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All About Guns What's your weapon of choice, and why? Discuss the beloved speargun here!

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Old 07-26-2019, 01:24 PM   #1
deanmc
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Pink / Purple fusion roller

I became interested in this style rollergun after seeing some videos online so I figured I'd take a shot at building one.

Instead of a continuous rubber going around a roller there is a line connecting two sections of tubing (one on the top and one on the underside of the gun). The piece of line rides on the roller, not the rubber. The bands on the bottom of the gun can stay under tension during a dive session. After shooting and re-rigging the shaft and line all the diver needs to do is pull back a single band (just like on a traditional gun) and he is ready to shoot again. Popgun Pete will I'm sure be familiar with the design. I think it may have been Roi-Sub that coined the term and came up with the design. I'm going to test in the pool this week and hopefully dive with it soon after.





























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Old 07-26-2019, 01:32 PM   #2
Behslayer
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

That thing is Gorgeous! Can't believe I was standing in your driveway for an hour while you were downstairs coating that thing and I never got to see it in person. Your Handle work here is spot on.
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Old 07-26-2019, 02:15 PM   #3
Mana'squal
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

If you don’t get a rainbow finish on the shaft I’m going to be disappointed.

Things so good looking.
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Old 07-26-2019, 04:09 PM   #4
popgun pete
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

A one-eyed, one-horned pink and purple fish eater!
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Old 07-26-2019, 05:45 PM   #5
popgun pete
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

Your pink and purple gun has a hull size and shape that could take more bands and store more energy to shoot heavier shafts if you wanted it to. As gun power and projectile weight go up the launch platform, i.e. the gun, needs more mass, and for floatability after the shot, greater water displacement. You see this philosophy in the Alemanni rollerguns and the C4 Carbon spearguns. The guns bulk up and get longer as they need to dish out more heavy duty shots at longer range with a tougher body target. If the long range victim is a softer body target then the projectile can be lighter as for the fish its unenviable “job” is to slow the shaft by absorbing all the energy, hopefully with fatal consequences. Either that or the fish becomes a kite on the shooting line!

You see various band configurations on an Alemanni rollergun to make use of the available gun real estate for locating multiple rear band anchors, hence you see wrap around bands on stationary drums, single strand with a looped anchor cord and double strands in pairs with an anchor chord cum wishbone, all combined to cram them all into the limited lateral space on the gun body. Uncocked the bands may even rub on each other along their lengths, but under stretch they are all separated.

The other consideration is reduced hydrodynamic drag during gun muzzle traverse, which is why you have cable rollerguns or “shoelace” stretch bands/top deck band sections with cord limiting inner cables. The ultimate consideration, although actually the first, is considering the target and the conditions under which it is to be shot and working backards from there in order to select a gun that can do that particular job, and which you can reload it in the required time interval.
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Old 07-27-2019, 02:21 PM   #6
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

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Originally Posted by popgun pete View Post
Your pink and purple gun has a hull size and shape that could take more bands and store more energy to shoot heavier shafts if you wanted it to..
Right now I've got a 7mm shaft on there. The gun is 43" long. I'm going to see how that works first. If I feel it could potentially shoot a heavier shaft I may toy around with it and add another set of bands on the bottom. As you said there is plenty of real estate to work with.


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Originally Posted by popgun pete View Post
The ultimate consideration, although actually the first, is considering the target and the conditions under which it is to be shot and working backards from there in order to select a gun that can do that particular job, and which you can reload it in the required time interval
I built this with reef diving in mind. Being able to reload without too much complication was one of the things attracted me to this setup. I've made a bunch of rollers and they all had a two stage loading setup. This is one less step which is nice.
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Old 07-27-2019, 02:23 PM   #7
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

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Originally Posted by Behslayer View Post
That thing is Gorgeous! Can't believe I was standing in your driveway for an hour while you were downstairs coating that thing and I never got to see it in person. Your Handle work here is spot on.
Thanks John, yeah, that was bizarre you didn't hear me working any in the basement. You must have been mesmerized by my tomato and pepper plants though after seeing yours I doubt it!
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Old 07-27-2019, 02:24 PM   #8
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

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Originally Posted by Mana'squal View Post
If you don’t get a rainbow finish on the shaft I’m going to be disappointed.

Things so good looking.
I'll have to get the airbrush out.
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Old 07-31-2019, 11:01 AM   #9
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

I got in the pool with the gun last night and couldn't be happier with how it performed. It shoots very consistently, no oddball shaft behavior. My first shot was from 12.5 feet (muzzle to target). I moved back another foot after that which had me at maximum range with a single wrap and another wrap of line added from the reel. I normally shoot two handed but for some reason I felt like this gun begged to be shot with a single hand. Recoil felt even less noticeable than with a traditional single roller.

