New Gun Coming SOON!!!

[drkebs]

After a long time of though and reading all the posts I could find in this great place (deeperblue), and talking to unirdna and amphibious I have ordered a riffe MT1, and got an amazingly good deal. Iyadivr should be noted as well for his intense research and 'personal development' stories that would capture my attention for hours......thanks to all and to all thoose not listed.

I hunt the freshwater of Wyoming mainly preying on the occasional sneaky Walleye, lazy Catfiah, or curious Carp. This gun, hoopefully, is going to be great as replacing a shorter pneumatic gun (works good, but limited range), which I am in the process of trying to get my sister a wetsuit and teaching her what skills I possess; she seems excited about it. I showed her the Riffe web-site and the pic of Julie Riffe with her yellowfin tuna (I think correct species.... which caught her attention. Either way, once the ice melts and some free time comes around I'll be sure to post some pic's and stories, and a review verse the pmeumatic.

This is a great place full of great people; thanks for being here!!

Until next time,
Justin

 

[Memo]

welcome on board! dont forget to share your experiences with us..

 

[fuzz]

What kind of visibility do you get up there?

I got a metaltech #0, but never had the chance to shoot anything but foam fish with it.

 

[donmoore]

Justin,
What setup did you buy it with? I have a MT1, MT2, and a MT5. I bought the MT1 for my wife last year, but found the deeper I dove, the more I wanted to use it, rather than my MT5, so this year I got a MT2. MT1 was just a little underpowered for diving the oilrigs in the gulf.

I like the 5/16 shafts on the 1 & 2, with Hawaiian, and shorten shafts. The standard shaft on the 1, in my opinion, is way too long. In fact it fits perfect on the 2. I would rather have the extra power from another 6” of stock length. I took 6 ½ inches off the 44” MT1 Hawaiian shaft to make the gun shorter. With shorter shaft, aiming takes a little getting used to, but once you get it down its no problem, and the gun swings faster. The Hawaiian flopper doesn’t hold quite as well as the two-flopper head, but the shaft travels faster, and taking the fish off is quicker.

I ordered my MT-2 with the enclosed track and added it to my 1 & 5. It was only $10 more if ordered with the gun. $30 to get it latter. Contrary to a lot of stuff posted on the board, I love the enclosed track and believe it does help stop shaft whip. It may only be made out of plastic, but how strong does it really need to be? The shaft is encased in the water, which is very dense and does not compress. The bottom portion of the track is very strong, so even if the upper portion can only put 10 lbs of straitening force on the shaft, I believe it still going to have a large impact.

The other great thing about the enclosed track is you can skip routing the shooting line around the metal clip and over the shaft. This makes loading faster and takes out the sharpest bend in the routing, which is usually where the line starts fraying at. I know Riffe says it’s mainly for freeshafting, but I think its great for using a shooting line too.

Another tip is, when you get your gun, weigh it and write down the weight. Once, a year weight it again. Contrary to what Riffe says, the aluminum stock is not completely foam filled. They only put it about 6” below the muzzle and from the rear, to slight past the handle. The middle is hollow, and mine and my dive buddies, both filled with water, after two years.

The MT1 should be the perfect size for your freshwater fish there.
You should love it,
don

 

[fuzz]

Originally posted by donmoore
Another tip is, when you get your gun, weigh it and write down the weight. Once, a year weight it again. Contrary to what Riffe says, the aluminum stock is not completely foam filled. They only put it about 6” below the muzzle and from the rear, to slight past the handle. The middle is hollow, and mine and my dive buddies, both filled with water, after two years.

The last I heard a couple weeks ago from the man himself(Jay Riffe), the newer metaltechs are completely foam-filled, whereas the older generation was not.

 

[donmoore]

Could be. Only my 3-year old one filled with water.
don

 

[drkebs]

Fuzz,

During late spring, early summer I get viz from 10 to 25ft. I dive two resivors: Pathfinder and Glendo, both around central south central Wyoming. Around mid to late july viz starts to derease as the jetskiers are out in full blow going in a million circles as fast as they can. Algae blooms also start up around late July which don't help either. The viz along places where sediment can be sturred up will be about 8 inches:waterwork . One can still find spots that are deep and or have rock banks that will have viz around 6ft. Overall, not too bad.

I dive mostly Glendo as it is the closest, but Pathfinder has pracitically no jetskiers and is a bit colder and isn't unusual to find 12ft viz there .

Hows diving in your neck of the woods? A buddy of mine from college has an interview in Wash. for vet. school and were planning on hitting up the west coast as much as we can. It's not in stone yet, but I think were both pretty excited about it . My biggest deal is my wetsuit is 3mm, so it looks like it may be time to expand my collection. Im thinking a 6.5mm or so, not for sure though .

