My new 1959 Grizzly has a letter "L" below the serial number, see photo. I saw another one made in 1959 that also has it, but that owner doesn't know what it means. Anyone know what it stands for? Thanks

Is the bow right or left hand?

Right hand, as was the other one I saw.

Could it possibly be light as in 44#?

That's a good idea, except the other bow I saw with the "L" is marked 44# already!

I had a '59 Kodiak Special, right-handed, that also had a lone "L" at the bottom of the written info-- always wondered the same thing! But that one was marked 42# on the riser, and on the sidewall of the sight window as well, so I'm not sure about L meaning "light".

Here's a fuzzy picture from the web of another 1959 Grizzly that has an "L"...

I have no idea what it means, but the first thing that popped into my mind was that it could be the initial of whoever shaped/finished the bow at the factory. Of course that's just a shot in the dark.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows what it actually is, as I'm pretty sure I've seen one or two Kodiak Specials on eBay with an L in the same place.

Did they make different lengths?

I don't know if you'll get anywhere, but I think I'd call Bear & see if they could shed any light on it? Do they have a historian?

I have a 59 Kodiak with an "L" as well and was told by a collector that it was the final inspector's initial. I found it odd that only a few Bears must have had a final inspection.

Sorry, can't seem to post another photo tonight. Anyway, with Blackhawk that makes four Bear bows from 1959 with the letter "L." The inspector theory seems plausible; tomorrow I'll call Bear and see what they say. Thanks for everyone's input here.

A bored visionary at the Bear factory by the name of L-Wood became bored of just writing serial numbers and weight on bows. He thought to his self one day, "yah know I could really mess with those LW boys someday if I just added an L here". L-Wood later on in life helped Al Gore invent the internet so that we could discuss his little L here on the LW.

It's the initial of the person that did the final tiller/weight check of the bow.

I have four 59 Grizzlies and two have the L.

Larry?

Take a couple photos and email Bear. I did that with my Grizzly and they told me everything about it, and quickly!

Good idea, better than phoning them I think.

Maybe it means "Leftover" Just a guess.

Louie.

One of my 59 Kodiak's has the L below the serial #, but none of my 59 Grizzlies has it.

This bow shoots to the left!

L the inspecter that scaled the bow same info is normaly under the leather grips also bd

Thanks, bowdoc, sounds good to me.

SB told you that yesterday.

Right!

I have a 1959 55# 68" Kodiak Special that has the flush Copper Coin that has the "L" under the bow weight. Nice Bow.

I just scroll down and read bowdoc's opinion good enough for me.Nice to have BD here!

I don't buy the "inspector theory" Every bow should have had a final inspector, what happened to the rest of the Bear Bows? No inspector or only L was authorised to initial his bows?

every bow should have a final inspector but sad to say they did not.Bear was building way to many bows to check every bow(360,000 in 1979)now thats a lot of inspecting.Frank said on a run of around 48 bows 45# - 50# every 3rd or 4th was hands on inspected.They did not build 1 35#er 1 42#er 1 65#er bd

Of the 360,000 bows Bear produced in 1976, about 40% were compound bows.

If is was the inspector's mark, you would think it would be the #12.

It is the initial of the inspector for that bow. One can only dream about who was on the floor that day? I have some with L a coupla' B and a few F. Who could it be?

1958 12,500 bows and none were compounds pretty cool huh ? Bjorn if I can get time today I will look through my ledgers and how many different letters I have.I thought at one time there were 8 different letters used.Plus the marks used on the lesser priced discounted blemished and donated models.Under the leather grips on early models is also some great info bd

Andy from Bear customer care replied to my email. He didn't say anything about the letter "L" but he offered this useful advice:

"I would recommended unstringing the bow after use, never store it strung. Buy a stringer and it makes the process of stringing and unstringing much easier. Also, I would store the bow in a case (soft or hard case), in a cool/dry place. Lay it flat if possible so you aren't putting pressure on the limb tips."

If he didn't say anything about the "L"...then he didn't respond to the e-mail. Isn't the "L" what you e-mailed him about? :)

Yes it was clear, in the first sentence of my message.

you mean to tell me after all these years I was supposed to unstring my 1959 Kodiak everytime I was done shooting for the day ? oh yeah no one at bear knows what the letters stand for did you remove the leather grip yet ? bd

The leather is so tight and perfect that I'm really hesitant to remove it.

I have collected the Grizzly bow for a long time ....... I have several bows with letters the serial numbers and such .. always wondered what they meant until Mr Scott sat down with me and told me a lot of things about my collection ...... one of the things he told me as he signed my 1952 Grizzly was they made 350 Grizzlys a day in 1952 ........ that's kinda wild .... but he also told me the extra letters were from inspectors and if I took off the leather grips the same info would be there also... now did he mean that was their initial that's what I took it as .. but ya gotta remember that this was a factory situation .... wasn't a custom archery shop ....... so no matter what the extra letters mean or the star stamp heck even the great big 2's thing only thing that really matters is that these old bows were meant to be bent ...... shoot them have fun and leave a little mystery in it maybe the person who was writing the specs on the bow was having a LOUSY day ......hence the "L" ...... lol I do love these threads kinda cool all the diff ideas folks have ...... thanks all

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