Omer XXV Speargun + Other Fast tracking guns?

[Old Man Dave]

£102 ( no VAT here remember) delivered to my door, if it arrives. That was about £30 cheaper than Apnea or Subprof or anywhere else I tried. You need to join Scubaland to get their discount but it's free to join so just a formality.

Dave

 

[Spaniard]

Thanks for info. guys, will check out the website

 

[Pav]

£129 to the door. That includes the UK Vat etc. Quick delivery (about 1 week). Signed for postage etc so they can track lost orders.

You can get it a bit cheaper without the reel, but I didnt see the separate items. If you search xxv I now see that you can choose 1 of 3 items. 1 gold+reel. 1 gold - reel. 1 standard xxv.

When you see it, you will understand what great value for money the gun is.

Thank oldmandave for searching out the best price for us

 

[Old Man Dave]

Gun arrived today at lunchtime. . Looks nice. Very small and light. In fact thinner than the leg on a size zero model. Looking forward to pointing it at a big bass. As I suspected though looks a little fragile for flatfish or reef work although at a pinch it would manage. Gonna start off with closed muzzle and screw in bands, which is how it came rigged.

Dave

 

[spaghetti]

Yes OMD it's thin ideed, but carbon fiber is more solid than it looks. For use on rocky bottoms it might get scratched, and that's the destiny of spearguns.
The only warning I can give from my experience is that the steely wishbone might scratch or shave the rail above the barrell (this happened to me, but forum member Mundial did not report having this issue on his XXV Gold, so maybe it's just me). For this case my advise is to make your own dyneema wishbones, which is quite easy if you follow the instructions given by Pau on Medfish:
Mediterranean Fishing :: Log in
PS-before doing all that mess on your bands try to shoot your XXV and check if the problem actually shows up. Me I had the rail scratching issue only on two shots on a pair of dozens, and the damage was not so relevant. Just a scratch. So it's up to you.

 

[mundial]

i use it one day with the matel wishbone
it did scrach the point next to the handle\barrell!!
but as i always work with dyneema it last only one day
i use to work with it open muzzle only
dyneema WB
i have manage to take groupers & bass easy

i work with it in rocky - cave places as well
this guns rocks mate & do not scratch easy
good luck

 

[Old Man Dave]

Rigged my gun today. The Omer mono and crimps came loose but I found the line was thicker and stiffer than my usual mono. The pic shows the green Omer line and BIG crimp, alongside my usual clear mono and small crimp. Not too clear in the pic but my mono is 160lb test and the Omer one looks a bit bigger maybe 200lb. Don't know why the omer crimp is so big, my crimps have never let me down. Get my stuff from a fishing shop that sells commercial long line gear so it's good quality and strong.

On rigging I found that with the bridge in place I still had to use the cross over method to route the line correctly. This meant there was no need for the bridge piece. When I tried to run the line without crossing over the spear the line slipped back over the rubbers. So the closed muzzle option doesn't look so good if you can't fit the line properly. Doesn't really matter as I was probably going to use it open muzzle (no bridge piece) anyway. Still would have been nice if all the options worked. Pic shows the clear plastic bridge still fitted but the line crossed over.

Looking forward to trying it all out but guess what ... force 6 winds ... again. This has been one shit winter even though it's now officially summer time.

Maybe next week. I'm on holidy .

Dave

 

[Mr. X]

...And of the english too! From what I've heard here on Deeper Blue, the 90 is the favourite guns for England and there must be a reason.

I think you're right Spaghetti, there seems a definite preference for 90cm recently. Although it might also reflect where the active spearos/forum members spend their time - in clear water areas, like Cornwall & the Guernsey. The advice I heard a lot was 75cm-90cm for the UK, & it seems shorter the further east you go (murkier water) and longer the further west you go (clearer water) - a generalization. We don't currently hear much on this forum from Spearos active in Hampshire, Sussex & Kent. Some of them seemed quite keen on shorter guns when I first started looking.

...but if you choose a 82 cm you will be missing
90-82=8 , but 8cm in 5 times = 40+ cm , how is that ?
1 time the length of the barrle
3 times the mono line
1 time the shaft but the shaft is more
so
almost 50CM make a differance!
...

Good point Mundial, that is quite a difference. I thought 4x (have heard some say 3x) - forgot to include the barrel itself in the range calculation. Nice catches -- you obviously get to eat plenty fish oil!

Race you, first one to catch a bass, when mine comes that is.
...
guess what ... force 6 winds ... again.

Let us know how the OMD v. Pav shoot out goes! I've just changed some of my holiday plans in the hope of catching some more favourable weather conditions - swapping sun for lower winds ...hope it works out.

