Why do some of the old bear bows have these on them?
Andrew
Do you mean where it says #45xx @ 28" ?
If so, I've understood that to mean two pounds over 45. One pound per x. If they're on the other side of the number then it's minus that many x's/pounds.
Guy
With the old bears that have the XX's, if you look under the strikeplate the actual draw weight will be written on the bow.
Brian
No, they are actual stars and sometimes crosses. Scratched/cut into the riser just above or directly on the serial number.
Andrew
I would post this ? in the Trad History/Collecting forum. You are sure to get a knowledgable answer there.
Eric.
Sounds like something a previous owner did. If that's the case then there is no telling what the meaning is.
Can you put up pictures?
Guy
Look at the 64 Kodiak on this page, the fifth item for sale down the page as an example.
http://www.flemishstrings.com/sell.html
Looks to me like somebody scratched the cross into it. Looks after the factory finish was applied as it doesn't look like there is any finish over it.
Bear stamped a star not scratched it in the bow.
Somewhere, I read that Bear marked the serial number with a star if it was returned and some kind of change or modification made. I don't know how accurate that is and I have never seen a cross marked on a bow.
There were star, cross and number stamps. All kinds of different opinions on what they actually mean/meant. Some folks think they mean that the bow was returned to the factory for a refinish or repair and others believe that they were marked down or clearance priced bows (ie: last years model).
I tend to think they were marked down bows.
A good number of '64 Kodiaks are cross stamped across or near the serial number and you will also see a fair number of '61 Kodiaks and '61 Kodiak Magnums that are star stamped.
I'm with OldSchoolArcher on this one. I have seen many star stamped Bear bows and probably have three or four in my possession now.
I can remember the neighbors who had a cabin not far from the Bear Factory in Grayling telling me about the employee's cutting up bows if there were a flaw found in them at the factory. As kids we couldn't understand it. We couldn't afford a new Bear bow ourselves and would have been glad to take one of those that wasn't quite perfect for a discounted price. They just wouldn't do it though. To my knowledge a bow with a known flaw didn't leave the factory.
PRCE REDUCTION bows at the end of the year sale overstock.....not blemishes and not rejects and Bear Archery did not refinish bows or at least not many because it was cheaper for them to replace the bow with a new one rather then to refinish a bow.
I personaly have inspected well over 100 star X Y 2 2,2's bows with those markings and they were never refinished nore were they blemished.If you want to see some real blemished Bear Archery bows look at the 1960 Kodiaks until about 1965 guess what you will find ? and they will not be stamped with any marking like stars and or what ever.What you'll find ? painted limbs yes its true the limbs will be painted nearly the exact same color as the fiberglass.The way you will see this is you will not see the actual texture of the fiberglass itself but rather a smooth surface(same color).The reason those bows were painted ? because they had cracks in the fiberglass right out of the form.Thats why those are actualy expansion cracks in your limbs rather then stress cracks bd
Their expertise in painting and color matching was remarkable. I have a 1960 KS that has a layer of gray paint and if you look very carefully you can see the cracked FG underneath-pretty cool. But at the tips and riser you cannot find the paint edge.
ttt