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Old 10-18-2018, 02:39 PM   #1
CuzzA
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New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

Posted by Spearcrafters today on their Facebook Page.

https://www.facebook.com/spearcrafte...54876401435430

Quote:
BREAKING NEWS:
After a year of development and testing, we are happy to announce the release of a new shaft that truly is a “game changer”!

We have designed a notched Biller/Ocean Rhino free shaft that will allow you to almost instantly go to line-shaft!

This new shaft does NOT have any significant change in hydrodynamics over a traditional freeshaft!

It does NOT have any additional hardware added to it and it can be rear loaded.

Currently only available from Spearcrafters in 54” and 60”.








They listed the price at $55. So not cheap compared to a standard freeshaft. It appears they put the shaft on a lathe and reduced the diameter of the shaft where the flopper gets riveted to the shaft. This likely allows them to keep everything the same and use a smaller diameter slip ring. Why do this? Back Loading!!!

I think it's a great idea and solves the sole problem with a Biller/Rhino gun... quickly changing to your line kit while still being able to back load (which is a much faster way to load, IMO). Hell, I cut my line kit off the muzzle because I didn't see ever having the chance to use it. Instead I stow my spare band under the gun. I will have to think about what I want to do going forward.

Thoughts?
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Old 10-18-2018, 05:36 PM   #2
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

I think it would be fine for shooting up under a deep ledge to keep from loosing a spear.
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Old 10-19-2018, 06:29 AM   #3
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

Lots of in line track guns out there for several years with a similar design. The slide ring gets stopped by the shark fins. That's why I went from a Biller style gun to my Koah Battle Axe. A few years ago. I can go from free to line shaft in a few seconds. Glad to see the improvement. The slide ring looks almost exactly like on my gun. The only difference, is mine is all smooth on the outer diameter. I still have my Biller LTD 54 for when my son visits. I'll have to check out the new design. I guess, the regular free shafts would be used on reefs that you know have no deep cracks or holes. Just hope you don't see anything in the water column you want to shoot with the regular free shaft. Basically, what Kenny is saying.
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Old 10-19-2018, 07:22 AM   #4
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

Right, but with the shark fins you can't back load free shafts. In my experience, back loading shafts is much faster. And the faster you can reload, the faster you can put a second shaft into a fish, take down a second fish or defend yourself from a shark.

There are times though, where I want a line. Cobia, AJ, deep undercut ledges and wrecks. This new shaft seems to check all the boxes. $55 is just a little steep when you can get free shafts for $30. I'm loaded with shafts and haven't lost one in a long while so it will be some time before I'd test one of these out.
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Old 10-19-2018, 07:55 AM   #5
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

Cuzza, who sells freeshafts for $30 and are they shark fin or notched? That's a great price!
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Old 10-19-2018, 08:25 AM   #6
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

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Originally Posted by CuzzA View Post
Right, but with the shark fins you can't back load free shafts. In my experience, back loading shafts is much faster. And the faster you can reload, the faster you can put a second shaft into a fish, take down a second fish or defend yourself from a shark.

There are times though, where I want a line. Cobia, AJ, deep undercut ledges and wrecks. This new shaft seems to check all the boxes. $55 is just a little steep when you can get free shafts for $30. I'm loaded with shafts and haven't lost one in a long while so it will be some time before I'd test one of these out.
You are correct on the shaft back loading. That's the only feature i miss. i'm getting faster at muzzle loading. Learned a new trick and it cut my time in half. Still not as fast as back loading my old Biller. There are a few over and under guns with 2 shafts and two separate triggers. But, they are costly. My buddy, Scott has one by Bonafide. I have seen that feature come in handy a few times. He can also go to line shaft in a few seconds. On this new improvement shaft. Do you still have to re-wrap the line or let it free float when going to line shaft?
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Old 10-19-2018, 12:48 PM   #7
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

This is great to see that someone figured this out and is making a product available. Is double the price, though. Be a bit more painful seeing my freeshaft swimming away.....

