Another Old Story........Guns vs. Guns

[ihab]

I have to share my experience since so far I’ve acquired quite a few guns from different manufacturers…..mostly well known brands.
Although I still do not posses every speargun in the book…but let me say that so far, and by far, RA guns have proven in so many ways…to be the only gun you need.
I’m not affiliated in any way or form with the company…it’s just my own honest opinion.
My spearfishing conditions are not be your “normal” conditions since I hunt fish from 10 cm (about 4 inches) all the way to +2 kg fish.
On average, I load & fire the gun about 10 to 12 times every 30 minutes (ask Marwan about this) and have to manoeuvre quite a bit.
I go spearfishing every weekend, 12 months a year, winter & summer so I probably used my gun during this past year alone more than many others who have started spearfishing well before I did.
Every time I used a gun, other than RA……many disadvantages occurred.:ko
- Loading
- Accuracy
- Power
- Manoeuvrability

For instance, take a T20, after firing the gun, and leaving it to collect your prize, the gun flips upside down while the RA remains floating on it’s proper end, making it faster to reload.

I will soon write in much more details my findings and hope not to offend anyone:naughty since this is only my opinion under special circumstances.

Cheers!:friday

 

[scrounger]

how about when your targets are almost always 2kg+ our bass are taken around 20kg often when the season is going on. the raill gun works but it it is not the best option. i do shoot an omer master america 100 and it is not always the best choice. i i can not see much help from a ra

 

[Ron S]

I for one am looking foreward to your more detailed post. I think it's awsome to hear someone's opinion who's shot so often and so many guns. As you said, it's only your opinion from the specific type of hunting you do. Although I think RA's are very well made and designed guns, I like what I shoot and can bet that nothing you post is gonna make me go out and buy a RA, but I'd still like to hear what you have to say. Hopefully, as you said, nobody will be offended and maybe some other folks with extensive experience will post in a similar fashion. Somebody looking to buy a gun could learn a lot from reading this stuff.
Ron.

 

[ihab]

Rubber & Steal
Firing a gun so many times in small intervals makes practice perfect…and increases your sense of forecasting where the spear will land eventually.
And when you hit small fish in the 10cm range…you know that your aim is good…actually very good…..since I get remarks from other spearos “how the H.. did you get that small fish”.
Okay, it’s not the trophy fish we all look for but let’s look at it in another way.
If you can hit a target, 10cm x 5cm ……from 3 to 4 meters, imagine how easy it would be to hit a target 5 times bigger…sometimes at closer range……almost an unfair advantage for the fish:naughty .
I’ve tried several guns, other than RA, with lots of enthusiasm, mainly due to the fact I had already paid a pretty penny for the new gun, made quite a lot of research on it’s performance (mainly on Deeper Blue forum) and was very encouraged to buy it.
Things did not work that well….they were good but not good enough.
Okay, I can now hear people start saying that because I’m used to my RA that’s probably why I’m missing the target with other guns….but believe me I’ve tried very hard to get used to the new guns ......but things did not fit.
Rubber & Steel
One of the perfect combinations RA has is the strength of the rubber vs. weight of the shaft.
Although not many people can load an RA with ease (Hawaiian Skin magazine in 2005 could not continue their tests on the RA guns due to the difficulty of loading the gun).
If you need to hit a fish, 3 to 4 meters away, you need that extra power RA delivers in order to land the fish, without having to come too close to the fish….thus increasing your chances for getting it…instead of trying hard to get close to the fish and then see it disappear.
I don’t do much diving, 4 to 8 meters max…but when I’m out there with friends who dive well below this level…guess who gets the most fish….the guy that is as far away from the fish as possible and that’s me….only because the RA helps achieve this level of accuracy & power.

Tomorrow, a little bit more.

Cheers ! :thankyou

 

[covert]

how about when your targets are almost always 2kg+ our bass are taken around 20kg often when the season is going on. the raill gun works but it it is not the best option. i do shoot an omer master america 100 and it is not always the best choice. i i can not see much help from a ra

scrounger keep in mind the rabi's have been designed for South African/Australian/American conditions. And here we hardly look at a fish if its smaller than 2kg's. I have a Rabitech 90 attack a 120 apex and 110 stealth. The 120 and 110 both have rails while the 90 doesnt. I find the rails increase accuracy 10 fold. Shooting big fish with them also doesnt pose a problem since they have been designed to deal with harsh conditions and are probably some of the strongest guns on the market. And especially compared to most euro style guns. Also railguns especially Rabi and RA guns, handle more band pressure better than most euro style guns, ie my 120 is rigged with two 18mm bands a 7.5mm 1.7m spear and it shoots straight and with great force. I would not recommend that setup on a euro style gun. The only thing i like about the euro style guns is the smoothness of the trigger release. But the lack of power on euro style guns generally is a let down for me.

I also entered into a draw for a RA 1.4m gun, so if i win it ill let you know how that goes. At the end of the day its a question about using the type and make of gun that you are comfortable with, everybody has their favourites. And different opinions. Personally i can only share my experiances. But yeah when it comes to Rabi I have to admit I love them and most of our SA spearo's use either Rabi or RA. Not much else will suffice for our local conditions.

 

[scrounger]

i know that they are built to handle the conditions we have here. there is a good number of spearos using them

 

[fuzz]

Referencing the orignal poster's comments:

This has been the opposite of my experiences. For small quick fish & sizes unedr 100cm, I like the generic euro gun. If going for larger thicker fish where punch is needed, that's where the RA shines. For longer distances, I also prefer the RA or modified euro guns.

 

[covert]

Yeah fuzz generally the smallest fish we shoot over here are in the 30-40cm range, we have very few fish in the 10cm range that is legal to shoot, and i doubt that i would find that much fun, what i can say is that the other day i had cramps and was swimming out to shore when a school of hottentot swam underneath me, and like an good spearo I thought what the hell cant say no to this. I floated on the surface and shot straight from above, and managed to take 3 down before they got too skittish. considering I had a 3-4cm target to aim at I was pretty impressed.