Should I go for these vintage bows

[MacWa77ace]

My guntrader site has these two vintage Browning bows up for sale / trade.
The deal also includes some arrows a leather quiver and a compound bow.

Everything for $250 and will trade for air rifle.



This looks like a good deal for me if he will take my Umarex Ruger Airhawk spring air break barrel in trade. Thinking $100 value. [Brand new its $149 and mine is in pristine condition]

That'd be about $150 and I get rid of an Air Rifle I don't really like.

Any opinions? If the hive mind thinks is a good deal, i'm going to have him send me closeups of the bow tips and curves looking for delamination. All I wanted was one bow  What say you.

[Moab]

Those are the kind of bows I grew up shooting. I can't speak to the brand though. I would post this to a bow forum. And get more educated opinions on that specific brand. Browning does not jump out at me as a maker of bows. But I honestly don't know enough about the brand.

The other question is style. What are your plans for shooting a bow? And what draw weight are these? 

[MacWa77ace]

Those are the kind of bows I grew up shooting. I can't speak to the brand though. I would post this to a bow forum. And get more educated opinions on that specific brand. Browning does not jump out at me as a maker of bows. But I honestly don't know enough about the brand.

The other question is style. What are your plans for shooting a bow? And what draw weight are these?

I guess I should have mentioned that.
Archery in the back yard. To keep the bow skillz up.

I'm assuming they're 40-50 lbs but will ask when/if I contact him. That's fine for backyard targets. My wife's been talking about getting one. She likes Tauriel and I said if she gets a bow she has to do the outfit too. LOL. I'd like a 66"+ at 60-80 lbs [but that's $500 to $1300 new] could be useful for other things than targets, but for her 55-60" at 40lbs is fine.



I don't know a lot about bows, or bow forums, this deal has been up for almost a month but my luck is that there's a catch, also its about an hours drive north of me for the FTF sale.

[MacWa77ace]

Found this.
http://www.vintagearchery.org/vintage-bow-flyers.html

1971 Cobra I
1972 Nomad Stalker

for them to be listed in this list is a plus i guess.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I'd probably go for that deal. Assuming the bows are in good shape with no cracking.

I had an older Bear Archery recurve bow for a bit, but it had some cracks in the laminate and it wasn't safe to use anymore. A quick call to Bear Archery and after I sent them a couple pics of the bow, they confirmed it wasn't safe to use anymore. 

[Moab]

Found this.
http://www.vintagearchery.org/vintage-bow-flyers.html

1971 Cobra I
1972 Nomad Stalker

for them to be listed in this list is a plus i guess.

Thats good news. I think all you need to do is find out if the pull and poundage are right for you.

But I would still search "bow forum". Find the one with the most threads. And use it for informational purposes. Probably a ton of great first time shooter info.

My father used to hunt with a bow very similar to that. And I learned on a 35 or 40lb recurve. I would literally shoot for hours after school everyday. Because there was nothing else to do. 3 tv stations. And nothing on. 3 radio stations. Lol. I don't know how kids learn or do anything new these days. So many sedentary activities pulling their attention.

My father used to take us to bow shooting competitions. Like these big meet ups. And everyone would shoot. They had this really cool plastic milk jug launcher. That you would shoot with bird arrows. It was like clay pigeon shooting but for bows. My father was surprisingly good at it.

I have a decent crossbow. But I've never shot it. Thought alot about buying a used above average compound. Would like to see if I still have the skills. I was so bored as a kid. Living in the middle of nowhere. And had access to so many bows and firearms I was a very natural shooter from a very young age. Shooting a bow is very addictive. And great for hand eye coordination. Not to mention an essential survival skill.

If the draw and lbs match up I'd jump on that. Especially if you can make a partial trade.

[MacWa77ace]

I'd probably go for that deal. Assuming the bows are in good shape with no cracking.

I had an older Bear Archery recurve bow for a bit, but it had some cracks in the laminate and it wasn't safe to use anymore. A quick call to Bear Archery and after I sent them a couple pics of the bow, they confirmed it wasn't safe to use anymore. 

I had a Bear fiberglass recurve when I was in 2nd and 3rd grade and shot that when we weren't riding bikes, skating, building forts, playing war or cowboys or any other of a million outdoor activities.

But when I got into 4th grade I got a BB gun and never went back. I'd shoot air rifles every afternoon after school and most days when there wasn't any school and I wasn't fishing, all the way up thru first couple of years of college. BB gunning transfers well into marksmanship with real rifles IME.

If the draw and lbs match up I'd jump on that. Especially if you can make a partial trade.

I've only done some pricing research so far and think with the Delton compound bow he's throwing in the $250 is probably a fair price.

$100 per vintage
$50 for the Darton Trailmaster

This is if they are all in great shape. Gotta run it past the wife since its really for her. [and me] If she's ok with that then I'll get the details for length and draw weight and photos of critical areas for wear and delamination.

