pneumatic spearguns help

[biminirob]

i am looking at buying a pneumatic speargun. what are some good ones with stopping power to stone a 35lb black or if u are a bad shot like me scare it good. what are some of the negative things about a pneumatic speargun. my buddy has a smaller one and uses just on snapper and hogs. do they work as good as on big grouper and AJ thanks in advance. ps i have a A B biller 48 now looking for the same killing power.

[f94gator]

Originally posted by biminirob
what are some of the negative things about a pneumatic speargun.

Harder and more expensive to maintain than a band gun. If you still get a pneumatic, hang on to your biller. You'll be back using it within a year.

[frogman]

Pneumatics in the right hands are great. If you are interested in "stoning" big grouper get a 85 or even a 100 to 110 cm gun. I have speared a holed up 40 lb grouper with a 70 cm pneumatic and it did not penetrate all the way through (thick skull). It did stone him though. The nice thing with pneumatics is that you get a lot more power for a shorter length making them a lot more maneuverable in tight spots. The donwside is that they are not as good in open water (where you are going to shoot most groupers, AJs, etc).
A long band gun is a better all around choice but I always keep my 70 cm Cyrano on the boat for backup (I freedive so I don't have to worry about changing guns while tankdiving). Pneumatics were developed for cave hunting in Italy where you have to make powerful shots from up close. Firing a powerful band gun (like a Riffe or a Rhino) in a granite hole (not coral like here) is damn near suicidal if the spear comes back at your noggin.
The best pneumatic is Mares (Cyrano or Sten models) but you can get a "Seacsub ASSO" from www.scubastore.com for about $100 plus shipping (I don't think you are going to find any pneumatics for that price around here). I think they are OK but I have not used them. Let us know how you make out.

[Divin' fool]

Ditto Frogman....I have a Scubapro pneumatic. I don't think Scubapro even produced it- they just put their name on it, but it is a great close-in gun. It's got a high and a low power. On high power it has some great knockdown power and recoil. It's quick, easy to load, easy to move around with and carry. When I am looking for lobster, it's not always in the way (like a big long gun). I am switching to a band gun very soon, but will always carry the pneumatic when lobstering or in tight quarters.