A shot in the dark (no pun intended). I'm making a History of the Ben Pearson Colt, specifically the one form the 1960's. The Cobra was a bow originally made for Colt Firearms. Bows that were rejected due to quality issues were returned, rebadged as Cobra's and sold through various outlets.
No matter the model for which it was to be sold under Colt, they were all labeled "Cobra's" by Pearson. Like with the APEX models, the number under the logo, corresponds with the model from Colt. Mine is a 5 and that is the Huntsmen Hi Power. They also stamped an "S" into the riser.
If you have any information on these please, share with me and if you have one, could you please take pictures of it, I would like to document them and show them in the video.
Thanks,
Greg
Here is the logo from a friends, notice the "4" under it.
Greg
Sorry for the confusion. That's not my claim. I should've made that more clear. I only reposted what someone else wrote on the vintage archery catalog page. I never owned an Apex . Just trying to help you look for info.
Okay, but do you have anything to back up your claim? Spoke to Ben Jr. on it and he confirmed it. Did your APEX bows have an "S" stamped on it, if so I would love to see it.
A few folks have said Apex was a brand to sell Pearson "Seconds" (factory rejects), but there is no evidence of that, and I have owned several Apex bows that were flawless. Pearson sold their own "seconds" as Pearson bows, and stamped a large "S" in the bottom of the riser. They were often discounted 30-50% depending on the flaw(s). Here is the Apex/Pearson line comparison to the best of our knowledge.:
Apex 15 = Deerslayer
Apex 16 = Cougar
Apex 8 = Hunter
Apex 13 = Colt
Apex 6 = Mustang
Apex 5 = Pinto
Apex 4 = H-30
Apex 7 = Predator/
Greg
This info was on the Colt vintage archery catalogs page. You probably have seen it already.
Colt sold bows with the Colt Firearms logo but they did not set up a factory or make archery equipment themselves. Most bows sold by Colt were made by either Wing (Bob Lee) or Ben Pearson, generally Wing in the early years, and Pearson later. In the beginning of the Colt line, the bows were made by Wing. Then, Ben Pearson was awarded the Colt contract. The way to tell is this: If it is made by Wing, It will have Colt Firearms, Hartford, Connecticut written on the belly of the bow limb. If the city and state aren't shown on the limb, it is a Pearson bow. Many designs were similar if not exact. For example, the Colt Heritage is the same bow as the Ben Pearson Cobra, and the 1967 Colt Arrow Master is the Pearson Javelina.
here is the "S" from mine