SEA HORNET Clone from CHINA!!

[popgun pete]

This is the last version of the Sea Hornet "Pacific" stainless steel tube gun which came in various lengths from 3 ft 6 inches to 5 ft 6 inches.

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by popgun pete

Well I decided to order the 32" gun for my nephew as I can fix any problem with the trigger and he can then have a crisp new version of a gun that appeared fifty years ago and has provided good service over all those decades (probably will need a longer band on it though).

It took a long time to get here, but the smaller 32" gun finally arrived yesterday and I have yet to re-assemble it. I notice that there are no "SHOOTER" barrel stickers on this short gun, so maybe the guys who make them are thinking about changing the stickers, or at least contemplating how to make sure they don't get applied upside down!

[popgun pete]

Some advice for anyone who buys one of these alloy barrel "Sea Hornet" “homage” guns is to make sure that over time saltwater does not accumulate in the barrel ends, or the cocking stock for that matter. The sealing plugs in these items stop short of where the screws penetrate, so the screws go into small voids on their extreme ends. Where the self-tapping attachment screws go through there is a leak path into the gun interior as is access via the socket openings in the plastic components where water can creep in along the tube body.

While the alloy tube sections are a very tight fit in the plastic sockets the chances are that saltwater will gradually leak in there and could eventually rot out the alloy tubes. I have certainly seen this happen in US guns such as the Aquacraft/Bandito alloy barrel guns. The fix is to leave one of the screws out on each section so water can go in and out when you dunk or wash your gun in freshwater and then over time the internal voids will dry out. The space could be filled with a foam, but that does not stop some water still getting in. Of course on the original Sea Hornet gun of this form the barrel and cocking stock were timber, so there were no voids or metal to corrode. Sea Hornet did make a stainless steel tube gun with the same cross-section as the timber, but stainless steel is more resistant to damage than alloy tubing. Also we do not know what grade of alloy the Chinese have used in these guns.

[popgun pete]

updated:Still some guns available: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shooter-....c100276.m3476 All sold

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/82cm-Pow...I3UL:rk:2:pf:0 1 left

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shooter-...1aMj:rk:7:pf:0 2 left

[popgun pete]

The mechanism biasing spring issue discussed here earlier reared its head on the smaller gun I purchased for my nephew as after an initial first latch and release the mechanism then refused to relatch with a reasonably firm push on the shaft. The culprit is that shitty spring, so I will be doing a transplant using one of my spare "Sea Hornet" trigger mechanisms.

[popgun pete]

A little bit of history concerning the Sea Hornet safety knob. When Sea Hornet Australia first released their new gun the safety knob was a ribbed circumference wheel which was located on the left hand side of the gun and was of a chrome plated plastic. The directional arrows on the knob for “safe” and ”fire” were correct for the left hand side installation, although you could swap the safety knob to the other side of the grip if you wanted to by flipping the safety rod or shaft to go in from the other side. The only consequence was the directional arrow instructions were now reversed.

Somewhat later the chrome finish was discontinued and the safety knobs were molded in black, previously under that chrome they were an off-white or grey color.

When Fred Biller, who had the license to sell Sea Horner guns in the USA, created his improved version with a harder sear lever and extended finger safety knob Sea Hornet in Australia had an arrangement to trade parts with Biller and offered some guns in Australia with the even later Biller open muzzle and knuckle guard handle. They also used the red safety knob with the elongated finger.

However this cooperative arrangement came to an end and then Sea Hornet Australia had to change the safety knob as it was a Biller patent and they then offered a rather stubby finger version which you also see on the Chinese clones. The Biller extended finger safety knob is designed for right hand side fitment so the directional arrow instructions “fire” and “safe” on the face of the knob are the other way around.

Personally I don't want a flick on and off safety using my trigger finger, so I place the safety knob on the left hand side of the gun, but have to remember the red knob arrows are the wrong way around. However after decades of use I never even look at the arrows as “forward for fire” and “back safe” are indelibly etched in my memory.

The Biller knuckle guard gun has “safe” and “fire” molded on the sides of the grip, hence the red safety lever carries no markings and can be swapped side to side with no consequences.

[SEATUX]

popgun pete...
I would love to inspect the China knock offs more closely...but I have no interest at all in plucking down the money to buy one. I understand that they may be a really cheap way to get started in the sport, and I am fine with that. I wonder how closely they copied the original Sea Hornets...we already know that the triggers are inferior, but I have another question. The original Sea Hornets by JD Preece & Co. Pty Ltd Sydney Australia had other issues. One is the "drop" of the shaft. Would you please load a shaft into the handle / trigger of the China copy ( without bands loaded) and then with downward pressure on the shaft ( which would be exerted by loaded bands) pull the trigger and slide the shaft forward. If like the original Sea Hornets, you will note the shaft drops down as it clears the trigger mech, and then drops again as it clears the plastic handle that houses the trigger as it hits the wood ( or in this case the aluminum) barrel...the "jump" at the end of the travel of the spear as it exits the muzzel would seem of less concern, but it would be nice to document that as well.
I have two old Sea Hornets, and both of them exhibit this flaw, I would be curious if the China Knock offs do also.

