Shakespeare Parabow

“Archery’s Greatest Improvement” 
Howard Hill

Shakespeare Parabow 

Solid Fiberglass Bows 

by Larry Vienneau

 Solid Fiberglass bows can’t really be compared to wood core and laminated recurves and longbows or the contemporary compound bow. Today’s archers tend to forget that these simple self-bows were one of the most important part in the development of modern archery. Aspiring young Robin Hoods honed their skills with solid fiberglass bows. From the early 1950s though the late 1970s millions of tough fiberglass longbows and recurves were mass produced by archery manufacturers like Indian, Herter's, Paul Bunyan, Ben Pearson, Bear, Ply-Flex, Stream-Eze, Outers, Stemmler, Lockleys, York, Fleetwood, Zeus, and of course Parabow and Shakespeare..

     William Shakespeare, Jr. invented a patent for his fishing reel, and began producing fishing equipment in the late 1800's. In the 20^th century Shakespeare became a major producer of sporting equipment. In 1959 Shakespeare Cooperation acquiring Parabow the Ohio-based Parallel Products Company, a maker of archery equipment that was organized into Shakespeare's Archery subsidiary. Parabow was one of the main producers of solid fiberglass bows in the 1950. Shakespeare was an early pioneer of the application of fiberglass to fishing rods. The merger of these two companies was a match made in heaven. During the sixties and seventies Shakespeare produce fiberglass and wood laminate bow but it did not forsake its Parabow line of solid fiberglass archery equipment.

     The 1950’s was the time of Happy Days, Twinkies, Howdy Dowdy and mass production. Literally Millions of solid fiberglass bow were produced. Parabows, like all solid fiberglass bows, don’t have the smoothness and speed of wood and fiber glass laminate bows and heaver bows are prone to stacking. However there are some very positive features to these bows:

Expense: The cost of a solid fiberglass bow has always been much lower than laminated constructed equipment. For the beginner, or budget archer, the simple one piece, mass produced design is easy choice. Kids are rough on bows, and it makes sense to buy inexpensive equipment while they are learning.  Used solid fiberglass bows are plentiful and can often be purchased at a yard sale or on E-bay for a few dollars. Value is dependent on condition, draw weight, and manufacturer. BEAR and BEN PEARSON fiberglass bows are the most common. Others are scarcer. Prices vary from $25-$75, Rare bows can go as high as $125. Sometimes complete sets are available, some are mint in the box. Mint means un-used. These sets can be priced as high as $300 but you need to look at the condition and research the sets to see if it is authentic. There is a fiberglass bow on eBay now being sold as rare antique and they are asking $598!! 

It is not a rare bow, it is a Ben Pearson youth bow missing its decals. it should be priced at about $35. Buy wisely, do your research, and ask questions

Resilience: Fiberglass bows can be slogged through snow, shot in the rain, dropped in mud, left outside in the wet ground overnight; the bow is will not delaminate. Fiberglass bows have little danger of being over drawn. They can be left strung for long periods of time without fear of the limbs following the string, they nearly indestructible and ideal for bowfishing, hunting, canoeing or boating.  If you want to purchase a more powerful model you are restricted to the used market because heaver bows are not made today. Always check for cracks and hairline splits in the glass, as well as twisted limbs before buying.

Efficiency: A solid fiberglass bow is not as efficient at casting an arrow as well as a built laminated recurve and longbow. Despite this fiberglass bows are lethal; many trophy animals have been harvested with them. The main problem is the narrow limb design which tends to cause stacking in heaver bows. If you chose to use a fiberglass bow for hunting deer, add an extra 5-10 pounds to compensate for the slower cast. My B7 Comet 45 lb. shoots at 158.27 FPS while most of my other 45 lb. recurves are between 170-184 FPS

Shakespeare Parabow #50 RH Brushmaster (Thanks to Lewis Kent), #45  Model B-7 Comet, #18 Model B-9 Fury

Early Shakespeare Parabow Sharpshooter Longbow 40 lbs. with a Waverly Ohio tag

    Shakespeare Parabow bows range in weight from 18 lbs. to 65 Lbs. Many models are ambidextrous, however some are not. If you are a lefty you need to know that some Parabow models were right hand only. Parabow B2 Brushmaster, B1 Hunter, B11, B-8 Rocket, B12, and B12 Omni Bow are only available in right hand models. I was unaware that these bows were RH and bid on a 50# Brushmaster. When it arrived I was disappointed but it was a beautiful bow, fortunately my friend bought it and it is featured in this blog.