Donmoore,

Thanks alot for the advise. My gun should be getting to me mid next week and then I am ordering the floating wing kit for it. I had thought about the enclosed track but was unaware that it wasn't only for free-shafting:hmm . The concept it great; have you noticed an increase in accuracy and presion with it's addition? I can imagine it wearing out is not much of a conern as the water/plastic interface keeps friction down to a minimun unless shaft is bent or scuffed.

Concerning the model I ordered: it is the standard option as I wanted the extra band and with it I ordered an extra 44inch (shortest one... ) hawaiian flopper. I had pondered the idea of cutting it down but havent seen how there built yet. Did you just remove the flopper and chop it off, regrind a point, redrill the hole for the pin (was it a piece of stanless rod that was peened on the ends or a role pin?) and put it all back together?

I originally had intended on a MT2 but this gun I think (please insert opinion if Im wrong, as I get off-track occassionally :duh...haha ) this lenght will work great for me if I do get out to the west coast or even north east and all the freshwater in between. I just got accepted to Palmer College of Chiropractic yesterday so Im heading to Davenport Iowa (no coast last time I checked.....bummer:waterwork ) and would like to get down to Texas, Louisiana or such and dive some of the rigs. If it looks like a possibility I am going to invest in a MT3 or 4 (or something of the equivilant) to handle longer shots and bigger fish...yeah . I will also take your advise on weighting it, not saying it will leak but if it does I will then know.....thanks.

Do you freedive or tank dive the rigs in your area? Nothing against tank diving as with the amount of people against the past times we imbrace it seems silly to let such a small thing seperate us. This could be said with line-fisherman as well (which I take part in as much as possible); there are just too many people out there trying to take away our freedom to do this. I got side-tracked..... I can imagine its a lot of fun, not knowing what or how big what you'll see next is going to be.

If anyone has Q's about Wyo spearing or interested shoot me a pm or email. I love to talk about it.

Thanks for the advise and Ill post some pis when i get it.

Until next time,
Justin

 

[donmoore]

Justin,
I have only been able to use it with the enclosed track once. It was at least as accurate, and I loved the faster loading time.

The number of bands is up to you. You can specify as many as you want when you order it. It will hold 2-4 9/16 bands, and even more if you make them yourself and put a wish bone on both ends of the 5th and 6th if your really power crazy. This is a new concept, but I have done it and it works. I prefer doing it this way, verses buying the aluminum muzzle, for two reasons. First, its cheaper, second the aluminum muzzle weighs the front of the gun down, which slows the swinging speed.

To shoot a lot of bands on that gun you need at least the 5/16th shaft to add some mass (like Iya discovered in his experiments), because without shaft mass, the extra power doesn’t do much; and some more mass on the gun (the wing kit) to help with recoil. I have debated about wing kits for a long time. They definitely help with recoil, but I just don’t like the extra drag in the water. It also helps with buoyancy, which is negative on all the smaller MT. I tried a break away system last year, but went back to just tying the whole gun to the float line, because I don’t have to worry about dropping it, plus if I’m deep I can leave the gun which makes the swim up a little easier.

You are correct on how I shorted the Hawaiian shaft. Actually that is how my machine shop friend did it. The only hard part to do, without a machine shop, is drilling the small pinhole through the stainless shaft. That metal is really hard and you will probably need a few quality bits to do it with a hand drill. To put the point back on, you can put the butt of the shaft in a hand drill, have someone hold it so the tip is against something so it doesn’t move all around, and then us a portable disk grinder and grind the end. Make sure the drill and the grinder are spinning opposite directions. I used a Riffe Pin, which was stainless. It was straight and you penned it on both end with a hammer.

Shorting the standard shaft is easier. Just hacksaw it off, and get a good tap from a machine supply shop (Taiwan stuff from Harbor freight won’t hold up to spring stainless steel).

