Hi guys.
Though registered some time back, this is my first post on DB as I thought I'd wait until a convenient time and this is it - apologies, but it will be a long one. Yesterday, I received in the mail my first pro speargun - guess what, an Omer Excalibur 2000 75cm which I intend to take on holiday to Turkey with me in four weeks time so I need to get it ready.
I'm practically new to spearo and have been reading threads on DB trying to get myself gemmed up before seeking advice with getting the gun commissioned. I have a fair few questions for which I'd appreciate any advice/answers from Snorkel Bum, Murat, Mark indeed anyone, all comments welcome, but before I ask them, I think it would be best if I give you a bit of my background so you can pitch your replies properly.
I've always been outrageously addicted to snorkelling whilst on holiday. In 1999 a friend of mine and I went on holiday to Turkey. Towards the end of the holiday this friend apparently saw me looking at spearguns in a local shop. I'd never seen a speargun before and so probably looked fascinated by it. Unbeknown to me, he bought one of them for me as a 'thank you for organising the holiday' present and he saw it as a natural extension to my snorkelling addiction. It was a Turkish Yilmaz rubber-banded gun. It has a barrel length of about 50 cm and I still have it. I used it last year when I took it back to the resort to 'christen' it and caught a few fish, but only by staying on the water surface and stalking from around big rocks. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhilaration of the challenge. I actually 'stoned' both fish so they didn't suffer. Not bad for a complete beginner. I met the local spearo champ of the area who runs a shop in the localresort and he of course regarded my Yilmaz as a kiddies' toy. It was bought by my mate in a typical seaside shop after all.
I've decided I'd like to invest seriously enough in the sport to enjoy it properly - at least whilst on holiday abroad for now. I have some top-notch snorkelling gear - Oceanic shadow mask, Aqualung Impulse 3 snorkel, Mares fins, UK Blue Tang diving knifes and bought my first 3mm full wetsuit last summer after the June Turkish water proved to be unseasonably very cold. I fully understand that pro spearos buy masks, snorkels, fins and suits more suited for spearfishing, but I will proceed down that road if I progress that far.
So back to the Omer Excalibur 2000 75cm. I really enjoyed Snorkel Bum's review, especially as I actually saw one in the pro spearo shop in Turkey last year and together with Murat's recommendation as a good first gun for a beginner, all in all persuaded me to make it my first pro gun.
Until now my only experience of guns is the Yilmaz which whatever you say about it, at least comes fully ready to use with line and 'bungee' , slider and unscrewable speartip!!!
Right, firstly when I opened the gun yesterday I was very disappointed with the 'instruction manual'. It gave a lot of interesting facts about the materials used in making the gun etc, but as a beginner did not tell me what I needed to know most i.e. how to rig up the gun with the materials supplied. Indeed there wasn't even a list of included items e.g. what type the line was included or its breaking strain or anything. Surely this could be improved upon? Comments, Mark?
I've read the DB 'beginner's guide to rigging a gun' for starters, but it doesn't fully answer my specific questions :-
1) This gun comes supplied with a 115cm-long spearshaft with no slider at the front of it, 513 cm of line (which I think is monofilament, but nothing in the instructions tells me) and also 60 cm of some sort of braid. My logic thus far leads me to conclude that one end of the line has to be attached to the spearshaft through one of the two holes drilled at the back end of the shaft - either the one right at the back end or the other one just over 7 cm from the back end.
a) if I were attach the line to the hole right at the end, wouldn't the line be in danger of getting entangled with the trigger mechanism once the shaft is loaded! Indeed, is it even possible to load the spearshaft with this line in the way?
b) assuming I do attach the line to the hole furthest away from the trigger mechanism, what's the best way of doing this? I understand this could easily be a subjective thing. The gun comes supplied with four crimps. I'm a bit nervous about using a crimp to attach the line to the shaft. Now here's why - a nervous beginner's viewpoint if ever there was one! When the shaft goes thundering through the hole of the muzzle after squeezing the trigger, doesn't the metal of the crimp potentially hit the inside of that hole as well every time and so gradually weaken it after continual use? One of my spearo books, recommends using a bowline knot to attach it and doesn't mention crimps at all.
c) what is the 60cm of braid used for?
d) also, because there is no slider on the shaft, then I must be correct in assuming that there is always line threaded through the muzzle and running parallel to the shaft when it is loaded ready for firing. Should this line be above the shaft? or below the shaft ? or to the side of it? Does this line not ever get entangled when the shaft is fired? (This isn't a problem with a slider as no line needs to be threaded with the shaft through the muzzle hole.) I'm also concerned that the wishbone when cocked over the notch (I'd intend to use the notch furthest from the trigger mechanism) again would get in the way. As I say I've never been confronted with all this before with the Yilmaz having a slider at the front of the shaft and so no need to have line running along with the shaft as here!
e) the rest of the line I assume is then threaded around the grey line release hook and the deliciously created mouth slot of the 'barracuda' with the end of the line tied to one of the 'barracuda's holes (the big one or small one or doesn't it really matter?). If I use the whole 513 cm line, then it goes out to the grey line-release hook, back to the 'barracuda', back to the grey line-release hook and then back to the 'barracuda' again and then the remaining loop reaches as far as half-way towards the grey release again. Am I using too much line here? (I'm assuming that the length of line OMER have provided me is a sensible length to use without shortening.) Also, I assume I need one of those 'rubber bungees' to connect the rest of this remaining loop back onto the line-release. Do the OMER 'bungees' stretch that far? (i.e. about 30cm). (Again I'm assuming 'bungee' is the right terminology here. I've seen pictures of them on the offical OMERSUB website and assume that you thread them onto the line through the two holes before connecting the end of the line to the 'barracuda'.)
2) As regards replacement rubbers ( I think Murat mentioned getting more power with the 18 mm's), I'm assuming that all OMER 16mm, 18mm or 20mm rubbers will screw into the muzzle threads without a problem? Indeed am I right in thinking the thread diameters on the end of all three are the same diameter in order to achieve this? What corresponding shaft lengths should be used with these rubbers for my gun?
3) The instruction manual talks about the need to wash out the internal parts of the triggering devices etc. There are no screws to untighten or anything. I read earlier about being able to set the safety to 0. Is this what I have to do to do this washing out? Again nothing in the manual about how to achieve this at all!!!
4) Coming back to the gun, this trigger mechanism is so smooth. Does it remain this smooth on the squeeze even when the shaft is cocked?
Well I think that's it for now, but I'll undoubtedly think of more in the meantime. Apologies if any of this seems obvious to you experts or I've got the wrong end of the stick somewhere, but all assistance to add another rookie spearo to the ranks and point him in the right direction would be massively appreciated.
If you need anything clarifying, don't hesitate to ask.
Cheers.
turunc2006
(P.S. New thread since started to increase visibility of this post!!!)