Help with Balco gun

[Phychotics]

Hey fellas, well i am getting ready to go on a dive trip to catalina island, and was hoping to try my hand with my spearfishing debut...just a thought. Well ebay got the better of me, and for a mere 13$ i got a speargun. I found that the company went out of business. It is a Balco pro arrow 105. It is missing a spear and rubbers, and im aware its not the best of brands but it was 15$..so watever. But the gun is in almost perfect condition. What i did need to know, is what kind of shaft, tip and rubbers to buy. If anyone could give me some info on this gun..anything would help, or a link. ANYTHING would be of service... I only know that its 42''...so work with me. I will post the ebay link, and maybe u can reference it to help..thx spearos!

Balco Pro Arrow 105 Speargun - eBay (item 260252418932 end time Jun-21-08 16:35:11 PDT)

 

[ulysses]

Balco ... quite some time since I have seen one of those rofl However, some 20 yrs back they were much en vogue in Greece.

Anyway for a 105cm euro arbalete the standard shaft length would be between 140 and 150cm ('tahitian' shafts, of course ). Assuming that this aluminium barrel band-gun is a terrible sinker, I would suggest using rather light 6mm (or 6.3mm) diameter shafts. As to the bands: I would go with 16mm x 23-25cm.

Cheers, ulysses

 

[Phychotics]

THANK YOU! That was much help....i know..many ppl havent heard of this brand...but it seems like a nice gun..thx for the help ulysses

 

[RydDragyn]

Hey, when are you going to Catalina? I go there frequently, and am always looking for new dive buddies. I just got into spearfishing myself, and have caught two fish already - one of which was in Two Harbors.

re;Balco, honestly judging by prices I've seen the replacement parts for it will probably cost more than the gun itself

 

[RydDragyn]

Also, Neptonic systems makes very well priced powerbands of any length and thickness you want. I got mine there for way cheaper than the store wanted to charge me for Riffe & Trident rubbers.

 

[Phychotics]

Well Ryddrygn we are going on june 30-july 5.....and i scuba, ive never freedived..although i might try my hand while im there....if i can get stuff for this gun, i might take it....i ourchased bands for it..im just looking for a shaft...just a generic one, but all the ones i need are like 45$ or more..thats a lot...i wanted to see if i could get a used one....i need a 1/4" by 56", or metric a 6mm by 140cm

 

[fleshy]

Dude, I loved my balco sub. As far as bands go, I cut a very small hole in the bottom of where the bands go with a hacksaw and put in conventional bands, when situated properly, they are of course in no danger of falling out. (The bands are much too large to fit through a hack-saw cut) As far as finding a new shaft, I struggled for about a year uto find a suitable replacement after losing one on a big fish. As far as I know, Ray Oder would be your best bet, with a custom made shaft. They have funky locking mechanisms. The gun itself was spot on, dead accurate, and a quick shot. No complaints, and would compare it to a HH speargun of today. Somewhere in the wisconsin forums are pictures of my trigger mech, in cross section, might want to refer to that to see what kind of shaft you need. If you have any success let me know, because I would be more than willing to buy a shaft as well.

 

[Phychotics]

well i just bought the gun on ebay..dont even know how many bands it acccepts....never spearfished before..its my first gun....i purchased (1) 9/16 X 20" band for it...sound about right? It probly accepts more bands, but i didnt want to order 2 or 3 and then have it only accept 1. Anyways i can at least fire it with just 1. I have a question about shafts....i notice there are different brands of shafts....like riffe omer etc....does the actual brand matter? or does just the size of the shaft matter? for example....is a riffe 1/4" X 56" shaft identical to a omer 1/4" X 56" shaft? Cuz thats the shaft im looking at..i think it will fit...but i wanted a clarification before spending 50 bucks..thx for the help guys