides of the limb are a straight taper, you should be able to lay a flexible straight edge on the back of the bow and clamp it in place with say the 1/8" in at the fades and eyeball the amound somewhere about half that near the tips and draw a line then hand file only as far as the line.

On the handle, I'd just make it so it's comfortable.  If the back is too flat, you can radius the edges a bit or add a simple overlay of wood or leather.  If you want to try leather, check out this thread:  http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000066

That one is on a self bow but it will work on a Montanna just fine.

[Apex Predator]

I hate to go against the grain here, but the guys in the know are trapping the belly side for best performance gains.  That's how I do mine, but I don't have any proof that it's best.  Gino Bruno has built probably 100 longbows and done lots of experimenting.  He concludes, like many others, that the belly is where you want to trap.

[Ol Man]

I reshape many risers on bows... especially ones for buddies that buy used - I shape them to fit and they are usually very happy.  I have taken several bows and reworked limb tips as well as trapping limbs to reduce weight.  I can tell you that you can end up with a very fine shooting bow that in most cases looks better as well.

[bushytail]

I trimed the tips on my Montana.It looks alot better than those big factory ones.I took a half inch off each end.Those Montana bows are also quiet shooters.