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by SEATUX

popgun pete...
I would love to inspect the China knock offs more closely...but I have no interest at all in plucking down the money to buy one. I understand that they may be a really cheap way to get started in the sport, and I am fine with that. I wonder how closely they copied the original Sea Hornets...we already know that the triggers are inferior, but I have another question. The original Sea Hornets by JD Preece & Co. Pty Ltd Sydney Australia had other issues. One is the "drop" of the shaft. Would you please load a shaft into the handle / trigger of the China copy ( without bands loaded) and then with downward pressure on the shaft ( which would be exerted by loaded bands) pull the trigger and slide the shaft forward. If like the original Sea Hornets, you will note the shaft drops down as it clears the trigger mech, and then drops again as it clears the plastic handle that houses the trigger as it hits the wood ( or in this case the aluminum) barrel...the "jump" at the end of the travel of the spear as it exits the muzzel would seem of less concern, but it would be nice to document that as well.
I have two old Sea Hornets, and both of them exhibit this flaw, I would be curious if the China Knock offs do also.

They do, the shaft has a gap between it and the track just like the Sea Hornet guns do. It is not a deal breaker as I have shot countless fish with Sea Hornet guns and many others besides. Over many decades in fact. If a Fish God runs Hell then I am in big trouble as are many others here.

The Chinese copied everything lock, stock and barrel as the old saying goes. What they did not do is use the right stuff for the leaf spring, the latest plastic for the molded components and who knows what alloy in the metal tube barrels, but dimension-wise they must have laser scanned every millimeter of the Sea Hornet gun that they had to work from.

As to the flaw, think of the milliseconds the shaft has to drop in, however it would be better to line the track up which I have done with my own Sea Hornet timber guns, being one-piece timber stocks from butt to muzzle. The earliest timber Sea Hornet gun is like that, but has to make do with a passive line clip release. Limited edition guns were built the same way in later years by AB Biller and they may still do so.

In fact they are still available.

[popgun pete]

AB Biller have a nice new catalog: http://www.abbiller.com/wp-content/u...1/abbiller.pdf

[popgun pete]

Here are images of the main Sea Hornet guns in the early nineties. Note that initially Sea Hornet made only timber and stainless steel barrel guns, the alloy tube guns came later, such as the "Competition" and the "Recruit". The earliest "Pacific" tube gun had a passive line clip as there initially was no line drop handle. A similar looking gun with red plastic parts and a black anodized alloy barrel was sold for many years as an entry level or beginner's gun, the "Tourist".

[popgun pete]

Here is a photo of how to set the safety cam in the SEA HORNET and AB BILLER series of spearguns. It is possible to put the cam on the safety control shaft with it flipped over in which case it will not work properly and that was the case on the second CHINESE CLONE gun that I purchased. I thought that it felt odd and was placing the safety knob on the gun’s right hand side where it should be (if the directional indicating arrows on the knob are to be correct) when I noticed that the cam was upside down (having been flipped over during initial assembly). Follow or memorize this image and you will never get it wrong.

Note that the safety cam is positioned on the outside of the grip for illustrative purposes. You need to feed it upwards in the slot around and forward of the trigger to push it up into the gun with say a wooden toothpick. As the holes line up and the D shaped end on the control shaft aligns with that D shaped hole in the cam then the control shaft can be slid into place before adding the flat washer, the short coil spring, the plastic safety control knob and finally the circlip to hold everything in place.

[popgun pete]

Sea Hornet advert from 1970 and the first Sea Hornet timber gun advert from five years earlier. Dates on each photo's file name indicate the chronology. The mermaid advert I only found many years later as I think that it was sparingly used. (Dubious connotations of mermaids being shot/speared [as a euphemism] by overzealous spearoes, etc. you get the picture.)

[popgun pete]

TUSA's catalog from their ill-fated venture in taking over the US distribution of Sea Hornet guns and spearfishing products when they knew zip about spearfishing.

[popgun pete]

I investigated what was wrong with the second "Sea Hornet" clone as not only would it refuse to allow the spear to be reinserted, it also periodically jammed when trying to pull the trigger after the spear was eventually able to be latched. In both these situations the leaf spring has to bow upwards as the levers begin to move and the edge of the leaf spring was at times digging into the sidewalls of the plastic cassette thereby jamming everything. The thick leaf "spring" the Chinese use has a sharp square cut edge that can bite into the plastic wall, so you can either file it off smooth or better still throw the "spring" into the bin and replace the "spring" with a real one from Kevin. I put spring in quotes for the Chinese "spring" as it ain't really spring steel.

[popgun pete]

Another update. The hollow tube ends where the screws penetrate do take-up water, so you can either let it out by taking a screw out or not putting that screw in when assembling the gun in the first place. The bottom screws are not entirely necessary and one will do rather than have two in any section as there are also screws on the side. Only exception is the muzzle as there are only two screws on the bottom. Of courses you could drill a tiny hole to let water both in and out so that dunking after use the salt will be removed or be very diluted by freshwater going in. A hot day and being all black the guns should dry out pretty quick, although the alloy barrels cool down fast in the shade.

I watched water dribbling out of the gun for about twenty minutes as for water to get out air has to get in, so it can be a slow process.