I bought a 50 lb longbow made by the archers company. No horn nocks. Seems to be in good shape. Should I fear shooting it?
I would look it over real good, string it and draw it slowly and not to full draw at first, and see how it acts. There will be some more knowledgeable folks than I respond to this, you may want to see what they say. KYArcher
I wouldn't string it.
The Archers Company was in business in the 1920s and 1930s and many of their bows are highly collectible. If shooting an 80 or 90 year old bow, it probably isn't going to hold up long before it breaks.
Desirability would depend on condition, wood type, backing type, water transfer decal style, branding into wood, horn nock style, grip style and material as well as the city and state it was made if on the decal. Most were from Pinehurst North Carolina, but they were located in three other cities over the years.
Give us some more details about the bow.
Longbow, lemonwood,self bow, selfnock, 50 lbs draw (marked) 6 ft overall length. Marked " the archers company 55 " I found it in an antiques shop in Burlington NC. No string, of course. No grip leather or covering. No decal. The info is cut into the wood and very faint.
Sounds like you have one of the fairly common lower end bows. Still a neat item. At the other end of spectrum of The Archers Company bows, you would have the horn nock, elaborately wrapped grip, rawhide backed, mother of pearl tombstone shape strike plate, with fancy water transfer decal from New Orleans (not North Carolina). You just never know what the bow will turn out to be when you hear The Archers Company.
I had in mind to use the bow, Is it likely to stand shooting? If not, I suppose it will make a good template for trying to make a similar bow.
I have one also, 72", 46#. It is backed with a black material, Archers Company Pinehurst,N.C. stamped in it along with a patent number ,STG and the weight.Also has an archer decal on the belly, kinda of shield shaped but you can't read the writing. I can't tell if the nocks are horn or plastic.The handle is leather in pretty good shape with the mother of pearl tombstone strike plate. Got it at the Flea Market.