# 1st. compound bow



## sswv

just wondering...when was the first compound bow introduced??? and who's name was on it???


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## archer55

Here ya go......

Allen’s Landmark Invention 
One of the really significant landmarks in the evolution of the bow took place in the USA in the early 1960s. At this time, the country was experiencing a surge of interest in the great out-doors and particularly bow hunting. With so many archers absorbed in this aspect of the sport, it was not surprising that a few of them should start experimenting to improve the efficiency of the basic bow. One of these experimenters was a mechanic from Missouri called Howless Wibur Allen. Early in 1961, he was inspired by the launch of the Hoyt Pro Medalist bow at their near-by factory. This was one of the first bows designed to be fitted with stabilisers. Allen thought that he could further enhance the performance of the archery bow by using another ancient invention; the wheel. Allen’s brilliant idea was to harness the block and tackle principal of a pulley to a bow. In this way he reasoned that the mechanical advantage of the pulley should enable a heavier weight bow to be drawn. He created his first experimental bow by sawing off the limb tips of an old recurve and attaching small pulleys to it. Unfortunately the resulting bow had a very short draw-length as he had used conventional, centre axle pulleys. However, Allen did not give up and continued to experiment with different pulley systems. The most successful arrangements included cam shaped wheels and round pulleys with off-set axles called eccentrics. Both of these methods provided a more usable draw length but also resulted in an enormously beneficial side effect. The bow reached its peak weight at mid draw then reduced to a much lighter weight at full draw. This enabled Allen to comfortably hold at full draw, a heavy weight bow. When he tested these bows, Allen discovered that they had a really excellent cast and a surpassingly flat trajectory. After refined his new bow, H W Allen filed patent application number 3,486,495 on 23rd June 1966 for an "Archery bow with draw-force multiplying attachments".


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## sswv

*thank you*

Thank you! I truely enjoyed reading your answer. Great job. Where did you get that information? I'd like to read more about Mr. Allen.


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## archer55

Here's a couple that I googled.

http://www.oldbasingarchers.co.uk/compound/tbww.htm

http://www.azod.com/archery/Archive/2001/The First Compound Bow.html


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## Joe Barbieur

*more history stuff*

Well I am not sure when it was invented, but I can give you some more fun history. Back when compounds were first becoming the new bow to own, many people still had some recurves lying about. I am not sure what company it was, but the was a “retro” kit available to make your recurve into a compound. They supplied the cables, strings, instructions and brackets you supplied the bow. The idea was to cut off the limb tips, drill holes and mount the whole works on your bow. It did work, but as you can guess it did not work very well. 
Another bit of history. What is commonly referred to as the “split limb” bow is not truly the split limb. It is a quad limb. When compounds first came out, the wheels were mounted to the bow via a bracket on the limb. Joy Valley Archery in Wisconsin was the patent holder for the split limb bow, they “split the limb and mounted the wheels in the limb. Today that is how most bows are still produced.
Just some more stuff that rolls around in my head and comes out from time to time..


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## sswv

*keeps getting better*

this just keeps getting more interesting...learning a lot...thanks to everyone


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## archeryguyrds

I have a Wing compound and it had a cable bowstring. (Try putting a peep sight in that string). It's a 45 lb. bow w/50 percent letoff and i use it for bowfishing. Still works too.


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## duhgravy

*Allen Speedster*

My dad still has this bow! It in excellent shape for its age. He hasn't used it in probably 10 years or even longer. Any one have an idea what one of these bow might be worth today?

Also here is a good link to some of the old archery history.


http://www.archeryhistory.com/index.php


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## Hoytusa84

One of the earlier compound bow...


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## Jurasic Archer

In the early 70's it was not unusual to go to an NFAA event and in the pro division both recurves and compounds were being shot in the freestyle division with release aids. As always the best shooter won and often it was with a recurve! Bob Jacobson was the last to win Vegas with a recurve in the pro division in 74 I think. I think Jim Quarles in 75 and then Mr. Ragsdale took over. 
I can remember a time when Jennings and Carroll compounds were what you saw the most. (four wheelers) Some Olympus too. When PSE entered the mix, things really got interesting. Terry Ragsdale and Gale Cavalin were setting records right and left with Pete's new toys. Shortly after, Wing, Bear, Astro, Martin, Browning and some others I have surely missed all jumped in the scene around 74-75ish. It was a good time for archery, dealers were growing, products were growing, life was good. There were great events all over the US back then with beautiful field coarses and groomed target ranges. I miss it. :sad:


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## Whitetail Hunte

I have a Martin Dynabow. It has cam on bottom and a little axle on top limb. Bow is in great shape and I'm willing to sell it. I can get pics.


