Looking at possibly buying a birthyear (1969) Bear Kodiak Magnum. Have never shot one but they look interesting. Its a 48# bow and I my draw length is 27 5/8". Would love to hear opinions..... arrow likes and dislikes etc.... Thanks :)
It's my favorite bow. I have one at 45# @28", 53# at my 30" draw. Everyone told me I would hate it because I have a long draw, but it actually stacks RIGHT at my anchor point so it ended up being perfect. With a 27.5" draw, it should be absolutely perfect for you.
I dunno. I have a 28-inch draw or a little less, and I felt some stack on the one I owned as well as finger pinch. Maybe I'm more sensitive to both.
How you grip the string might have some affect. Three-under and you wouldn't feel the pinch as much, but short bows are more sensitive to 3-under holds than longer bows.
Can it work? Yes. Will it work? I dunno. Good luck.
I owned over 40 of them as I assembled a collection. To be honest I never shot or hunted with any of them very much. Longer bows always worked better for me. Had quite a few 69s and still have 4 from that year.
I struggled to shoot mine well ; too light and the short limbs weren't stable, but found that with a quiver and stabilizer attached I could shoot it with some accuracy.I hate stabilizers on a hunting bow. For me any bow under 56" is just tough to shoot well. Split finger does seem to fit the short bow better than my normal three under at my 27 1/2" draw.You might not have the problems with it I would but I think trying one before you buy would be a good idea.
K Mags are generally easy to find, easy to sell, they are nice to carry and fun to shoot. Not my favorite, but I've usually got one hanging around somewhere. That being said, a few years ago I decided I just had to get a 1969 "Blacktip" K Mag, got one and it was the least enjoyable K Mag I've had. not sure if it was the materials or just that bow, but it was a bit of a dog.
My Kodiak Magnum is a 72' 45# @ 28". It is the first and only traditional bow I've owned, about a year now. I killed a 10 point with it this archery season. I draw just a little over 27" and have now problem with stacking or finger pinch, I shoot split finger. I shoot 500 spine Warrior carbon arrows and have had no issues. It is a fun bow to shoot even out to 80 yards which I do in target rounds.
Shot one my whole teenage and early 20's with a 29" draw with no problems bought one a couple of years ago and I didn't enjoy it much with arthritis in my fingers but still shot it well, but prefer the longer bows these days.
The KM does not stack at 28". Do a force draw and you will see. What you likely notice is a more acute string angle. I have shot 52" bows out to 70 yards and they will be accurate if you can hold them still. Some mass weight will help, but for hunting ranges they are great bows.
I could never shoot one with my 29" draw. But for some reason they became more shootable for me when I had to switch to left- handed due to an injury. One of my late friends that was left- handed had one that I tried. Haven't been able to find a lefty in the years I prefer. I do have every year they were made in my collection ....all right-handers though!
I love my early 60's Kmag. I killed 2 deer with it last year. I have a short draw and it fits me perfect. I'm looking for another one a few lbs lighter.
I know and plan to..... but with three custom revolvers in process on the bench $$$ is stretched thin.... so for now one will suffice. Just trying to replace my '71 Super Kodiak that died a untimely death late last year ;)
I have a few because I got them cheap. To me they have finger pinch and they stack. My wife hunts with one but she has a 26" draw and she can shoot good with hers.
I've owned two, beautiful to look at, very compact to handle, and compared to longer bows, everything else being equal, much more difficult to shoot consistently. Obviously a shorter draw length helps a lot. With my 28" draw stacking and finger pinch were an issue.
I have a '67 (birth year) KMag, 45#@28. No stack or pinch for me shooting split, and it is hands down the most comfortable grip of any bow I've owned. Not super speedy but I killed my first trad deer with it. Really fun to shoot.
This was the first Bear bow I had purchased and shot one for few years when I was young. I found that it shot well and handle nice in the bush for me. I have a 29 draw found no stack or finger pinch. Its like anything you need to learn how to shoot a bow and use whatever is in your hand I found out much later in life.
Sometimes people make things up in their head rather than work it out in their head and shoot it.
I got mine I was 14 yo mother took me up to a sporting goods store a big chain near us in 1967. unfortunately I didn't know anything about bows then and stored in a corner in bedroom and the limb twisted. I sold the bow like that and had wished for years I had kept. I didn't know how to take a twist out and a guy I knew said he would buy the bow and fix it. I sold and he said he fixed it and it shot fine again. Funny thing was it was shootin ok just string popped off at times.
