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Cressi-Sub "Saetta" Pneumatic Speargun

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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popgun pete

Well-Known Member
Jul 30, 2008
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I finally got to see one of these guns “in the metal” rather than just look at one in photos and I can now tell you that its “Quasimodo” looks are not so apparent when you are holding the gun. The rear grip handle does kick up at the back, but this is not the “banana effect” being disguised. What it does do is place the centre of grip pressure up high on the gun and not that far below the axis of the inner barrel tube. In fact the molding of the rear handle body deliberately angles upwards for this purpose. The muzzle has long and narrow rectangular muzzle relief ports with round holes forwards of them in the nose of the gun to enable a rod to be used to unscrew the muzzle. It is pretty clear that the “Saetta” pneumatic speargun is a further development of the ideas used in the very long lived Cressi-Sub "SL" or "Superleggero" (Superlight) pneumatic speargun which has been around for as long as I can remember once Mares released their “Sten” series.
 
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The raised centre of grip pressure can be seen in this diagram which is emphasizing the hand grip angle, but more important is where the part of your hand between thumb and forefinger sits on the handle when you are gripping it for the shot.
Cressi Saetta handle angle.jpg

The rectangular muzzles relief ports can be seen here, note the long nose on the gun provided by the muzzle and the extended nose cone socket that supports it.
Cressi Saetta muzzle (2).jpg
 
Here is the 55 cm model with power reducer.
Cressi Saetta.jpg

Thumbnail shows the barrel axis and line of force application at centre of handgrip pressureCressi Saetta axes.jpg
 
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Interestingly the “Saetta” pneumatic speargun was supplied with woven cord shooting line and a threaded shaft with separate double flopper screw tip which is what many buyers still want rather than mono and an integral tip shaft when they are spearfishing in rocky reef areas. The power regulator control knob has a rubber ring on it in the form of an equatorial band to improve grip I assume when you push forward on it with your thumb to change the power of the shot.
 
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Nice looking gun Pete. I found it extremely difficult to find a 110cm in Australia being sold currently. I notice it comes with a 8mm threaded stainless steel shaft and 7mm thread. Is this standard? I assumed most guns came with a Race type shaft. How would you compare this to any of the other guns such as Mares, Salvimar, SEAC, Omer? Whilst surfing the net, I have noticed on the Dive Planet Multi Store, that according to company regulations, they will not ship to Australia! Shame as the sale prices are extremely generous.
 
The "Saetta" pneumatic speargun that I examined was imported from DiveStock in Estonia and was an 88 cm model. I am pretty sure that it had an 8 mm diameter spear and was the silvery plated type of shaft that you get from Cressi-Sub for as long as I can remember with a double flopper spreartip. Australian importers will not bring in anything that they don't think there is a demand for and as they never bother to ask anyone and ignore any inquiries they never bring anything in. The restrictive import regulations are there to protect the interests of local distributors who are well below par compared with the type of people who previously used to run those businesses here. In the old days if you contacted them they were right on the ball as they understood customer service, now they could hardly spell those words and you talk to an answering machine or engage with a computer interface.
 
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Nice looking gun Pete. I found it extremely difficult to find a 110cm in Australia being sold currently. I notice it comes with a 8mm threaded stainless steel shaft and 7mm thread. Is this standard? I assumed most guns came with a Race type shaft. How would you compare this to any of the other guns such as Mares, Salvimar, SEAC, Omer? Whilst surfing the net, I have noticed on the Dive Planet Multi Store, that according to company regulations, they will not ship to Australia! Shame as the sale prices are extremely generous.
The "Saetta" has not attempted anything other than an elevation of its inner barrel which was already elevated in the SL/Star series, now they have gone up as far as they can go. I never found any problem shooting fish with a coaxial barrel "Sten", therefore a raised inner barrel does not really interest me except that it leaves room for a pumping barrel if one was looking for a gun to convert, but as we know it looks like the Mares "Cyrano 1.3" can fulfil that requirement.

There are fads in spearfishing just as there are in everything else, but all the spearguns on the market will shoot fish just as their predecessors did decades earlier. If there is a difference today then it is that reef species have generally declined in numbers, but then it depends on where and how far you are willing to travel. The move to slim fast shafts has been geared to pelagic species, but there are still plenty of reef fish to shoot if you prowl around long enough on a reasonable bit of reef with plenty of hidey holes.
 
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Agreed, and its much more fun in my opinion. You never know what you can find, and enhances your hunting skills.
 
It would be interesting to fit a partial plastic shroud or shutter that could be revolved to close off the lower ports as when the muzzle is screwed into place there is no way to know which ports will be on top. MEPPS spring guns used water outflow via ports to stabilize the shot according to their patent, whether it worked or not I do not know. A revolving outer sleeve covered or uncovered elongated rectangular ports in the barrel tube which enabled control of water flow as the expanding coil spring pushed the spear out of the gun. However this type of anti-muzzle flip, “muzzle brake compensator” is well known for use in pistols.
Mepps gun1x.jpg

MEPPS Spring gun.jpg

It is interesting to note that for decades "Saetta" was used by Cressi-Suh for their spring gun which had a slightly pre-compressed spring that operated in a larger bore barrel than usual and was fitted with a short metal piston and a muzzle restriction to hold the piston in the gun. Most spring guns have the spring under no compression until you begin muzzle loading the gun, the spear tail directly pushing on the nose end of the spring.
 
