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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 01-25-2017, 01:22 AM   #1
Blue2u
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Hole Guns

What are qualities to look for in a hole gun, any recommendations?
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Old 01-25-2017, 03:26 AM   #2
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Re: Hole Guns

Any of the small pneumatic guns will do, say a Mares "MINISTEN" with a power regulator. The smallest versions don't have enough power, such as the 40 cm and 30 cm pneumatic guns and they don't have the regulator. The regulator switched to low power saves knocking the speartip points off on the rocks, although be prepared to go through a lot of tips if you miss, or you drill through on a hit.

Of course it depends on what is living in the hole, or whether that "hole" is an alcove or a cave!

Last edited by popgun pete; 01-25-2017 at 03:51 PM.
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Old 01-25-2017, 01:45 PM   #3
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Re: Hole Guns

70cm, 1 or 2 bands, flopper or double flopper shaft, flashlight mount & reel... or polespears are great for hole hunting.
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Old 01-25-2017, 02:21 PM   #4
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Re: Hole Guns

I used a hole gun for many years while diving off Tampa. It was a short wooden gun with a line attached and a flashlight on the muzzle end. That gun was a killer. During the cold water season, the grouper would hole up. Sometimes I'd take a look and there'd be this big eye staring back at me. I boated a lot of fish that way.
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Old 01-25-2017, 08:38 PM   #5
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Re: Hole Guns

JBL Magnum 38-Special Northwest Triple Sling Speargun: Hugely popular in the rocky and low viz North West. With a 3/8" shaft and 3 bands it's very powerful and hard to bend a shaft. Many of the scuba folks will use a slinky style shooting line to minimize the reload time. My 15 yo does really well with this gun.

Riffe Competitor #00S is a 27" gun with 3 bands. The longest gun I can use on most days in Oregon due to the low vis and rocky conditions.

Both the guns above are accompanied with JBL rock tips.

Last edited by Coos-spearo; 01-26-2017 at 09:02 AM.
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Old 01-25-2017, 11:50 PM   #6
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Re: Hole Guns

I'm in need of a hole gun too...does anyone use a Pathos 60 or any brand 60cm speargun? The shorter the better, but I still want some punch to it
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Old 01-25-2017, 11:53 PM   #7
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Re: Hole Guns

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Originally Posted by Spearow View Post
I'm in need of a hole gun too...does anyone use a Pathos 60 or any brand 60cm speargun? The shorter the better, but I still want some punch to it
check out a MAKO Predator. they are made down to 50 cm and have free shipping and the price is $156. They are a very solid gun with a great shaft... the flopper and shaft are much different than the Pathos guns I have seen.

http://www.makospearguns.com/Predato...n-p/mpp3gr.htm
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Old 01-26-2017, 12:04 AM   #8
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Re: Hole Guns

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Originally Posted by jfjf View Post
check out a MAKO Predator. they are made down to 50 cm and have free shipping and the price is $156. They are a very solid gun with a great shaft... the flopper and shaft are much different than the Pathos guns I have seen.

http://www.makospearguns.com/Predato...n-p/mpp3gr.htm
What is the shortest railgun you've used JFJF? I'm wondering how much punch a 50 or 60 has. Shortest I have used is a 70cm RA and I liked it very much in low vis
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Old 01-26-2017, 12:25 AM   #9
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Re: Hole Guns

I think a 70 is the smallest I have used myself. If the visibility is so bad that you need a gun smaller than that - then you would be making very close shots - so I would not be worried about power. The toughness of the shaft and over all quality of the gun would be my concern. If you are launching a shaft 3 feet into a modestly sized fish.. I think most guns should handle that.. although the shafts they come with might not, hold up so well.
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Old 01-26-2017, 07:27 AM   #10
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Re: Hole Guns

I second Pete, if you want power in a small package pretty much no band gun can beat a pneumatic.
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Old 01-26-2017, 09:08 AM   #11
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Re: Hole Guns

I like pneumatic. Tho it depends on the depth of the hole, quickness of the fish to move inside and size of the fish.

The cheaper pneumatic gun spears are too light and don't punch as well as carbon spring steel
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Old 01-26-2017, 12:32 PM   #12
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Re: Hole Guns

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Originally Posted by Blue2u View Post
What are qualities to look for in a hole gun, any recommendations?

Maneuverability, open muzzle, good power to length ratio, minimum distance from shaft tip to trigger finger, short overhang, proper ballast, durability, and aesthetics.

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Old 01-26-2017, 03:24 PM   #13
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Re: Hole Guns

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Originally Posted by xrispearo View Post
I like pneumatic. Tho it depends on the depth of the hole, quickness of the fish to move inside and size of the fish.

The cheaper pneumatic gun spears are too light and don't punch as well as carbon spring steel
True, the shafts that often come with the cheaper guns are not great. Often it is galvanized 8mm with a screw-in tip with way too much cross section and too much drag. I'd think even a proper tahitian 7mm would be better or a good stainless 8mm tahitian. The gun will happily shoot it, but granted, the shorter airguns tend to be a tad heavy and 8mm wont help in that regard.
If you change to a proper shaft, that helps a lot.

Carbon steel shafts may not be the best choice for pneumatics as once they start rusting that could lead to issues with the piston seals.
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Old 01-26-2017, 03:55 PM   #14
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Re: Hole Guns

Shooting into a hole is not a good idea with integral tips if you hit the rocky wall, so replaceable screw tips are better as you can change them. Also shafts don't rust instantly, except for surface spotting, therefore if you wash and grease them by wiping with a greasy rag after drying to leave a thin film which is hardly more than a gleam on the metal they will not pose a problem.

The 8 mm shafts are best in the pneumatic, flight distances are short in a hole, so speed will be sufficient. Old mid-handle Nemrod pneumatic guns like the "Clipper I" fire a 9 mm shaft, so they are good hole guns. Not quite like shooting fish in a barrel as there may be another way out, but short powerful guns are best for this sort of work.
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Old 01-26-2017, 05:48 PM   #15
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Re: Hole Guns

One like this in 90 cm is shorter than a 70 cm band gun and has the punch of a 100 cm

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