[majorhavoc]

My guntrader site has these two vintage Browning bows up for sale / trade.
The deal also includes some arrows a leather quiver and a compound bow.

Everything for $250 and will trade for air rifle.



This looks like a good deal for me if he will take my Umarex Ruger Airhawk spring air break barrel in trade. Thinking $100 value. [Brand new its $149 and mine is in pristine condition]

That'd be about $150 and I get rid of an Air Rifle I don't really like.

Any opinions? If the hive mind thinks is a good deal, i'm going to have him send me closeups of the bow tips and curves looking for delamination. All I wanted was one bow  What say you.

Is it normal to have them reverse strung like that? Is that a storage thing?  Serious question. Maybe I should start storing my older recurve bow that way. I just leave it with the bow string detached on one end when I'm not using it, but I do worry about it falling off and getting lost.

[MacWa77ace]

Is it normal to have them reverse strung like that? Is that a storage thing?  Serious question. Maybe I should start storing my older recurve bow that way. I just leave it with the bow string detached on one end when I'm not using it, but I do worry about it falling off and getting lost.

I didn't think anything of it, but it shouldn't put any reverse pressure on the bow for longterm storage. The string is supposed to be 3" shorter than the OAL of the bow. I don't know if that works in this case not putting any pressure on the bow curve, or maybe he just did that for the photo.

How Long Will A Recurve Bow Last?
A well made recurve bow can last a long time, there are recurve bows that still shoot and remain in good condition after five decades of use. If you take good care of a recurve bow it can last 20 years or more with proper storage and maintenance

Hmmm, these bows are 55 years old.

https://onarchery.com/what-to-do-when-laminate-recurve-bow/


https://youtu.be/OTRZWeFeR9c

[MacWa77ace]

I think asking the question "exactly how and where were the bows stored" would be another questions but I'm pretty sure the answer would be similar to the reliability of the "how many rounds have you put thru it?" question for firearms. I don't even ask anymore, I just look. But bows are apparently different.

[Moab]

As for storage etc I would again refer to a bow forum. With all the advancements in science etc. Who knows what proper bow storage is these days. I would imagine we've gotten better at it. Even tho bows have been around for thousands of years. Probably been stored good enough. But who knows what new techniques might be available. 

In my opinion, bb and airgun shooting DIRECTLY relate to improving as a firearm shooter. It helped me immensely. Just in the sheer amount of shots you can afford to take in a day. I could shoot hundreds of bbs in a day. I could never do that with a real firearm. Unless I was incredibly wealthy. In which case I probably wouldn't have been shooting. Lol. 

[EBuff75]

My grandfather used to make recurve bows and do all his own fletching.  I know that he made at least one bow for my mother when she was a kid too.  I'm assuming that my uncle probably has those old bows, because there used to be 5-6 of them hanging on the wall in his workshop.  No idea how well they've held up, given that my mother is in her mid-70s now! 

I haven't shot a bow in years, but when I was a kid we generally used recurves.  I had a cheap "longbow" when I was a kid, until the wood split right at the grip.  For that one, when it wasn't in use I would have to unstring it at one end to keep from it wearing out / stretching out.  I would assume that the same is true with a recurve and that's why they're sitting the way they are in the photo.

[flybynight]

My guntrader site has these two vintage Browning bows up for sale / trade.
The deal also includes some arrows a leather quiver and a compound bow.

Everything for $250 and will trade for air rifle.



This looks like a good deal for me if he will take my Umarex Ruger Airhawk spring air break barrel in trade. Thinking $100 value. [Brand new its $149 and mine is in pristine condition]

That'd be about $150 and I get rid of an Air Rifle I don't really like.

Any opinions? If the hive mind thinks is a good deal, i'm going to have him send me closeups of the bow tips and curves looking for delamination. All I wanted was oisp well lit pics of the whole bowne bow  What say you.

That picture tells you nothing.  You are going to meet and inspect? Check for cracking or crazing. Can't tell from the pic but the bow on the right kinda looks like it has limb twist. I dunno crappy picture. You left handed ?  They look left hand to me. Browning has been making good bows for about a hundred years. Don't buy unless you personally check them over first. If it's online purchase. You need crisp ,well lit pics to check for twist, cracks, crazing, delamination  and just general overall condition. If you are going off that one pic. Big pass . I haven't priced vintage bows in awhile but the price seems more than I would spend. Good luck. Oh yea . the my favorite archery forum is Bowsight.com

ETA Just checked ebay. Wow vintage bow prices are crazy now. 

[MacWa77ace]

Thanks, I'm pretty sure the price is good as long as they're in good condition. It would be a FTF deal, I only ever do deals that way to inspect. I just need to get my odds of it going thru up really high as the location is an hour north of me. Don't want to drive that far and then have to say no deal.

In that pic it looks like the bottom of the bow is away and the shelf is down. That'd be a righty, right?

But I'm getting all my notes together of questions to ask. That was already on my list to confirm.