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50" Riffe midhandle or Wong?

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alexrom1207

Well-Known Member
Nov 28, 2007
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I'm considering buying a 50" Riffe midhandle, if it goes for the right price. But I'm still set on a Wong hybrid. The Riffe has front stabilizers and a reel (hopefully pick up for under $500) But I do a lot of diving around rocks (never cave diving or hole diving) and low viz conditions often (8-12' vis) and shoot fish (usually around 5lbs but go after fish as big as 40-50lbs). The question I have is, will the 50" midhandle be too big to swing around and use for closer shots? I know the wong hybrid will be better but how much better, and will I always be kicking myself for wasting the money on the Riffe when I should have saved for the Wong? Last question, for those who have Wongs, is the carbon that much better than the titanium for barrel material, and is the semi enclosed shaft much better than the open for the conditions I described?
 
I own 6 Wongs from the 50" hybrid to the Ono gun, so now you can tell I'm prejudiced.

I had a Riffe Island years ago, and while the front stabilizers did fix the accuracy problem, they also made it a lot harder to swing. I used to kid that if the engine failed, I could use it as a paddle. I'm a big fan of hybrids. The fish in my avatar was taken with a 58" hybrid.

In the 50" length, I don't think carbon fiber has much advantage over titanium, but as far as I know, he is not offering titanium any more.

My 50" hybrid is semi-enclosed track, but in that length, I don't think it matters all that much. A buddy of mine has a 50" open track, and as the photos show, it has worked well for him. I think the main purpose of an enclosed track is to prevent shaft whip, but he uses three 5/8" bands on that 50" open track, and it doesn't seem to bother him. The gun is probably too short to have a problem with shaft whip anyway.

The other thing I like about the enclosed track is that it makes the gun slightly easier to load, but its not a big deal.
 

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Front stabilisers are a must have on a gun, that way if your boat engine breaks down you can use the gun as a paddle rofl Seriously to me they would be a massive pain in the butt around rocks making for poor manoeuvrability. On the other hand a 50" mid handle Wong is about the easiest to handle gun there is in the same situation. I use mine in very tight situations and in very poor vis and I love it. It cost a bleeding fortune to import into the UK but I would buy it again over any gun as a no brainer now. Save for another year if need be and avoid the "if only I had....!"
 
Aloha Alex,

Riffes are great guns. In my opinion they are one of the best off the shelf production spearguns. I'm in another niche. That is custom guns for specific areas,fish or types of diving. I can afford to do that since I'm not set up for production line guns.
To answer your question, a 50 in would be fine for Rhode island. I was just there for two weeks this summer for the US nationals. The 50 might be bit long on the low vis days, but it is perfect for BLock island and on days you get more than ten ft of vis. I used my 50 in gun half the time I was in Rhode island.
I dove Watchill, Sokonet pt, Jamestown, weatherall and the Nationals at Kings beach. Two days I went out to Block island.
What I would look into, is how often is the vis good with 10ft or more vs how often do you go. The gun in the picture is a 50 in gun.

If you dive ocassionally, I would reccomend the 42 in Northeaster since most days the vis is somewhere between 6-12ft. In fact the 42 in Northeaster has been used to win four National championships. Two off Rhode island , one off Northern cal, and one in fresh water at Table rock lake. Check out the two women with five National championships between them...All with the Northeaster. Not me them

My advice is to buy a gun you will use 90% of the time. Here's a few pictures of how much fun I had diving in your back yard. You are blessed with many fish and big ones!

Feel free to contact me anytime.

Aloha,Daryl
 

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Reactions: strangelove and spaghetti
Thanks for all the advice guys. I've set my mind on a 50" Wong, just need to save up the cash now. Bill and Pastor, thanks for the advice on passing up the Riffe; I'm sure I would have been doing the "If I only..." until I finally bought a Wong. The last thing I want is a big gun that is unmanuverable. 50" is probably bigger than I need but I want a good all purpose gun. So a 50" will work just as long as its manuverable, which it seems the Riffe would probably not have been. I've never had any experience with those stabilizers and to be quite honest I was surprised to see them on a 50" model as most of the guns I've seen them on are the big blue water models. And the last thing I need is a $500 paddle!!

Daryl, I'm glad you liked Rhode Island; it's been great place to live and grow up. Block Island is a gem here on the East Coast (not too many people even know its there so it's a great spot to go for some Rest and Relaxation) Always wanted to get out to Hawaii and do some spearing there. I don't know what I would do with over 100' of vis, probably move around like an idiot and scare all the fish away. Not something I really have to worry about when 10-15' is the norm. I'm going for the 50" because it's honestly going to be the last gun I ever buy (I say this now and in 10 years I'll probably end up like Bill with a whole little family of them that I will love more than my own children). And thanks for not overselling or trashing the Riffe, classy of you.
 
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Aloha Alex,

Take you time and research as much as you can. Then you can decide on the best gun for you and where you dive. We have onaverage vis of 70-100 ft here year round, but it also means the fish can see you from far away hence they are very wary.
We all dive because we love to hunt. Its the primal thrill of trying to pit our skills against our prey in their environment. I especially liked diving in your waters because I love to hunt by laying and waiting. Shooting Tautogs and Scups (Porgies) were my favorites.
I have quite a few friends up your way and if you ever want to see first hand a few of my spearguns, let me know. They'll be happy to show the 50 in,42 northeaster and also a 90 cm euro style hybrid.
Your season doesn't start back up until spring. Keep warm and thanks for looking into my speargun.

