finally finished another one

[jtkwest]

here is my latest gun. it is a 4 piece vertical laminate-teak. it has a neptonics reef trigger with self resetting line release. it is tapered to the muzzle, it has a deep open track-poured epoxy graphite. it has one of tin man's ar-15 handle reciever with a rubber hogue handle,(btw- this is the coolest handle i have ever seen or held! it is so f**king bad ass! THANK YOU TIN MAN!!!!) the gun is a mid handle, but is only placed a few inches forward- kindof like a wong rear handle plus. i am taking it to the pool tomorrow for balancing , then the flip flop butt plate goes on. other than that it is ready. the gun measures 54"=135cm overall. from muzzle to front of mech is 115cm=46" it will shoot7.5=19/64" or smaller spears. i use a wong 7.5x135cm=53" spear. i am keeping this gun, because i love the handle so much i cant part with it. i have 10 more of them so i may change my mind later, but for now-no way.

 

[jtkwest]

more pics. btw: this is gun#21. but its only the second open track gun i ever made.gonna compare performance.wish me luck-i'm going out on the boat today. drifting for wahoo.

 

[Tin Man]

Beautiful work Jason! It has a no-nonsense, built for purpose look to it that I really like. Glad you are happy with the handle.

 

[Mr. X]

Looks great.Love the finish and handle. I've been wondering recently whether fairly small mid-handled gun might work well in UK waters (not an original idea, Pastor has long suggested this). Maybe 55-75cm of barrel stuck out front - like a small rear handle euro gun, but will a total barrel length of 90-120cm, like a large rear handled eurogun for the UK. Perhaps 70/110 would be a good combination (would be interesting to know what Pastor uses - Hey Pastor, are you out there?)

 

[Don Paul]

Great looking gun Jason, I can see why it's a keeper. 54'' is a great all round size that still I guy can still lever into shooting position. Sic handle.:friday

Cheers, Don

 

[Jonny250]

That looks like a superb woodie, nice job!! The handle does look good, i noticed that before i read your + opinion

 

[Salehthefish]

Nice work man!!!

 

[alexrom1207]

Looks great.Love the finish and handle. I've been wondering recently whether fairly small mid-handled gun might work well in UK waters (not an original idea, Pastor has long suggested this). Maybe 55-75cm of barrel stuck out front - like a small rear handle euro gun, but will a total barrel length of 90-120cm, like a large rear handled eurogun for the UK. Perhaps 70/110 would be a good combination (would be interesting to know what Pastor uses - Hey Pastor, are you out there?)

Mr. X. Here in the Northeast we have similar conditions to you guys. Water visibility can be as low as 2-3 feet and get up to 15-20 feet. But average is probably around 5-12 feet. We shoot a variety of fish also...from 5lb tautog to 50lb strippeed bass to 1lb scup, so it's important to have a very versatile gun.

Daryl Wong created a gun called the NorEaster, just for our waters. It's a 42" midhandle hybrid (Teak stock, carbon fiber barrel). It gives you the shooting power of a 90cm (but allows for you to power it up much more than a euro gun would, as you can use 3 bands)...so perhaps the power of a 100-110 euro??? I'm sure there are band stretch vs power ratios out there that could verify or refute this. Either way, it give you a lot of power in a relatively small package (handles more like a 65 cm gun with the midhandle and the cf barrel).

I own one, it's a great gun. However, I have to say that I still prefer my 70cm cressi pneumatic when I'm in tight conditions and visibility is questionable. But when the visibility opens up to around 10' and there are big stripped bass around, I wouldn't want any other gun than my Wong. He also makes a 36" pistol that might be an interesting choice for low visibility.

 

[alexrom1207]

jt, I'm just curious why (if you were going to run a remote trigger anyway) why you would leave so much open space at the back of the gun? Is it for ease of loading? It just seems like with the stock at 54", you have another 3 inches or so of band stretch you could add by placing the mech all the way back. Or you could cut the end off and have a smaller gun. I don't make guns (although I'm planning on eventually giving it a shot) so I'm always interested to understand why gun makers make certain choices in their designs.

Beautiful piece by the way...those closed track guns are supposed to shoot amazingly well.

 

[jtkwest]

jt, I'm just curious why (if you were going to run a remote trigger anyway) why you would leave so much open space at the back of the gun? Is it for ease of loading? It just seems like with the stock at 54", you have another 3 inches or so of band stretch you could add by placing the mech all the way back. Or you could cut the end off and have a smaller gun. I don't make guns (although I'm planning on eventually giving it a shot) so I'm always interested to understand why gun makers make certain choices in their designs.

Beautiful piece by the way...those closed track guns are supposed to shoot amazingly well.

thank you, yes they do shoot really nice. very accurate. this gun is an open track though. a very deep open track.i originally wasnt sure if i was going to cut that extra stock off or not on the back of the gun. all my wood stocks start at either 60" or 65", so when i build a shorter gun, i usually cut the excess off at the end at some point. on this gun, i wanted to leave a little room for lead, so i can balance it, i need about 3 1/2" to do that, plus it is much easier to load a gun on your hip with a little room at the back of the gun . with the mech at the extreme rear of the gun, it has to be chest loaded, not hip loaded- which alot of locals seem to prefer. i know i do- i have been trying lots of different combinations on my guns- trying out different things. this is just a sort of test gun still. this is the first open track gun i have ever done with a graphite track. also, at 54" overall, it is considered "short" for around here. we use long guns mostly 60" and 65" guns with 48-52" tracks. our waters often have 100ft vis. i will test fire it after the holidays, when i get back from ny. will let you know how it performs,as i am keeping it. unless it doesnt shoot straight, then i will sell it-LOL!!!(kidding)