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## deadworms

cool thread i learned a lot :wink:


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## Jim C

many of the first compound bows made by the big recurve makers (like bear) looked like recurve bows with extra hardware. The magnesium molds that cast risers came from are very very expensive which is why most cast handles (until recently) looked similar-if you had a design that worked, modifying it was very costly. Bear's first target bow IIRC was something like the tamerlane (which had been one of their 60's era target wood recurves) which was a Bear C (FITA) handle with wheels bolted on it. 

the first allens had fiberglass RODS rather than flat limbs. UGLY buggers those things were. TOm Jennings is the guy that really got compound archery going. The first one I saw up close was a jennings 4 or 6 wheeler Darrell Pace was showing off at Charlie Pierson's lanes in Cincinnati in 72 or so.


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## toxo

*sorry guys*

The first compound bow was DESIGNED BY LEONARDO DAVINCI........HE ALSO DESIGNED THE FIRST COMPOUND CROSSBOW!!!! Now I will have to admit that they were not made by him butwere designed by him.
Also who wants to guess when the first bow where you could shoot through the center of the bow........hole where arrow went through the center of the bow was made?


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## Joe Barbieur

Look way back into history I think you will find the Hun’s used a stick bow that sort of worked as a compound. It did not have wheels, but the limbs curled in on them selves, and when you drew it back they “unrolled” and became flexed in the direction of the draw. When Fran Scott was still alive he showed me that bow, and although it was not a true compound by definition, it certainly increased the speed of the arrow.


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## tyneka

*Morrett*

Ron Morrett built the first compound bow. He never pat. anything but these old timers know who built the first one alot of them used to hang out in his shop. I dont understand why his name isnt mentioned. He died in 1989. I am trying to get some dialogue started on A man that shouldnt be forgot.


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## toxoph

tyneka said:


> Ron Morrett built the first compound bow.


Interesting, I would like to know more. 

What is it that makes you say he was the first? I'm not disputing you, just curious what makes you say that.


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## tyneka

*Jennings Was The First*

I am sorry for this information it wasn Morrett it was Allen holds the pat Jennings was the first big producer. Morrett built the first adjustable poundage compound bow. I am sorry for that HUGE mistake,I hope nobody gets to mad.


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## RecordKeeper

tyneka said:


> I am sorry for this information it wasn Morrett it was Allen holds the pat Jennings was the first big producer. Morrett built the first adjustable poundage compound bow. I am sorry for that HUGE mistake,I hope nobody gets to mad.


Nah....nobody will be angry....

I am interested in Ron Morrett. I picked up one of his recurves in the 1970s. It was a great bow, and way ahead of its time. I wish I still had it.....


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## jwoods

*What's it worth?*

Not to hijack, but I know of someone who has an original Allen compound that has never been shot. No nock set has ever even been put on the string. It is in the factory original box with all the paperwork and sales receipt. He's thinking about selling, but we have no idea what its worth.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## JohnD

jwoods said:


> Not to hijack, but I know of someone who has an original Allen compound that has never been shot. No nock set has ever even been put on the string. It is in the factory original box with all the paperwork and sales receipt. He's thinking about selling, but we have no idea what its worth.
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Hi Im [email protected] We in New Zealand are starting up a archery museum in trust for New Zealanders. If you would like to sell . your bow, we would like to know how much you want for it. Thanks a lot John


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## toxo

*No guess*

on when the first shoot through the riser bow was made? Come on some one try to figure it out...........toxolot


