upgrading a Riffe No Ka Oi

[trinidiver16]

hey,

i'm kinda new to this website and jus want tell everyone hi.
i've just bought a new speargun, the Riffe No Ka Oi and i was wonderin if its possible to upgrade it in any way possible. i have it equipped with a front stabilizer and thats about it. i'm just lookin for a few suggestions on if i should upgrade it at all or if i should leave it as it is



--scot--

[Marwan]

it all depends on the type of fish youre out to get and your conditions as well...i think you should try it as is first and then see if you need any modifications....

[Pastor]

I would be tempted to make some full lengths strips of a size that would add more mass than the off the shelf Riffe stabilisers. The more mass you can give this gun the better it will be in terms of hitting what you point it at. Narrower strips will make it easier to move in the water than the wings and you can taper them out at the back to add more mass there

[Marwan]

Originally Posted by Pastor

I would be tempted to make some full lengths strips of a size that would add more mass than the off the shelf Riffe stabilisers. The more mass you can give this gun the better it will be in terms of hitting what you point it at. Narrower strips will make it easier to move in the water than the wings and you can taper them out at the back to add more mass there

I am seriously thinking of doing that to my nokaoi to be able to use it with 3X16mm bands.. is there any formula to come up with how much added mass is needed to absorb a certain load (then how determine the mathematical load of the bands)

the next thing would be easy, once you have the mass..

[Pastor]

I think it would just be a case of adding as much mass as is practical. Too much and it will just be in the way and too little and the gun will be shooting the bottom dwellers. But the more mass you give it the better the gun will behave when fired. I should think off the top of my head something like 25mm thick 15mm wide at the front and 25mm wide at the butt should do it and of course with that added wood goes some added lead to balance/ballast it. Do you have access to a pool you could take your gun into in Cairo? If so then try sticking on some cheap softwood with double sided tape to test out the "swingability" with some strips.


The formula for determining the recoil is:

[Mass(shaft) * Velocity(shaft)] / Mass(gun) = Recoil(gun)


The smaller the Recoil of the gun the better but it will never be zero.

If you're doing this keep us posted, I'm keen as hell to know how you get on

[Bill McIntyre]

A couple of my friends used to have No Ka Oi's, and they shot very low because of insufficient mass to reduce recoil and muzzle flip. Adding those muzzle stabilizers did help, but they also make the gun hard to swing. I agree with Pastor that a better solution would be full length side stocks.

Another suggestion would be to replace the 5/16" shaft with a 9/32" shaft. This addresses the recoil problem from the opposite end. I know one guy who even replaced the 3/8" shaft on his Riffe Blue Water with a 9/32". He said that finally made it shoot straight.

[Marwan]

bill, were yur friends shooting with the stock bands or did they use 5/8 bands? im just trying to figure out if the speargun is underballasted with the stock configuration or when you ovepower it...

[Bill McIntyre]

I'm almost positive that they were using the stock bands.

It wouldn't be surprising that its underballasted with the stock configuration, because the other Riffe Midhandles are too. The Island is notorious for shooting low, splitting lips, and spraining wrists in the stock configuration. I had one a long time ago, and installing the muzzle stabilizers solved it, but it also made it handle like a canoe paddle. If I didn't have it pointed exactly in the same direction I was going on descents or ascents, it caught water and veered off.

[trinidiver16]

i live in trinidad so there's not much of anythin i could do whn it either comes to upgrading a gun to those that you all suggested and also i dont exactly have a pool where i can try it out but the upside is that i could basically walk out my front door and straight into the sea if ever i do anything to it.

i was thinkin of tryin it out in the stock configuration for a while before i decide because there's no blue water diving in trinidad, only reef diving.
also thanks for all suggestions given so far they are greatly appreciated

[trini720]

A reel might be nice. You can blue water fish in Tobago.