Pelaj have sent me and Tommy Botha a few of their proto-type guns to test. Over the past few months, these guns have been tested by both of us and here are our views:
From an average diver like me, certain categories are worth looking at:
Aesthetically, the blue cammo on the blue water gun and the brown cammo on the shorter reef gun look very good. The build quality looks to be very good and has certainly stood up to our abuse over the last few months. The double band muzzle looks and works very well, possibly one of the nicest double band muzzles I’ve used. The rail is also quite substantial and the spear sits quite nicely on it.
One of the biggest complaints that I’ve read on the spearfishing forums is that many don’t like the angle of the handle. It is more upright, when compared to the usual railguns, but when I used the gun, I adapted very quickly and actually came to rather like the handle.
All of the above is quite fine and well, but just exactly how well does it shoot? Simply put: quite SUPPERBLY!! The Pelaj gun in EXTREMELY accurate!! Maybe it’s the handle, but I’ve found that from the very first shot, the gun was EXACTLY on target. Where-ever I aimed for, is where the spear hit. Pin-point accuracy!!
Unfortunately, our tuna season has been dismal, so I haven’t yet been able to test the Pelaj gun on 50-90kg (100-200lb) class Yellowfin Tuna, but have absolutely no doubt that they’ll work very well, especially the 3x14mm band Pelaj Kanji gun. Tommy and I were able to test it on some smaller pelajics and some reef fish, up to 20kg’s, and were very impressed with these guns performance.
Review as per the legendary South African Spearo, and arguably one of the best spearo’s in the world, Tommy Botha:
“When entering the water with a new gun, one is unsure about the accuracy and the fear of placing a poor shot or even completely missing a large fish, surely puts one nerve’s on edge. Especially when one is using a gun whose grip is different to the normal guns I use. All these fears are prevalent UNTIL you’ve taken your first shot! The Pelaj gun has performed flawlessly and has displayed superb accuracy. No guessing or compensating for high or low shots, the Pelaj gun simply shoots where you aim it.
The brown cammo, that I used on the reefs, worked well, blending in well. The yellow on the grips is also very visible, making the retrieval of your gun easy should you drop it.
One particular incident was when my sinuses were blocked and I was unable to dive past the 5m mark. I ended up shooting a 9kg White Musselcracker from the top, with a vertical shot, hitting the fish exactly where I aimed. Anyone who spears regularly will know that vertical shots offer a very small target and it’s extremely difficult to hit the fish. Shows the superb accuracy. Furthermore, the fact that I’ve not yet missed a fish with the Pelaj gun is indicative of just how good this gun works! “
In conclusion, both Tommy Botha and I have only tested the 120 Pelaj guns and both of us echo the sentiment that Pelaj have created an extremely accurate and well balanced gun. It most certainly is on par if not better than the current genre of railguns. I can honestly say that I have now found a new favorite gun!!
From an average diver like me, certain categories are worth looking at:
Aesthetically, the blue cammo on the blue water gun and the brown cammo on the shorter reef gun look very good. The build quality looks to be very good and has certainly stood up to our abuse over the last few months. The double band muzzle looks and works very well, possibly one of the nicest double band muzzles I’ve used. The rail is also quite substantial and the spear sits quite nicely on it.
One of the biggest complaints that I’ve read on the spearfishing forums is that many don’t like the angle of the handle. It is more upright, when compared to the usual railguns, but when I used the gun, I adapted very quickly and actually came to rather like the handle.
All of the above is quite fine and well, but just exactly how well does it shoot? Simply put: quite SUPPERBLY!! The Pelaj gun in EXTREMELY accurate!! Maybe it’s the handle, but I’ve found that from the very first shot, the gun was EXACTLY on target. Where-ever I aimed for, is where the spear hit. Pin-point accuracy!!
Unfortunately, our tuna season has been dismal, so I haven’t yet been able to test the Pelaj gun on 50-90kg (100-200lb) class Yellowfin Tuna, but have absolutely no doubt that they’ll work very well, especially the 3x14mm band Pelaj Kanji gun. Tommy and I were able to test it on some smaller pelajics and some reef fish, up to 20kg’s, and were very impressed with these guns performance.
Review as per the legendary South African Spearo, and arguably one of the best spearo’s in the world, Tommy Botha:
“When entering the water with a new gun, one is unsure about the accuracy and the fear of placing a poor shot or even completely missing a large fish, surely puts one nerve’s on edge. Especially when one is using a gun whose grip is different to the normal guns I use. All these fears are prevalent UNTIL you’ve taken your first shot! The Pelaj gun has performed flawlessly and has displayed superb accuracy. No guessing or compensating for high or low shots, the Pelaj gun simply shoots where you aim it.
The brown cammo, that I used on the reefs, worked well, blending in well. The yellow on the grips is also very visible, making the retrieval of your gun easy should you drop it.
One particular incident was when my sinuses were blocked and I was unable to dive past the 5m mark. I ended up shooting a 9kg White Musselcracker from the top, with a vertical shot, hitting the fish exactly where I aimed. Anyone who spears regularly will know that vertical shots offer a very small target and it’s extremely difficult to hit the fish. Shows the superb accuracy. Furthermore, the fact that I’ve not yet missed a fish with the Pelaj gun is indicative of just how good this gun works! “
In conclusion, both Tommy Botha and I have only tested the 120 Pelaj guns and both of us echo the sentiment that Pelaj have created an extremely accurate and well balanced gun. It most certainly is on par if not better than the current genre of railguns. I can honestly say that I have now found a new favorite gun!!
