All around workhorse gun...?

[Kelpmate]

Hi all,
I am looking for an all purposes gun for the california coast and I am hoping those with insight/experience can share some wisdom with an amateur. I am still relatively new to the sprearo community, though no stranger to ocean. I have been using an arbalete Champion for the past three years or so, and its time for an upgrade.

Most of my spearing takes place in Monterey, PV as I am back and forth from north OC and Santa Cruz with school. I also frequent Catalina with my live aboard old man. So I would like a gun that will last forever and allow me to take a shot whether I'm reef/cave diving up North, Halibut/WSB/Kelp stalking, or maybe even jump in next to a kelp paddy on the way across channel.

After dealing with alot of broken bands I was considering taking the pneumatic route, though I know those are not popular on the west coast. If I did I was thinking a used Airbalete 900ish or Mares Cyrano 970

Banded maybe a mako in the 38"-42" range?

Thoughts?/Insights?/Warnings?/Offers?
Thanks for reading and I appreciate any responses

[kwtony]

a cyrano with a dry barrel kit will out shoot any of those size mako guns by far. I can get you in contact with the person that makes them if you are interested.

[spearincali]

how do you break so many bands?

[Jolinedaniel]

Originally Posted by spearincali

how do you break so many bands?

x2

[Kelpmate]

Thank you Tony I would appreciate that; with a pneumatic I've heard that is the way to go .

I realize that in many respects the differences in these guns come down to personal preference. But seeing as I have very little experience trying different guns I guess I am just looking for testimonials.

I suppose the limiting factor is will the gun be able to take a shot at an ok distance and not be overkill for closer range stuff. I have been leaning towards a pneumatic, but there are the two warnings that often come up that: pneumatics have poor range, and that they lose power under 30'. It difficult to separate out the fiction.

Can anybody confirm a pneumatics range and power in the 20'-60' range?

[Kelpmate]

how do you break so many bands?

I think it is some combination of the quality of bands, frequency of use, and amount of corrosion on that old arbalet.

For a long time it lived on the boat and I would have to get new bands every summer which is pretty negligible, but since I have been using it in monterey I have broken 3 bands which has never really been a problem before. I don't think they were too short but it is a possibility

[kwtony]

Only one of those rumors are true. the second part is not...thats just people making up stories about something they dont know about. I bring both of mine to depths further then that and they preform perfectly. I know that popgun pete has formulated a mathematical equation on pressure loss at depth and from what i recall its much less then people think .

In stock form most pneumatic guns are slow turds, yes...just like a bone stock car...add a few simple modifications and it can make it an entirely new vehicle. That goes the same with pneumatics. Id suggest buy a cheap non working pneumatic 970 or bigger, rebuild it and add a dry barrel kit.

[tommy7]

I have NEVER seen a fellow spearo here in California use a pneumatic gun. If I was a nube at a sport, then I would go with what 98% of the users were using... jst my thought... Get a Riffe metal tech #3 or similar gun...

[spearincali]

What's your price range? This is the kind of thing that has a LOT to do with personal preference, so diving with new people and maybe trying out their gun if they don't mind would help a lot. Just going to a dive shop and holding them will give you a good idea what type of handle you prefer.

I personally do a lot of the type of diving that you describe and went through the same research that you're doing now. My personal suggestion (have never used a pneumatic gun so I will not address that): a euro style railgun (track integrated in the barrel) in the 90 to 120cm range with at least 50m of line on a reel.
Mako Predator
Rob Allen Tuna
Hammerhead Evo2
O.M.E.R. Cayman HF
just to name a few that are under 300 with a reel.

Obviously you can go up from there to Riffe, Sporasub, etc, but the guns I listed above will serve you well, are very customizable, and will come with a quality band that will last you much longer than 6 months

check out the new JBL guns as well, have not been able to try one yet personally but have heard good things.

My personal favorite for an all-around Cali gun: Cayman HF 100cm with reel

[Castor]

For an all around gun I have always liked a 48" ABBiller. You can shoot anything that swims in California with this gun, they a bullet proof, can be easily modified to shoot hard and you can pick them up for cheap on craigslist.

[spearincali]

sorry i kind of gave you a list there without any testimonials...

if you end up considering any of the 4 I mentioned, here was what I thought of them:

the rob allen seems to shoot more powerfully than another gun with the same length for some reason, but it also is a B*TCH to load since it doesn't have a pad.

the hammerhead seemed very similar to the mako in feel and accuracy, just a slightly smoother trigger mech in the mako.

My 2 favorites right now are my predator pro and cayman hf, but I prefer my cayman for a couple of reasons.
The larger barrel volume makes it feel weightless in the water when tracking, whereas the mako feels a little heavier.
The loading butt on the Mako actually obscures my aiming a little bit, whereas the cayman has a v-shaped groove cut into it to allow you to look directly down the top of the spear to aim perfectly.
The trigger mechanism on the cayman hf is the smoothest I have ever used, and the OMER match reel is the best I've seen. Mako's reels are perfectly fine, I just love the match reel.
The handle on both guns is perfectly solid and comfortable, the cayman just fits my hand a bit better.

[campbellc0321]

Originally Posted by Kelpmate

Hi all,


Most of my spearing takes place in Monterey, PV as I am back and forth from north OC and Santa Cruz with school. I also frequent Catalina with my live aboard old man. So I would like a gun that will last forever and allow me to take a shot whether I'm reef/cave diving up North, Halibut/WSB/Kelp stalking, or maybe even jump in next to a kelp paddy on the way across channel.

Workhorse=Riffe..

If you really want a gun that keeps on going, riffe is the way to go.
If you want something cheap, they rest mentioned in this thread would
be a good.

[32Juan]

I've had my Riffe for almost 10 years now. I've beat the hell out of it. Still works like day one. Ive oiled it a total of 2 times, though I take it apart and grease/clean it before every season. Solid guns for sure.

[Bill McIntyre]

Its not realistic to expect the same gun to work for cave diving up north and wsb and yt on paddies down south.

[ForrestG]

I would strongly suggest a riffe euro 110. They are indestructible, dead accurate and good size for an all around gun if you have to only get one.

The two bands allows you to use 1 up north for poking in caves and 2 for when your hunting in cleaner SoCal water. The riffe bands are very good quality and will last a long time.

As you will hear many say, there is no one sized gun that can do everything, and that is true. However I strongly believe that the riffe euros are a great option and I think the 110cm is a great all around size that allows you to target most of the Cali spp.

I have taken every game fish species in California with my 100cm riffe euro at one time or another, so it is possible.