• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

more power

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
F

findmeryan

New Member
Jul 19, 2005
14
0
0
43
Hello,
i have a 100cm t20(open muzzle) omer gun. i mainly use it as a reef gun but recently i have been diving in deeper waters. i have been seeing bigger fish and i want to power up my gun so i can shoot bigger things (mu, uku ,others like that)
i am just wondering what i should add...i curently use a single 18mm band. what would you guys recomend me adding for a further shot. also i already have a double line wrap so i can get the distance.

Thanks
Ryan
 
Try 2 16mm rubbers you can make them as short as 4:1 stretch but start with 3:1 it should give you more speed and power
 
what about 2 18mm at say 4:1 stretch? would that over power the t20 makeing the shots less acurate?

thanks
ryan
 
findmeryan said:
what about 2 18mm at say 4:1 stretch? would that over power the t20 makeing the shots less acurate?

thanks
ryan
Click to expand...


yes.

work on your stalking skills & diving. 1 wrap is more than enough for most of the reef fish & you'll find the accuracy of 1 band far exceeds the value of a little extra range.
 
fuzz said:
yes.

work on your stalking skills & diving. 1 wrap is more than enough for most of the reef fish & you'll find the accuracy of 1 band far exceeds the value of a little extra range.
Click to expand...

I agree with Fuzz on this. However, if you still think you need that extra power you can either use single 19-20mm bands with a 6.5-6.75mm shaft or double 14.5-16mm with 6.75-7mm shaft. Don't cut your bands short. It doesn't actually help. A 3-3.3:1 ratio would be the best.
 
Fuzz is right, accuracy is everything (usually) if you cant hit the fish, all the bands in the world arent going to help you land it. I think it would be fair to say that every gun that comes out of a factory would be rigged near to its optimum (apart from a bit of tuning) so if more power is a must then start thinking about a different gun that is dedigned to take the power
 
GALADION said:
if you still think you need that extra power you can either use single 19-20mm bands with a 6.5-6.75mm shaft or double 14.5-16mm with 6.75-7mm shaft.
Click to expand...

i guess i will start with galadion, i have both a 6.75 and a 6.5 shaft but do you not suggest double 16s with a 6.5 shaft?


i have herd that hybrid guns (blue watter guns and reef guns) dont work well. so i am planning on keeping it a reef gun still but just want to add some more power if say a 3 foot uku starts getting a little close. ( witch happened to me a few times now)

yes i am still working on my bottom time and stalking skills but when my shaft drop just befor it got to the uku i freaked out
 
Any 3ft fish will turn your 6.5mm shaft into a pretzel. Regardless of the amount of power generated by the rubbers.

If you want to go to twin 16mm's, upgrade your shaft as well! This will reduce shaft whip (making the gun more accurate), and avoid the inevitable "oh f-ing hell, my shaft is now a Escher puzzle" result of shooting big fish with small shafts.
 
Last edited:
but a bigger shaft with more power leaves a bigger hole in the smaller fish you will take :duh

id suggest trying a single 20mm, then learn to compensate for range, i found that even tho i can hit a fish at almost the full 2 wrap distance (usually parrotfish, cant get much closer) the spear generally will bounce off of their scales, maybe taking a few scales with it, so i dont take those longshots anymore, work on getting a little bit closer to the fish, and a well placed shot is needed to keep your spear in good condition, try for a good headshot and then finish the fish off as fast as possible, ive seen headshot fish be stunned for a few seconds, then all hell broke loose
 
humm where would i find a 20mm rubber? and yes i am currently working on my bottom time witch would improve my stalking, but it takes time so ya. i think ill try my 6.75 shaft with either 2 16s or one 18 band and if i were to use 16s should they be around 22 inchs for a 100cm gun?

and maybe i should of metioned the closest i could get to that uku was about 15 feet from the tip of my gun.

Thanks,
Ryan
 
A good quality 16mm rubber at 3:1 stretch approximatley 50.5kg force at 4:1 approximately 58kg after much more than 4:1 you pass the elastic limit where more stretching does not increase pressure, but good rubbers should give more power at 4:1 than 3:1.
I have heard 2 sets of 20mm can be too much for safety on older RA triggers but 2 16mm is commonly used. one advantage of 2 rubbers is if one breaks you still have a gun not just a pointy stick- it happened to me on sunday I just fitted a second rubber to my gun to test it and shot a few fish then bang original old rubber broke - I still got another fish with single rubber.
you can always leave second rubber in the boat or on the float if you don't think youll need the power then if you need it its only a minute or 2 to fit it.
a good length for 16mm rubbers on 1m gun is about 550mm to 600mm your making me think hard for this time of night giving half your measurements in mm then changing to " but thats cose to 22"-24" just divide 550 & 600mm by 25.4 to get exact conversion. - these lengths are for one piece rubbers -RA or AUS or US for 2 piece or screw in Euro type rubbers halve the lengths.
 