When I got older I bought more K Mags even had a couple Zebras that were sweet. Great bows no cons ever.
I also killed my 1rst deer a doe with one as well as rabbits and squirrels.
I think with fat fingers the stacks are not usually felt like thin fingers maybe?
"Kodiak Mag is in very nice condition. There is a little crazing in the finish on the back of the bow at the fade outs and a little crazing in the finish on the riser. No holes or stress cracks."
A '62 was my first bow I ever owned too, and I bought it new. Liked it about as much as a young man could love his first dog, car, or horse, and maybe more. Used to sit on the floor furnace on cold days before school and just look at the rosewood in it and I tried to take it out to shoot it across the road at some railroad tracks everyday I could.
As George said, can own more than one bow, so I bought a target bow in '63 so I would have what I needed for all types of shooting. However, in '62, that little bow went to a lot of field archery events and it would fly aluminums with nibs down to the 80 with a whole lot of authority. I was mighty proud of that bow too. That K Mag was one of my favorites.......bar none.
That fantastic little bow started a bunch of great memories and it formed an impression so deep that I went back to those rosewood Bears of its same era for selecting the bows I have now on my rack. Was lucky enough to find a '62 Kodiak almost as good looking, but it wasn't bought with hard to get Chirstmas season working money as that K Mag was. That little bow cost a whole whopping $65.
That was one of their most popular bows from the year (1961) it was introduced. They made thousands of them every month and many were used yearly for many years. Most were hung up when the compound became popular and that wasn't until near the mid 70's. Had it not cost more than the Grizzly, it likely would have been Bear's number one selling hunting bow through the 60's.
I have had one for about a year and was shooting it with 7 inch brace height. I found it very touchy and gave up on it. I was talking to a friend who shoots a super Mag and he told me to go to 8 1/2 inches and try it. It “magically” turned into a sweet shooting, quiet bow. Still a little touchy and seems to magnify a not so good release but a solid bow for sure.
What are these things going for theses days anyway? I was looking on the auction site and the ones I found have absurd prices on them with no bids! In my heavy collecting days they were 150.00 bows if they were REALLY nice!
The old Bears in very good condition are getting hard to find. They are getting expensive too. 15 years ago $150 for a real good one, was a real good price.
The 1962 was a year that had the Bolivian riser, as Doug mentioned extra mass makes these bows a bit more stable. Tough to find '62 they did not make a ton of early Kmags.
The K mag is the perfect bow to copy for a young adult or kid's bow. Scale down the riser and adjust the poundage. I like to redesign the riser for a lower wrist. A lot of kid's bows look like kid's bow but the K mag looks and shoots like an adult bow, scaled down to fit a younger archer perfectly.
One of the magnums I picked up was a 34# factory camo made in the 60's. Wife shoots it real well. I gave $10.00 for it and it came with the 4 arrow screw on bow quiver.
The bow market is down...yet. Just because someone is asking a high amount for a starting bid, doesn't mean anyone is paying that. Most do that to keep from having a reserve that costs extra on Ebay. A high starting bid is just that and doesn't cost extra.
I bought a bow two weeks ago that had a starting bid of $110.00 and had run seven days twice. It also said 'or best offer' so I offered $60.00, figuring they would just turn it down or make a counter-offer higher. To my surprise they accepted the $60.00. Sometimes that happens, but usually you get a counter offer somewhat above what you offered them.
Be patient, bows aren't bring much money nowadays unless there is something special about them.
Fitter shoot it . You will know. I had 3 of them.I am with Pdiddly. My pick was a 54 inch early Nomad Browning.Still have it.But the k mag are very nice also . Personal taste.
Well I would but for the price I think I can do much better. I know when your talking about 50-60 yr old bows they aren't perfect but I expect the price to fall inline with condition.
In the summer of 1964 I bought a Kodiak Magnum and on 9-30 that year killed my first deer with that bow. 45#, RH, homemade bow quiver that carried 5 arrows, camo cloth bow sleeves, arrows were PO Cedar tipped with 4-blade Bear Razorheads. That was my first ever deer and I recall most details of that hunt vividly. This kill proved to be the seminal opiate for what turned out to be a lifelong addiction.
I have a 69 kmag on consignment at The Footed Shaft, in Rochester, MN. Excellent condition with new B55 Flemish string. I'm shooting a longbow right now. It should be on their website catalog.