Video here https://vimeo.com/351210650
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Old 07-31-2019, 04:41 PM   #10
popgun pete
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

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Originally Posted by deanmc View Post
I got in the pool with the gun last night and couldn't be happier with how it performed. It shoots very consistently, no oddball shaft behavior. My first shot was from 12.5 feet (muzzle to target). I moved back another foot after that which had me at maximum range with a single wrap and another wrap of line added from the reel. I normally shoot two handed but for some reason I felt like this gun begged to be shot with a single hand. Recoil felt even less noticeable than with a traditional single roller.

Video here https://vimeo.com/351210650
Bullseye! Right on the money.
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Old 07-31-2019, 08:01 PM   #11
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

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Originally Posted by deanmc View Post
I got in the pool with the gun last night and couldn't be happier with how it performed. It shoots very consistently, no oddball shaft behavior. My first shot was from 12.5 feet (muzzle to target). I moved back another foot after that which had me at maximum range with a single wrap and another wrap of line added from the reel. I normally shoot two handed but for some reason I felt like this gun begged to be shot with a single hand. Recoil felt even less noticeable than with a traditional single roller.

Video here https://vimeo.com/351210650
Beautiful gun man! I like the way your handle came out and I'm jealous that you have access to a pool to test.

I'm the guy from Hawaii who bought the Ermes Back from you a little while back. I'm slowly getting the right bits together to start practicing on some wood. I'd love to try and make my own handle one day.
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Old 07-31-2019, 08:20 PM   #12
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

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I like the way your handle came out I'd love to try and make my own handle one day.
It’s taken me a while to get to this point. With each gun I’ve become a little more confident positioning the handle higher up into the stock. That Ermes mech you got is perfect for a home made handle.

For me shaping the handle is one of my favorite parts of the build. I’ve got the process down so it only takes me about an hour that get one shaped. After I rough out the basic form I use a Kutzall shaping disc on an angle grinder to remove large amounts of wood quickly. I’ll then refine the shape with a Fordom rotary tool (a heavy duty Dremel) with a carbide bit that has teeth like a rasp. The bits come in different shapes and I’ll swap them out depending on what I feel will work best for what I’m shaping. I fine tune with a regular hand held rounded rasp and then heavy grit sandpaper and various forms. Hope that helps. You know where to find me if you want more specific information.
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Old 07-31-2019, 08:23 PM   #13
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

Deano, just for the sake of science, could you throw another band set on the bottom and see what the performance gain is? It's a pain in the butt to sink it, but you can get 1" Insulation foam at Home Depot (makes for a nice Hot box too)

Still cannot believe how close and yet so far I got to seeing that gun. hilarious. You'll need to come out here and visit when the cold comes. But for now, try to get Out There into the New Blue Realitas.
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Old 08-01-2019, 09:14 AM   #14
deanmc
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

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Originally Posted by Behslayer View Post
Deano, just for the sake of science, could you throw another band set on the bottom and see what the performance gain is? It's a pain in the butt to sink it, but you can get 1" Insulation foam at Home Depot (makes for a nice Hot box too)

Still cannot believe how close and yet so far I got to seeing that gun. hilarious. You'll need to come out here and visit when the cold comes. But for now, try to get Out There into the New Blue Realitas.
I made a target with that purple construction foam, I tested my last gun out with it. Crazy buoyant! I went back to my kick board because the purple stuff made such a mess in the pool. I want to redesign it and make it smaller so I don’t need so much weight to hold it down.

I’m taking this gun to Block Island on Monday to see how it does in real world conditions then (providing it goes well) it’s getting boxed up and moving to Florida. I’m already planning the next one which will be a couple inches longer and will be set up with an extra set of bands on the bottom. I’ll have more time to test that one too.

Big Island is on my list of places to get back to soon!
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Old 08-02-2019, 04:04 AM   #15
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Re: Pink / Purple fusion roller

Very nice indeed! And thanks for posting that video as it shows the importance of not allowing shaft tail to be flipped and causing shaft nose down and low shooting. I think anyone building a roller gun should pay attention to that detail of getting the shaft out flat. This is a problem with many many roller guns once they are powered up. I do think you can improve performance by reducing the top band length and adding power down side as the top band doesn't have to be that long to prevent tail lift and this could probably give you more band stretch space.. I would have the top band just long enough where it prevents the wishbone from tail lifting the shaft. Once you have figured out how to keep the shaft flat, you can pack the power bottom side as much as you want or until you reach terminal velocity of your shaft. The problem with many roller guns is that they don't pay attention to tail lift and just power up … all that does is make the tail lift more exaggerated and shaft doesn't go out stable and flat.
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