Experience With Spearguns

[Chris Lupin]

After saving some money for a bit, I'll be able to buy a new gun for my return home to OC for the summer. The problem is, I have only shot two guns before, a 36 biller and a tiny jbl. I have never used a reel, only a floatline. I have a few ideas about the sizing of my gun (55-60") and power and such, but I haven't experimented with enough guns to be able to tell preferences on handle, wood vs railgun or even hybrid. I'm looking for a gun that can be used for wsb/yt, but I will be shorediving some of the time so it shouldn't be too big. I'll be home for a bit, April 3rd-13 for Spring Break, and I'd love for some guys to let me try out some different guns so I can get a feel for the differences in dimensions, materials, etc. There is no point in spending a big chunk of money on a gun that I don't like. Shoredives are fine, but I can chip in some money for gas if anyone would be willing to take me out. I'm not a crazy 15 year old with a polespear, so you don't have to worry about babysitting me (19's old enough ). Thanks guys, I'd really appreciate it if a few of you would meet up for some dives.

Edit: Just to clear up this semi-long post a bit, I've read countless threads about guns that would work for these purposes. However, I've never shot or even seen many of them, so before spending all my hard-earned cash, I'd like to handle some different guns. I welcome suggestions, but this was not the sole purpose of the thread. Thanks guys!

[patrick]

if you can get your hands on a *********** 55" tracker II, i highly recommend it. great all-around gun. if you come to sd, you can try mine out. its awesome.

[CalIslandhopper]

"home for the summer" isn't a very good basis to buy or build a gun in my opinion. What are the conditions and location that you will be diving mainly? 55"-60" is a big gun, you don't really need something like that if your shooting reef fish from the shore. I've killed a lot of fish with a ~36" sea hornet and I used a 75cm rail gun for a short while that was even better. The largest fish I shot with the 75cm was the 13.5lb sheephead in my avatar. I don't currently have a small gun, but I'll probably buy a Rob Allen 80 sometime in the future.

I currently have a 120cm RA and I'm building a 60" 3 band hybrid. The 120 will become my backup and I want the 80cm for reef fish/scuba.

[campbellc0321]

Originally Posted by patrick

if you can get your hands on a *********** 55" tracker II, i highly recommend it. great all-around gun. if you come to sd, you can try mine out. its awesome.

Can I have that gun?

[Chris Lupin]

Originally Posted by patrick

if you can get your hands on a *********** 55" tracker II, i highly recommend it. great all-around gun. if you come to sd, you can try mine out. its awesome.

I heard that gun sucks, you should just give it to me . Thats actually one of the ones I was looking at, I may have to drive down and check it out.

CalIslandhopper, I think it says in my original post that I need a wsb/yt gun? If not, I forgot to put it. My biller is great for reef fish, I'm all set there. However, I'm not about to go paddy hopping with it, or wsb hunting.

[patrick]

Originally Posted by CalIslandhopper

55"-60" is a big gun, you don't really need something like that if your shooting reef fish from the shore.

i disagree. i use my 55" tracker 2 almost exclusively (except for kelp and bw in really good vis), its great for shoredives with better than 10' of vis. with 3 9/16 bands, the power level can be suited to pretty much anything you want to shoot. 1 band loaded, and you can shoot directly into the rocks, 2 bands is great for low vis and deep caves, and 3 bands can get fish 15' away. ive shot fish with this gun in vis as low as 6', and shot fish with my cressi 115 in vis just as low, even lower. not optimal, but definitely works well. just requires some adjustment in your hunting/shooting style. im sure most people disagree with me, but im just speaking from personal experience.

[patrick]

Originally Posted by campbellc0321

Can I have that gun?

sure, it just takes an email to gil and some cash!

[jdnieman]

there are lots of threads on this, all of which are highly opinionated, but there is a lot of wisdom in them. My parting knowledge would be that no single gun even comes close to doing it all, even for a diver limiting oneself to SoCal. If you are doing anything other than shore diving, you should have two guns anyhow, in case one breaks down or you need a second one to finish off a fish. Therefore, I'd recommend NOT trying to buy an "all-in-one" gun and focus on getting two basic guns that will cover most everything except exotic uses. Buy one at a time as you can afford them and buy nice ones. Go for a nice 90-110 cm railgun and then a bigger gun 55-60 inches. Wood, hybrid, rail, it's all good. Just don't waste money buying crap and then replacing it. Personally, I like about 110 cm railguns (be aware of length versus the bandstretch they provide). If the vis is crappier than a 110 allows, I'm done diving anyhow. A 110 railgun allows decent range and fast loading when jumping paddies and makes for a decent reef gun. I like a reel on that gun. I like a 60 inch wood or hybrid for kelp or any sort of open water or reef pass type stuff. I'm a float line kinda guy for bigger guns. I'm scared to death of entanglement.

Good luck. If you are looking for a nice, used 100 cm Riffe Euro with reel, PM me.

JD

[campbellc0321]

Originally Posted by patrick

sure, it just takes an email to gil and some cash!

No No the one you have

[patrick]

of course... for one meeellion dollars!!

[CalIslandhopper]

Originally Posted by patrick

i disagree. i use my 55" tracker 2 almost exclusively (except for kelp and bw in really good vis), its great for shoredives with better than 10' of vis. with 3 9/16 bands, the power level can be suited to pretty much anything you want to shoot. 1 band loaded, and you can shoot directly into the rocks, 2 bands is great for low vis and deep caves, and 3 bands can get fish 15' away. ive shot fish with this gun in vis as low as 6', and shot fish with my cressi 115 in vis just as low, even lower. not optimal, but definitely works well. just requires some adjustment in your hunting/shooting style. im sure most people disagree with me, but im just speaking from personal experience.