Aloha,Daryl
www.wongspearguns.com
 
alexrom1207 said:
I'm going for the 50" because it's honestly going to be the last gun I ever buy (I say this now and in 10 years I'll probably end up like Bill with a whole little family of them that I will love more than my own children).
Click to expand...

Yes you will.

It was interesting to read Daryl's opinion on the 42" Northeaster, and how successful people are with it in your neck of the woods. My shortest gun is the 50" hybrid, and I've always felt that if the vis was so poor that I couldn't get that pointed at the fish, then I'd probably spook the fish before I could get a shot anyway. But I'm thinking it must be a matter of the species of fish that I can hunt out here, and maybe a matter of my technique. All those champions wouldn't be using the 42" gun if it didn't confer an advantage.
 

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Does anyone have experience with the 36" Pistol that I see on the Wong site?

How would it compare to a Riffe MT0?

Jon
 
Actually Daryl, I would love to be put in touch with someone who could show me the guns; it's always nice to hold something in your hands when making a decision. PM with with the information if you wouldn't mind. I saw one of your guns this summer when I was out on Block Island, a guy was getting onto the ferry with it; I was about to ask him about it but he seemed in a hurry.

As for that picture Bill:inlove, I have no words. Well, I shouldn't say that. I have words, but I'm afraid Pastor will ban me from DeeperBlue if I post them.:naughtyrofl:naughty
 
Aloha Alex,

Shoot me an email at dmcwong@hawaii.rr.com or go through my website. I'll give you a few contacts in Rhode island that use my guns.

The Pistol is usually used by spearos in the midwest and by divers who dive in rivers and lakes. There the vis is less than three ft and they are poking around under sunken trees and logs. The nice thing about midhandle type guns is that you can have thepwoer of a longer gun, but forward of the handle it is like shooting a shorter gun.
For instance the 42 Northeaster or Riffe Midrange 44in have the band pull of a 90 cm gun, yet the amount of gun in front the handle is like having a 65cm euro gun but with much more power. You basically get two guns in one package.

Heres a picture of a pistol before I switched to all CF barrels.

Aloha,Daryl
 

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Thanks for the quick reply Daryl.

Is it possible to make the line release come off of the left side of the gun- for all of us Southpaws? I'm not sure how the mechanisims are put together, but every gun I've owned so far has the line release on the right.

The other reason I'm interested in a right side release is so that I can put a camera mount on the right side- and don't want the line hitting it when I shoot the gun. My last camera mount was installed behind the trigger, but I think I would want to mount it in front on my next gun.

What kind of time frame does it take to have a pistol made?

Jon
 
Aloha Jon,

It takes about four tosix weeks to build a gun depending on if I have it in stock. Most times I try to have a few stocks handy. If I start from scratch then 4-6 weeks. If I have a stock then only about 2 weeks. Yes the gun can be made left handed. I would have to mill a slot on the left side of the mechanism and also do a muzzle. with the slot on the other side. All my muzzles are injection molded. I chunked down a bunch of money to make a mold. Yours would be made from scratch out of delrin like I used to make them.

I am left handed too. The problem with having a left handed gun is that I could never get used to shooting it. I have used right handed setups all my life and it drove me crazy to try and do things left handed. I kept truning the gun the wrong way when string up the shooting line. I made only one gun for myselft and then switched back to everythin back on the right side.

I can see wha you are looking for with the camera. I have a mount on one of my guns and its on the opposite side of the linef release too.

ALoha,Daryl
 
You'll never go wrong with a "WONG".:martial

Cheers/Safe Diving......
 
whats the shooting range on a wong 42 north easter? i too hunt in the NE so i need something that can be manuvered in low vis, but i also need the range for days when theres high vis. i often make trips to block island where the vis is usually good and sometimes in the summer there can be times when the ocean is relatively calm for weeks, so the vis will be great. so basically what im trying to say is, i dont want to get the 42 and then wish i had gotten the 50 because of range issues.
 
My 50 is smack on up to 12' - 14' not tried it further than that. I would imagine that the Northeaster would be about the same as a 90cm Euro say 10' - 12'
 
alexrom1207 said:
I'm going for the 50" because it's honestly going to be the last gun I ever buy .
Click to expand...

roflroflroflrofl, i said that 10 guns ago !
I agree iwth all the comments youre getting on the wong, i have a 55 hybrid magnum, which i am in love with, i can use it with different setups depending on my conditions, Daryl is also super guy to work with, as you can see, very helpful and always giving you personalized spot on advice..
Checkout the "pelagic Assassin" and "Mano" which daryl made me and one of my buddies
 

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If you notice, these guns are more "rear Handled" im used to Euros so this was more comfortable for me and thats the first thing Daryl will ask you..I also have a couple of riffes and i cant say anything bad about them really, they are good guns, but the wongs are soo much better..
 
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