Ocean Rhino Kevin was working on some options for this but I haven't heard of anything being close to release.
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Old 10-19-2018, 01:06 PM   #8
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

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Originally Posted by sharpshooter View Post
You are correct on the shaft back loading. That's the only feature i miss. i'm getting faster at muzzle loading. Learned a new trick and it cut my time in half. Still not as fast as back loading my old Biller. There are a few over and under guns with 2 shafts and two separate triggers. But, they are costly. My buddy, Scott has one by Bonafide. I have seen that feature come in handy a few times. He can also go to line shaft in a few seconds. On this new improvement shaft. Do you still have to re-wrap the line or let it free float when going to line shaft?
I would re-wrap the line if I didn't have a target to shoot. Otherwise it's not necessary. I'm sure it's very similar to your BattleAxe. A fine gun, by the way.
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Old 10-19-2018, 05:20 PM   #9
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

I buy all my shafts from spearcrafters ( through red tide). They are awesome shafts. The major problem I see in this shaft is that the slide ring and line attach near the front of the shaft and it will probably destroy any accuracy further than 6 or 8 feet. My accuracy and range already go way down when I use the Koah slide ring on my battle axe and it is from the rear of the shaft. It does work great for deep ledges or close shots on jacks and cobia though. Just keep in mind that it does affect range and accuracy.

Last edited by SEA_ARCHER; 10-19-2018 at 05:27 PM. Reason: Cant tell from pics if slide ring moves all the way to the back of the shaft
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Old 10-22-2018, 07:37 AM   #10
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

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Originally Posted by SEA_ARCHER View Post
....The major problem I see in this shaft is that the slide ring and line attach near the front of the shaft and it will probably destroy any accuracy further than 6 or 8 feet......
The slide ring sits in front of the muzzle while loaded, but it slides to the back of the shaft upon firing (it hits the two little dimples/crimps that are just in front of the band slots on this type of shaft). Ultimately, the effect on the shaft flight would probably be similar to what you're seeing when the quick slide ring on your line is seated against the shark fins after firing.
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Old 10-22-2018, 08:39 AM   #11
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

Thx for clearing that up Tyson. So it is very similar to the way Koah does things. For a shark finned shaft the ID of the slide ring can be large enough to fit around a normal flopper and still stop at the shark fin. In order for the spearcrafter slide ring to stop at the normal stop the ID has to be smaller and the the shaft has to be necked down some and a lower profile flopper used.
Nice option to have for freeshafters.
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Old 10-22-2018, 09:29 AM   #12
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

If you are going to be taking long shots with a line shaft, this is not the way to do it.

However if you are normally hunting (say 90%) with a free shaft, then why are you going to use a line shaft conversion like this? The answer, for me would be two different situations.

The first is to shoot deep into a hole or into a wreck. In general these are going to be relatively close shots, where accuracy is not critical and excess power may be a detriment. So the slide ring is ok

The other situation is a cobia or amberjack shows up in the water column. Both of these fishes can often be approached closely, so accuracy is not so much of a concern, so the loss in accuracy and power, over a free shaft are probably not too much of a problem.
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Old 10-22-2018, 12:54 PM   #13
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

FYI - Ocean Rhino does have a "hyper loop" line system that allows you to just slip a ring over the end of the spear when the need arises. I used it last week on an AJ, worked good.
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Old 10-22-2018, 01:35 PM   #14
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

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Originally Posted by Eibwen View Post
FYI - Ocean Rhino does have a "hyper loop" line system that allows you to just slip a ring over the end of the spear when the need arises. I used it last week on an AJ, worked good.
I think I've seen this. No back loading though, right?
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Old 10-22-2018, 01:37 PM   #15
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Re: New Ocean Rhino/Biller Free/Line Shaft

Yeah line vs freeshaft often frustrates me here on the east coast. Just monday i was drifting the reef and I see a nice kingfish cruising right at me. I was in freeshaft mode and this king passes slowly about 6 or 7 feet from me. By the time I get the slide ring up over the flopper and line up the shot he is about 10 -12 feet from me which is too far for line shaft with the battle ax on this big of fish. It is always a trade off.
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