"Middle Gounds Special"

[Aimrite]

Aloha Everyone

Im glad to see the gun Daryl and I designed is causing such a stir. First let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself this year at the St. Pete Open and hope to be back next year. I learned alot about your local area freediving with Sasha and his gang.

As most of you know I am in the military which means I am a good listener and follow orders well. I spoke to countless spearo's in your club before the light came on and I called my friend and business partner Daryl Wong to plant the "seed". What did you ask for; a gun capable of shooting both freeshaft as well as using a line; capable of shooting a 5/16" shaft and more than anything able to take the largest "bottom dweller"!

In all actuallity we produced this gun about 12-18 months ago for a spearo in Miami but the "MG Special" has some slight modifications. Namely the ability to shoot freeshaft and of course the trigger location for more power. During this guns conception it has always been thought about as our premier "Reef Gun". Even though this gun possess the same quality machined aluminum muzzle as our "Blue Water" line it is quite a bit lighter.

You must remember for every action there is an opposite equal re-action. Is it possible to put up to six bands on this muzzle? Yes, but at what cost? Would you overpower the gun or overpower the diver? Of course you would overpower the diver and shots would be irregular. Each and every "Blue water" gun that we hand craft is internally wieghted to compensate for that
"equal re-action" this is what makes them accurate and safe to operate.

In a few month after I re-coup from knee surgery I plan on coming down to St Pete for a trip out to the famous Florida Middle Grounds with Capt. Chad Carney. I will be using my "MG Special" a 5/16" freeshaft and two 5/8" bands!

One of the worlds best spearfisherman once told me this while diving off San Benedicto Mexico; "It is better to have less power and more accuracy than to have more power and less acccuracy" (Gerald Lim, 1994)

Rick Bettua
Aimrite Hawaii, Inc

[Aimrite]

Opps forgot the pic! Hope this ok!

[JCACTION]

Glad to see ya posting here buddy, this is JC I see you are doing the next best thing to diving........talking about it!!!!! Hey man dont i get to come on that trip your planning? lol lol lol

[TGuthrie]

I have played with Chads gun a bit, and it seems sweet. The trigger is realy smooth and the shaft falls out of the gun like it was never loaded. I have not got a chance to shoot the gun but from what Chad has told me it shoots great and handles excellent in the water.

I like the way it gives you that little extra stretch in the bands by loading rear of the handle, which shortens the gun quite a bit.
Great design guys!!
Tom

[Spearchucker]

How about a PIC?

[rigdvr]

I think the MG special will be awesome on the rigs as well. It is the perfect compromise between my hybrid and ono. I will still use the hybrid on the shallow rigs for snapper but when I get big aj's in the mix, this will definately be the gun.

Chad, the tuna season looks like it might start earlier this year. If so it will be better for diving as there is less pressure, better vis and hungrier fish(hopefully not the mako's getting hungry!) I will let you know.

[donmoore]

How about a PIC?

Yes, I want to see a pic too.

[Sheri]

Here's a picture, not the best, but you get the idea.

[Chad Carney]

Rick,

How'd the knee surgey go? We should pick a target date to for the Grounds trip. Let me know when you expect to get your kick back. (It's all drift diving by the way, so that'll limit the stresses there.)

Sheri, Ed Walker and I are watching the weather right now, the wind is just starting to fall, we're hoping to get out to the Tarpon to Bayport freediving area and finally give the gun a good breaking in. With DEMA, (You going?), and my boat repower I've only had a couple of chances to get it in the water. Horrible vis on one dive and once while freediving last Sun in 48 ft. The gun is blazing with both bands loaded, no drop at all on a target shot from 25 ft out. There weren't any fish to shoot except this one cobia that I slammed in the head. He circled twice and I struggled to grab my freespear both passes but had to go up for air. I debated diving immediately for the third grab but opted to get another shaft from my boat nearby. In about two minutes I was back on the stern of the wreck, and laying there in the sand right where I shot him was my unbent freespear. The vis is looking great now and I want to shoot the MGS about 100 times, to make it feel like it's a part of me.

For you guys that wanted to see the MGS check this past thread, lots of stats too. http://www.spearboard.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4183&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

Thanks again Rick and we'll be diving before you know it!

BTW, the boat is fast and ready!

[Big Pig]

I have had a busy week and have not had time to post. I took my new rear handle MG Special to the Elbow last Saturday to devirginize it. This area which usually holds numerous large fish was devoid of life. Four divers, 12 different spots, with 5 dives each produced 8 fish total. I only pulled the trigger four times. Luckily one of my buddies shot a 41lb gag at the end of the day. This at least put some weight in the fish box.

Here is my initial evaluation of the gun. Smoooooth. I had been shooting a 52 Seahornet (until I won this gun in a tournament), and there is no comparison between the two. The gun came with 9/16" bands and all the shots I took were with two bands. No recoil was observed. The gun is perfectlly perfectly balanced with a single shaft, and with a spare shaft the balance is still good and the gun is not too nose heavy. The only thing I will change before my next trip will be switching to 5/8" bands (the 9/16 are a little wimpy). I would love to post a pic of the big fish I shot, but I was forced to take target practice at small mangos. I was very impressed with how accurate the gun was at approximately 15 ft. Those little snappers didn't stand a chance. Hopefully I'll be able to make it out next weekend to an area that is holding fish, then I'll be able to give a better report.

Ken