Hi guys.
Though registered some time back, this is my first spearo post on DB as I thought I'd wait until a convenient time and this is it - apologies, but it will be asking several questions. Last week, I received in the post my first pro speargun, an Omer Excalibur 2000 75cm, which I intend to take on holiday to Turkey with me in exactly three weeks' time, so I need to get it ready. (I bought this gun off a French internet site, and so after-sales service is a bit of a no-no!)
I'm practically new to spearo and have been reading threads on DB trying to get myself gemmed up with terminology and from similar people in my position before seeking advice about getting the gun commissioned. I have a fair few questions for which I'd appreciate any advice/answers from anyone, all comments welcome, but especially miles, murat, and snorkel bum who produced that excellent review on this very gun. (I've also recently spotted another thread from another rookie, which helped further, but I still have questions.) As I said I am going back to Turkey in three weeks' time, but this time I'm going self-catering for the first time ever. The intention is to do spearo during the day and hopefully cook the catch on successful days.
So back to the Omer Excalibur 2000 75cm. I really enjoyed Snorkel Bum's review, especially as I actually saw one of these guns in a 'pro spearo' shop in Turkey last year and together with Murat's recommendation as a good first gun for a beginner, all in all persuaded me to make it my first pro gun.
Until now my only experience of guns is a 50cm Yilmaz which whatever you say about it, at least comes fully ready to use with line and 'bungee' , slider and unscrewable speartip!!! (I christened this gun last year, in shallow-water and stoned two fish. I didn't buy it myself, but it was a thank-you present several years ago for organising a holiday!!!)
Right, firstly when I opened the OMER gun last week I was very disappointed with the 'instruction manual'. It gave a lot of interesting high-level facts about the gun etc, but as a beginner did not tell me what I needed to know most i.e. how to rig up the gun with the materials supplied. Even worse there wasn't even a list of contents included e.g. what type of line was included or its breaking strain, dimensions or anything. Similarly for the sleeves. Surely this could be improved upon? Comments? Is this common? When I buy a washing-machine or dvd player, I expect a proper content list and assembly and usage instructions!!!
Up to now I've read the DB 'beginner's guide to rigging a gun', snorkel bum's review on this very gun , but I still have these following specific questions :-
1) This gun comes supplied with a 115cm-long spearshaft with no slider at the front of it, 513 cm of line (which I think is monofilament, but nothing in the booklet tells me) and also 60 cm of some sort of braid. My logic initially led me to conclude that one end of the line has to be attached to the spearshaft through one of the two holes drilled at the back end of the shaft - either the one right at the back end or the other one just over 7 cm from the back end. This has since been confirmed by miles' excellent beginner's guide to rigging a gun saying go for the back end one.
a) My first initial concern was that if I were to attach the line to the hole right at the end, wouldn't the line be in danger of getting entangled with the trigger mechanism somehow once the shaft is loaded? Has anyone ever had this happen?
b) assuming I do attach the line to this back hole that 'enters' the trigger mechanism, what's the best way of doing this? I understand this could easily be a subjective thing and that you guys mostly seem to prefer crimping sleeves in preference to knotting. Also the gun comes supplied with four crimps, but again there's no indication of what metal they are made or their diameter. I'm assuming they are alumin(i)um as they are both shiny and snorkel bum says they oxidise easily in his review. Comments?
I'm a bit nervous about using a crimp to attach the line to the shaft. Now here's why - a nervous beginner's viewpoint if ever there was one! When the shaft goes thundering through the hole of the muzzle after squeezing the trigger, doesn't the metal of the crimp potentially hit/catch the inside of the muzzle every time and so gradually weaken it after continual use?
I've since seen that 'leadertec' sell crimp protectors that 'hide' the metal by covering them and at first sight, would appear to address my concerns here. Does anyone use these or should I stay clear of them for any reason?
c) what is the pre-supplied 60cm of braid meant to be used for ?
d) also, because there is no slider on the shaft, then again I initially came to the conclusion that there is always line threaded through the muzzle and running parallel to the shaft when it is loaded ready for firing. Should this line be above the shaft? or below the shaft ? or to the side of it? Does this line not ever get entangled when the shaft is fired? (This isn't a problem with a slider as no line needs to be threaded with the shaft through the muzzle hole.) Especially when you're using mono for the first time and you buy it coiled up in a loop, doesn't it naturally try to return to its coiled state when it loses its tension after the trigger is pulled, thus greatly increasing the chances of entanglement?
