Does anyone make the old style solid fiberglass bows anymore? been watching Dave Canterbury on youtube and he is shooting a couple and it reminds me of one of the first bows I had as a kid, an old yellow solid fiberglass one.
Would love to find one that was on the shorter side and around 50lbs.
I have an old 65# Herters solid glass bow, as well as a few others. But, like most of the heavier draw solid glass bows, it is heavy and STACKS like bricks. If you keep your eye on that big online market, you may find a heavy solid glass Paul Bunyan, Herters, Stream-Eze, Parabow, Ben Pearson, Fleetwood, Bear, etc. in decent condition for very little money. Aside from the stacking, they shoot hard and fast and will kill big game, and are rugged bows to leave at camp or in a car trunk. They get the job done. Just don't expect the same cast and smooth draw that a well built laminated recurve provides. I started with a red solid glass 35# Bear as a boy, so I have a soft spot for these bows! Glass bows have introduced millions of people into archery over the past 60 or so years. I have a collection of vintage 50's NATIONAL BOWHUNTER Magazines, and there are countless stories and pictures of small game, bear, deer and even Elk killed with the economical solid glass bows.
Given the number of quality built, high preformance, low cost imported bows available today (Samick Sage, etc.), I would be surprised if "heavy" (over 40#) solid fiberglass bows were ever offered again.
Not sure if they make them anymore or not? I have several I have collected over the years. My favorite one is a 55# Ben Pearson, if you have a 26" draw it's fun to shoot, but with my 30" draw I swear it pulls 100lbs plus :biglaugh:
The ones that Canterbury shoots are really spitting the arrows out really hard. He says the same thing you guys do. Said he could kill anything in North America with that Pearson one.
I'm going to see if I can stumble on to an old beater that draws at least 105lbs+!
the only one I ever shot over 20#s WOuld rattle your teeth with the handshock. I cant remember what wieght it was. I am sure they will kill a deer, but I would hate to shoot a round of 3D with one.
When I was about 10 or 11 years old, a fella from Pennsylvania moved to my neighborhood in Indiana due to a job transfer. He gave me a Shakespeare solid fiberglass bow, my first real bow. It was green with a white rubber handle that served as the arrow rest. Can't remember any details about this bow but it is the one that started my journey into archery. Shot it until I got my first compound a couple years later and then lost track of it. I haven't seen one like it in 35 years.
I shoot my 40#er and love it!
I've seen Dave's videos with the fiberglass bows too. Dave knows his stuff and he is quite impressed with them.
I have an old 2pc Pearson #304, 64" and 55@28. It's a cool bow and shoots well.
I have a Ben Pearson 52" 45 @28" Still shoots great.Got it when I was in jr high ,looong time ago. Scared lots of varmits with it.
I've still have a 40# Shakespeare recurve I bought with lawn mowin' money when I was 10. That bow and I traveled the local bayou's around Houston, and the fiberglass arrows of the day were deadly on the gar population. As noted above...the handshock will rearrange your teeth. I still shoot it occasionally though.