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barrel cutting?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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Andrew the fish

Well-Known Member
Oct 17, 2010
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how hard is it, technically? My Omer Cayman was stolen from my truck a few days ago. That gun practically lived in the truck, and I have a silly habit of never locking it. My best gun, but it is apparently out of production and 75cm is not available anymore. I wonder, if I buy 95cm one and cut the barrel? Seems like it should be doable, but I have never done it before. Anything I should know?
 
I haven't cut a speargun barrel but I have considered it. My conclusion was that it would make more sense for me to get another speargun (for back up/ spare(s) / to cover more conditions). You can often buy a decent, inexpensive speargun for little more that the cost of the parts shipping and tools required - and you have 2 different length spearguns left at the end of it and less risk of ending up with no working speargun. What's Omer's replacement offering, the Invictus? Apnea ST-75 or Apnea Whaler 75?

You'll need a shorter spear, shorter rubbers (could simply cut down some rubbers, like bulk rubbers). You could cut down your spearline.

I believe tube barrels usually have a sealing plug at each end. At the muzzle that might or might not be the muzzle itself. At the trigger mech end I believe it is often a separate plug but that's just an impression I have. Hopefully others will be able to provide more definite info.
 
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As mentioned if you cut a barrel down in length then you have to look at the sealing system used for the barrel. Some guns such as Imersion use a series of foam plugs to fill the barrel completely, others just use a plug with a seal such as an "O" ring. The barrel cross-section is another factor, not all are round tubes. The other consideration is you need to cut the tube off square to its axis, an easy thing to do with a lathe on tubular barrels by using a parting tool. Cutting the end off will expose an untreated surface of metal and while this may be hidden by the refitted muzzle it really needs to be painted. Then there are the new mounting holes for screws which need to be done in the correct place, but with careful measurement this is certainly possible.

Rather than cut a new gun down you may find a secondhanded replacement as many take up spearfishing, but not all stick with it, and some replace guns and sell off old ones.

Just checking around here is a 75 cm gun, but is it the right one?
 
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Thank you MrX and Pete, all good points. I bought Salvimar Metal of a correct length, no more cutting dilemma. It has all features I liked on Omer, like the profile, enclosed track etc, apparently. Online shopping is like a blind date. At least I will not have to tinker.
 
Reactions: Mr. X
I don’t think the Metal has an enclosed track. It has a track, yes. But not enclosed. I think you’ll find the build much sturdier than the Omer (I’m fairly sure the walls of the barrel are thicker) but you might find the trigger pull a whole lot “sturdier”, too. My friend has one and I can’t shoot it well at all. As a comparison, I have a Cayman handle on one of my band guns while the other is a Pathos.
I’d say the trigger pull on the Salvi Metal is atrociously hard and the first time I tried it I was sure the safety was on - but it wasn’t. That’s how hard the pull is with two 14mm bands.
But two things, your gun is probably already in the mail and my friend seems to not mind it on his gun and gets good shot placement;-). It might help that the Metal is his first and only gun so he's not confused about why the pull is so hard.
Besides that, the gun feels well built and please do report back here - especially in regards to the trigger as it would be great to hear of more real world reviews.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Since posting last, I watched a good YouTube video - possibly by Wayne at Adreno Australia? - on fitting a Rob Allen roller muzzle. As part of the modification, the poster opted to shorten his railgun at the same time, from 120 to 110 if I recall correctly (RA reckoned 110 to be the optimum maximum size for his rollers*).
Quite interesting.

*I see USA spearo Ryan Myer uses a 120cm RA roller gun as his big blue water gun. And a 100cm RA roller gun as his short gun(!). No RA drop barb though - perhaps because he shoots both large and small species with these guns? ( He also had a 75 speargun and a 70cm railgun for poor vis. ).
 
Reactions: PJ Schenk
so, I have Salvimar Metal for a good portion of fishing season. I think I did post pictures with lingcod the size of my long blade fins. Trigger pull is inconsistent, some shots are hard to squeeze, some are not too bad. Trigger needs work, maybe sear polishing or something like that, I will get to it sometime. Nice to have a reel, though I think I only used it once. Overall it does what it supposed to, I used it almost exclusively for last few months and taken all kinds of fish. Spear is soft though, perhaps heat-treatable stainless but softer kind or tempered down a little too much. Recently I had to cut and thread it. The gun is very accurate, which is a big thing for me, I tend to take more of longer shots since I gained this confidence in Salvimar Metal. Good penetration at distance too, it takes perch and rockfish and greenlings at the end of double-wrap shooting line. With my other guns I won’t be shooting these smaller species this far. Overall nice balanced package, easy to load, my first gun with 14mm bands and I grew to like it. Anyways here some pictures
 
Reactions: DivingNomad

That is one ugly fish. I can't imagine eating it myself.
 
Well, the Metal was not the best Salvimar design...

I've hear so many times about the trigger to be hard to pull. I don't know if you can get a replacement mechanism and change it (the Hero is totally different and much better).

Nice fish though!
 
Nice is that a seawolf or relative, head look slightly different? One of the tastiest that i know of!
 
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