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Old 10-30-2003, 12:54 PM   #12
Blackfoot
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Join Date: Feb 2003
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Arrow Fixing the problem (bands/accuracy)

i sat down with an engineer/avid spearfisherman after noticing his odd shaped homemade speargun. his guns shoot dead on with insane distance, he has one that will shoot 41 feet!! i did not understand how this was possible..... until he explained.

Just as mr. wong said, an increase in band power will decrease accuracy because the front of the gun will kick up causing low shots. But if you want the power then you must figure out how to increase the accuracy and this is done by increasing weight and surface area.

I will do my best to explain. You must look at your gun as if it were a teeter-totter and your handle is the fulcrum. When your gun recoils/kicks up, it will do so from the pivot point (handle). in order to reduce recoil in many guns people will add weight to the gun making it heavier.... this does work, but placement of the weight is the key! You must add the weight to the front of the gun, near the muzzle.....again, keep in mind the "teeter-totter".

One of the best ways to do this is to add a front floater wing kit, very similar to the Front stabilizer that Riffe has. Adding this wing kit in the front will also increase surface area of the front of your gun. Increasing surface area will now increase water resistance when your gun wants to kick up. If you take your hand in the water and lay it flat in the direction your moving it (side to side or up and down) your hand will cut through the water without much effort, but if you rotate your hand (showing palm) in the direction your moving it you will notice resistance and it requires much more effort to move especially at increased speeds.

So now, you put the 2 together, weight and surface area. You can drill slots into your front wing kit and add lead as needed. Basically you want the front of the gun to be wide and heavy so if you were to let the gun go, the muzzle would sink and the rear would float, handle out of the water. Keep in mind the teeter totter! Now the front is heavy so in order to balance the gun out, you grab the gun by its fulcrum, the handle and then you become the weight that compensates/balances out the gun.

the most important thing is accuracy, hands down! you may get only one shot at the biggest fish of the trip, your personal best or a world record.
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