Good lineshaft setup?

[Wierd fish]

I recently bought a used 48 biller to aquaint myself to shooting a gun. I have been a mad pole spear slinger for a while .

I need to set it up for lineshafting. I will be diving on reefs from 15-35+ feet. What is a good setup that I can rig? Any pictures of your setup will help me out to.

Thanks, Paul.

ps.- Im new to spearguns, but am becoming very interested in the sport. Bear with me.

 

[fuzz]

could you post a picture of the muzzle & back of the shaft?

either that or a description would help determine the best setup for your rig. does it come with a slide-ring now?

 

[rigdvr]

the Biller 48 comes with a slide ring set-up. The shafts are stamped. The slide ring is a spiral style.

Your best bet is to go to a local store that carries the Biller line and check out their set ups. I would go for a better slide ring and probably shoot mono(about 250# or so?) over the stock nylon shooting line.

Fuzz, the muzzle is 3/4 closed...like a enclosed track. The opening at the top is not big enough to put the shaft in like an open track so for all practical purposes it is closed ala JBL. DO NOT overpower this gun. It does not shoot well with 5/8 rubbers. Any specific question beyond this let me know...good luck.

 

[fuzz]

Ah, so this is the good karma gun you gave away huh


Very nice man, forgot to send you karma for that gesture, some coming your way now


Wierd, go with Rig's advice, I'm sure he's been through a few configurations with it. :hmm

 

[Wierd fish]

Actually, I got this gun from a friend locally. It was easier for me, and it had bands, and a shaft.
Yes, the shaft is a slide ring design.

Thanks

 

[sturgeon]

ABBiller

Weird,

I used to shoot a 48 Biller a long time ago (when I was a bubble blower). Your best bet is probably to buy the specific shooting cord made by Biller for that sized gun (just about any divestore in FL should carry one). The Biller shooting line has the bungie cord attached in-line to it. If you go with mono, you'll need to come up with your own bungie system. Florida Freedivers sells some for about $2.50 (they call them 'line boingies'). If you go with mono, put a double wrap on and use crimps for attachment. I use 300 lb outrigger mono. It's black, very abrasion resistant, no too stretchy, and can be found at almost any fishing store in FL (comes in 100 yd spools). If your freediving, you'll need a float line coming off the back of your gun going up to a buoy of some sort. I use 100 or 120 ft of 1/8 inch polypropylene (up to 1/4 inch would be fine). If you're new to freediving you maybe able to survive with a 50 footer for awhile. Once again, Florida Freedivers for about $12.

Hope this advice helps.


Scott T.

 

[Wierd fish]

Thanks for the info. That put me on the right track.
Paul

 

[Wierd fish]

I got it setup last night. I will put a pic up later.
I need a cheap float and I am going to make my own line.

 

[rigdvr]

Paul...for a cheap float(read homemade) try a boat fender if you have one laying around. The cylindrical ones work best. Or if your local shop carries any Omer floats they makes some cheap but decent inshore floats...check www.piratescuba.com just checked, they dont have any of the Omer floats but they do have the RA 11 liter floats(so does Florida Freedivers) and they are not too expensive and are dakine

 

[Wierd fish]

I have so many boat fenders sitting around, you wouldn't believe.

I am going to rig something up tommorow.

Thanks.

 

[Wierd fish]

Heres my newest creation. It cost me around $15 total.

I ran the rope through the tube, and put a loop in one end, and a snap on the other. I heat shrunk the ends after some silicone.
49'7"

 

[Wierd fish]

.

 

[Shadowkiller]

sweet looking job..
I made one myself a couple of days ago. Tested it yesterday and was suprised to see how much less drag it has than my usual rope floatline.

If I could make one suggestion: Try using some shark clips rather than that brass clip. Shark clips dont rust up and tend to be more secure (the heavy duty ones anyway).

good luck with it!

 

[Griff]

Originally posted by Wierd fish
Heres my newest creation. It cost me around $15 total.

is that meant to be cheap? :waterwork

what type of tubing did you use? it looks like that clear silicone tubing. any idea how it stands up to abrasion?

It would be cool to avoid tangles. does it?

shadow, you say it reduces the drag on your floatline. what line were you using previously?
I'm getting IRRITATED with dragging my gear through heavy current. its almost as bad as the 3k walk back to the car.

cheers

Mark

 

[Shadowkiller]

I used 6mm PVC tubing which you can find in the gardening section of your local hardware store. 97c a meter..

The best thing is no tangles and it slides through the water so much better. AND doesnt stay under after the dive to drape around rocks and pylons.

My dive on Sunday was around a jetty and usually I use a 8mm rope for floatline which gets tangled on the barnacles really easily. But the pvc tubing just slides right over. No sign of abrasion yet.

 

[sturgeon]

Paul,

Very nice job! I second the comment about the longline clips but I'm sure your clip will work fine. You know, you could've just bought a line like the one you made for a mere $100 from Riffe and saved yourself the few minutes it took you to make your's (that's a joke). I use polypropylene line that floats but what you've made is safer (won't tangle so easily around you). The only problem is that eventually it will take water and start to sink but if you're careful with it, it will last awhile. Besides if it does start to sink, all you have to do is make yourself another one!

Scott T.

 

[icarus pacific]

Nice first effort!

That vinyl tube is going to save you loads of time and grief around the bottom and the pilings. Here's a little tip also- while the length of the nylon cord sticking out past the tube will act as a swivel of sorts, it also will act as a wick and pretty soon that line will saturate and fill the tubing. No mo floatline. Now that this one is done, go use the daylights out of it and keep an eye out for the barrel swivels and clips spec'd out in the cheap floatline thread here somewheres... hit the search thing and read on.

A clip other than the one you've got there is going to work nicely for you- that little finger release thing has a-hole written all over it; a definite snap ala a longline clip is smoother around the bottom and your digits. On the next line you make, squirt a good glob of silicone caulk in the end, push the barrel swivel in and wrap it with some stainless seizing wire taking care to crimp the beejeezus out of it. Finish with the shrink wrap you put over the tube before all this and you're golden.

Jay Riffe and Co are pretty proud of their floatlines and the rest of their stuff for that matter. And rightly so- it's hardcore, made- right gear from people that use it. You wanna get sober, just try to put one together to those standards and add the costs of materials, yourself, the room, the electricity, taxes and phones so people that have no clue can call and waste your time and then take the advice and go buy some other schlock piece of crap. You'll see that a hundred bones ain't even gonna cover it. I've made my own lines as well as having several of Jay's and when it matters I throw on one of his.


sven

 

[Cingene]

I made one out of that tubing the brick layers use to level their work. The wet vacuum cleaner sucked in my nylon thread then pulled parachute line with the nylon. Put two barrel swivels on each end and secured it with stainless steel lashing wire, then taped it with rubber tape. I still have it after using it in Portugal for 2 years (and now not doing anything but taking space in my garage). Where do you get barrel swivels around here (Northern California)? I am thinking of making a floatline out of norprene (comes in 50' lenghts at work).

 

[icarus pacific]

As far as the barrel swivels go, I'm looking for a source here myself. There's a tackle outfit listed on the cheap floatline thread here, hit the search button, and follow it. I've got a dozen ordered from them...
Norprene at work eh? Sweet! You get an extra length of it and are low on gas funds lemme know.


sven

 

[Cingene]

what size??? I think the ones they have are 3/8 (50" lengths) and yellow only. I will check if they have any others, maybe 1/2".