I think Euro gun offer simplicity of a single rubber and good penetration on its micro size 6.35mm or the 7mm shaft. Many hunters judge power by penetration, so Euro is powerful enough cause with a proper rubber, it does offer good penetration and thus many kill. Being light and many are reasonably priced, it does make a great starter gun. Fast tracking make it another bonus.
Think of it this way, a Euro gun is a .22 Rimfire Rifle and bigger guns like an MT3 is a 308 caliber. Which rifle will you take to hunt a Bengal Tiger ? Most go with 308 but in my country the poachers love .22 cause they want the skin not be damaged by big bullet and they shoot with precision. Technicaly both can kill the tiger but 308 is more forgiving. I had a 100 lbs deer once with a 4.5mm /0.177 airgun, u might not believe it but it is true. The skull of that deer is only like 2mm thick where my pellet entered and my pellet penetrated the brain. It dropped dead after only 3 steps.This is a stray dear which is not supposed to be in my small game hunting ground. Later my friends with more powerful 4.5mm scuba charged airguns were taking big ones with horns ( what do u call those antena on the head
![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
?? ) using a tree stand. Brain was the target. They had great success. No more aiming the heart and looking for blood trail. Same unique way bow and arrow hunter in the USA are taking big games.
Some Mosad agent uses .22 pistol where the FBI is using 10mm.
Precision shooting is what .22 shooters seek, workable in close quater shooting.
Once a spearo is hooked to a Euro gun or timber guns, they swear it is the best there is for them. Unlike when chasing girls, your girl always look LESS attractive than the girl at the next table. Since not all spearos are open minded and have many-many guns, whatever they are stuck with and happy with is the BEST. Euro being more affordable and so many styles and brands to choose from, naturaly more people own them.
Later if we argue that timber guns offer more power & range, the Euro answer will be :
A. Learn better stalking and apnea thus u can get closer to your prey.
B. Any fish that is out of the range of my Euro, it doesn't deserve to be shot.
A Euro fanatic will also tell you :
A. Why need 4 bands when 1 band can do it ?
I think in the end it will come down to preference, hunting area and the intended game species and ur hunting skill.
Big timber guns, real powerful ones, do not appear out of nowhere. It appear out of the need of the intended species. If a hunter is after some 200 lbs Tuna or bigger, his big guns are inventions or tools which he need to try to maximize the chances of nailing it. If anyone goes out on a dream trip and spend thousand of dollars and at the risk of being a dinner instead of looking for dinner, any possible mean to do the hunt in the best fashion ( in his opinion ) is what he will do. They will not take the reason......SHIT !!! that 200 lbs Tuna is out of range for my 5 meter effective gun. Powerfun guns can offer better chance than less powerful one.......that simple, at the cost of extra recoil and slow tracking...can't win all.
If a world spearfishing meet is held at Gualadape island on the peak of giant Tuna season, I wonder what kind of guns will the spearo carry ????? Since most spearfishing comp mainly results in fishes under 100 lbs, a Euro has its place and very popular cause it track fast. Euro fanatic will have the say that Euro gun is the more popular choice for competitive people and indeed it is an adequate tool.
As for me ( only me...he he he ) I can not yet love Euro gun because :
I do not live in a country where Euro guns are available in quality and quantity like in the US or Europe. I have not get my hands on real quality Euro, so I do not know how to love one yet. All the Euro (rubber ) I seen is like a toy like quality because my reference is a Riffe. I do like a pneumatic, and it is a Euro. I got no complaint of my Cyrano.........why.....because at Cyrano power level, the engineering is decent. Also there is no other reference to compare it with......how can I not love it ? Ha ha ha.
I admire good engineering and tough spearguns that take massive beating, Euro RUBBER guns component is still well below my expectation, not that it is not adequate for the job, I just like robust design like a Riffe. I feel comfortable with a Riffe but not a Euro ( YEP haven't seen them all ). Once my confidence is low, how will I hunt with it ?
I am power crazy, Euro guns do not allow me to play with too much power. I enjoy strong recoil ( yes, it is funny ), it make me feel I am holding a genuinely powerful gun. I also enjoy shooting fishes as far away as my gun permit. In contrast to good spearos where they try improving stalking technique and want get closer to the fishes, me a land based hunter before being a spearo find a long shot added the overall accuracy difficulty and thus increased level of the hunt excitement. I guess each seek different criteria.
I don't find being able to get close to a fish as a challenge, I too do not like shooting a fish from too close. Sniper attitute ?
So my final say is that Euro gun is rather fragile for me and don't offer the recoil I like.
Just my US$2.00 worth, 2 cents can't keep up with the inflation.
IYA