Old archery equipment from previous generations

[doggonemess]

Greetings all,

I have acquired some interesting and exciting equipment. My uncle came to visit last weekend and brought with him a collection of items that belonged to my grandfather. He started shooting recurves in the 1930's and even co-founded the North American Bowhunters Association (no longer extant). When he died, all of his gear went into storage, until I started into making bows and archery equipment. Amazingly, I had no idea that my grandfather ever did this, as his died before I was born. Maybe it's in my blood. 

The items I received are all great, but two in particular I wanted to share.

One is a tubular steel take-down bow, I believe made by a company called Seefab. According to my uncle, this bow was issued to Marines in WWII for silently dispatching sentries in the Pacific. After the war, my grandfather got it from another Navy man. It doesn't come apart anymore, but it shoots great. I have enough strings sitting around that I found one that fits.





The other item is a mystery, but I think I figured it out. At first I thought it was a tool for holding arrow shafts still while working on them. Then last night, I was attempting to straighten one of my bent aluminum arrows and got an amazing flash of insight (which is rare for me). The tool is for straightening aluminum arrows! I used it and it worked great for that purpose. It makes sense, as I also got about 30 aluminum arrows from the late 30's or early 40's along with the other gear.



Is my guess right about this one?

Another cool set of items was these four quivers. The odd one belonged to my grandfather, the two matching to my uncle and dad, and the fancier one must have belonged to my aunt, who also died a long time ago. It's an amazing heirloom.



Jamie

[bjrogg]

I'm so glad those fantastic items were put in storage and saved for you the person who was meant to receive them. Glad we didn't see them on some TV show getting sold to someone else. I remember Clint had a steel bow but I think it was very different from yours. Cool that it was Marine issued.
Bjrogg

[Ed Brooks]

Nice stuff, congrats on getting into your collection. I had heard about a longbow kill in ww2, as the last in modern warfare.
just look up mad-jack-churchill

[jeffhalfrack]

What a time capsule! Thanks for sharing ,,,,,I'd love to see it all .jeffw

[chamookman]

That's some Kewl stuff for sure - Thanks for sharing  . Bob

[Pat B]

I love old archery stuff and you got some good-uns. Will you post some more pics of the arrow straightener and some of how it is used?

[Eric Krewson]

At first I thought no way were aluminum arrows used in the 30s or 40s so I looked it up. Easton made their first aluminum arrows in 1939.

[Pat B]

I was wondering the same thing, Eric.

[doggonemess]

I'll definitely get some more pics and try to demonstrate the tool as I think it works.

At first I thought no way were aluminum arrows used in the 30s or 40s so I looked it up. Easton made their first aluminum arrows in 1939.

I was shocked when my uncle told me how old they were. I wasn't sure I believed it. They shoot like lasers, crazy fast and accurate. They're much shorter than my usual arrows, but it makes sense, as I'm told my granda had short arms.

Jamie

[jaxenro]

If you stand the bow up and drizzle in a 50/50 mix of tranny fluid and acetone and let it soak in for a few days it might just pull apart. Works wonders on stuck metal

[mullet]

I always enjoy seeing the older stuff. Thanks for sharing this. Be care full soaking the joint of the metal bow with the cork handle. The cork will absorb it if not done carefully.

[jaxenro]

Looking at the pic it looks like you can get it in the joint under the handle and away from the cork if it's stood up with the "inner" piece uppermost. Just need to apply it carefully

[Dakota Kid]

I think maybe that metal bow was part of a shipwreck survival kit that was standard equipment for naval vessels stationed in the south pacific. I know a metal take down was in the kit, not sure if that's one of them or not.

[doggonemess]

I think maybe that metal bow was part of a shipwreck survival kit that was standard equipment for naval vessels stationed in the south pacific. I know a metal take down was in the kit, not sure if that's one of them or not.

Cool! Thanks for that info. It gives me more to research. I'm assuming that you are correct, that makes a lot of sense.

[doggonemess]

If you stand the bow up and drizzle in a 50/50 mix of tranny fluid and acetone and let it soak in for a few days it might just pull apart. Works wonders on stuck metal

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I'm going to leave it the way it is, as I don't need to take it apart, and it shoots great. It'll look nice on the wall, too.