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In fact, the effectiveness of such a hydraulic stabilization is very low due to the dynamics of acceleration and a small amount of water at the end of the shot, which picked up speed! A much greater effect can be achieved with balancing weights!
 
Or, simply raise the handle to be more in-line with the shaft as has been the recent trend in bandguns.
That was one thing that the old Mirage handle with its extremely sloped back handle actually did well. Instead of raising the handle towards the barrel, it was more a matter of pushing the barrel forwards and down with that design. The end result was the same though.
 
Many of us use long barrel pneumatic guns and the upper surface area of the gun suppresses the "toss" as it is often referred to on some forums, plus with a good grip using both hands the guns can be shot very accurately for fish taking purposes. I rarely miss as I have had decades shooting the same group of weapons. The grip handle on the "Saetta" is pushed up higher than it appears in the photos and contributes to the “humpy” look of the handle which at first I took for the “banana effect” until I actually held the gun in my hands. My assessment is Cressi-Sub needed a new gun for marketing purposes and decided to build on the "SL" layout which continues to be a popular gun and remains in production. Quality of the gun is good and fit and finish appear to be up to the standards established by Italian manufacturing for decades.
 
Indeed the Seatta handle looks quite a bit higher.
I agree that they needed a new gun and I noticed they make it sound like their trigger is almost revolutionary light;-). I think they might just have dropped a 1.5-2mm trigger in the gun, finally as the SL used to come with 3mm. Sometimes, on the Italian forums, you see people saying the trigger pull on the SL can be quite hard.
 
Indeed the Seatta handle looks quite a bit higher.
I agree that they needed a new gun and I noticed they make it sound like their trigger is almost revolutionary light;-). I think they might just have dropped a 1.5-2mm trigger in the gun, finally as the SL used to come with 3mm. Sometimes, on the Italian forums, you see people saying the trigger pull on the SL can be quite hard.
Yes, the trigger transmission pin has been reduced in diameter, although they did not seem to state what it was, but the 50% effort reduction will be the clue. I never really noticed the trigger pull being hard on the “SL”, but you get pretty strong fingers over the years and I never slowly squeeze the trigger anyway. Hunting with the "Seabear" when pumped right up made me realize that trigger pull is relative, at least on the Italian pneumatic guns you can pull the trigger, on the "Seabear" I needed both hands and both trigger fingers to get the trigger to move and then only with a mighty squeeze. The gun being heavy had next to no recoil, but the shaft left the muzzle like a beam of light!
 
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I dealt with repair italopnevma with 1.5mm trigger rod from UBL! It is necessary to indicate in the disassembly algorithm of the gun that after the pressure is released in the receiver of the gun, the trigger rod must be removed and the trigger hook removed! The backlash of the barrel in the grooves of the handle leads to a residual deformation of 1.5 mm of the trigger rod!
 
I dealt with repair italopnevma with 1.5mm trigger rod from UBL! It is necessary to indicate in the disassembly algorithm of the gun that after the pressure is released in the receiver of the gun, the trigger rod must be removed and the trigger hook removed! The backlash of the barrel in the grooves of the handle leads to a residual deformation of 1.5 mm of the trigger rod!
Yes, the trigger transmission pin removal is discussed in the thread https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/pneumatic-dismantling-how-to-get-inside.90024/
 
Cressi-Sub have now announced the "Saetta Pro" which is a vacuum barrel gun based on the "Saetta".
images_Cressi2018_CressiSaettaProCompleto.jpg

images_Cressi2018_SaettaProTestataMontata.jpg

images_Cressi2018_SaettaProTestataPuntaAstaok.jpg

images_Cressi2018_SaettaProTestata.jpg

Looks like they have borrowed some ideas from the "coke bottle" tail used on the latest "Taimen", only they use a rounded metal shoulder instead of a polyurethane bush.
"The shaft tang is specifically designed for the Saetta Pro “vuoto” system, so to avoid having any cutting edges that could spoil the rubber gasket or the internal barrel."
Taimen spear tail replaceable polyurethane bush.jpg

Unfortunately it is supplied with an integral tip shaft, although it looks to be spring stainless steel. OK for open water, but not around rocks where a replaceable tip is preferable.
 
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Cressi-Sub have now announced the "Saetta Pro" which is a vacuum barrel gun based on the "Saetta".
View attachment 55250
View attachment 55251
View attachment 55252
View attachment 55253
Looks like they have borrowed some ideas from the "coke bottle" tail used on the latest "Taimen", only they use a rounded metal shoulder instead of a polyurethane bush.
"The shaft tang is specifically designed for the Saetta Pro “vuoto” system, so to avoid having any cutting edges that could spoil the rubber gasket or the internal barrel."
View attachment 55255
Unfortunately it is supplied with an integral tip shaft, although it looks to be spring stainless steel. OK for open water, but not around rocks where a replaceable tip is preferable.

Gee, I like the look of that line attachment on the last photo. Significantly better than the rubbish Mares dishes out! Very nice gun!
 
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