Can you shoot a 5lb sheephead with a 60" 3 band hybrid? Of course you can. But if you have a 60" 3 band gun then you most likely have all 3 bands cocked and that's one hell of a gun for a small reef fish that you would normally see on a shore dive.

OK, I see he is specifically asking about YT and WSB...that pretty much puts the guns in question from 110cm on the small side up to full on blue water guns 65" and up for yellow tail. For an "all around gun", I've jumped on the band wagon with building a 60" mid-handle hybrid. A 55" seems pretty good, I just figured if I was gonna build a big gun then it should be a big gun.

[patrick]

Originally Posted by CalIslandhopper

Can you shoot a 5lb sheephead with a 60" 3 band hybrid? Of course you can. But if you have a 60" 3 band gun then you most likely have all 3 bands cocked and that's one hell of a gun for a small reef fish that you would normally see on a shore dive.

it has a lot to do with experience. you have to read the structure, then load bands accordingly. if im in pinnacle reef with long channels in between, and i intend to skirt the rock looking down the channel for calico, which are real skittish and bail at the first sign of trouble, then im diving with 3 bands loaded. if im looking in swimthrus and deep cracks, ive got 2 bands loaded. most fish that can be shot with a single band are sitting on the rocks thinking you dont see them. which means theyll be there for the next dive. im not trying to argue, just giving some insight on my personal diving style. and i dive with a 55, not a 60. the 55 is good, because its a great reef gun, midhandle design keeps the muzzle close. flopper shafts work great for reef. so when i want to look for seabass, i can just change the shaft out for a mori shaft w/ sliptip. so i put both shafts on the boat, and i have a very versatile setup, without a lot of deck clutter. great gun for 80% of my diving. dont get me wrong, ive got more guns than a lot of people, but the jack gun (55 tracker 2) gets a lot of go-time these days.. just wait for the intro to my 2 other guns, currently in production, and youll see my true outlook on "the right gun for the job at hand..."

[CalIslandhopper]

Originally Posted by patrick

it has a lot to do with experience. you have to read the structure, then load bands accordingly. if im in pinnacle reef with long channels in between, and i intend to skirt the rock looking down the channel for calico, which are real skittish and bail at the first sign of trouble, then im diving with 3 bands loaded. if im looking in swimthrus and deep cracks, ive got 2 bands loaded. most fish that can be shot with a single band are sitting on the rocks thinking you dont see them. which means theyll be there for the next dive. im not trying to argue, just giving some insight on my personal diving style. and i dive with a 55, not a 60. the 55 is good, because its a great reef gun, midhandle design keeps the muzzle close. flopper shafts work great for reef. so when i want to look for seabass, i can just change the shaft out for a mori shaft w/ sliptip. so i put both shafts on the boat, and i have a very versatile setup, without a lot of deck clutter. great gun for 80% of my diving. dont get me wrong, ive got more guns than a lot of people, but the jack gun (55 tracker 2) gets a lot of go-time these days.. just wait for the intro to my 2 other guns, currently in production, and youll see my true outlook on "the right gun for the job at hand..."

Not arguing at all I'm sure you have WAY more experience freediving then I do. I was just saying in general, but I was mistaken because he was specifically talking about wsb and yt. Which basically is a LACK OF SEARCHING...lol, because that's how I figured out on this web-site what was generally needed for the job

[Chris Lupin]

I've looked at every thread possible on guns for yt and wsb, but I'm sure you realize how many options there are. How am I supposed to know if a 110cm railgun feels better than a 55" woody? I'm not asking strictly for opinions, although those do help, I'm asking for the chance to get a feel for some different types of guns. Sorry if that wasn't clear in the original post. Sorry If I'm being a bit rude, as I wasn't trying to be, but I have put a lot of time into research, but nothing compares to seeing/shooting these guns. Would you spend 500+ dollars on something you had never seen? Btw, thanks for the advice CalIslandhopper, I do appreciate it, but I definitely didn't make myself clear enough, so you were right to question my thread. My bad

[spearguam]

Patrick,
How does your tracker II feel with the three bands? I am assuming you have the regular tracker and not the SoCal. I have mine set up with two 5/8 bands it is very accurate and has no recoil. I was thinking about three 9/16 bands when I come back to CA.

I would love to get another one of Gil's guns. Something in the 60"- 64" range. Did you order a couple more of Gil's guns. I would be interested to know which ones. I am looking forward to seeing the new Tacker Max as well.

Thanks for any and all input you might have.

To the original poster, you really can't go wrong with one of Gil's Tracker IIs. For the money it is hard to beat. The 51" and 55" would both be good choices.

TIM

Originally Posted by patrick

and i dive with a 55, not a 60. the 55 is good, because its a great reef gun, midhandle design keeps the muzzle close. flopper shafts work great for reef. so when i want to look for seabass, i can just change the shaft out for a mori shaft w/ sliptip. so i put both shafts on the boat, and i have a very versatile setup, without a lot of deck clutter. great gun for 80% of my diving. dont get me wrong, ive got more guns than a lot of people, but the jack gun (55 tracker 2) gets a lot of go-time these days.. just wait for the intro to my 2 other guns, currently in production, and youll see my true outlook on "the right gun for the job at hand..."