I'm also concerned that the wishbone when cocked over the notch (I'd probably intend to use the notch furthest from the trigger mechanism) again would get in the way. As I say I've never been confronted with all this before with the Yilmaz having a slider at the front of the shaft and so no need to have line running along with the shaft as here!
e) the rest of the line I worked out (and has been confirmed by subsequent thread reading) is then threaded around the grey line release hook and the deliciously created mouth slot of the 'barracuda' with the end of the line tied to one of the 'barracuda's holes (the big one or small one or doesn't it really matter?). If I use the whole 513 cm pre-supplied mono line, then it goes out to the grey line-release hook, back to the 'barracuda' (i.e. once), back to the grey line-release hook and then back to the 'barracuda' again (i.e. twice), and then the remaining line reaches almost as far as the grey release again. I think I am using too much line here? Am I right in saying that I need to shorten the mono length so it is just short of going back to the front of the gun the second time and then use one of those 'rubber bungees' to connect it to the hole at the front of the gun. Here I will be effectively using 5 spearshaft lengths of mono. I'm assuming that isn't a problem!
2) As regards replacement rubbers ( I think Murat mentioned getting more power with the 18 mm's), I'm assuming that all OMER 16mm, 18mm or 20mm rubbers will screw into the muzzle threads without a problem? Indeed am I right in thinking the thread diameters on the end of all three are the same diameter in order to achieve this? What corresponding shaft lengths should be used with these rubbers for my gun? Also do OMER sell shafts will unscrewable speartips etc? Should I avoid using non-OMER shafts on an OMER gun at all?
3) The instruction manual talks about the need to wash out the internal parts of the triggering devices etc. There are no screws to untighten or anything. I read earlier about being able to set the safety to 0. Is this what I have to do to do this washing out? Again nothing in the manual about how to achieve this at all!!!
4) Coming back to the gun, this trigger mechanism is so smooth. Does it remain this smooth on the squeeze even when the shaft is cocked?
Well I think that's it for now, but I'll undoubtedly think of more in the meantime. Apologies if any of this seems obvious to you experts or I've got the wrong end of the stick somewhere, but all assistance to add another rookie spearo to the ranks and point him in the right direction would be massively appreciated.
Cheers.
turunc2006
(P.S. I did append a pre-cursor to this onto the end of snorkel bum's review, hoping that the system would alert the other contributors to the thread that I'd appended to the thread and respond, but I think that technical assumption must be incorrect. I did look at the DB help section to see if it behaves like this, but couldn't get confirmation.)
Though registered some time back, this is my first spearo post on DB as I thought I'd wait until a convenient time and this is it - apologies, but it will be asking several questions. Last week, I received in the post my first pro speargun, an Omer Excalibur 2000 75cm, which I intend to take on holiday to Turkey with me in exactly three weeks' time, so I need to get it ready. (I bought this gun off a French internet site, and so after-sales service is a bit of a no-no!)
I'm practically new to spearo and have been reading threads on DB trying to get myself gemmed up with terminology and from similar people in my position before seeking advice about getting the gun commissioned. I have a fair few questions for which I'd appreciate any advice/answers from anyone, all comments welcome, but especially miles, murat, and snorkel bum who produced that excellent review on this very gun. (I've also recently spotted another thread from another rookie, which helped further, but I still have questions.) As I said I am going back to Turkey in three weeks' time, but this time I'm going self-catering for the first time ever. The intention is to do spearo during the day and hopefully cook the catch on successful days.
So back to the Omer Excalibur 2000 75cm. I really enjoyed Snorkel Bum's review, especially as I actually saw one of these guns in a 'pro spearo' shop in Turkey last year and together with Murat's recommendation as a good first gun for a beginner, all in all persuaded me to make it my first pro gun.
Until now my only experience of guns is a 50cm Yilmaz which whatever you say about it, at least comes fully ready to use with line and 'bungee' , slider and unscrewable speartip!!! (I christened this gun last year, in shallow-water and stoned two fish. I didn't buy it myself, but it was a thank-you present several years ago for organising a holiday!!!)
Right, firstly when I opened the OMER gun last week I was very disappointed with the 'instruction manual'. It gave a lot of interesting high-level facts about the gun etc, but as a beginner did not tell me what I needed to know most i.e. how to rig up the gun with the materials supplied. Even worse there wasn't even a list of contents included e.g. what type of line was included or its breaking strain, dimensions or anything. Similarly for the sleeves. Surely this could be improved upon? Comments? Is this common? When I buy a washing-machine or dvd player, I expect a proper content list and assembly and usage instructions!!!
