Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Is there any price guides on old recurves?

I have several old recurves that my Father collected that I will be selling.Was wondering if there was a price guide similar to the Blue Book that you use for selling firearms.I don't want to go through the hassle of trying to sell on E-bay and package them up to ship.I was going to take them to a local gun show and sell them.None of them are made from Bear Archery.

Post specs and pics of your bows and someone on here will give you a reasonable estimate of what they are worth. Bear is a big name that holds its value, some of the others are great bows but just do not command the money. Let us know what you have.

There isn't that I am aware of.

That said, "Trad Gang" is solid long-running forum of bow shooters without training wheels.

They can help identify your bows, values, and any collecting potential.

Here is a good place to start as well, there many members with a good knowledge base of factory bows, custom bows, and "One-Off" models.

If any of your bows are a "Nirk" bow, I would be interested.

To get the most accurate measure of value, go to Ebay, Archery, .... Type in the name of the bow you're interested in, and click on completed listings. Look for green numbers which mean a sale was completed. No red or black numbers. That is the best indicator of what the market is getting in today's world. Prices are down overall on most vintage bows, except for the ones that are always high. Watch the auction site on Ebay as well. I buy nearly all my used bows there and have gotten some great deals. Prices fluctuate, and no one really knows at any given time what a bow is worth. An auction will get competition and is a good indicator.

Heres the list:

1) Black Hawk-1965 Hornet Special (left hand)
29# at 28" 68"

2)Black Hawk-Yellow jacket
42# at 28" 66"

3)Black Hawk -Scorpion
32# at 28" 60"

4) Ben Pearson Colt 7070
35# at 28" 62"

5)Ben Pearson All American 7064
30# at 28" 64"

6)Ben Pearson BP-H90 7388
45# at 28" 58"

7)Shakespeare Wonderbow model x16
30# at 28" 66"

8) Shakespeare Sierra model x18
45# at28" 52"

9)AMF Hawk
40# at 28" 58"

10)American Archery
25# at 28" 60"

11)York Archery Cresent
42# at 28" 60"

12)Drake Archery (says made in Lakeside California)
?
13) Ben Pearson- Deerslayer 7300
?
14) Ben Pearson- Spectre 7352
40# at 28"

15)Browning Nomad Stalker 1
45# at 28" 52"

Did find some Bear Archery bows:

16) Tigercat
41# at 28" 62"

17)Black bear
?

18)Panda
45# at 28" 58"

Then a strange one-this one has aluminum limbs:
IVANHOE MFG CO Ludington, Mich
50# at 28"

(the bows with a question mark-I couldn't read any writing about it on the bow)

If anyone is interested I can send more detailed pics to your e-mail.I would have to go over them really well to make sure there are no cracks-I had one break on me years ago and it was alot of pain! Not exactly sure where to get a box to ship a bow in,but if someone here buys a bow, you will be able to inspect it and if not satisfied your money will be returned.Thanks

Most of them are ~ $100 bows, depending on condition - I may be interested in #4, #5 and #7 please email pics to tmcbrideehminc.com

Hang onto your hat when you go to ship these......the long box is expensive to ship. You will also want to insure the package. I have had several bows broken by the USPS.

Selling the whole pile may be the way to go if you can find a buyer.

I've been selling bows for many years and always use USPS. Never had one broken either going or coming. Packaging correctly is the best way to prevent messes. If you use USPS, do it online, and it won't be very expensive. I can send a 60" recurve across the country...lower 48...for less than $30.00, Priority Mail. Make the package just a few inches longer than the bow. A good recurve box can be made from two arrow boxes. Just one layer of bubble wrap to keep it from moving in the box. Most can ship in an 8" wide by 3" deep box, and just 3 or 4 inches longer than the bow unstrung. That means a 60" bow will be about 56" long unstrung...so a 60" box would give you plenty space. No need to have all that extra space inside a bigger box either; it doesn't really protect the bow and it costs more money.

RMS archery might be another option, you could try try calling them, or The Footed Shaft.
EBay prices can have a lot of blue sky to them..

If you want to sell the collection, look up Lonnie Collins in Michigan.

I got my last metal riser Blackwidow from him, good dude.

Of course I lost his phone #............

Personally I wouldn't sell them. As mentioned they may be $100-$150 each. It won't take long for the money to be gone and forgotten. Just make sure before you sell.