• 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!

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.

zachario

New Member
May 24, 2023
8
0
1
36
Hey, a guy was throwing this out and I took it off his hands.

I was looking to off-load it as I am about to move to the country.

I'm not sure what to do with it as upon researching it - it might be illegal here in Australia??
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20230524_003227704.jpg
    PXL_20230524_003227704.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 110
Hey, a guy was throwing this out and I took it off his hands.

I was looking to off-load it as I am about to move to the country.

I'm not sure what to do with it as upon researching it - it might be illegal here in Australia??
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20230524_001937023.jpg
    PXL_20230524_001937023.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 75
It is illegal and has been for years. If the police catch you with it then there are big fines for having such a weapon. In the USA they are still legal, but try and ship it and it will be seized at Customs. You can hand it in and no questions will be asked. Seems a pity, but that is how it goes.

You might be able to give it to a museum who may be interested in it, but it will probably have to be rendered inoperable for a museum to keep it.
 
Actually I just looked at your second image and this gun has been strangely modified with what looks like a wooden pole or tube barrel and band gun muzzle!! If so that makes the gun a non-firearm, so maybe the police will not be interested in it. How the SMG trigger mechanism works as a band gun does not seem obvious.
SMG mod to band gun.jpg
 
Last edited:
This is how the gun originally looked, it uses .22 blank cartridges in special plastic sleeves.
Johnson Sub Marine Gun.JPG

SMG Patent 3.jpg
 
It is possible the owner ripped everything out and used the trigger mechanism as a spring gun mechanism, which is what it is. This pull down sear lever trigger mechanism is also used in the original French Champion Arbalete, although the dimensions are different with a shorter sear lever.
SMG handle and trigger mechanism.jpg

Champion Cavalero trigger mechanism.jpg
 
Thanks mate, appreciate the reply. It doesn't seem clear to me how it would operate at all and I don't want to mess around with it too much :s

But like you said - does seem a shame!
 
Another possibility is this is just a non-functioning disguise to enable the gun to be retained with the other parts hidden somewhere. Without its breech and tubular gun barrel the gun is no longer a firearm. Mel Brown who runs the AUF Museum may be interested in it for a display curiosity. For a short time the SMG was imported here, but the regulations were changed and that immediately made the guns illegal. Fish being shot with expellable gas weapons were banned outright, so that also got rid of CO2 spearguns. Pneumatic guns, which are spring guns with an air column spring, are still allowed as no gas is expelled during firing.

Mel Brown lives in Sydney and is a member of the forum, so he may see this thread.
 
If you pull the trigger and yank the spear out of it and then photograph the tail end of the shaft that would tell us more. Possibly the spear has a very long tail reaching way back from the wishbone notches, whereas normally those notches are much closer to the shaft tail.
 
This comparison gives an idea of how it was modified, possibly it is a one off. Shaft to use the trigger mechanism in the gun would have to run right back through the handle moulding, which means the bands can only pull from some distance forwards of the shaft tail. The SMG handle moulding would not have been built for use as a loading butt, but given the marks on the rear of the gun it looks like it held up OK. Band thickness and stretch would determine how much load was on the gun.
Johnson Sub Marine Gun MODIFY.jpg
 
If you pull the trigger and yank the spear out of it and then photograph the tail end of the shaft that would tell us more. Possibly the spear has a very long tail reaching way back from the wishbone notches, whereas normally those notches are much closer to the shaft tail.
Is there a way to tell if it is loaded with ammo before I tried that?
 
Is there a way to tell if it is loaded with ammo before I tried that?
It has been converted to use a rubber band, all the mechanism for chambering a blank cartridge has been totally removed, so it is now a simple trigger mechanism that drops a tooth out of a notch in the rear end of the spear. The stretched rubber band has a wishbone that hooks in those notches on the shaft and shoots the spear like a bow and arrow or a slingshot. The rubber band is missing, but my guess is in that form the gun was seldom if ever used. The muzzle is where the band was mounted, just like any other band powered speargun.
Johnson Sub Marine Gun MODIFY cocked.jpg
 
Last edited:
T
It has been converted to use a rubber band, all the mechanism for chambering a blank cartridge has been totally removed, so it is now a simple trigger mechanism that drops a tooth out of a notch in the rear end of the spear. The stretched rubber band has a wishbone that hooks in those notches on the shaft and shoots the spear like a bow and arrow or a slingshot. The rubber band is missing, but my guess is in that form the gun was seldom if ever used. The muzzle is where the band was mounted, just like any other band powered speargun.
View attachment 58610
Thanks for the help mate!
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20230525_075026197.jpg
    PXL_20230525_075026197.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 75
Well there is your answer, the spear tail rearwards of the stop lugs is about three times longer than what it would normally be on a standard spear shaft. Someone must have had it made especially for this conversion.
SMG conversion spear tail R.jpg
 
For a gun of this length this would be the usual band draw with a standard spear. This SMG handle takes away a lot of band draw because the upper plastic frame is in the way. A disadvantage of a long tail behind the line slide stops, i.e. the "ears" on the shaft, is that the spear can T-bar in the rocks, so usually this length is kept short.
Johnson Sub Marine Gun normal.jpg
 
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT