Good speargun for a beginner??

[southflspearo]

I am looking into buying a new speargun. I own a JBL Carbine at the moment and am looking to upgrade. I was looking at a Mako predator pro 100 cm, a JBL woody elite sawed off magnum, or a Riffe competitor 2X or 2Xs. Any thoughts??? thanks

[injunspearo]

Riffe for life, im a noob too. I bought my Competitor 3X in february and i love it. Its a wood gun so you have to treat it nicely, but they are accurate and it will outlast any pipe gun. Get the Riffe C2X

[AndrewK]

Originally Posted by injunspearo

Riffe for life, im a noob too. I bought my Competitor 3X in february and i love it. Its a wood gun so you have to treat it nicely, but they are accurate and it will outlast any pipe gun. Get the Riffe C2X

riffe might be great for what you do in cali but it may not work here in south florida where we dont have craptastic viz, or giant piles of kelp in the ocean all the time... more like patch reef and reef lines and wrecks.

the competitor lines are extremely heavy for what they are, and overpriced production guns at a custom price. The tip provided with them will blow a giant hole in a fish for a meat shot. short gun in good viz for a beginner can lead to tearoffs, shots falling short, overall disappointment... along with wrist fatigue from dealing with a gun that heavy. If you're that new, you speak from inexperience with railguns not lasting long... I had a 4 year old RA I just sold that was an absolute tank, and plenty of people Ive dove with have had their pipe guns for a long time and they still work just fine.


The new JBL elites are very well built and much better then the old JBL wood gun line.


Omer is another option for a good step up, specifically the kanaloa or HF2 guns. Id get a minimum of a 110 CM for south florida, great all around size for reef and wreck diving.


If you want to wait to buy a gun until the end of this month, Ill be working at the new Divers Direct in coral gables and when we open, you can come in and ill go over what we carry and how well it will work for you down here.

[SouthFlawda5]

Noo. Don't get a new Riffe if you are the one paying. Get a 110 rob allen and you'll be set. IF you decide you like wooden guns get a used riffe and wait for a good deal

[injunspearo]

It may have been important to note that I bought my riffe used on Craigslist. I got it for half of retail. Use Craigslist carefully. I still stand by my Riffe.

[jstiver09]

Originally Posted by injunspearo

Riffe for life, im a noob too. I bought my Competitor 3X in february and i love it. Its a wood gun so you have to treat it nicely, but they are accurate and it will outlast any pipe gun. Get the Riffe C2X

Wouldn't count on a wood gun necessarily lasting longer than a pipe gun...what's your justification to that?

[injunspearo]

-Dents in the metal can reduce structural integrity
- o-rings are what keep the gun buoyant, not the material itself (a point of failure)
- Pretty wood will inherently be treated nicer by the user, in my opinion.
- less square inches of area subject to corrosion and rust.

Like I said, I'm a noob. My first and only gun is a Riffe c3x. I just like what I have and I want to recommend to a fellow new spearfisherman why I like my gun. I have used an RA and I did not like that style because of its lack of a loading butt. I know they sling shafts like laser beams but its just not my preference.

[injunspearo]

If I were to get a pipe gun, I would get either a Rob Allen or an Omer. I would not mess with a JBL or an AB Biller. Perhaps that's just the direction i was pointed in by the guys helping me out on deciding what gun to buy. But that's my preference.

[jstiver09]

Many of the higher end pipe guns use rubber plugs to enclose the tubes instead of o rings. My Aimrites don't have a seperate muzzle at all. I own wood guns and railguns. If I am going to loan one of them out to someone who beats their gear up, I'm gonna reach for one of my railguns. Its all relative to how you care for them though.

[injunspearo]

Originally Posted by jstiver09

Its all relative to how you care for them though.

Exactly

[MattyC]

Alot depends on where your diving and the conditions vis,depth, up on the reef or bluewater etc etc. Id be careful buying a secondhand timber gun you would need to see it first obviously to check for warping, delamination etc. Remember a timber gun requires more love and maintenance.

[ApneaAndrew]

I wouldn't bother on the X versions for the 2 or 3. They already have 7" or so behind the shaft and can be hip loaded no problem. I've found that they dont have the mass for more power without an abundance of recoil, so how they come is the most range your gonna get. Unless your in < 20' of vis get the 3.

They are well made guns, but still a little overpriced.

[southflspearo]

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I am leaning towards a mako or Rob Allen. My only dilemma is I don't like that the R.A. dosent have a loading butt. Any thoughts on that?? Thanks

[MiamiMan97]

Originally Posted by southflspearo

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I am leaning towards a mako or Rob Allen. My only dilemma is I don't like that the R.A. dosent have a loading butt. Any thoughts on that?? Thanks

Its not bad at all once you get used to it. Its just getting used to it...

Regards,
Jose

[Freshy]

Originally Posted by injunspearo

-Dents in the metal can reduce structural integrity
- o-rings are what keep the gun buoyant, not the material itself (a point of failure)
- Pretty wood will inherently be treated nicer by the user, in my opinion.
- less square inches of area subject to corrosion and rust.

On the other hand, wood guns can warp/ delaminate I think there are advantages and disadvantages to the many different speargun materials. Ultimately, it is personal preference. I just don't want southflspearo to think that aluminum railguns will rust/ corrode the moment they hit saltwater.

I definitely baby my wood guns ALOT more than my Rob Allen guns. Yet my RA 90 (oldest RA I own) is yet to give me any troubles. My favorite place to spear in Aus is about a 20-30 minute hike through the bush. I've used the gun as a walking stick, gotten mud/sand in the trigger mech, scratched it up but it still shoots like the day I bought it. I give it a rinse with freshwater after every dive, let it dry and it's good to go for tomorrow. I don't remember exactly how old the gun is now but it's somewhere between 4-5 years old. Great guns.

A 110 Rob Allen would be a great gun to upgrade to. If your conditions allow it, you can go even longer. The thing I like about Rob Allen guns is that I never felt like I needed to get a "better" gun. Yes I bought different guns such as Wong Hybrids, Riffe Euros and an assortment of euro guns but IMO, Rob Allens are definitely the best bang for your buck.

I believe the newer Rob Allen guns come stock with the integrated loading butt now. That is what my local dive shop (Dive Addicts) told me anyway. I actually picked up a new gun yesterday from them and requested to change the new trigger mech with built in loading butt for one of the older ones. I just prefer loading them without the butt. Hop in the pool, load the gun a few times and you'll figure it out in no time