Does anyone else see an issue here?

Wow. Nice shelf work.

Looks like about 3/8" is missing of the shelf. Lance.

Even as uninformed about stickbows as one can be, I can still see the problem here. Did you just get this bow? Is it brand new?

Looks like they sawed it off flat and at an angle. Is this a new bow?......wing

That should not have left the shop, except into the wood stove.

Actually that's one of the things that happens when you get bows that have different people working on them. They nearly all have little things that they do that are different from what someone else does.

That's how for instance Larry Hatfield can look at an old Martin or DH and tell you who made it based on the tips and so on.

If you look back through history at bow's over the years, the grip being undercut like that isn't new, or unusual, or even necessarily wrong. Pearson made them that way, so did American Archery, Stemmler, the list goes on.

It just doesn't fit the "mold" that is expected.

Quality control doesn't mean every bow will be perfect when it leaves the factory. In theory it would seem that is what it's for, but the human factor is still there. I can remember old bows coming from the Grayling factory that weren't perfect either. Overall they do, and are doing a much better job at controlling the quality. Once again, we show one bow out of thousands that has an issue. We should be so perfect ourselves.

It ain't the grip, that shelf is about 10 degrees off plumb. Not radiused, just flat crooked.

First issue I see is we don't have all the details? :)

Still the arrow only contacts the highest point-same as radiused.

Get your file out or send it back. It's not right. That shelf is all messed up. Like it came out of an 8th grade shop class.

Yep, I spotted the problem right off the bat....shelf is on the wrong side....otherwise, I say be proud of it and enjoy it.

Somebody explain how the shelf is all messed up. I don't see it. Especially since we are looking at a picture that doesn't have enough depth and dimension to see different angles.

Just tilt the bow back and the shelf will be level.

Send it back. Ask for a new one, or have them fix that one. It's unfortunate you have to do that, but it happens.

Fdp look how high the shelf is in back compared to the front. It's way out of square with the riser. It needs to be level. Or at least a lot closer to leVel.

did you try shooting it?

Its strictly a matter of a problem being perceived when there isn't one!!! Bob

Like I said before....I've seen at least DOZENS of risers like that on old bows over the years. I still don't get it other than like Bob said it's something that is perceived as a problem. What difference would it make in shooting? The high spot of the shelf is the high spot of the shelf. Some folks like it right over the pivot point, some folks like it further forward, some folks like it further to the string side. It doesn't mean it's wrong though.

I would prefer it be like that, instead of flat. Don't really care for my arrows dragging through an inch and a quarter, or so, of shelf covering. I would probably put a small bump between the shelf and cover anyway. But that's just me.

Learn to shoot the bow and stop whinning steve.LOL

Loots like a lot of problem there. Hows it shoot though did ya try it.

Ok if you keep it and it shoots ok, then try to sell it to someone else and see what happens if its not disclosed.

I like it:) Dave

If it came from the Bear factory like that, it's easily the worst shaped shelf I've ever seen on any Bear bow.

Maybe somebody modified it after the fact.

I've made bows like that on purpose.It just changes the contact point.

Yeah, but Bear never does.

When did SB learn to post pics? ;-)

You sure can tell hunting season is over! :>)

If that's a 50th anniv KM I just saw another picture that is the same.

Well, a couple of things... if I wanted the shelf's high point closer to being over the deepest part of the grip, I would have radiused it in the shape of an ellipse with the high side toward the rear and swapped the rug rest end for end...since it's currently deeper toward the bow's back(an ellipse facing the wrong way). It would have looked much better, perhaps felt better in the bow hand, and certainly made less contact with the arrow. The way the rug is installed now, it is effectively a flat shelf again and the drop-away angled shelf(what we see as a mistake) cut was for naught.

Looks like the rug rest was put on backwards. It doesn't seem to fit the shelf.

Deerman, that's my point, there is no high point.

Imagine an arrow laying on there, perpendicular to the handle area. Even though the shelf drops away in that strange angle, the arrow would lay flat on 3/4 of that rug. Personally, I don't think it's a huge deal, but it is counter-intuitive/productive.

guys....Ran across that pic on the auction site last night. It's a brand new in the box,unused 50th anniversary Kodiak Magnum. I have what was an shot 1975 Super Magnum that was some what like that...only not near as bad. It was a pain trying to get it to shoot decent. No matter WHERE you put the nocking point arrow flight sucked! If you gripped the bow correctly it messed up the dynamic tiller. And it looks stupid!