I haven’t scuba in two years, although I carry a pony tank on the boat and someday I will probably use it to see what is on the bottom. Most people in this area only scuba, but we are trying to change that. Here is a link to our club www.stfreedivera.org

On restriction of freedom, we had a nice experience a few weeks ago at a rig that had a sign that read “Private Property, Do not tie up, No diving”. It didn’t used to be manned so we have dove it before. It’s the one rig that if the water is dirty, is the clearest within 50 miles of port, and the water was dirty so we went to it. We pulled up and was looking when this guy yelled down from the top. He wanted to know if we had caught anything yet. I said no, and asked him if we could tie up. He said absolutely.
don

 

[stevevidar]

wishbones on both ends?

even more if you make them yourself and put a wish bone on both ends of the 5th and 6th

How does this work?
Steve

 

[donmoore]

By having a string wishbone on the muzzle end, you can fit more bands in the muzzle when the muzzle is already full. You need to make the wishbone as short as possible to have the most rubber possible for elastic stretch.
don

 

[drkebs]

Donmoore,

I do have access to several nice machine shops for my own use. I am going to consider shortening up thoose shafts. I am alos going to try and make my own spearpoint that disconnects from the shaft end yet has 6 or 7 inches of stainless cable that attaches the point o the shaft......well see:hmm . It sure feels good when someone gives the word, that it's OK. Hope that happens more often for you.

Until next time,
Justin

 

[drkebs]

Here it is....

I have ordered the floating wing kit which should keep it from becoming an expensive fish attracting devise on the bottom .

 

[drkebs]

Has anyone replaced the monofiliment with stainless cable? How did this work for you? I know they make a softer cable that may not have such a weak spot develop where the line goes under the metal piece on the muzzle and then over the shaft...... Just a thought as this looks to be a potential weakspot in the system or I am just over-analyzing things again:duh .

This thing looks to be extremely well built as I am excited to use it. Thanks to all who gave me tricks and tips for it.

Until next time,
Justin

 

[Amphibious]

Nice gun there bud - it'll serve you well!

glad to see you on board, lot of great fish killers on this site and they're quick to offer advice.

you're gonna have to bring that sweet steel slinger up here some time and chase some ling with me.
bring the A-sqare as well

 

[drkebs]

Speaking of the ling; a buddy and I are planning a trip up to Washington state around mid-late May. I am not sure if he is going to pulll through; I plan on going regardless. I have been dreaming about the big blue and its' big creatures for too long to pass up such an opportunity...

I'd definitley be willing to drive a bit (whatever that may be) further and hook up to give some of the residant fishes some greaf . Also the A-Square could definitley make the trip. I actually have 2, a .375H&H Mag and the .500 A-Sguare. The company is having a metalurgist come through just now making sure their brass is top notch so my ammo is limited as my dad is off to the dark contient soon...... wish I was going :waterwork . They are something else. The .500 my dad has dumped close-range wounded Cape Buffalo in Tanzania with his on several occasions with reactions from the PH's of 'never seeing these animals being stopped in such an abrupt fasion'; one was within 12ft if I remember the stroy right. Either way, their a lot of fun.

I'd love to talk about the possibility of getting together if such could/would work out for you. Also if anyone else whom may read this has info on mid to Northern Washington spearing I'd love to hear about it on here or a pm.

Unitl next time,
Justin.
(Colin, I got the t-shirts, if your still interested their size large or x-large and green. Ill see if i can send you a pic and Ill bet we can work something out :hmm , thanks for your help and glad to have met you.

 

[Amphibious]

I have been dreaming about the big blue and its' big creatures for too long to pass up such an opportunity...

Must have some darn good crack in Wyoming! seems you've been smoking lots of it!! BLUE??? hehehe It's the Big Green up this way - some times, if you're lucky, the Big Tea-Stained.

its good fun none the less, and Ling Cod is by far my favorite fish up here. doesn't seems to ever taste bad


Give Icarus Pacific and Cliff Etzel a PM, they are the resident yanky north coast divers.

I think the .500 will do nicely up here - I will scout for dinosaurs this bear season for ya :martial 600gr Monolithic? can you fire form .460 brass for that?

due to 911 though there are some wonderful mountians of paperwork to climb these days to get a rifle across the border. your speargun is exempt from these rules. just be sure to inform the rather nasty customs officer that you have it, avoiding any surprizes.

And of course I'm still interested in the tee shirt, be the envy of every Bubba, Cooter, and Billy Bob in town! I'll shoot you a PM here right quick.

 

[thud]

Justin,
Most divers who dive in the Gulf of Mexico replace the mono with stainless steel, because the mono gets cut too easy on the coral of oilrig legs. Because mono is lighter, it allows the shaft to shoot more accurate and with higher speed. How much I don’t really know, but just about everyone, including Jay Riffe, seems to agree with this.

Most people, if their area allows them too, use mono. I know a guy who uses mono here in the Gulf, but he is careful to stay away from the rig legs and examines the line after ever trip and replaces it if he finds any nicks. I don’t really want to do that, so I sacrifice a small amount of accuracy for less hassle and less worry.

I tried both spectra and kevlar, but the line seems to get tangled more than mono or stainless.
Drew