Best value entry level speargun ?

[portinfer]

Hi - in a rare show of bloodlust (he was a vegetarian until about 2 years ago...) my brother is interested in spearfishing.

I know a bit about wooden guns and a little about aluminium guns but I have no idea what a good gun would be for not much cash...

So maybe something like this ?? ::

++ 80cm -ish
++ no reel
(++ rail (if available for not much cash...))
++ up to £75

So what makes are good ? I know that all the rail guns like RA's and Rabitech are good and I saw a RA Tomahawk 80cm for £78 from these guys : http://www.europeanspearfishingsupplies.com

They look ok but not sure how these entry level RA's differ from the more expensive ones and also have not heard of anyone buying from this shop before ? Any good / bad experiences ?

I was also looking at the guns on scubastore in esp /apnea in jsy and saw these :

++ cressi comanche : 75 or 90
++ picasso century : 82
++ omer excalibur 2000 : 82 or 90

Any thoughts ?

I'd be grateful for any advice !

(Oh - my homemade teak 80 is coming along nicely .... not long now)

 

[glowworm]

Portinfer i have a cressi comanche 75 which i brought after getting back into spearing this year after a long time away from it.It is an excellent entry level gun and i have found it not wanting in performance so far.Mine was purchased from Portland Oceenering for about £80 i think.

 

[Murat]

can not comment about picasso but i saw cressi in flesh and used excalibur. You definatelly notice that excalibur is much better built and every single details works much better (design wise). They are bomp proof superbly accurate, sensitive trigger, light weight, comfy grip, good design muzzle even can be made better with cutting of the bridge and installing pin for better aiming and consistency. On a 80cm one rail will not make much difference although they have muzzle guide which is more than enough yet you can take it out for minimum friction

 

[Huan]

Best and cheapest IMHO is Marc Valentin's guns.
Deadly accurate simple relaible line release.
what more do you want?
Hawaii skin diver magazine tested a whole lot recently and found the Valentin the most accurate out of the box.

 

[portinfer]

Thanks guys - I'll probably go with something I can buy online easily - Huan do you have ay links for Valentin guns ?

I can find the Omer Excalibur at Apnea in Jsy - there seem to be different models - which one is better / best value ?

Cheers
Ed

 

[Alison]

Ed the Merou D'or are good guns too, much the same as the concept but without the tilting handle fits the price range too. Dave at spearo has the Venom guns that look the business at that price worth a try or an email at least

 

[Huan]

Ed
Here is the link for the Valentin gun.
it is even more reasonable than I remember!

 

[GALADION]

Hey Ed,
You can also consider buying a Pathos 80cm gun. Nothing fancy, pretty inexpensive but reasonably well built and accurate guns and surely a good "money for value" buy (to say the least).
You can check them out at www.diveandfish (the link is given below). I think that the owners of this shop will be glad to give you any required info on this or any other gun they sell.
http://www.diveandfish.gr/en/pd1085770385.htm?defaultVariants=search0_EQ_80cm_AND_{EOL}&categoryId=5

 

[takeshi]

hi portinfer, I bought a big pack of stuff from the guys at http://www.europeanspearfishingsupplies.com including an ra gun and extra spears. They provided great service and I am really happy with all the equipment I got. I'm going to buy from them again when my budget allows another gun.
I am really happy with my gun and haven't read any complaints about ra guns or other equipment on any forum so I would go for the ra tomahawk.

 

[Alison]

To much to drink this evening as usual but what a line up of kit for under £80 you cant go wrong really can you

 

[Murat]

Omer Excalibur, Pathos, M. Valentin, Sporasub Black-Viper seemed the top competitors to me. You can't really go wrong with those guns

 

[feign]

If you are thinking about the Omer excalibur then why not get the T-20 - it is literally only a few dollars more and a better gun.

Lee B

 

[Murat]

what makes T20 better than excalibur? T20 may have stronger trigger but this guy will use it with single band and excalibur triger and grip is much better than T20 in my opinion