Last edited:
findmeryan said:
i guess i will start with galadion, i have both a 6.75 and a 6.5 shaft but do you not suggest double 16s with a 6.5 shaft?
Click to expand...

Double bands with 6.5mm shafts=too much shaft whip=poor accuracy.
Single 18mm bands with 6.75mm shaft is not the best match. Your gun will be underpowered.
I think that in your part of the world you could easily get some RA, Rabitech or Riffe14.5, 16, 19 or 20mm bulk bands. Pretty cheap, very effective.
For a 100cm T-20 gun, double 16mm bands would be OK in the 55-57cm area
14.5mm, 54-55cm.
Single 19-20mm, about 57cm (depending on the elasticity of the bands).

Safe diving!
 
my reef/cruising gun is a 96cm Beauchat with a single 20mm. has more then enough power to take larger fish. I tried double 16's but was disapointed with the accuracy. a single 20mm usually puts the fish on the line anyways. 6.75mm shaft + high speed + accuracy means you hitting that sweet spot every time. my stretch is pushing 4:1 on the bands, and is a serious pain to load, but it;s all the power I have needed so far.
 
i think i wil try the 20mm band on my 6.75 shaft. a 4:1 strech would be 56cm band, for my 100cm gun right? also do you load the single 20 to the 1st or 2nd notch? i looked at riffes bands and the biggist i thought they had was 19mm. where elce could i get a 20mm band?

thanks
 
thats a good question about first/second notches, i do most of my shooting from the first notch, ive seen fish and loaded back to second, but they seem to know what im doing and they swim away, and from 2nd notch, ive bent my spear in the reef a few times
 
I prefer loading to the 2nd notch. I have a "better to trash the spear than miss the fish" way of thinking. Anyway it all depends on the kind of fishing you do. When you hunt in caves or under rocks you don't need so much power=1st notch.
When it's aspetto time, (or you are in any way shooting in open water) it's also 2nd notch time.

You can get 20mm bulk bands by Rob Allen or Rabitech. Both are great.
 
ok thanks alot, so a 56cm band will be good for my gun? also when i order the bands do you know of any place that will sell me the band size i want with the wishbone already attached? i dont have the tools to do it myself, and there arnt many dive shops where i live. iv been seaching google but they all just sell the bulk and wishbone sepretly.

thanks for all the advice!!!!!
 
GALADION said:
I prefer loading to the 2nd notch. I have a "better to trash the spear than miss the fish" way of thinking.
Click to expand...


From those words i understand that you guys are also depleted fish resources there rofl I am jelous of the fish you have in Agean sea almost every fish specie grow up to 3 times bigger and could be found three times shallow depth.Or was that long before :hmm

In here i think the same way if its fish or shaft it will bedefinately fish, but of course fish should worth it...shafts here are not the cheapest ones
 


Hey Murat
I only wish this was true(the fish being 3 times bigger and 3 times shallower)!! :waterwork :waterwork
This used to be the case 30 years ago and that's why I prefer to trash my spear than miss the fish.
A nice fish in the spear involves nowdays very hard work so every time I see one I definately want to get it whatever the cost (of the spear). :martial
It's funny though that I've heard that in Cyprus the fish are all over the place! Go figure! :head

Ryan
A 56cm band would give you sufficient power. Unfortunatelly I don't know when you can get it ready-made. However it is not that hard to do it yourself and you don't need any specialized tools.
I think with some search on DB you will find some threads on that matter.
 
Last edited:
I have always used this method for band length/gun accuracy. Take the measurment from the muzzle to the notch on the shaft. Divide that by 2 and then add 4in. I have found that is good for new bands but after you use them for a while sorten them up 3/4" on each side. Unless you have installed a larger shaft then double up on the rubbers. Make sure your barb lays flat along the shaft (no little curve up at the end) that in its self can give bad accuracy. Make a target and take it out to the pool. Find out if the guards have a maintenance day where the pool is shut down to the swimmers and do some target practicing. One hour of target practice will reveal all the misterys of long range shots. Besides you might find out that the life guards are spearo's themselves.

Dive safe,
Jay
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…