Best gun under $300.. HELP!

[gman080788]

Hey guys I would like to buy a new gun BUT here are the stipulations:
I Generally Rarely dive deeper than 70 ft i have a 40-50 foot comfort zone (gotta quit smoking). I need something for all around I do rock and cave hunting areas in italy to wide open reefs and piers in south florida I have a couple of good smaller guns for the rock and cave areas I was hoping to go a little bigger I don't really favor one brand so I'm pretty open minded. Lastly and most importantly I need it to stay in the $250-$300 dollar range. Is a second hand one off ebay a bad idea? Any experience, information and recommendations would be helpful? I have been using a 90 cm Seac sub and a Pneumatic Cressi Sub SL70 and they were great for my first two years of spearing but now I think I'm more advanced and its time to buy a new gun.
I will appreciate any help thanks
Garry

 

[spaghetti]

Best gun under 300 USD? Here it is:
TuttoPescaMare :: SUBACQUEA » FUCILI SUBACQUEI » FUCILI ARBALETE » FUCILE GABBIANO SNAKE ::

 

[gman080788]

wow spaghetti looks like a nice gun. do you use it?... what do you think the accurate range is on it? and how is the underwater movement on it? and the trigger? Any ways its nice to hear from you hows life and all ?
Garry

 

[spaghetti]

What you're loking for according to your post is a 110cm, and this is the best in the price range IMHO. I have two of these guns in the 120cm and 77cm sizes, but they are the type with a traditional muzzle (the double circular muzzle was not yet available when I bought my guns). All I can say: fantastic: extremely accurate, sturdy, durable and very well balanced. With a 110 you can expect up to 5 meters of accurate range.
The trigger and its mechanism are ALL stainless steel, tested up to 250 kilograms of traction (consider that an average european type band pulls just 50 kilograms: plenty of strength on this trigger), very strong and smooth. The line release is also stainless steel and its "independent" from the trigger mech (so that the line release won't affect the smoothness of the trigger even if the line is very tightly stretched.
The handle: the upper part of the handle (called the "cassette", or castello in italian), is made fo metal, not plastic. Also every pin and screw is stainless steel.
The barrell: this is a unique barrell. the inner alluminium tube (normal 28mm) is coated with a rubbersome polyurethane foam, shaped ellyptical, for a very smooth side swinging of the gun, and very stealthy to (makes no noise in contact with rocks et cetera). This way, the gun has big mass and very low recoil without being heavy. There's also a rail for 3/5 length of the barrell.
The muzzle: holds two circular bands, with a very fine no-screws wishbone. The ring for keeping the reel line tight is also made of stainless steel.
The reel is simply one of the best available.
The shaft: very hard and elastic steel with sharkfin tips and invisible flopper.

 

[redline]

Nice looking gun ... seems intelligently designed, but I'm a bit confused, as they are stating its an advantage to have the bands inclined with respect to the axis of the gun. Although I understand that this could reduce bending moment applied to the barrel, i thought that the disadvantage of elastic pull being angled downwards would be greater!

redline

 

[spaghetti]

Nice looking gun ... seems intelligently designed, but I'm a bit confused, as they are stating its an advantage to have the bands inclined with respect to the axis of the gun. Although I understand that this could reduce bending moment applied to the barrel, i thought that the disadvantage of elastic pull being angled downwards would be greater!

redline

True but almost every gun using circular bands has them working obliquely. This is said to cause a slight waste of power compared to in-line bands, but it's a very little loss. In the case of the Gabbiano Snake, for how the barrell is shaped, the big gain is in very, very low drag and band vibration while side tracking.

 

[gman080788]

Hey spaghetti i hate to sound a little ignorant and but im not quite sure how the open ended muzzle works on these guns? little help. thanks for the input... you were the one who told me where to fish and i get lampuga and grouper all the time so i think ill trust your judgment on this one. if anyone else has any input im open minded. Thanks again spaghetti its much appreciated.

 

[spaghetti]

Hey spaghetti i hate to sound a little ignorant and but im not quite sure how the open ended muzzle works on these guns? little help. thanks for the input... you were the one who told me where to fish and i get lampuga and grouper all the time so i think ill trust your judgment on this one. if anyone else has any input im open minded. Thanks again spaghetti its much appreciated.

You're welcome Garry. I'm happy I have directed you to such a good place to hunt at, but you can be proud of the fish you caught there. The funny thing is that me I NEVER caught such a big lampuga (Mahi-Mahi in american?) in 20 years of avid spearfishing...Then you new american guy came in town...:head
Back to the open muzzle, it's quite simple. The shaft is kept in place looping the line on top of it, and the line is kept in place by pins made for purpose in the muzzle. The advantages: 1) you can see all the length of the shaft for better aiming. 2) the shaft, wrapped in the line, will stay in place also if you turn the gun upside down.

