Cut to center is fairly normal with wood laminate bows. Risers cut past center are so you have room for a plunger. No matter where they are cut, you tune the arrow to what the bow likes.

 

Though some modern wood laminate bows are just a little bit past center so one can use a thicker side plate like the style with the Bear Rug Rest or the Wolf Archery one and have the bow right at center when the side plate is new.

 

Sadly I have read of a few issues with the crazing still occurring within the past few months. I bought a '22 Kmag last winter and it came straight out of the box with 23+ crazing lines. They were VERY VISIBLE. The newer bows are also coming with the streaks in the glass too. I really hate that because I LOVE my Bears.....but in my opinion if you're paying upwards of $400+, these issues should not be happening. I really want to try and get another Kmag and another Super Mag but I'm not wanting to hassle with returning bows etc. if I get another one with issues. I've personally had 4 Bear bows bought new within the past 5yrs. that either came with or developed the crazing within the first couple hundred arrows. Normally, these are just cosmetic but.....????????
My question is......how can the MULTIPLE Black Hunters I've bought come perfect out of the box and not one single issue and they cost a hair over $100 while the Bears all start out at $400 and go up from there yet there are known issues. It just doesn't add up unless Bear really only focuses on their compound lineup and have put the Traditional bows on the back burner.
The new Shedua and gray glass sure is beautiful IMO.

 

Easy Lots of Chinese Companies for just about anything are either fully automated/nearly this way with about 2--3 workers per section or they use slave labor/jail labor. However seeing as this Black Hunter is a Junxing made model the 2 longbow and recurve with wood riser in both flat attachment and classic contour limb and also as the one metal riser in the classic contour limb that currently in USA SinoArt sells they probably do the first move with only human work as needed for the Bamboo riser glue up or the bow limb glue up as I have yet to see when looking up the company bad crap when looking up more on the brand online from people formerly from China. This Jail labor is how China fakes they have less people in jail then they otherwise would, something I think a few brands use when making bows in China.

 

Your cell phones are the epitome of forced labor, and much of it child labor, so there is that too.

 

No Bear I have or had is cut past centre. They are all cut to/on centre. Once you add the side plate you are on + side. Since the new SK is a copy of the original, I don't see the need to "improve" the design. Damon Howatt bows are/were cut to/on centre or past centre, varying from 1/8" to 3/16" past centre.

 

Bear seems to be going down hill, I would suggest a new Damon Howatt or Black Widow. It matters not so much if a bow is past, on or outside of center. You shoot the arrow not the bow. Full length stiff carbons may be touchier for that, I don't like full or over length arrows. Wood still works, Wapiti or Surewood, make your own.

 

Bite the bullet and get a Wes Wallace Mentor. You will have to wait but it’s worth it. His risers are cut 3/16” past center. The finish doesn’t have issues and his prices aren’t that outrageous for this day in age.

 

I have been looking at Bears for months and the negative post keep me from buying.

 

Me too....just as I mentioned above. I've got several Bears at the moment and have sold several as well. I could kick myself in the rear for letting them go....I often wonder what in the world was I thinking!! I've gone the route of asking a tech to THOROUGHLY check the past few bows that I have bought (from one of the MAIN online Archery shops) BEFORE shipping to try and ''weed out" any with issues. That has only been about 50% effective however. I've been debating on getting another Kmag or Super Mag but I'm hesitant still. I really wish that Bear would take action to solve these issues but who knows...

 

I’m fairly new to archery. I bought a Super Grizzly last September and after a few thousand arrows it developed a streak on both limbs. I contacted 3Rivers and sent the bow back and I replaced it with a Super Kodak. I’ve shot the bow quite a bit and it shoots really well but it too developed some checking on both limbs. I contacted 3Rivers and Bear Archery. Both of them said that it was only cosmetic. Oh well, I can live with that as long as it doesn’t fail. I really like the bow.

 

For the price you shouldn’t have to deal with that.

 

Yeah, I know, but if there is any consolation the bow is beautiful and I shoot it really well.

 

Nice looking bow, if I shot it well I would have probably kept it also. That was on my list of consideration when I was looking for a Bear recurve.

 

I don’t have much experience with archery. This is my third bow not counting the one I had in high school. I have an old Bear Bearcat and an old PSE longbow as well. I shot my sons Kodiak TD and man that is a smooth shooter. All I can say is the grip fits me like it was made for my hand. I still have a looong way to go with my shooting form but I am making progress. I don’t regret buying the bow.

 

Earthen_vessel......