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## toxo

*More archery history*

Allen had the patent but Jennings made the bow also........as I was told by the plant info when we could not get the Jennings bows around 1978-79........Allen sued Tom Jennings and won in court......it just so happened as I remember that on the way home from court Allen got in a car crash and died. This what we were told......So his wife got the settlement from Jennings.......so Bear bought the pattern from Allen and then bought Jennings and started the company name BEAR/ Jennings.........which still holds true today. Get the book I REMEMBER PAPA BEAR........it is a great book of the good times and hard times of Fred Bear....written by Dick Lattimer that worked for Fred for over 30 years.....Fred was a legacy......but he went out of business 3 times and had a hard business life....."THE GENTLEMAN BOWHUNTER" had a heart of Gold but a heavy heart when it came to keeping the business going...........toxolot


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## briansteenstry

*Compound Bow Inventor*

I hate to throw another wrench in the machine here, but I can add some detail to the compound bow history. Years ago, my dad mentioned to me that he worked in a sporting goods store in Missouri in the late '50's when he was a kid. He was about to go into the Navy as a pilot, so he was less concerned about the bows he was designing. He left some drawings and an explanation of the idea with his boss at the store. I'm not sure if Howless Allen was my dad's boss or a friend of his boss, but the time and place are right, and I remember hearing people talk about it at my grandfather's funeral. My dad never talks about it. He went on to a great career in aviation and holds no ill will toward anyone about never giving him any credit for it. My dad is a sober man, and I've never known him to tell a lie or seek the limelight in any way. His position is that he gave it away, so it was no longer his. I wish he could at least get some credit. Maybe someone from an Archery magazine or web site (hmmmmm) could do some digging... Obviously I'm not the only one who cares! It would make a great story, wouldn't it? You can contact me through the site if I can provide any more info. My dad's name is Larry Steenstry, and he grew up in Kansas City, MO.


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## mttc08

briansteenstry said:


> I hate to throw another wrench in the machine here, but I can add some detail to the compound bow history. Years ago, my dad mentioned to me that he worked in a sporting goods store in Missouri in the late '50's when he was a kid. He was about to go into the Navy as a pilot, so he was less concerned about the bows he was designing. He left some drawings and an explanation of the idea with his boss at the store. I'm not sure if Howless Allen was my dad's boss or a friend of his boss, but the time and place are right, and I remember hearing people talk about it at my grandfather's funeral. My dad never talks about it. He went on to a great career in aviation and holds no ill will toward anyone about never giving him any credit for it. My dad is a sober man, and I've never known him to tell a lie or seek the limelight in any way. His position is that he gave it away, so it was no longer his. I wish he could at least get some credit. Maybe someone from an Archery magazine or web site (hmmmmm) could do some digging... Obviously I'm not the only one who cares! It would make a great story, wouldn't it? You can contact me through the site if I can provide any more info. My dad's name is Larry Steenstry, and he grew up in Kansas City, MO.



very interesting.....hope you find what you are looking for.


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## briansteenstry

*History revisited*

OK, I got some more good info for whoever's interested: (see previous post)
My dad's design was not compound, because it didn't have pulleys. It multiplied force by means of extreme recurve. However, my dad's design ended up with his boss, a man named Clay Adams, who is probably the man who introduced pulleys to the design (thereby scrapping my dad's recurve idea, while still thinking in terms of multiplying force). Adams took the idea to Howliss Allen who is credited with the patent. It was probably Allen who introduced the crucial cam. Both were certainly involved, and it's sad that you don't see Adams' name anywhere. And it was my dad who inspired them : ) Allen owned a car dealership and had the means to afford a patent. History is never written by the poor is it? An interesting side note: when the prototype was used in a tournament, it was disqualified because it had moving parts and was therefore not a "bow" but a mechanical catapult. It weighed 14 pounds, but I heard it shot straight and hard.


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## mttc08

thanks for the history lesson.


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## Africanbowhunter

*Pix of first Allen Bow I have one*

Here is what they looked like

Glass limbed Allen Compound


Hollis Allen was a grouchy guy. Never liked talking to him onthe phone a real sourpuss


Tink 
former Allen dealer


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## full moon

Africanbowhunter said:


> Here is what they looked like
> 
> Glass limbed Allen Compound
> 
> 
> Hollis Allen was a grouchy guy. Never liked talking to him onthe phone a real sourpuss
> 
> 
> Tink
> former Allen dealer


Tink that was my first bow,killed a doe my first year hunting with that Allen.I think the let-off was 35 %..It was a good bow..


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## Q2 slayer

*what about these?*

blackhawk archery,brand new....Chief scout and Outlaw..Manufactured under the 1966 patent...


