I have a 1962 Bear Kodiak.   It's my hunting bow for this year.  I am normally a selfbow guy.  Killing a deer with a FG bow is something I have wanted to do for a while now.  Tonight I went to swap out the string silencers on it and noticed I had a broken strand in the string.  I need to twist up a new flemish string for it.  I have heard that you should use B50 on these older recurves.  I would like to use D97 or similar modern string material if possible.  I have 8190, 452, 8125 and FF.  The bow is 52" long and 55#.  I am only drawing this bow 25" at most.  With a short draw length would it be safe to use a modern string?  I can pad the loops with B50 if that helps.  

Thanks for any advice!

If I do have to use B50, how many strands should I use?   With my 50 lb selfbows I normally use 10 strands of modern material.

Definitely less stress on the bow with a shorter draw.  Heavy arrows help too.  Will it help enough?  Maybe...maybe not.  I've seen lots post about getting away with it for years with no problems...and I've known of people getting away with not using a safety harness in tree stands.  Only takes once.  If it were mine, I'd use 12 strands of B-55.

What LBR said.  Id go with 12 strands too.  You'll still have plenty of performance with the "older" string material.

I'm one of those folks who has been shooting fast flite (D-97) on older bows for years.  I don't do it on all bows, but if they have limb tip overlays, I do. I usually build a 12-strand D-97 string padded to 16 strands in the loops.  Agree that 12 strands in B-50 or B-55 is also sufficient.

I use B55 on all my older bows. I've read padding the loops out is enough for low stretch strings & older bows, but I haven't felt a need to test it.

QuoteOriginally posted by LBR:
Definitely less stress on the bow with a shorter draw.  Heavy arrows help too.  Will it help enough?  Maybe...maybe not.  I've seen lots post about getting away with it for years with no problems...and I've known of people getting away with not using a safety harness in tree stands.  Only takes once.  If it were mine, I'd use 12 strands of B-55.

LBR, I remembered I got some B-55 from you at the Classic.  I'm going to make a new string out of that just to play it safe.  

Thanks for the advice guys.