Mid handled wooden guns

[icarus pacific]

The wings along the sides are for ballasting to help absorb the recoil. The wings at the muzzle are to both elevate the bands and to help with any muzzle kick. For your MT #3, the muzzle is less an issue than having the side wings which will help the thing float.

 

[Iyadiver]

Sorry I was away for a week.
Happy shopping Euro & Fondu.


EURO,
Go for the front PU wing on the MT3. Must also use the teak rear wing kit. Current model uses 2 leads ballast each side wings ( total 4 ), you can remove it and adjust as neccessary, just in case you have a reel. Order the teak wing kit with reel cout out, same price and you get the extra flexibility. Order aluminum muzzle in lieu of plastic, also order 3/8' shaft in lieu of 5/16", order 4 double wraps mono in lieu of 2 wraps and finally order Ice Pick in lieu of large spearhead cheaper this way and no waste of un-used parts. I am sure you must indent the gun if rigged like mine. I think no Riffe dealers in the world stock such unit.

BTW thanks for the Karma.
Euro, if you need a 10.8 meter deadly gun, let me know. I have the "recipe". BTW thanks for the Karma.

Have Fun.........

IYA

 

[Skindiver]

Ok. I am importing a Big Yamaha jetski from the States primarily for spearfishing purposes and i dont want another "boat" in my garage. It has long panniers down the sides that one can put guns etc into and can take 3 divers and a buggy ( topman). Easy launching ( two guys) is a plus too as well as not desperately needing a topman in a pinch.

While i'm at it i decided to get a Yamaha 660 Grizzly ATV as well since its going to share the shipping costs and a Riffe gun in the same container. I save lots by importing these things.

Us South Africans' primarily use rear handle euro's but the tuna thing off Capetown has a few waking upto the merits of a strong wood gun. In my case i would like to use the wood gun for general pelagic stuff , mackeral and kingfish etc. Probably once or twice ever i might catch one of these charters to 40 miles off the Cape where you go target tuna. This will be the exception.

Now my long-winded question. Part of me wants to get a Riffe Competitor 4XS which can take as many rubbers and is nearly as long as the Baja Plus that the other half of me wants to get.

The Competitor will chest load like i'm accustomed to and im accustomed to the rear grip.
The Baja plus i think may be much the same thing only a bit longer and has an extension for hip loading.

The competitor has a slimmer stock and this should aid tracking with the rear grip, and the Baja plus, while not a true mid handle possibly will benefit from the pivoting by the extension in tracking speed.

The Baja plus is 100$ odd more.

Which is the smart buy. I think the Competitor 4XS, with ice pick, being more like what i'm used to.

Skin.

 

[mjacobs]

Go bigger, Skin. Consider the Islander. It's a good all-around wood gun that will probably do everything you need. I usually just load two bands for fish to 50 pounds or shorter ranges. A single band works well for small fish or even medium sized fish at 3m or so. When in clear water with the possibility of 25' shots or so and bigger fish you've got that third band. But just between the two you mentioned for tuna I'd obviously say go for the Baja Plus. A chest load seems to work best with these guns, especially with new rubber.

I mostly use euro style but do like those bigger wooden guns for some applications. Rig has some very good ieas for shorter guns with lots of power on this thread, too, which actually may better suit your purpose.

Mark

 

[drkebs]

This is mainly to Fonduset; but I hope it will help anyone else.

Ill start this off as saying a big thanks to Iya for it was all his experiances and thoughts that led me to my purchase of an MT1, thanks alot.

I am from Wyoming currently inhabiting Iowa for school purposes but during my last summer I was able to experiment quite a bit with my MT1. My current setup is a 5/16 hawaiian shaft, 1-5/8band, 2 or 3-9/16bands, and then I was using 2 wraps of 480pound or heavier cable; this always broke after 3-4 spearing sessions...but never was penetration a problem even when Id shoot catfish in the head. This summer Im switching to 3 wraps (thanks Iya) of 480 or so pound cable again. I also have the poly floater wing kit which does NOT float the gun for me, it just allows it to sink a bit slower...

