History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

History of Archery and collecting antique and collectible Traditional Archery supplies.
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Captainkirk
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History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#1 Post by Captainkirk »

Funny that I should be talking about a target archery bow on a bow hunting site, but I am in love with these things, so 'Bear' with me and deal with it in this ongoing thread... :D (pun intended; oh yes I diiiiiiiid!)

Part I-Roots

First of all, what in blazes is a "tamerlane" anyway?
Not what, but WHO.
The Tamerlane was named after the famed legendary Mongol bowman and warrior, Tamerlane (also known as Timur the Lame or Amir Timur (AD 1386-1405) See the Wikipedia link below for a complete history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timur

Fred Bear was quite aware of the history of archery as he chose names for different bows.

Designed with the tournament archer in mind, this bow was first introduced by Bear Archery of Grayling, Michigan in the 1963 product catalog, calling it "the finest custom bow of our time". Indeed, it was. It offered, among other things, superb factory craftsmanship and attention to detail, and excellent balance and stability with forward weight distribution. There were three basic models of this bow; the Tamerlane, HC-30, and HC-300 models. I will delve into the particulars of each model as we go along.

The production runs were as follows:

*Tamerlane, 1963-1970

*Tamerlane HC-30, 1965-1967

*Tamerlane HC-300, 1968-1972
Aim small, miss small!

Crazynate
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#2 Post by Crazynate »

These are great bows. Thanks for sharing info kirk
Goodnight Chesty Wherever You Are.

Captainkirk
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#3 Post by Captainkirk »

Part II

The Tamerlane

The basic Tamerlane model was introduced in 1963 and ran through 1970. The initial run of Tamerlanes, 1963-64, had the beautiful checkerboard rosewood riser caps and according to Jorge L. Coppen, "Bear Archery Traditional Bows; A Chronological History" pp.231,(1) carry no known serial number sequence range and some are reported to have no serial numbers, others have random number sequences.

1963 Tamerlane
These bows were initially offered in two lengths; AMO 66" and 69", with draw weights varying from 25 to 50 pounds at 28 inches. The inception '63 Tamerlane came without sights, sight blanking plate or the famous Bear brush rest or adjustable nylon arrow plate, (a sort of 'fixed, adjustable plunger', if you will...) nor was the sight window routed for adjustable sight installation. These bows came with a flush brass 'standing bear' medallion opposite the sight window. The riser wood was Brazilian rosewood, limb glass was a creamy white, and the tip and riser back overlays were dark brown/white dark brown in color. There was no threaded bushing insert for stabilizers or other accessories to my knowledge.

Image

This bow had the Tamerlane emblem on the upper belly limb, and the patent emblem on the lower belly limb.
Aim small, miss small!

Captainkirk
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#4 Post by Captainkirk »

1964 Tamerlane

The 1964 Tamerlane models came with the same beautiful checkerboard riser caps, but new for this year model was the adjustable target sight with routed sight window, Bear brush rest and nylon striker screw or the blanking plate with brush rest and screw if you did not wish to have the sight, although you could custom order your bow without the plate or routing. Also new for this year was an optional 63" AMO length for shorter draw or lady archers in addition to the 66" and 69" lengths. Draw weight options were the same. The 1964 Tamerlane had the same brass 'standing bear' flush mounted medallion and color combinations as the '63 models and also had no threaded bushing installed. As in '63, the wood used was Brazilian rosewood. Overlay options now included black/white/black in addition to brown/white/brown.

Below is a photo of the sight blanking plate, brush rest, and nylon screw on my '64.

Image

At least some of the '64 models were issued serial numbers, written in gold, as evidenced by my '64 Tamerlane.

Image

Brass 'Standing Bear' medallion, flush mounted on riser opposite of sight window.

Image
Aim small, miss small!

Captainkirk
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#5 Post by Captainkirk »

1965 Tamerlane

The 1965 Tamerlane models were available in the same AMO lengths as the '64 (63, 66, or 69 inches) and I would assume, the same draw weight range (25-50#) but don't quote me on that. The riser wood was still Brazilian rosewood, with the major visual difference being the absence of the gorgeous checkerboard riser caps, now replaced with solid high-density caps. Limbs were still the cream-white color with black/white/black overlays only, no dark brown. Sight, rest, and plate options were the same, and you could still order your bow with an optional no-sight feature from the factory. This was the first Tamerlane to incorporate a logical serial number sequence that can be used to ID these bows, they began with a 5 prefix, the "5" indicating 1965. The Bear medallion stayed the same. The easy ID feature for this bow is a 5-prefix serial number and the absence of the checkerboard riser caps...see photo below:

1967 Tamerlane-credit Google Images

Image
Aim small, miss small!

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Shadowhntr
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#6 Post by Shadowhntr »

Is someone a little bit stoked up? Lol!
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Captainkirk
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#7 Post by Captainkirk »

Shadowhntr wrote:Is someone a little bit stoked up? Lol!
Just sharing what I've learned. Hoping to do similar threads with other bows as well.
Aim small, miss small!

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Shadowhntr
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#8 Post by Shadowhntr »

Captainkirk wrote:
Shadowhntr wrote:Is someone a little bit stoked up? Lol!
Just sharing what I've learned. Hoping to do similar threads with other bows as well.
Heck I don't blame ya bro...im excited for you! You get me all pumped up with just feeling your passion!
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Mohawk
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#9 Post by Mohawk »

Dang interesting read Kirk! I'd never heard of the Bear Tamerline before you started in on them, now I'm rapidly gaining interest!

Captainkirk
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Re: History Lesson: The Bear Tamerlane

#10 Post by Captainkirk »

Mohawk wrote:Dang interesting read Kirk! I'd never heard of the Bear Tamerline before you started in on them, now I'm rapidly gaining interest!
Thanks, Jim. I'm just getting warmed up. 8-)
I had never heard of a Tamerlane either until someone over on Archery Talk brought it up a few years back. The more I read, the more I became intrigued up to the point at which I knew I had to have one, and found the HC-300 on eBay 2 years ago.
Aim small, miss small!

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