Could you please take a pic or two of the "checking" that you are speaking of???? I'm very curious to see if it is similar to the ones I have. I've got a '19 Super Grizzly and it is beautiful and at the moment, does not have any of the crazing that I've seen on some of my others. I have not shot it a great deal though....hopefully nothing changes.

 

The checking is not hard to see and it’s not easy to see either if that makes any sense. I’m not thrilled about it but I really don’t care about it unless it makes the bow fail. The warranty is for a year so I have 7 months to evaluate the flaw and by then I will have put thousands of arrows down range. By the way, I still love the bow. 😊 I hope this helps

 

Looks like the finish can’t handle the flexing. My concern would be that eventually it would start flaking off over time.

 

That’s a finish issue as stated above, only finish and been a problem with Bear bows for at least 60 years. You would think they would have it figured out by now. Honestly, if it was mine, I would shoot it until the warranty period was up then sand off the finish on the limbs and refinish. Even a few coats from a rattle-can will hold up better. And I agree, for what you paid you shouldn’t have to deal with this.

 

Sadly it’s common on Bear Recurves. Particularly on new production bows.

 

You would think with what is involved and the fact that the problem could be easily remedied, they would have fixed it. Take me for instance, I had been looking at Bear recurves for the last year, it wasn’t whether I would buy one or not, it was a matter of deciding which one. But with all of my research this problem kept coming up which took buying a Bear recurve off of my to do list.
I think many like me are wanting to buy one partially for the looks.

 

3Rivers said that I could send it them and they would send it to Bear and they would refinish it for free. That sounded good to me but the lag time is about 3 months. Mmmmmm…. No thanks. I’ll just shoot it the way it is. I don’t have much experience to make a comparison but I really like this bow.

 

I would wait until the warranty ran out and do some research and maybe refinish myself.

 

Thanks 1canvas, I’ll look into it but I’m inexperienced with wood working and finesse is not on my list of character qualities. I suppose that since I’m older now and have acquired a little more patience to take on something like this. Idk, maybe.

 

Google is your friend😁, I‘m sure there is good info out there.

 

what draw weight do you want ?

 

My Super K has a 40# draw weight as inscribed under the strike plate but a 35# might be better for me. I’ll be turning 74 in a few months and even though I can pull that weight ok, looking to the future is making me think that a lighter weight bow might have been a better choice.

 

I would not recommend buying a bear without seeing it in person. Like stated before they are having some issues and I have personally experienced that on a number of newer bears. For the money it shouldn’t be an issue.

 

New59, you have a slight misconception about what the arrow is doing when it is leaving the bow. My favorite two bows are 1/4" outside of center ASLs. According to some charts that would declare that i need to drop to 10 pounds less spine with cedar. That is not the case, on the 50 pounder I shoot 45-50 27 BOP with 125 grain heads and 50-55 with 160 grain heads. One chart had that light point getting pushed by a 40 pound spine, I tried two straight grain eyes up 35-40 spine arrows, one cracked and the other bounced hard against the bow. With outside of center bows, no matter if it is finger released or mechanically released the the arrow will first flex into the bow, simple physics, then it will bend around the bow. Byron calls the ends of the arrow node points, the line of those node points is where the arrow is flying. Carbon because of the extra forward weight and section stiffness will respond differently, with past center bows that stiffness is less of an issue. Even with past center bows, there will be a reaction to the string from the fingers. I had a 90 pound longbow slow-motion video from a high end sport camera, the string stayed pretty much on center with either the finger or the mechanical release. We also tried it with a 27 pound Hoyt target bow, there was a definite difference in string travel from my stout glove versus the mechanical release. If you are shooting arrows so stiff that they do not bend, they are too stiff.
Added note, when the gal from the college was doing her video, I also noticed that a deep grab with a stiff tab gave conceivably more string wobble than a smooth release with a more shallow grab from a Cantpinch tab. Bach in the day and maybe still there are those that believe the finger tip release will get a more consistent release than the full fingered deep grab. Or like one said, 'the fingers just let the string go smoothly forward.' A yanked release and smooth release are not the same.

 

So, you're addressing the offset caused by a less than clean release as opposed to the Archer's Paradox that we see with a not-cut-less-than-center bow? I would agree, but my point was that a cut past center traditional bow would allow for a stiffer arrow, not as dependent on fletching to pull the arrow back to center. I just wonder why traditional bow traditional bows go to center cut, but not just a little further? Is there an issue with riser strength when removing too much wood?

 

The cut to center riser puts the arrow just outside, which is where most shooters should have it. Shooting at centershot is less consistent for most finger shooters.