SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

[popgun pete]

https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3...CYZj6vxe0JXDvA

This advert caught my eye as the gun was being sold from China, so I decided to purchase one in order to check it out.

The “Shooter” speargun from China arrived today. It is an exact replica of a “SEA HORNET” timber frame gun only the barrel and cocking stock are both aluminium extrusions. There are a few differences in screw hole locations for attaching the grip handle to the barrel and of course zero markings of any kind on the gun. The mold ejector pins are in the same locations, but these components never came out of the TD PREECE PTY LTD “Sea Hornet" molds. The black plastic used is hard and shiny, but otherwise at a quick glance the gun presents reasonably well. Quality of the steel components is anybody’s guess.

[CuzzA]

Nice find. I bought one for the hell of it. $150 USD

US link below...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163003508715

[jfjf]

Should have bought my used one for $200

[Mikel_24]

Call me when they start to clone euro style guns....

I have never seen a gun like that used in Spain. Pretty sure they are capable guns, otherwise they wouldn't be so popular but... still.

One question. What stops the sliding ring from going out of the shaft? I see the shaft is notched, so there aren't any kind of sharkfins that could be potential stops.

Do they use some kind of special shafts with enlarged tails? I doub't it, because they would interfere with the closed muzzle.

Curious to know...

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by Mikel_24

Call me when they start to clone euro style guns....

I have never seen a gun like that used in Spain. Pretty sure they are capable guns, otherwise they wouldn't be so popular but... still.

One question. What stops the sliding ring from going out of the shaft? I see the shaft is notched, so there aren't any kind of sharkfins that could be potential stops.

Do they use some kind of special shafts with enlarged tails? I doub't it, because they would interfere with the closed muzzle.

Curious to know...

Shafts have small lugs or ears on either side that are punched or set up just forwards of the wishbone notches. In the very early days they were placed right at the rear end of the shaft, but that risked snapping the tail off at the notches when the shaft was being stressed by something that wanted to be somewhere else.

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by CuzzA

Nice find. I bought one for the hell of it. $150 USD

US link below...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/163003508715

It is actually a blatant theft of intellectual property as T.D. Preece & Co Pty Ltd (Sydney, Australia) created this "SEA HORNET" gun decades ago based on a trigger mechanism developed by spearfishing great Wally Gibbins who passed on some years ago now. That gun has continually been sold in the US from the White Stag days.

[Spear One]

Hey Pete, is the barrel wood?

[CuzzA]

Originally Posted by popgun pete

It is actually a blatant theft of intellectual property as T.D. Preece & Co Pty Ltd (Sydney, Australia) created this "SEA HORNET" gun decades ago based on a trigger mechanism developed by spearfishing great Wally Gibbins who passed on some years ago now. That gun has continually been sold in the US from the White Stag days.

Unless you keep your patent current you have no legal recourse to protect intellectual property. I'm not saying a patent has expired. I don't know. Frankly I've never seen a new offering for a Sea Hornet gun, only used.

I still have my primary Ocean Rhino gun, but will now have a $150 gun as a back up to lend to friends, family or use if I lose the Rhino.

[CuzzA]

Originally Posted by Spear One

Hey Pete, is the barrel wood?

Kevin, I believe it is aluminum.

[SEATUX]

Originally Posted by popgun pete

[url] It is an exact replica of a “SEA HORNET” timber frame gun only the barrel and cocking stock are both aluminium extrusions. .

I would like to see one, just to see it.

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by Spear One

Hey Pete, is the barrel wood?

The barrel and cocking stock are aluminium extrusions in the same way as Sea Hornet themselves created a hollow stainless steel version of their wooden barrel with the same cross-section. Those stainless steel guns were late sixties/early seventies vintage and had the bronze colored plastic muzzle, grip handle and cocking stock pad fittings. You can see one at the top of the attached photo of a bunch of Sea Hornet, AB BILLER and Ocean Rhino spearguns. In the second photo the stainless steel Sea Hornet is on the right hand side just making it into the view.

[Spear One]

Originally Posted by popgun pete

It is actually a blatant theft of intellectual property as T.D. Preece & Co Pty Ltd (Sydney, Australia) created this "SEA HORNET" gun decades ago based on a trigger mechanism developed by spearfishing great Wally Gibbins who passed on some years ago now. That gun has continually been sold in the US from the White Stag days.

I was the USA distributor for Sea Hornet products from 1999 to the fall of 2008. I had several conversations with Glen Preece who was the President of T.D. Preece while I was the distributor for Sea Hornet about patents and intellectual property rights in the USA as I had a need to know such details as the USA distributor. Glen told me that his father who started the company did not believe in patents and therefore did not patent the Sea Hornet speargun.

However, I have no idea if Wally Gibbins held any patent rights on his trigger design though. If he did have a patent and intended to to protect that patent, I would assume that he would have required TD Preece to patent his speargun as it used his patented design trigger. Pete, do you know if either Wally or TD. Preece actually held any patents on their designs?

[Spear One]

Originally Posted by popgun pete

The barrel and cocking stock are aluminium extrusions in the same way as Sea Hornet themselves created a hollow stainless steel version of their wooden barrel with the same cross-section. Those stainless steel guns were late sixties/early seventies vintage and had the bronze colored plastic muzzle, grip handle and cocking stock pad fittings. You can see one at the top of the attached photo of a bunch of Sea Hornet, AB BILLER and Ocean Rhino spearguns.

Does the barrel of this China version have an end plug to keep the barrel from flooding or does it have a foam insert?

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by Spear One

I was the USA distributor for Sea Hornet products from 1999 to the fall of 2008. I had several conversations with Glen Preece who was the President of T.D. Preece while I was the distributor for Sea Hornet about patents and intellectual property rights in the USA as I had a need to know such details as the USA distributor. Glen told me that his father who started the company did not believe in patents and therefore did not patent the Sea Hornet speargun.

However, I have no idea if Wally Gibbins held any patent rights on his trigger design though. If he did have a patent and intended to to protect that patent, I would assume that he would have required TD Preece to patent his speargun as it used his patented design trigger. Pete, do you know if either Wally or TD. Preece actually held any patents on their designs?

Kevin I don't think they held any patents and Wally certainly had no patent on his trigger mechanism, those men were from that generation where a man was as good as his word and a firm handshake was all that was needed to make a binding agreement respected by all parties. Blatantly copying and profiting from another man’s efforts would have been anathema to the men of that era.

However Fred Biller certainly patented the "Sea Hornet" trigger mechanism when he elongated the safety lever so that you could operate it with your trigger finger and he also hardened the sear lever to create an improved bearing surface with the trigger's softer material.

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by Spear One

Does the barrel of this China version have an end plug to keep the barrel from flooding or does it have a foam insert?

The hollow extrusions are sealed with rubber plugs which have the same profile as the tube cross-section and have some clear sealant applied to their periphery in order to waterproof the tubes (hopefully). The tube ends are milled flat on top to remove the shaft guide track where the ends fit into the matching sockets of the plastic moldings. The "SHOOTER" label is upside-down and back to front on the RHS of the gun because the Chinese printed the sticker incorrectly. Actually on closer inspection the problem is down to the RHS sticker having been applied incorrectly by a factory worker.