I recently picked up this vintage 1950 Bear K-4 because it definitely peaked my interest.Even though a previous owner had painted the back of the limbs green,put their name on the belly side of the lower limb,and even removed the factory Bear quiver bushing from the leather grip.The bow still appeared to be in good shape so I bought it with the hope of cleaning it up a bit.Sometimes cleaning off old paint can be a real challenge without damaging the original finish but I figured I'd give it a try.With a little elbow grease,some wet sandpaper and some polish,as well as a replacement quiver bushing,the bow came out fantastic.I was even able to save all three of the original Bear decals which worried me the most.It was well worth it,especially since the bow is a whopping 100#er.Obviously it was shot very little which doesn't surprise me.The green paint was only on the woven glass side thankfully.The bow looks like new now.Item #250888729847 to see the before pics.

Shelf side:
 

Other side of grip with new quiver bushing and screw:

 

Check out that thick limb:
 

A closer look:
 

Here's one of the patent applied for decal:
 

One of the running bear decal:
 

The KODIAK decal:
 

And finally,the specs:
 

Nice Bow John and Kudos for bringing it back to life!

Let me know how it shoots!!!!!

Would be a bit hard to string! lol

Very nice.  Thnx for sharing.

Thanks fellas,thought you would like to see such an oddball bow as far as weight goes.Takes a real man to string and shoot this one I'm sure.Many years ago I bought a 75# 1953 static tip Kodiak from it's original owner.I had no intention of ever shooting it much less stringing it but he insisted I string the bow before I bought it.I tried to do the step through method on it but couldn't even come close.Then he decided to help me out so he started pulling on the limb.I was more concerned with breaking the bow than worrying about getting it strung.Like this bow,it was in excellent condition from hardly being shot and I wanted it to stay that way.We never did get the thing strung but I still laugh just thinking about the two of us wrestling with that bow and it won!I'm sure this one would do the same.That bow now hangs proudly on the wall of the archery dept. of Jay's Sporting Goods in Clare Michigan,just as clean as the day it was made.

John,

That cleaned up nice! What a great find!

I was wondering who here would end up with that.

Quite a rare one and with that in mind I thought it was a good buy......just was broke. lol

Excellent addition, John. CONGRATS.

God Bless
Slow

Slowboke- Thanks very much and I agree,you don't see too many 100# bows of any make,but being a Bear I just had to get it.I too was surprised at the price,I thought I would have to pay more for it than I eventually did.But I'm sure I'll make up for it by paying way more than I should for something else! LOL

Nice bow, I saw that one when it was up for sale. Way too much poundage to be on my rack. Great collector bow, nice cleanup Johnnyrzrhd.

Looks like I need to get back up to Northern MI to check out your wall!

ceme24- C'mon up,the door to the bow room is always open.I'm not even very far north from Ohio,just a little north of Brighton,east of Howell,west of Pontiac and south of Flint.Tradgangers are always welcome.

Colin, we could make a day trip.
John, how does your collection compare to Wade's.

John

Never string the old Aluminum Koadiaks, the were recalled back in the day because the glue they used did not quite adhere to the aluminum and they delamadated. I found that out with the first one I had 20 some years ago.

4runr(Kenny)- You too would be more than welcome to stop by for a visit anytime.How does my collection compare to Wade's collection? It doesn't.If you're expecting something like Wade's collection I'm afraid you would be sadly disappointed.
Jim G.-Thanks for the info.I wasn't planning on stringing the aluminum lams as I've heard the same thing about them de-laminating.Those are simply wallhangers.

MAn, That's Good Stuff!! Thanks for Sharing With Us John...Kenny, you and Colin better not try to make that trip without me! lol....

Frank- You know you're welcome too.Let me know when and I'll put a pot of coffee on and pull up an extra chair for ya'.

               

Beautiful bow and great job getting her back to original condition!  I would like to meet the man who ordered this bow.  This has got to be 1 in a million (at least).

Dave

Precurve(Dave)- Yes I agree,when ever these heavier than average weight bows show up,especially 100# or more,I often wonder who it was that ordered it and for what reason they wanted one so heavy.I've heard a theory,which I guess makes some sense as most of these heavy weight bows seem to be mostly from the 1950's and early 1960's,that it was around that time that you had some of the more well known archers such as Howard Hill,Fred Bear, and maybe a little lesser known William Negley hunting some of Africas big game animals.All three were known for shooting elephants with a bow.Howard had his movie "Tembo" showing,Negley with his well known $10,000 bet that he could shoot an elephant with a bow.And then a little later on Fred Bear shot his elephant,although his bow was reportedley only 70#.
So maybe the average archer of the day thought that he needed a 100# or heavier bow to shoot 'cuz that's what those guys were shooting.Proves the power of advertising and promotion I guess.Just a theory but it kinda makes sense.either that or there were alot more he-men running around back then and not all of us whimps that only shoot 40-60# bows.