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## archeryal

I worked for an archery company in PA in 1976, and stocked a Blackhawk/Cravotta compound (if I remember correctly) that was one of their recurves with a PSE hangar bracket compound wheels mounted on it, I believe by the factory. There was no apparently no attempt to reinforce the riser for the extra stress. I came in one morning and a colleague showed me one that had broken just below the handgrip with some sticky stuff on the wood... blood. The owner wanted it replaced under warrantee. I guess every manufacturer has some failures.


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## RealDakota

Joe Barbieur said:


> Another bit of history. What is commonly referred to as the “split limb” bow is not truly the split limb. It is a quad limb. When compounds first came out, the wheels were mounted to the bow via a bracket on the limb. Joy Valley Archery in Wisconsin was the patent holder for the split limb bow, they “split the limb and mounted the wheels in the limb. Today that is how most bows are still produced.
> Just some more stuff that rolls around in my head and comes out from time to time..


The original Allen patent (see #3486495) and the original prototype were 2-wheelers that featured not only split limbs, but cams rather than round wheels, and a synthetic string and cable system. It took a long time for manufacturing to catch up with the design.


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## bowman69

toxo said:


> on when the first shoot through the riser bow was made? Come on some one try to figure it out...........toxolot


This driving me crazy so I have a guess probably uneducated but here gos.... The only info I found was on a proto-type bow built by Sabo SSR in 1969


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## RealDakota

*Shoot-through risers*



bowman69 said:


> This driving me crazy so I have a guess probably uneducated but here gos.... The only info I found was on a proto-type bow built by Sabo SSR in 1969


An awful lot of the so-called "new" technology has been around for a loooong time. To the best of my knowledge, the first metal-handled takedown with a shoot-through riser was built in around the late 1800's... but the one I've seen may not have been the first.


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## Templar1305

If I remember right the patent for the Allen is 1969. I have a book at the house that features the drawings and its from 1970.
Tom Jennings was one of the first big name designers to work with the concept and do stuff with it. If you look at the Jennings Arrowstar and the Bear Whitetailer, you see influences from the original Allen.
Old Allens pop up all the time on online auction sites. One recently went up for bid for $45.....
I was tempted to buy it and see if I could donate it to a museum. I never got around to it though as we were super busy at work that week.....

When I was a kid in the seventies, I remember seeing these new fangled compound bows and thinking they never would catch on...
I never knew 30 years later,I would own one or want one, LOL....
Some of the early Browning bows are pretty much retro bows. The old Cobra looked like a longbow that somebody put wheels on. The whole bow was wood and it didn't even have a riser bigger than a longbows!
Their "Flightmaster" model had a wood riser and really parrallell limbs...


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## Templar1305

Here is the last one I saw online....
They pop up more frequently than you would think.....

Personally, I think they belong in a museum somewhere....
Along with other classic bows and archery impliments....


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## Templar1305

There are two on ebay today....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Allen-Compound-...egoryZ12QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

One is a lefty...

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Vintage-Lef...ryZ20838QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I remember shooting one of these when I was a boy in the seventies....I thought the cables and strings and such were just two complex....
And I did not like that you could not stick it over your shoulder and chest when travelling like a recurve, LOL....


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## Templar1305

I love the ad...and the logo on the bow itself....


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## Deerhunter63

I have one of Allens originals as shown in picture if you are interested. good condition.


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## Deerhunter63

The Allen bow was sold for 100 dollars in 1970. You should have bought that one. I would not sell mine for less than 500-600. Theres one on e-bay for 550.


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## Deerhunter63

What are they worth in good condition? I have one too.


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## RealDakota

Deerhunter63 said:


> The Allen bow was sold for 100 dollars in 1970. You should have bought that one. I would not sell mine for less than 500-600. Theres one on e-bay for 550.


I've got some duplicates in my collection and I'd love to sell them for big money. However, the fact that somebody is ASKING $550 doesn't make a bow WORTH $550. It's pretty easy to buy that model in used condition for $100-$125, sometimes substantially less.


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## Templar1305

I came across more info last night....
In Fed Bear's "Archer's Bible" the revised edition there is some info on compound bows. It mentions the Allen as being the first successful compound bow, but it does say that the principal first popped up in the 1940s when somebody else whipped one up. Bear said that it never caught on, in any way.... The guy from the 1940s was a physicist, it says.


