[Fondueset]

3 feet is pretty close to as long as they get (maybe 3.5). The Mares Cyrano is pretty much the state of the art for out of the box pneumatics. A cyrano 970, unmodified, shoots an easy four meters. This gun differs from the Cressis and guns like the Mares Sten in that it shoots a lighter shaft and has a smaller diameter piston - which means less water column to push; hence greater velocity. The only upgrade is the mamba kit - which, I am guessing, adds another meter or two. They all shoot further than band guns of comparable length because the shaft is under acceleration for a longer distances relative to the length of the gun. Some of the designs - like the hydro-pneumatic - have ways of adding more power after the shaft is loaded, but they are mostly prototypes and have not really caught on probably because of the simplicity and efficiency of the mamba kit. I believe a 110 pneumo with a mamba kit has an effective range close to 8 meters.

Spearguns in general do not perform well out of the water. It can also be very damaging to shoot a fully charged pneumatic out of the water.