Rob Allen Tuna 90cm-Newbie review
Hey everyone,
I recently got back into spearfishing. When I lived in Wa state, I used a JBL 38 spcl. I know that genre is more of a scuba-gun, so I went for the euro style.
After MUCH research and deciding, I finally went and bought a Rob Allen Tuna 90cm from Bodega Bay Pro Dive in Bodega Bay, Ca. I wanted a gun that I could shoot small to medium sized fish. I have a friend that lives in Santa Barbara, so I wanted the gun to be able to work down there as well. As most people know, it is impossible to get an "all around gun". I was trying to do my best to get as close as I could.
I picked an RA rail gun because of it's reputation, band setup (not screw-in) and design.
Build:
Upon inspection, the gun is VERY well built. The shaft works very well in the handle, the weapon floats after the shaft is fired, and the gun's rigging setup is very easy to use and reload. The safety needs a little "persuading" every now and then, but once you get the hang of it, it is no big deal. It comes with a sturdy clip attached to the pistol grip which works perfectly for float lines and floats.
In the water:
On dry land, the weapon is VERY muzzle heavy. Once it is in the water, it swings almost effortlessly, and it's balance is superb. Trigger pull is crisp and moderately weighted. I use firearms frequently, so this is the BIGGEST place of concern for me. I understand how much a bad trigger can affect performance. The trigger is "just right" for me. Not too light, not too heavy. The most I have shot with it so far are blue rockfish and some blue striped perch. Not trophies to be sure, but good tests for the weapon's ease of movement, accuracy, and noise level. The first fish I shot was a blue striped perch @ approximately 7ft. It was swimming from left to right presenting a right side broadside aspect. I held just behind it's eye and squeezed....THWAP! The spear (only 1 band loaded) shot right through it's right eye, and went out of it's mouth. Just at the last moment, the perch turned it's body away from me. It amazed me that the spear hit EXACTLY where I was aiming. I figured it was too good to be true, but I went out another time for rock fish and had the same results. Out of 8 fish I shot (2 perch, 6 rock's), 6 were headshots at mid-long range (for the weapon). The 2 others I shot through the side because of poor angle of approach.
I now keep 1 band under the gun and only load 1 as it does quite well. If I go for ling cod or cabezon, I will load up the second band. I have "threaded" every fish so far. Not too amazing since I am shooting fish no bigger than 5 lbs, but my old JBL couldn't do that, and it had 2 bands loaded.
Rigging:
How I rig my gun:
Boat fender from walmartw/ a rope grommet attached to 50' float line via a heavy caribiner, attached to gun w/ brass snap clip. I also have an light caribiner attached to the rope grommet/float that is handy to clip to the gun when I need my hands free. I could just drop the speargun, but sometimes I'd rather not.
This set up works pretty good. If I am back tracking under kelp a lot it does get pretty messed up, but if I am careful, it doesn't.
My "safety device" is a "Spongebob-squarepants" tennis ball stabbed on the end .
The only add-ons I will put on this weapon is the Rob Allen "breakaway" kit for when I go down to Socal. Also, it comes with a steel line release, which is very nice.
I will put pictures up later.
Hey everyone,
I recently got back into spearfishing. When I lived in Wa state, I used a JBL 38 spcl. I know that genre is more of a scuba-gun, so I went for the euro style.
After MUCH research and deciding, I finally went and bought a Rob Allen Tuna 90cm from Bodega Bay Pro Dive in Bodega Bay, Ca. I wanted a gun that I could shoot small to medium sized fish. I have a friend that lives in Santa Barbara, so I wanted the gun to be able to work down there as well. As most people know, it is impossible to get an "all around gun". I was trying to do my best to get as close as I could.
I picked an RA rail gun because of it's reputation, band setup (not screw-in) and design.
Build:
Upon inspection, the gun is VERY well built. The shaft works very well in the handle, the weapon floats after the shaft is fired, and the gun's rigging setup is very easy to use and reload. The safety needs a little "persuading" every now and then, but once you get the hang of it, it is no big deal. It comes with a sturdy clip attached to the pistol grip which works perfectly for float lines and floats.
In the water:
On dry land, the weapon is VERY muzzle heavy. Once it is in the water, it swings almost effortlessly, and it's balance is superb. Trigger pull is crisp and moderately weighted. I use firearms frequently, so this is the BIGGEST place of concern for me. I understand how much a bad trigger can affect performance. The trigger is "just right" for me. Not too light, not too heavy. The most I have shot with it so far are blue rockfish and some blue striped perch. Not trophies to be sure, but good tests for the weapon's ease of movement, accuracy, and noise level. The first fish I shot was a blue striped perch @ approximately 7ft. It was swimming from left to right presenting a right side broadside aspect. I held just behind it's eye and squeezed....THWAP! The spear (only 1 band loaded) shot right through it's right eye, and went out of it's mouth. Just at the last moment, the perch turned it's body away from me. It amazed me that the spear hit EXACTLY where I was aiming. I figured it was too good to be true, but I went out another time for rock fish and had the same results. Out of 8 fish I shot (2 perch, 6 rock's), 6 were headshots at mid-long range (for the weapon). The 2 others I shot through the side because of poor angle of approach.
I now keep 1 band under the gun and only load 1 as it does quite well. If I go for ling cod or cabezon, I will load up the second band. I have "threaded" every fish so far. Not too amazing since I am shooting fish no bigger than 5 lbs, but my old JBL couldn't do that, and it had 2 bands loaded.
Rigging:
How I rig my gun:
Boat fender from walmartw/ a rope grommet attached to 50' float line via a heavy caribiner, attached to gun w/ brass snap clip. I also have an light caribiner attached to the rope grommet/float that is handy to clip to the gun when I need my hands free. I could just drop the speargun, but sometimes I'd rather not.
This set up works pretty good. If I am back tracking under kelp a lot it does get pretty messed up, but if I am careful, it doesn't.
My "safety device" is a "Spongebob-squarepants" tennis ball stabbed on the end .
The only add-ons I will put on this weapon is the Rob Allen "breakaway" kit for when I go down to Socal. Also, it comes with a steel line release, which is very nice.
I will put pictures up later.
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