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## toxo

*First succesful compound bow*

successful is the word here. Leonardo DA Vinci invented the first compound bow. It worked but it took so long to build it was not worth the time.


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## Bow_Rep

I recall the first time that I saw a compound (Allen) on the range. I was shooting a Howatt High Speed at the time which was no slouch. That Allen made my Howatt look like it was going in reverse. I'd never seen an arrow fly so fast or flat. The Allen ads that I recall about then showed a hunter from Marshfield Wi that had driven an arrow straight through some large whitetail (not that a straight fying arrow out of a recurve couldn't do it with a sharp head) and it was pretty impressive. In their day, the first compounds created quite a stir wherever you saw one.


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## twojump

greetings, I am glad to see the SABO getting its due. In 69 I worked for THE BLACK ARROW SPORTS SHOP in Riverside Ca. I was the shop boy. Lyle Shannon was the builder of Sabos and the SSR was a revolution At the time the Sabo Hunter would out crono both the Jennings and the Allen. WE were of the opinion that the compound would fade away. Wrong on that one...
The Owner of the shop was my mentor Don Brown. Archer of the first water. he still holds the world record for long bow flight with a #175 bow. Sabo also made a bow called the Avenger, the only recurve that would hod togeather at #100+ and a not so great one called the El Lobo, we called it the "El breako" because it did. in a most dramatic fashion! If I could lay my hands on a Sabo hunter LH in any weight, I would shoot it today. They were wunnrful sticks. I am still an active archer and still hold arrow shooting machines with training wheels in utter contempt! good hunting.


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## Creekhawg

Tink, thanks for the memories! My first compound was Allen Black Hunter I bought directly from the factory in Billings, MO in 1975. Loved that bow!


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## cluelessrookie

Now this is a good thread. Old school, like me. Remember that the Bear Whitetail hunter had to be "strung" and un-"strung" like a recurve before and after shooting? I remember when my uncle got a new Allen and he was a rebel in the family and within a few years we were all shooting them. My first compund was a Jennings Forked lightning, the first compound (to my knowledge) to place the wheel (cam) in a notch at the end of the limb rather than a metal drop bracket. Then the revolution began. I remember when all of the below were Brand new take-the-world-by-storm technology:
The whitetail hunter
The original Oneida Eagle
The Jennings Unistar - anybody have one of these hatchets?
The Original Pearson Spoiler (my personal fovorite of all time for a combination of revolutionary speed and accuracy)
The Pearson Advantage
The Hoyt Super Slam
The Browning Mirage
The Jennings Carbon Extreme
etc. etc.

Then Matt had his falling out at McPherson and came up with the funniest little bow I had ever seen (was working at a bow shop at the time and laughed out loud at the sample he sent us) - Crazy thing only had one cam?!?!?!? I knew right off that that would never catch on...


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## neo71665

I have a whitetail hunter one and 2 out in the shed. The one is the longest compound bow ever, lol.


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## great-uncle Clay Adams

briansteenstry said:


> *History revisited*
> 
> OK, I got some more good info for whoever's interested: (see previous post)
> My dad's design was not compound, because it didn't have pulleys. It multiplied force by means of extreme recurve. However, my dad's design ended up with his boss, a man named Clay Adams, who is probably the man who introduced pulleys to the design (thereby scrapping my dad's recurve idea, while still thinking in terms of multiplying force). Adams took the idea to Howliss Allen who is credited with the patent. It was probably Allen who introduced the crucial cam. Both were certainly involved, and it's sad that you don't see Adams' name anywhere. And it was my dad who inspired them : ) Allen owned a car dealership and had the means to afford a patent. History is never written by the poor is it? An interesting side note: when the prototype was used in a tournament, it was disqualified because it had moving parts and was therefore not a "bow" but a mechanical catapult. It weighed 14 pounds, but I heard it shot straight and hard.


Thank you for this. My great-uncle is Clay Adams and my mom, who worked at Clay's Sporting Goods store in North Kansas City, MO on Armour Road. (I think this is where his shop was) as a teenager, has always said her uncle did or helped invent the compound bow. Jenny


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