Blade,
Listen to Anderson on the Riffe, Competitor. It is the slimmest teak stock Riffe. Very light weight, swing very fast like Euro gun and the trigger is the same as those used in the biggest Riffe. See their website at www.speargun.com.
I can't advice anything on fresh water diving in ur place. I been to the US only 3 times and know nothing of the diving geography, I am too far away from u.
A Competitor from Riffe should last you hell of a long time if u maintain it well, it will outlived any Euro guns because the material is simply superior and quieter shooting too. A Competitor with 9/32" Hawaiian shaft I think cost like US$250-275, very affordable. I don't know if the "Immersion" comes with a spring stainless steel grade shaft cause many European guns come with regular spring steel, it's a throw away shaft to me. Rust, rust & rust.
Anderson doesn't like metal wishbone because a single 20mm rubber or any rubber/band size with such wishbone, when broken can cut ur fingers big time. This happened too often. Riffe uses a line wishbone, so safe & no pain, also quieter. Some Euro gun uses custom rubber attachment for the powerband, they use two separate band as one and getting spare might be a bit tough 4 u. A Riffe band is available all over the US and the world. I also worry that a new diver might not be able to load a 20mm rubber easily. A Riffe Comp #1 give you 2 x 1/2" ( 12.5mm ) rubbers, easy 2 load and more power anyway. U can upgrade to 3.
I like Riffe because they are well built and thus they are not the cheapest. Money don't lie. I never like the Metal Tech from Riffe untill I saw it. I been assuming that aluminum gun is not going to last a long time but when you see a Riffe Metal Tech, it is a piece of solid engineering. Instead of the cheap tube, they go for thick extruded aluminum. Metal tech is heavy size for size compared to a Euro gun but that tells you that you pay for the material.
I don't know if you have seen many type of guns but this forum can give you honest advice. In my country there are only 3 brands you can find on store display. Almost a full line JBL, almost a full line Riffe and only Mares pneumatic. I have yet to see and Euro gun.......... never. Notice I stated almost full line, no store here will stock many types because buyers are rare.
Hope the forum will help you.
IYA