I don't know even after looking a Wade's KS thread.

Doug, I'm thinking 56.

Doug - Nice looking KS.

Jack is correct as stated in text of the ID guide...

1956 - 60", 64",....... 68",....... – Brown glass back, gray glass belly, silk screen logos

The I-Beam is many thin wood laminations so naturally the wood exposed in the sight window varies according to how the sanding was done in the sight window. Your sight window configuration would be the most common.

Thanks guys, I just can't tell the differance in the decals.

doug77

Doug -

My guess is that Doc refinished you KS...

Ha! That bow is a '56 but you have a silkscreen on the belly (1956) and the sticker from a 1955 on the back.

Bjorn -

Yes, right away, I noticed the silk screen and the decal both. When a bow is refinished, you just never know the reasoning for the decals/silk screens that are on it. If you go back a few years, none were available until Al started making them again. It is entirely possible that at the time the factory changed from decals to silk screens, that some bows had a combination of both... Anything is possible...

Even the serial numbers on a few refinished bows are not the original serial numbers.

The serial number on this bow, Y666, is not a serial number sequence I have ever seen on a 1955 or 1956 Kodiak Special.

The earliest I have seen Y used on a Kodiak Special is 1957... but the Y bows I've seen have a second letter, but Y666 has only one letter.

Perhaps, Rich can enlighten us.

Wade, that is the number that was written under the leather grip. It came to my house with the leather grip off and I could clearly see that number.

doug77

Good looking bow Doug I noted the replacement decal has both reg.marks which is incorrect for that year.Both R's did not appear until late 1960 early 1961 bd

What do you mean "when"...


 

Doc -

Damn good call. You are a hell of a lot more awake than I am today. You must have cleaned that PC screen when you had it fixed. I'll have to do that too. I'm too cheap to buy new glasses.


Doug -

Thanks for posting the details about the serial number. Now we are not wondering. I usually refer to refinished bows that don't fit the standard Bear markings, as one of Fred Bear's Johnny Cash "One Piece at a Time" Bows in an effort to attempt to give a humorous explanation for a non-standard marking.

It is great that you have brought this bow back to life for more years of service.

You have a very nice looking bow regardless of how it is marked. Things like this make us old farts think. Keep it up so we don't get stale.