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How to Load a Pneumatic?

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alexrom1207

Well-Known Member
Nov 28, 2007
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74
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Hi everyone. This may be a very simple question but as of yet I haven't found any really detailed answers.

I'm 5'9" tall, 25 years old, and in pretty good shape. But my 70cm cressi sl is just kicking my butt when I try to load it at the factory set 18-20 bars. Obviously, this has to be an issue with my form because the gun can't be this difficult to load. So.... could someone please explain a detailed method for loading the gun. I can reach the tip of the spear with the butt placed on my thigh. The gun slides down my knee though when I try to load it. I have tried the foot loading method but can't get anywhere with that.

What I need is a very detailed description of how to load the gun including hand placement, direction of the palm, placement of the nonloading hand, placement of the butt, and then of course the proper movement of pulling, pushing up with leg, crunching abbs etc....

Supposed to be "one smooth motion" but for me it's basically getting the spear down to about 4" or so of clicking in and then not being able to ram it the rest of the way. So I either have to grab the loader with my other hand and pull down (did that yesterday and gun slipped off leg, line release cracked off), or I have to load it while sitting at a dock (which I can do easily while placing the butt on my thigh and loading while leaning forward).

Thanks in advance for the help guys,

Alex
 
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Your loading problem is because the 70 cm gun for you is just at that difficult length where it is too long to easily load off your thigh, yet too short to load off your foot without you doubling over as you pull down on the shaft. Ironically if you used a longer shaft in this gun then you would find it easier to load as the body positions required would not be so contorted when loading off your foot.

Those last few inches into the muzzle are always the hardest on any pneumatic, especially when your arm has drawn down far enough that other muscle groups have to come into play. Usually this is when your fist, which is wrapped around the loader, has passed your chin, your arm on its own then cannot draw your hand down much further. At this position you either have to bend your back more to double over and exert more downwards force or you lift your gun holding leg (if loading off your foot) while bending the knee slightly to raise the lower end of the gun or a combination of both. When raising your leg you need to angle your foot up to keep the gun's rear grip caught in the hook formed by the front of your ankle and the swim fin pocket. If you do not do this then the gun's rear grip will slide off your foot. Similarly when loading guns off your thigh you need to have the gun angled into your body to avoid it slipping off your upper leg, that is why divers loading pneumatic spearguns load with their back as well as their arms. Your non-loading hand is used to steady the muzzle and maintain the gun's angular orientation so that it does not escape from your body. Hence your attention should not only be on your pulling effort, but on what the rest of your body is doing to keep the gun under control at both ends. The successful loading of a pneumatic speargun is a whole body effort, by not paying attention to this aspect many divers experience your difficulties when first loading these guns.

Study the diagrams showing the body positions for muzzle loading on the gun's instructions. If you do not have them then download the Seac-Sub manual for their Asso guns "assoeng.pdf", it has very good diagrams and is typical of rear handle pneumatic spearguns.

I think the best way to get the technique right is to lower the pressure in the gun for loading practice and forget about shooting anything for the moment until you feel comfortable and then increase the pressure in increments to perfect your technique. It will only take one in-water session to get the procedure right, then you can pressurise the gun for hunting. Best to work your way up in pressure, so do not be too ambitious at first, as in everything patience has its rewards.
 
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I agree with pete, the 70 is a bit of a tricky size, i also agree that you should lower the pressure a bit until you get the technicque then increase, i have a cressi 70 SL, I dont use it much, but the way i load it, is i hold the gun from the barrel with my left hand and push the shft down with my right...im a shorter guy so at some point during the loading i can lift my thigh a bit for assistance,
 
Thanks for all the help guys. A tip about twisting was a huge help. I was placing the handle directly on the top of my thigh toward the knee and reaching straight up, which made it more difficult for me. Now I place it just off to the inside of my thigh and the barrel points off to my right side. So I can reach up and out with my right arm and grab the holder without really stretching (as I was doing when I was trying to load it almost vertically). The ability to let my leg swing open a bit has given me that extra few inches and now loading the thing is a breeze. I actually thought it might have had an air leak at first because it just came too easily too fast for me to believe it.

Also, I'm afraid that I might be hooked on pneumatics. Should I be worried?
 
Reactions: TEXASFIVEGUN
Tried to give you some rep spago for posting such an awesome picture, but deeperblue seems to feel that I need to give other people some positive reinforcement before I can complement you again. All the same, nice post.
 
So Alex, now that you feel the force how about fitting a dry barrel kit?
 
I've really been considering that. I like the style of kit that uses the o rings around the slider. It seems simple and effective. I've read all the posts on it and the reason I'm not sure is that it seems to be questionable as to whether you really get much of an increase in power. With the 13mm barrel as opposed to an 11mm barrel, the cressi sl would certainly see more of an improvement that the mares cyrano would, but I'm a little worried about the barrel filling with water (because I've built the slider with insufficient seal) and then screwing up a perfect shot on a nice fish.

Maybe I could get some opinions. The one thing I've been trying to figure out is how you seal the slider to the shaft without using an o ring that will cause too much friction and slow your shaft down. The other issue is the possibility that maybe the slider (instead of sliding to the back of the shaft upon firing) will stay up towards the front of the shaft...thereby ruining accuracy and further hurting momentum.
Thoughts?
 
You worry to much thats my thoughts!
Mate, there will be a very noticeable performance increase, the o ring seals have very little effect on power but with no water for the piston to push you will have a much improved shot.
 
What method of sealing the barrel do you recommend. Because of the design of this barrel, I need to have a decent spacer that will separate the line holder from the barrel plug. I figure I need an o ring at the bottom of the slider to seal the barrel, do I also need an o ring on the inside of the slider to seal the spear or if I make the clearances close enough will I be okay without the O ring. I'm going to be making this piece myself since getting them in the US is damn near impossible and I'm poor and can't afford to buy a kit, plus it really doesn't seem that difficult (maybe an hours worth of work if that).

What do you think?
 
I've used Cressi SLs for a while now, and changed my SL70 this year to a kara-yo Tovarich kit....with trigger kit, it's a completely different gun now in terms of power, noise, recoil, and accuracy. It's also a "clean" solution without loads of "stuff" on the spear or the gun, which is what I want.

fwiw I load mine with 23~ bar by sticking the gun between my legs and crossing my right foot behind me and placing my right foot behind the handle, I hold the barrel with my left hand, and load with my right. I find it easier to pull toward me rather than pull down. It's all personal preference I spose.
 
That sounds like a nice gun mate, how is your spear attached.
Your loading technique sounds interesting too.
 
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