 

[Pastor]

Here's a picture of a couple of my guns with the open muzzle. Forget the short shaft in one, that was an experiment that didn't work too well

 

[boci]

Hi Spaghetti,
I've got three questions for you:

1: do they make this gun also in 75-80 cm length?

2: Have you tried this kind of gun with a double band setup? is it still accurate? I fear the recoil would be too strong..

3: The only thing I don't quite like about this gun, compared to others of about the same price, is the handle. It doesn't seem to be properly designed to absorb the recoil. What do you think?

thanks

 

[spaghetti]

Hi Spaghetti,
I've got three questions for you:

1: do they make this gun also in 75-80 cm length?

2: Have you tried this kind of gun with a double band setup? is it still accurate? I fear the recoil would be too strong..

3: The only thing I don't quite like about this gun, compared to others of about the same price, is the handle. It doesn't seem to be properly designed to absorb the recoil. What do you think?

thanks

1: they make a 77cm, but with a different muzzle, called the Trb, with one pair of screw in bands. You could modify the muzzle for a doubled band set, but I don't think it's a great idea for such a short gun.
2: I've tried my Gabbiano Trb 120cm with 2 pairs of 16mm screw in bands and the recoil was near to ZERO. This is a serious weapon. Forum member Murat has exactly this Gabbiano Snake 110 with two circular bands, and he reported the same. The first time he used it, he shot it 3 times and caught 3 dentex.
3: You mean the wrist angle? Or the position in relation to the barrell? All I can say is that I never felt any recoil at all (L'impugnatura è piuttosto pesante: il castello non è di plastica, ma di alluminio anodizzato di buono spessore. Peso e volume fanno massa, ed è la massa che assorbe il rinculo, non il "design". Almeno, questa è la dottrina ufficiale).

 

[gladiator]

You're welcome Garry. I'm happy I have directed you to such a good place to hunt at, but you can be proud of the fish you caught there. The funny thing is that me I NEVER caught such a big lampuga (Mahi-Mahi in american?) in 20 years of avid spearfishing...Then

Hello Spaghetti,

I'll have to PM you next time I fly to Italy for a couple of good hunt spots if you don't mind. I was thinking to go to Sardegna early spring of this year for a spearing adventure ... what do you think? is it over-fished? do you recommend better areas?

Grazie mille per l'auito

Ciao

 

[boci]

Thanks Spaghetti for your kind reply. The handle is not so bad, after all.

If anyone is interested, i found this video where you can see the seatec gabbiano snake in detail (I wonder why seatec doesn't put more pics, and maybe some video of the guns in their website):
Stage6 · NUEVO FUSIL SNAKE DOBLE GOMA DE SEATEC - Video and Download · bricoeltontolosmeros

I think I'll buy the 90 cm gun.

 

[spaghetti]

Gladiator: never been in Sardegna, but PM me for spearing trip suggestions
Boci: and why not a 100? Personally (but maybe it's just me) I don't like double bands on a 90 centimeters gun.
Back on guns: any more good ones under 300 USD?
Talking of long guns (110 centimeters) in Italy you can still find a good Omer T20 carbon mimetic for about 110 euro. Same for a Cayman allu. The new Cayman HF 2 will be available next month for 140 euro. Good deal for good gun.

 

[Pastor]

How about the Marc Valentin guns? I have never heard anything but good about them

 

[Marwan]

300$ is a decent budget, most guns would be under that in the base case..i would say either get the seatec, or the cayman HF or wait for the cayman HF2 next month, the new mares also looks promising...i dont have any feedback on the new cressi's so cant tell..but since youre in italy probably better to stick to the italian brands...

 

[peacenluv]

if ur looking to upgrade, band? mamba? i have both the mamba 110 and marlin carbone 950 and both r pretty sweet.. prefer the mamba for now.. but have only used the mc950 twice till now straight out of the box, have to change the wishbone to dyneema or the metal bangs up the carbon.. both nice and around 300 i think.. i like the darkside..

 

[foxfish]

Join the dark side & feel the power.

 

[armandozx]

Join the dark side & feel the power.

noooooooooooo! :naughty I will never betray band guns !

 

[spaghetti]

300$ is a decent budget, most guns would be under that in the base case..i would say either get the seatec, or the cayman HF or wait for the cayman HF2 next month, the new mares also looks promising...i dont have any feedback on the new cressi's so cant tell..but since youre in italy probably better to stick to the italian brands...

The Cayman HF2 is a very interesting gun and it will be sold at a reasonable price (130/140 euro without reel). What is really OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE is the Cayman HF2 Limited Edition brown camo: stands up to 380 euro!
HF2 and HF2 L.E. are exactly the same gun except for the brown camo: I wonder who would pay the extra > 250 euro for a layer of brown paint... (Marwan...just DON'T DO IT!!! rofl)
http://www.nauticamancini.com/sub/sub_schede/fucile_arbalete_omer_cayman_hf2.htm
http://www.nauticamancini.com/sub/sub_schede/fucile_arbalete_omer_cayman_hf2_le.htm