This is more like it! Two year newer model!

"....like 8th grade shop class." lol That's no lie. Is there even shop in middle svchool anymore?

George they may have made mistakes back in the sixties but my gut tells me WAY more mistakes are made nowdays, and WAY more likely to be accepted on the line. Look at Remington 700 and Marlin rifles now. Winchester 'commemoratives' lol Even Ruger revolvers. Look at the crap fitting in general. Really bad. IMO it's totally on the individual now to do a good job. Frequently people nowdays especially the young workers just don't give a crap, or want to work hard to succeed. Mediocrity. Hate to say that. JMO

Mini rant ahead. IMO WWII was the real demarcation between old school hand fitting and mass production careless slop we have today in many hand made items. Most managers now don't know what fitting is. The German in me talking. lol

Jawohl !

It might be an optical illusion guys.

You almost need to see the whole riser, because to me it looks like the strike plate was just put on crooked.

Those reproduction '59 strike plates might be too large for the sight window of the heavily deflexed Magnum riser.

This is just a guess because I don't know for sure.

Notice that the other Magnum has the smaller Bear strike plate on the sight window though. ;^)

Same bow with a little different perspective...

Hmmmm....this bow also has a lowered chopped short arrow rest with a bit different site window area extending back beyond the actual rest. ... Like Fred's lowered rest on his personal bows. It's also like the site window rest area on my greenstripe takedown. The five line strikeplate is NOT a good fit in this application, though it was used on the original ' 61 model. I think you cleared that up Brandon! I don 't think those new 5line strikeplates are shaped properly to fit the Magnums. I know on my original 61's they are not that wide, and the angles match the riser front and back perfectly .

The bow is not right. Period. High point/ low point, blah blah blah. Some bozo that shapes risers at Bear Archery fouled up. If that thing showed up at my house it would be back in the box and headed in the other direction with the quickness. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

If you notice the shelf comes pretty much to the belly of the other bow. The bow in question the shelf ends much sooner. If nothing else the shelf is cut way too low for that bow as a factory model. Yes the strike plate may be crooked but the bows still not right.

Might look better if they had put the strike plate on straight.

When you buy a factory bow you see something you like in that model so you buy it expecting to get what the catalog shows as that model. It shoulda been firewood or at least sold as a second.

So it came factory exactly like what's pictured?

Hmmm ;-)

"Mini rant ahead. IMO WWII was the real demarcation between old school hand fitting and mass production careless slop we have today in many hand made items. Most managers now don't know what fitting is. The German in me talking. lol"

Hand fitting doesn't mean high quality at least not in every instance. It can mean that the parts are not interchangeable and that they only fit each other. Modern manufacturing is great, and is combining the best of manufacturing in the old and new school in the best case. It is constantly closing in on hand made products, like custom made suits that were once the preserve of only the best hand work.

Take something like a 1911, where they used to fit frames by hand fitting after deforming in a vise. Today they machine the rails for the chosen fit, full length, and can do it on CNC. Back when they did the former, only a few shooters needed the level of fit achieved. Today the whole platform hangs on the trigger and therefore the accuracy, for a 1911 to make sense as a top of the line instrument all the pistols have to have decent accuracy performance.

We can't really complain too hard about remingtons if they cost the same number for number as when gas was 80 cents. Look at all the rifles based on the Savage design that have come out lately for the price of a few tanks of gas, and would shoot the lights off an unimproved model 700 from 30 years ago. That is mostly a design change, but the manufacturing isn't holding it back.

Marlin was bound to take a temporary dive under new ownership but let's hope that is all it is.

Speaking of WWII, you could well be right. They had to produce in huge volume and considerable quality many designs that were still old school in their construction like Garands and Thompsons. They also pioneered all kinds of technology from tig welding to nail guns, that ushered in the post war manufacturing. The US post war economic boom is often put down to a number of factors like the lack of competition and huge post war delayed need. The war also ushered in a revolution in manufacturing.

why are you writing about guns now?

oh yea just wanted to mention the good one is for sale . the one STEVE BAKER LIKES . it is in the classifieds .

Yah ?.... But it 's wrong handed ! .... If you 're pissed because I quickly borrowed your pic for a reference....consider it extra free advertising! ;) I don 't have a computer full of stock photos . Just this dis functional I-phone !

no its just more advertising

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