Harry Drake Bows
Equipment
Hello,
I picked up a Harry Drake Bow recently at an estate sale and was wondering if there is any information out there. I've been on the net and I just see a ton of information about him alone (what an incredible archer). The bow is in excellent cond. no stress, twist, or holes. Want to know if I can use it or should keep it in a safe place.
i would say use it, I new Harry Drake back in the day he had a lot of top Ca. archers shooting his bow, Rube Powell shot one for years, 5 time national champion. He also worked for Browning at the end of his career. 6-GOLD
you got a find i have 6 drakes and 20 flight bows
Is it a recurve or compound?
The compounds are more common and not worth too much but some of the recurves are more valuable.
I'm always interested in Drake recurves.
My late father used to saw laminations for a custom bow maker in Illinolis back in the 50s. His friend shot a Drake bow and as I recall, it was extremely flat shooting. This was long before the complicated bows of today. I think the Drake had something like 12 laminations.
A friend of mine knew Harry and shot his bows. I sent this thread to him; perhaps he'll chime in.
What little I know about flight bows is that they only have a limited number of shots in them.
Not all Drake bows were flight bows .Harry sold drake archery to Fasco.He still had control over his flight bow section and after that worked for Browning. Ost
Someday we should try to correlate some Drake serial numbers with years of manufacture. I just picked up a pretty rare Drake-- Hunter-Flight styling, 60# draw, and 62" long-- and I'd love to know when it was made. Looking at the rest of the industry, I'd guess 1962... but with Drake, he was often a couple of years ahead of the wave, so maybe it's even earlier. The serial number is 7533, and it's a Lakeside sticker. Kerry
I worked with Harry while at Browning from 1972 - 1977. We were making the Explorer. The first time that I met him, dressed in khaki from cap-to-pants-cuff, he was holding a very short bow that would become the Stalker. He made the damn thing in his trailer located about halfway from the shop and the highway. He was an enigma; very quiet and certainly a savant. I don't think we ever had a conversation beyond pleasantries. I probably only saw him 10 times. We were in the stone age of compound bow design as anyone reading this would know. HA! and in the middle of Nowhere, Utah. One day he shows up with this totally bitchin, glossy black hand-held crossbow. The torpedo-shaped wood bolts were about 8" long, I'm guessing with razor blade fletches. Got to shoot that in the tunnel. Very cool to say the least. To get an idea of my perspective of all this back in the day stuff, I'm 67 years old.
Fantastic hearing from a pioneer Browning..my hat is off to you..
Just picked up a Harry Drake flight bow... not sure how to string it up or where to get proper arrows? Any advice?
Airstream - There're boo-coo commercial recurve stringers on the market... Check 3Rivers... Or you could just do the push pull method...
DON’T use step-through or Push-Pull!
I’m a firm believer that bows are made to be shot and that Collecting good shooters is darn near blasphemous...
But as mentioned, Flight bows were so highly stressed that they were not (to my understanding) built with Longevity in mind.
You could PM Larry Hatfield on the Leatherwall... he’s set a few records along the way, so he’d know.
But JMO, if there is such a thing as a “collectible” bow that shouldn’t be shot, that’s probably one of ‘em right there.
The rest of the Drake bows were complete junk, so just send ‘em to me for disposal. I’ll even pick up the postage.
x2 on going to the Leatherwall site....and type this...."I`m going to stump George"....lol That guy has a encyclopedic mind on trad bows.
Thanks for the help! Adding additional pic...
I'd go to Facebook and talk to Rip Fletching. He's a flight shooter that used to be associated with Black Swan. He could tell you a thing or two about Drake Flight bows.
I would probably step up and pay the postage on what's left after GF gets all he wants.
Nice post Browning. Thanks.
I recently acquired this bow from a friend of mine, I cant find anything on it 54 55@28 serial 8181 anybody got a date? Value? How many were made?
Try vintagearchery.org/Harry drake
Just looked at ebay. It gives an idea what things actually sell for. Not what the owner thinks they are worth. There are 3 on there one is ridiculously priced and the one with bids is around $150
It is a 54" Drake Hunter Flight recurve from the mid 1960's. There are some people who really like them, but your assessment is pretty good. E bay is not the only place to look as their fees have driven some sellers to use other selling engines. Your bow is a looker, hope you take it out and shoot it!
Might want to re-post on Leatherwall, a lot of the knowledgeable folks there never visit this forum.
