Trad Gang
Main Boards => Trad History/Collecting => Topic started by: Doc Nock on September 08, 2010, 12:03:00 PM
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Old gentleman from church gave me an old ROOT bow...it is a recurve, but looks all the world like a longbow leather wrapped handle.
45# @ 28"
Love to know a bit of honest history on this line of Root Bows... age, quality for their time vs. cost etc?
You can email me if you have some input.
Thanks!
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WEll gee whiz bro ya could show us pic :saywhat: . <><
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Made by Ernie Root probably in the late 50's. Had models called: Range Master, Target Master, Field Master, Game Master, Pendulus, Brush Master, Sporter, Ranger, Warrior, Rover, Kadet and others. Yours is probably one of the first three. Poundage was stamped into the wood on the early ones. Root was bought out by Shakespeare sometime in the 60's I believe. Than there were bows marked: ROOT by Shakespeare. There are a lot of old Root bows around in my part of the country. They shot well and cost just about as much as other bows of the era.
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Here's a link w/ some pics of different Root bows and a little history.
http://www.archeryarchives.com/public2_html/roottable.html
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I have a Game Master from the mid 60s and it is a fine shooting and looking bow. I also owned one like it in the late 60s. I shot mine this week as a matter of fact.
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Guys I want to bump this up because I got an old Root Warrior recurve thats 45# @ 28" that was given to me by an uncle that passed away...
I would like to know what range of brace hight this bow should be at and stuff like that... I would like to play around with it some but I want to be gentle because of the sentimental value...
Thanks,
Josh
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Play around with 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 brace height. You can start with a dacron string that is 4 inches shorter than the bow length to give you an idea. Then I would put a flemish string and experiment with performance. Do not use a fast flight string.
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Thank you, 7 1/2 with a dacron string is about were I'm at now... Now I'm wondering, and just to let you know I'm sorta new to this, how does bow length come into play or correspond with brace hight? For example if its a 58" bow does that mean it should measure 58" un-strung or at brace? And if it should measure 58" at brace should you keep your brace hight within a range that keeps the length close to 58"?
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Ernie Root's Field Master x176
Field Master X176
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LdpUZk2Mrnk/UZwUl3GivgI/AAAAAAAABN8/umHsn63u7DA/s640/1961+fieldmaster2.jpg)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mwdb__ryjXQ/UZwWfrfJY7I/AAAAAAAABOU/QhFRCl9LLKE/s640/lewis+root+copy2.jpg)
Ernie Root was one of the finest bowyer of the golden age of archery. His talent was appreciated by other famous bowyers with whom he often collaborated such as Harry Drake, Phil Grable, Owen Jeffery and of course Fred Bear. Ernie Root is famous for his collaboration with Shakespeare Archery but few people know that Root also made bows for Browning, Colt Industries and Anderson Archery. Root also made bows for several department stores, such as JC Penny and even for the US Military. In 1967 Bob Bitner shot the first perfect 300 score at the U S Open in Las Vegas with a Root Golden Eagle. Root created divisions within his company to oversee production and distribution. Archery Research oversaw the Golden eagle production. In fact it can be argued that Ernie root was responsible for the birth of several archery manufactures such as Shakespeare, Proline, Dalton to name a few. Ernie was a busy man. What is amazing is he actually had time to continue his own line of archery equipment while he was overseeing production a t Shakespeare and other companies. Ernie was a busy man.
Like many bows of the late 1950 and early 1960s the older Field Master had a longbow style grip and a slim riser, if the grip is more contoured--like a modern one-piece bow, then it's a 60's model. Root Field Master was a beautiful multi-use bow. It could be used as a target bow and as a hunting weapon. Ernie Root’s designs are very obvious when you look at the profile of Shakespeare bow. For example the Field Master design was used for the Shakespeare Ocala X17.
Field Master X176
• White Glass
• 1 7/8 wide limbs
• 7 ½ inch sight window
• Triple Exotic wood laminated riser,
• Brace height 8 ¼
• Weight 25# - 50#
• 66 AMO
• Triple laminated tips
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To answer your length question. A 58 inch bow is 58 inches long unstrung measured along the curvature of the limbs. When strung the measurement from string groove to string groove will be shorter than 58".
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Larry,
I recently picked up a 68" Target Master recurve in 50# that looks just like your Field Master you pictured above. So what's the difference?
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My dad shot for Ernie in 57 and 58 and won the Midwest National Championship in Chicago with Root Bows in the instinctive division. Dad also shot for Bear in the 60's but always said that he shot his best scores using a Root Bow. Dad also shot with Bob Bitner in team events. Bob also shot for Root. Bob called a couple of months ago and asked where my dad was as he wanted to get ahold of him. Sadly I had to tell him that dad passed away.
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I would like to know also about the Field Master and Target master as I have 1 of each. My idea is the Target master is a 68' but I am not sure. Thanks Dick
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I have a Root Kadet longbow that has a similar riser to the target master pictured except it is all maple, not the striped laminations. I talked to a guy who worked at the Root factory here in Big Rapids Michigan, and he told me that if the draw weight/length info was stamped into the riser it was made pre-1960. After 1960 the info is written on with ink. He looked at my longbow and said it was made between 1956 and 1958, after that they only made recurves. Ernie Root's son, Lawrence has been posting on the leather wall, some of the history of the Root factories.