     I think everyone has memories of these humble bows. My memories are of shooting them in camp as a child and using them when I was a late teen to target shoot. The most moving memory was when I found a 50 pound Shakespeare Parabow Brushmaster leaning against a tree while I was moose hunting in Alaska; it rested there undisturbed where a hunter had placed it over forty years before, waiting for me to come along to find it. I have had many debates with folks in traditional archery forums who fail to recognize the contribution that the humble Fiberglass has made to American archery.

Chris Libby with son Clint

 Chris Libby wrote a much more in depth article on solid fiberglass for Traditional Bowhunter "Ayuh…Fiberglass!" (http://www.tradbow.com/public/272.cfm) In his article his last paragraph brilliantly places the Solid Fiberglass Bow into its rightful place in modern archery.

“Dismiss my affection for "self bows" made of fiberglass, as nostalgia, and the bows themselves as children's toys and mere junk, if you will. However the fact remains that these bows are as much a part of the history and culture of archery during the last century, as are Howard Hill's bamboo longbows and Fred Bear's Kodiak recurves. If it wasn't for the solid fiberglass bow, millions of people wouldn't ever have known the feeling of standing under a blue sky in the warm summer sun, and watching an arrow arch in its mystical path toward the target. Given the importance and overall usefulness of this basic but deadly introductory weapon to our sport, as far as I'm concerned I'll agree with my Grandfather; "Ayuh…Fiberglass!" “

Parabow by Shakespeare

B-1 Hunter Shakespeare 1960-68

• Charcoal color fiberglass
• Leather grip
• Shaped static nocks
• 55” 51” string
• Draw: 35#-65# 1960-61, 35#-55 1962, 35#-60# 1963-68
• RH only
• 6 ½ brace

B-2 BrushMaster 1960-62

B-1 C 1964-70

• Charcoal fiberglass
• Leather grip
• Shaped static nocks
• 63” 60” string 1960-62
• 55” 1964-70
• Draw: 35#-65#1960-62, 45# 1965, 40-50# 1966-70
• RH only
• 6 3/4" brace

B-3 Sharpshooter 1960-65

• Red Black finished fiberglass, Red 1962-65
• Mottled gray grip 1960, white pistol 1962,63
• 60”-57” string
• RH LH 1960-61
• RH 1962-65
• Draw: 20#-40#
• 7” brace

B-4 Robin 1960-62

• Red and black finish 60-61, red 1962
• White plastic grip
• White nocks
• RH LH
• 54” 50” string
• Draw: 20#
• 6" brace

B-6 Marksman 1960-62

• Brown white mottled fiberglass 1960
• White plastic grip, brown 1960
• White tips 1961, 62 brown
• 58" 55" string
• RH LH
• 25#—50#
• 6 3/4 brace

B-7 Comet 1960-62

• Brown and white molted fiberglass, , two tone brown 1961, forest brown 1962
• White plastic grip 1960, Brown 1961,62
• 56”  53” string
• RH LH
• Draw: #40-#55 1960, 35-55# 1961
• 6 1/2 brace

B-8 Rocket 1960-75

• Red finished fiberglass 60-61, green 62-68
• White handle, wt. pistol grip 1962-75
• 56” 53 ½” string
• RH LH 1960-61, 1965-75
• RH 1962-64
• Draw: 25-35# 1960-61, 20-45# 1963-77
• 6 ½ brace

