# Need some info on a Ben Pearson Collegian



## buckhead (Apr 7, 2006)

Hey everyone, i've been into bowhunting for about 20+ years. Always used a compound bow. I used to really love it in high school gym class when we got to shoot old recurves. I always did good at that. 

My older brother moved to Florida and gave me an old recurve he has probably had for 40 years. It's a Ben Pearson Collegian. I would like to know a little bit about them. By doing a google search i find that they were mostly used in schools way back when. So i'm guessing that it's not up to the task of bowhunting?

The #'s on the bow are:

713-60"
13-6396
30XX-28"

From those numbers i gather it's a 60" long bow with a 30lb draw? Is that correct? What do the other numbers mean? Where can i find a string for this bow? What type of arrows would work best? Sorry for all the questions, they just started coming to me while typing this out.

It is in really good shape but is in need of a cleaning. It has kind of a rough feeling to the wood and paint. What would be the best stuff to clean this with?

Thank. Jerry.


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

Jerry -

The bow is 32# @ 28" (that's what the x's mean). The 713 is the model number and the 13-6396 is the serial number. It's definitely an entry level bow, but perfectly usable, unless you have a long draw length, say over 30", as it will start stacking. It "might" have enough "oomph" for bow hunting, but also may be under the legal draw weight for most states. However, it will be a good to get your stickbow legs back. 

DACRON strings can be gotten from Lancaster, 3Rivers, Stone Mountain and a host of other places. Can't make arrow recommendations without knowing your draw length.

Viper1 out.


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## Bowbodger (Apr 7, 2011)

I have one that my 11 year old son shoots, same model and length but a bit lighter cant remember the exact weight. Entry level bow like Viper said but good lighter bow for working on form or a good kids/womans bow. Just order a 60" AMO endless loop Dacron string (that would be 56" actual string length and 12 strands is plenty for 32 pounds). Oh and get a bow stringer if you dont already have one.

Some cheap aluminum arrows light easton blues would be fine probably looking at 1716's for 32 lbs unless you have a really long drawlength then maybe 1816's. I would leave them full length for now.

Jeff


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## reddogge (Jul 21, 2009)

It's a semi-recurve design so it doesn't have deep hooks like most recurves. I just bought a 27# Collegian for a friend's girlfriend. I had a 56 1/4" string made for it and it is fine. I'd say anything trom 56 1/2" to 56 1/4" would work and twist it up to 56" for an 8" brace height. Clean it with a gentle household cleaner but the finish is not high gloss anyway so it is what it is, a starter bow.


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## Viper1 (Aug 21, 2003)

red - 

A lot of the old Persons had a semi-recurve design, even if not stated as such. The Colt and Javelina come to mind first. The trick was to drop the brace height to about 7.5" to bring more of the recurve into play. The bows looked and shot better, in my experience.

Viper1 out.


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## buckhead (Apr 7, 2006)

Thanks guys, thats just the info i was looking for. I have a 30" draw on my compound so would the same length just carry over to this bow?

Sounds like fun getting back to my early days of shooting.

What do you mean by, "it might start stacking" if draw length is over 30"?


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## centershot (Sep 13, 2002)

Usually a bit shorter with the recurve. If you think you would like to get more serious about shooting a recurve, pick up the book "Shooting the Stickbow". It is an excellent resource for new shooter on how to shoot and tune Traditional bows.


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