I hunt depths of surface cruzing to depths of 40ft hunting Walleye, Catfish, and Crappie for eating and the occasional big carp. Most of the fish I shoot though are within 20ft of the surface though. Shad of some sort also inhabit the lake and are pretty fast; Im able to track them with my gun well (not as easy as my buddies JBL 38 special but the power diff., and that my gun doesnt fill with water making the wrist tired fast is well worth my slightly hindered tracking speed). I do mostly rocky shore entries and enjoy that I dont have to worry about marring up a wood gun (I dont know how tough a wood guns finish is but would be curious to hear about it), and since it sinks slowly in the freshwater it bouncing around on rocks there doesnt hurt it either.

I remember reading about how the MT series are so hard to freedive due to their size (mainly this argument was in favor of Wongs or eurogun.....I dont care to hear nor spark this argument here!). I dont have any problems with mine and actually enjoy swiming with it due to the lift the poly wings create while swimming which make my job of holding it out much easier.

Shooting the gun underwater is pretty quiet and its worked prefect everytime for me. Loading it is pretty easy too; my only concern when loading it is trying to keep cats asses from forming in the cable and crimping it which is pretty minor. I have a kinda big hand and the larger Riffe (verse my old pneumatic) is a nice thing and that it has a coating that makes it not slippery such as the JBL again.

My spearing bud shoots a JBL 38 Special which works well for him...
-Its an easy and fast gun to load, but its power to me and him are its draw-back.
(This is our observed opinion...no one elses)
-It always works though and considering my buddy has a slight problem with taking care of things its been great to him.

So my over all impression:
-I really like me gun.
-3 wraps of strong line for anything over 3-9/16inch bands with a 5/16inch spear.
-floater wing kit makes swimming with it ALOT nice but it DOESNT float, wasnt designed for freshwater.
-I have one hand ont he handle and another on the butt when i swing it; it works great for me.
-You wont beable to swing it like a eurogun with one hand (considering the eurogun is short enough too.

 

[drkebs]

This summer I hope to pick up an MT4 as my buddy and I are gonna be planning a trip to Louisiana this coming winter......that should be interesting. Also if you have any Q's about Riffe guns shoot them a holler; once they talked to me for an hour plus about traveling, guns and such......I imagine all spearing companies are like that though but this is the only one Ive delt with so far (I have NO affiliatition with Riffe), I have enough affiliation problems with girls much less a company.....but thats a different story.
I hope this helps anyone and if I made any obvious errors tell me so I can fix them as Ive gotta get to class!!

Have a good one and shoot me a pm if you have anyother Q's.....

Heres some pixs too.

Good hunting,
Justin

 

[drkebs]

One more.....35 pounds of catfish....mmmmmm

Cheers,
Justin

 

[Fondueset]

Thanks for the info on the mt1 - I have been looking at this one too as the price is pretty close to the mt0S and would probably fly fine here in the vanilla version - with quite a bit of upgrade potential.

I was down at the local scuba shop the other day - business is pretty slow there this time of year (25f - 30mph winds - snow) to buy a pair of Cressi Garas they've had there for about 3 years. They were a novelty item and I was the only person every to seriously ask about them. I got them for my daughter's birthday (she smiled all day) along with some very nice 5mm neoprene socks they gave me for $15. Anyway - I learned the water is currently 46f with 70foot visibility! My eliossub suit is in transit and should be here shortly. Of course I will freeze solid immediately upon emerging from the water.. Got me thinking about range. Of course the mt0 has potential too - according to Iyadiver's incredibly detailed and comprehensive tests - but it seems like the #1 might handle things stock pretty well - and upgrade nicely for smallish salt-water adventures and really clear days here.

Walley eh? Not legal here

 

[gonetobaja]

Skin,

Get the Riffe Baja. I have one and it is my go to gun for anything over 40lbs. The teak is light and strong and it move easy in the water. I own 5 sizes of riffe guns and I use this one the most.

"Its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it..."

GTB
http://www.gonetobaja.com