Up to now I've read the DB 'beginner's guide to rigging a gun', snorkel bum's review on this very gun , but I still have these following specific questions :-
1) This gun comes supplied with a 115cm-long spearshaft with no slider at the front of it, 513 cm of line (which I think is monofilament, but nothing in the booklet tells me) and also 60 cm of some sort of braid. My logic initially led me to conclude that one end of the line has to be attached to the spearshaft through one of the two holes drilled at the back end of the shaft - either the one right at the back end or the other one just over 7 cm from the back end. This has since been confirmed by miles' excellent beginner's guide to rigging a gun saying go for the back end one.
a) My first initial concern was that if I were to attach the line to the hole right at the end, wouldn't the line be in danger of getting entangled with the trigger mechanism somehow once the shaft is loaded? Has anyone ever had this happen?
b) assuming I do attach the line to this back hole that 'enters' the trigger mechanism, what's the best way of doing this? I understand this could easily be a subjective thing and that you guys mostly seem to prefer crimping sleeves in preference to knotting. Also the gun comes supplied with four crimps, but again there's no indication of what metal they are made or their diameter. I'm assuming they are alumin(i)um as they are both shiny and snorkel bum says they oxidise easily in his review. Comments?
I'm a bit nervous about using a crimp to attach the line to the shaft. Now here's why - a nervous beginner's viewpoint if ever there was one! When the shaft goes thundering through the hole of the muzzle after squeezing the trigger, doesn't the metal of the crimp potentially hit/catch the inside of the muzzle every time and so gradually weaken it after continual use?
I've since seen that 'leadertec' sell crimp protectors that 'hide' the metal by covering them and at first sight, would appear to address my concerns here. Does anyone use these or should I stay clear of them for any reason?
c) what is the pre-supplied 60cm of braid meant to be used for ?
d) also, because there is no slider on the shaft, then again I initially came to the conclusion that there is always line threaded through the muzzle and running parallel to the shaft when it is loaded ready for firing. Should this line be above the shaft? or below the shaft ? or to the side of it? Does this line not ever get entangled when the shaft is fired? (This isn't a problem with a slider as no line needs to be threaded with the shaft through the muzzle hole.) Especially when you're using mono for the first time and you buy it coiled up in a loop, doesn't it naturally try to return to its coiled state when it loses its tension after the trigger is pulled, thus greatly increasing the chances of entanglement?
I'm also concerned that the wishbone when cocked over the notch (I'd probably intend to use the notch furthest from the trigger mechanism) again would get in the way. As I say I've never been confronted with all this before with the Yilmaz having a slider at the front of the shaft and so no need to have line running along with the shaft as here!
e) the rest of the line I worked out (and has been confirmed by subsequent thread reading) is then threaded around the grey line release hook and the deliciously created mouth slot of the 'barracuda' with the end of the line tied to one of the 'barracuda's holes (the big one or small one or doesn't it really matter?). If I use the whole 513 cm pre-supplied mono line, then it goes out to the grey line-release hook, back to the 'barracuda' (i.e. once), back to the grey line-release hook and then back to the 'barracuda' again (i.e. twice), and then the remaining line reaches almost as far as the grey release again. I think I am using too much line here? Am I right in saying that I need to shorten the mono length so it is just short of going back to the front of the gun the second time and then use one of those 'rubber bungees' to connect it to the hole at the front of the gun. Here I will be effectively using 5 spearshaft lengths of mono. I'm assuming that isn't a problem!
2) As regards replacement rubbers ( I think Murat mentioned getting more power with the 18 mm's), I'm assuming that all OMER 16mm, 18mm or 20mm rubbers will screw into the muzzle threads without a problem? Indeed am I right in thinking the thread diameters on the end of all three are the same diameter in order to achieve this? What corresponding shaft lengths should be used with these rubbers for my gun? Also do OMER sell shafts will unscrewable speartips etc? Should I avoid using non-OMER shafts on an OMER gun at all?
3) The instruction manual talks about the need to wash out the internal parts of the triggering devices etc. There are no screws to untighten or anything. I read earlier about being able to set the safety to 0. Is this what I have to do to do this washing out? Again nothing in the manual about how to achieve this at all!!!
4) Coming back to the gun, this trigger mechanism is so smooth. Does it remain this smooth on the squeeze even when the shaft is cocked?
Well I think that's it for now, but I'll undoubtedly think of more in the meantime. Apologies if any of this seems obvious to you experts or I've got the wrong end of the stick somewhere, but all assistance to add another rookie spearo to the ranks and point him in the right direction would be massively appreciated.
Cheers.
turunc2006
(P.S. I did append a pre-cursor to this onto the end of snorkel bum's review, hoping that the system would alert the other contributors to the thread that I'd appended to the thread and respond, but I think that technical assumption must be incorrect. I did look at the DB help section to see if it behaves like this, but couldn't get confirmation.)
