Thank U - Thank U
Hi Guys,
Thanks 4 the warm welcome. Very friendly forum indeed. In fact the jokes are great and it is not all business here, very family like.
It is so unfortunate for me that my country span over Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and so many other local seas which should have great hunting potential but I am in the capital city and having the worst , most destructed and most polluted marine area. The better hunting area is rather far.
The closest hunting ( lousy ) is 40 nautical miles away and only on wrecks and FAD cause the reefs are mostly bombed out or cynide damaged. Only .......... if I started hunting 20 years ago.
I am basically a scuba hunter and still learning to freedive hunting but I turn blue at 25 feet. With the typical visibility of 15-20 feet and the lousy fish population on the reefs, I mostly do wrecks and FADs but they are deep, at least a 100 feet and some 140-170 feet. A few short weeks in a year, visibility can be good at 60 feet but not at all water level. Mostly on the surface.
To get to the Indian Ocean side from my city it takes at least 4 hours drive and 1 hr boat ride and since it is still less than 2 miles offshore, 20+ foot visibility is no guarantee. This area has longer duration of 60+ foot visibility per year but I am still learning the area. If fishes are biting there, I need to avoid lures/Rapala from the sportfisherman cause there are only 3 or 4 known- to- be-good locations, what a luck. The other good location is 120 nautical miles away and only accesible by boat, I usually go broke going to this area on my own. Lucky for me I do yachts sales ( YEP, sell only 1 or 2 yacht per 2 years in this poor country !! ) and most of the time I can tag along with my clients and chip in a bit just to avoid being thrown over board.....ha ha ha.
These potential areas are where I do my practice freedive, since I am usually a murky water hunter, I get hallucination ( I keep imagining tunas racing at me to get shot, I must have thought I am Terry Maas ) when I see visibility better than 60 feet. My distance perception usually screw up. I'm still learning.
Only in this area I can see Spanish Mackerel, Doogtooth & Yellowfin. I am dying to see a Wahoo underwater but never had the chance.
Nowadays in my murky waters I hunt only for Giant Trevally and Golden Trevally cause they are the only species around in good numbers, good fight and decent to eat. I don't like barracuda cause they are lousy to eat, possible cigutera and too easy shot most of the time. If I go to the reef, I only shoot the red grouper/cod, this is tasty to steam Chinese style. There is another species I enjoy eating, a baramundi cod ( that's what Australian call it, .... American ???? ), light brown color with black dots. Small at the mouth going bigger at the head, thin fish but rather wide upwards. Damn hard to find. In fact nowadays I refuse to shoot this docile fish cause I find their numbers in my area been going down and down. I maybe crazy but I believe in conservation too you know.
I want to learn more from you guys, especially those close to great waters like SASpearo or anyone in Hawaii. I been reading the forum well, I won't bother anyone of you with repeat questions.
However I do want you kind people to advice me on Rob Allen Rail Guns.
Here is my gun history :
I started with pneumatics, all 95 cm. I am short at 167cm, can't reach on long guns. Damaged 5 in the process cause I can cock so well & fast, I was dumb enough to pump 30% extra air to supposedly increase power. The seals always gave way to my brutal use, even the internal aluminum shooting barrels get pitting from too long immersion in sea water. My favorite was Scubapro pneu cause it has better piston material and trigger design than Mares those days. I ripped them open so often, I can service it better than the dealer. I avoid band guns those days cause they don't track target fast and never as dead accurate as the pneumatic. I even attached a bright mini torch on the barrel and can shoot fish in caves like shooting with a laser dot. I felt like Arnold Swage????? underwater. I have a JBL Magnum too but never like using it, too long and no power. I really enjoyed the Scubapro pneu. When Scubapro stop making guns for "green" reason, I was lost and have to use my JBL. I was thinking of getting the Mares Cyrano but the dealer doesn't stock major seals kit and that is a no-no. Getting pneumatic guns parts is more dificult here in my city than getting a wife.
As my skill progress and dive were deeper at the wrecks, I have to stop using pneumatics, they piss, not shoot at 100+ feet. My miss rate were higher on small targets with JBL but my friends & I were discovering more wrecks with good size giant trevally ( 10-30kg ). I lost so many JBL shafts at the wrecks untill I learn that there is an English word called "stainless steel" shooting cable, wasted money down the drain for nothing.
I thought the JBL Magnum even being not so accurate, were macho guns. Imagine 3 rubbers on it, I don't even carry more than two "rubbers" on me if were to go on a date. I even glue two sight dot similiar to a rifle on my JBL made from pencil eraser, I thought it will help me shoot like a sniper. I wish I read forums like this many-many years ago. I tried all the high power JBLs : XHD and Woody the prices don't lie but the brochure lied .........on the shooting range. Since I am mostly on scuba, I go for gill shot on the giant trevallies to make sure the spearhead anchored correctly on the hardest part of the fish. I can't guarantee a spine shot, I am not that good with JBLs and I don't get the luxury of seeing that much big G.T back then, so the gill was my favourite. In most cases both gills penetration were not possible with my JBL on 15+kg G.T, it doesn't have the punch. My group use and destroyed so many JBL-s, I got to know the JBL-s built in problems so well.
I have a friend who gave me two guns 8+ years ago. One is a Technisub Model 88 no 05. Single thick band. It has a sticker : Champione De France 1989, Mark Valentine ( La Passion De L'Apnee ). I am totally blind on French but I assume it means : Mark Valentine who has great passion for apnea use this cute Euro gun to win the France 1989 Spearfishing Championship. The other one is Mares, same size, single band. Cute too. I never could load the guns last time so they look new till today except for the bands.
Now I use only Riffes, in fact all of my friends whose JBL I fixed go for Riffe now, almost 20 of us. We all have a Standard #2 rigged to the teeth. I'm soon going to receive Standard #4 Baja also maximum rigged for greenishblue water use ( is there such a term ?? ). A friend of mine is getting a Metal Tech 3 fully rigged with 5 bands 9/16 on new aluminum muzzle. Stabilizer mini wing and 3/8 shafts with Ice Pick.
I do not yet have a good European gun or say a Rob Allen which I hear so many wonderful things about it. My question is to all you experts out there :
120-130 cm is about the longest I can probably go on R.A
Advice me on a set up which will yield maximum power and range while retaining accuracy. I also wants to use at least a 270 lbs stainless cable for shooting line.
01. How do I attach it when I see on RA website, the drilled hole on the shaft is so small ?
02. What kind of range do I get on it if rigged to the teeth ?
03. With ss cable will I ruin the accuracy big time ?
04. What shaft diameter is reccomended ?
I bet SASpearo will gladly answer this cause I know he loves his RA.
I am not after any record, I just like good engineered guns.
I always wanted to shoot a 2 meter Tuna one day but since big tuna means big sharks too, in the mean time ( say 10 years ? ) I rather meet a 1.7meter / 50kg "Tina".
I know the post is sooo long. Sorry, I am just so excited to talk to nice and knowledgeable people on the same hobby from all over the world.
Thanks
Iya