B-9 Fury 1960-75

• Red Yellow or green fiberglass 60-61, red or green 1962,
• White handle
• 50” 46” string
• 6” brace
• RH LH      
• draw: 18#

B-10 Will Scarlet 1960-65

• Red finish fiberglass
• White handle and nocks
• 48” 41 1/2“string
• RH LH
• draw: 12#
• 5” brace

B-11,   1962,63

• Fiberglass gold finish
• Pistol grip black, 6’ sight window
• 66”
• draw: 20#-50#, #30-50# 1963
• RH 
• 7 “ brace height

B-12,   1962-63,

OmniBow 1964- 67

• Fiberglass copper finish
• Pistol grip black, 6’ sight window
• 64”
• Draw: 20#-50# 1962, 20-55# 1963-,67
• RH
• 7 “ brace height

Here are some beauty shots of George Stout's Parabow. Looks like he had a great day!!!

Thank you George

© Copyright, Larry Vienneau Jr.

All rights reserved.

 

VINTAGE ZEUS FIBERGLASS BOWS

Zeus and Shawnee Fiberglass bows
by Larry Vienneau

I have read in many traditional forums that fiberglass bows are worthless, that it doesn't make sense to attempt to restore them. That might be true if you are planning to resell the bows but for me it isn't about the money. I love to restore any bow. Most of these fiberglass bows are beaters, dinged up, painted, scratched, and needing TLC. They are usually inexpensive and I love the challenge.

Ironically solid fiberglass bows are a great place to start restoring vintage bows. You don't need to worry about laminations separating or the glues failing. You do need to remember that these bows are fiberglass and to always scrap with a piece of plastic from the riser to the to the nock and not nock to riser because you run the risk of lifting strands of the glass. 

my Zeus 50 lb. number 402 in Translucent Light Green Glass

 I have not been able to find anything on the Zeus Archery Company. I am sure there is some information buried in a stack of 1950s outdoor magazines, but for now I will just describe the bow and the rest will happen in time. This bow was a $35 eBay item. When it arrive it was in decent shape but the finish was pretty bad and the leather grip was falling off. I prefer to keep any original labels or logos intact so I used Frisket Masks. This is a transparent film used in airbrushing or watercolor. It works well because it is easy to remove and won't damage a delicate decal. Once it is covered I used Citrus stripper because it easy and is a water clean up. The Zeus only needed two applications of remover. I had the entire bow stripped and ready to finish in an hour. I tied a piece of heavy fishing line to the top nock, hung it from a tree and sprayed it with a couple coats of urethane. Then I wrapped a new leather grip and added Velcro as an arrow rest. Total time for refinish- two hours!

my Shawnee 50 lb. number #149R in Translucent Light Green Glass

I try to buy these bows in weights of 50-60 lbs. The cast is slower then a laminated bow so the higher weight help push the arrow. These bows are incredibly durable and are excellent shooters. That is one of the advantages over laminated recurves. Another huge advantage is you can use Fast Flight string with these bows, it isn't a good idea to use Fast Flight string with other vintage bows. 

Around the same time I picked up the Zeus I also won a Shawnee fiberglass bow. The photo of the bow was dark and I thought the bow was dark green. I was very happy to discover that these bows were very similar, both had Jade like Translucent Light Green Glass, the same grips, same yellow decorative tape,  and the nocks were identical. Most likely the same company produce both bows. The refinishing for this bow took even less time. Two bows for under $70 and a few hours of work. What is the real advantage to these old time bows is the ambidextrous riser. I can share the shooting experiences with my son and my friends. 

I shot these two bows with my chronograph, using 410 gr arrows, shot 12 arrows and averaged the results. These bow with fast Flight Strings shot better that my expensive Bear bows:  

 Zeus 50 lb. number 402 Fiberglass-------     169.88 FPS

Shawnee 50 lb. number 149R Fiberglass---  167.90 FBS

© Copyright, Larry Vienneau Jr.

All rights reserved.