How Many Shoot and LOVE Bear TakeDowns?

[Bud B.]

Yup!

[Roy from Pa]

Blackstick, you have a pleasant problem.. Damn that's sweet.

 

[BigStriper]

Blackstick you have a better problem than some people,LOL. Very Nice.   One of these days I would like to have a nice early RH Green Stripe without any holes or inserts with #3 40-45# limbs.  I'll be 67 on the 5th of January maybe I better not wait to much longer.

Kurt

[Longbowwally]

I bought a 50th anniversary Kodiak TD last year. Shoots as good as any custom bow I've owned and I've had quite a few.....

[Chain2]

What Wally said X 2 !

[R.V.T.B.]

Here is my pair of 50th Anniversary bows together...

[R.V.T.B.]

I just received one of the new Mag take downs the other day...

[Ray Lyon]

New Camouflage A riser with #3 limbs and Great Northern side bolt quiver.  The adjustable side plate is the bomb.  Extremely accurate bow. 

[woodchucker]

I can't do the picture thingy....

But I love my new moss green Mag handle!!! I've got it set up with a black Great Northern, like Ray. 

[Orion]

Can anyone interpret the latest Bear TD serial numbers.  I just received a 50th anniversary black maple A model in trade.  First line of the serial number is BMBA-21. Second line is 01-002. Might the BMBA stand for Black Maple Bear A? Could 21 be the year in which it was made and 01-002 the month and bow number made, ie. second riser made in the month of January?

BTW, I love the riser.  Fuller and physically heavier than other recent risers. I really like the radiused sight window and flatter, wider palm area.

[Kelly]

Yes, Orion that is exactly what those mean.

So you got a handle that was the second one made in January of this year and already the second owner!

[Kelly]

Just my two cents worth of criticism as to why I won't own any of the new wood handles. They are cutting the shelf lower and lower and I can't shoot them. That is why I like the A Mags so well because the higher shelf, of which all limbs were tillered for, and the accessory bushing is the other reason.

That said has anyone compared the new A Mag handle to an old one? Are they identical except for no rubber shelf on the new ones?

[Kelly]

Oh just realized there is no sight window plate. Does the arrow plate still move for cut to center adjustment?

[Orion]

Kelly:  I no longer have a mag riser so i can't compare.  However, I do have a Bear Green stripe made in the 80s.  The center of that bow is right in the center of the throat/pivot point, and the distance from there to the arrow shelf is one inch without the rug rest.  I get the exact same measurement on the 50th anniversary model.  Exact center of the bow is the center of the grip throat/pivot point, and from there to the arrow shelf is 1 inch. 

If memory serves, most other recurves I've owned in the past placed the rest closer to 1 1/4 inch above the center of the bow or higher. That's certainly the case with my longbows.  I know a few longbow builders who place the shelf 2 inches above the center of the bow.

So, long story short, Bear does seem to cut the arrow shelf on their wood risers rather low, but based on my experience with two bows built about 40 years apart, it doesn't seem to have changed much, if at all, over the years.  The hype surrounding them sure has though.  Maybe some others can measure their bows and weigh in. 

[Kelly]

Jerry, my A and B Mag risers are 1 3/16" above center. that might be because of the rubber shelf material still on them. Don't have any B wood to measure but every green stripe I've held have the narrow, low cut  shelf which causes my hand to slip on on to the shelf.

Incidentally my 2017 A two tone wood handle is 3/8" overall longer than the A mags and the shelf is the same, 1 3/16" above center. Love the grip on this bow-it feels the same as the #2 grips of my Mags. Tried buying some A wood from 2018 onward and the grips were changed-closer to a #1 Mag grip and the lower, narrow cut shelf, aka Fred's shelf. Don't like that low cut shelf.

[Orion]

Well, since the rubber on the mags was standard, would have to consider their shelves higher.

I know what you mean about the hand being even with, even encroaching onto the shelf.  Of course, Fred liked it that way, and it's become a marketing point lately.  Until I measured them, I had no idea the Bear wood risers were cut that close to center/ the pivot point of the bow. On the other hand I did have a B Supreme riser a while back that broke the mold.  The shelf was close to 1 1/2 inches above the center of the bow/pivot point of the grip.  Bet you would have liked that one.  Unfortunately, it was higher than I liked, and I sold it.

I'm sure Bear uses jigs/templates to make the major cuts on wood risers, but from what I've been able to gleen from the risers I've owned as well as info provided by others, there's a lot of variability, minor though it may be, which appears to be the result of the final finishing by individual Bear craftsman. There may be others like your 2017 out there, but almost have to have them in hand to decipher the difference.

 

[Kelly]

Have those two A wood two tone from 2014 and actually 2016, not 17-just looked- plus two A black with red stripe(son and grandson shoot them) from same years and they are all identical. Where I see the difference in the new ones is the belly end of shelf ends before the glass overlays coming down the sight window, whereas all of mine end right by those overlay.

Was just looking at a new 2021 50th Anniversary in two tone B and the shelf/sight window at the rear/belly are even cut away at an angle just like Fred liked. It would be a great problem for me. Oh well, at least I have some that I like anyway.

[Orion]

I believe you're describing the difference between a Type I and Type II riser.  On the Type I, the belly glass came all the way to the shelf.  On the Type II, it was angled the last 1/4 to 1/2 inch or so into the shelf.  I believe that change occurred sometime in 1970 on the early Bear risers. They appear to have gone back and forth on the more recent risers. 

[Kelly]

Here is an green stripe.

Here are the two tone A I'm referencing. Its on the left. The all Bubinga is cut away slightly Which results in a larger grip opening which doesn't work for my small hands.

[Kelly]

And here is the 2021 50th Anniversary A two tone with even more shelf/sight window cut away. Resulting in more of a lower wrist grip.