 

[Pav]

Let us know how the OMD v. Pav shoot out goes! I've just changed some of my holiday plans in the hope of catching some more favourable weather conditions - swapping sun for lower winds ...hope it works out.

... whilst oldmandave is suffering from force 6 winds I may still have a chance rofl

Its resonably nice on the northcoast, but with a nice swell and offshore winds have been spending my time surfing.

Hoping to get down to Penzance after the Easter weekend madness. I start a bit earlier each year! What I have noticed is that the biggest Bass for me are always at the start of the season. Anything in this?, or has it just been a coincidence?

 

[Mr. X]

What I have noticed is that the biggest Bass for me are always at the start of the season. Anything in this?, or has it just been a coincidence?

Early season, perhaps you get first choice! Folk usually talk about big fish late season - although I have read of the odd big fish being caught in winter (when most leave our shores). Maybe folk are just getting "in the groove"/better by end of season. Was happily surprised at how few people were at the coast between Easter & Summer hols. last year.

By the way, I found a site with longer range forecasts than the BBC offer: weather.co.uk - Index & for wind: GB Wind Map (move your mouse over the area of interest).

 

[Old Man Dave]

Actually I was a bit hasty as I did find a way to rig the gun without the cross over and using the bridge. Not perfect but it works. Sorry Omer, you were right, it is possible even if not ideal.

Next up I noticed the omer spear seemed short. This 90 uses a 125cm spear. All my other 90 guns (beuchats) use 130cm spears. Then I noticed the omer gun itself was 5cms longer than my old 90 beuchat. However my new 75 cm beuchat was 15cm shorter than the omer.

So at some stage in the last 15 years guns have grown 5cm. Omer spears in the meanwhile have got shorter or is it just this one model gun (XXV Gold) that has the shorter spear.

Remember reading somewhere that the longer overhang on thin spears causes inaccuracy. Certainly when I tried a 140cm x 6.5mm spear in a 90cm gun it was not as good as a 130cm spear and not as good in terms of accuracy as a 115cm x 7mm diameter spear. This was especially true with some big (20mm) bands fitted. So maybe Omer have gone for a shorter spear and more accuracy?

This might tie in with the fact that the omer bands fitted seem so hard to load. Think they're 17.5mm and although they're brand new and I'm out of practice they still seem much harder to load than even my 20mm megabooster bands. Are Omer bands super strong?

All of this will be of little interest to me once i get fishing but at the moment i have nothing better to do than play with my new toy and ask questions. Yesterday wind was force 6, today it's force 7 :vangry .

Dave

 

[mundial]

hi guys

i can say i was playing around too
i found out
open muzzle is better for aiming
for loading it you have to practice a bit
the real original shaft is the best for this gun!!!
i tryied the 6.5 omer that is a bit longer with 20 mm band
& with the 18 mm it was bad:head
so i have the original shaft open muzzle setup dyneema WB
i use circular 54 cm long 18 mm band' it is easy for me to load
i found Omer band better then Beuchats bads they last longer

this was the catch from yesterday:t

another

it is nice to share with U guys the knowledge
hope it is usefull:friday

 

[spaghetti]

OMD shorter shafts are said to help accuracy on guns with a full length rail (and this is the case). I remember reading something from Miles, who is the railgun expert on this forum, explaining the reason why. But damn I can't find the quote on search by now.
But I have a simple question for you about your new XXV Gold: don't you like it? What's your impression? (and yes, it's 2 questions)

 

[Old Man Dave]

If the weather wasn't so awful I would have tried it out. A gun after all is just a tool and what it looks and feels like is not important if it doesn't perform well.

Without trying it and just based on my experience with other guns then this gun looks like it will be a great gun. It feels light and looks slim enough to manouver really well. Seems very well made and to be honest it is better than I expected. I like the idea of the shorter spear and rail with the powerful rubbers. The theory all seems right with this design but and it's a big but I want to try it first.

So I think you gave me some good advice spaghetti (thanks) and hopefully by next weekend I'll be able to report on how it performs. Do you think a 10lb bass will be a good enough test or should I try for a 15 pounder? .

Dave

 

[foxfish]

I would also agree the gun looks neat & feels well made.
When I went to Jersey I was lucky to be surrounded by more guns than you could shake a stick at! It was great to be able to look at & handle so many guns. I think Dave's gun, considering the cost, will be very successful & fantastic value. However I did like the Traix.(spelling)

 

[spaghetti]

If the weather wasn't so awful I would have tried it out. Do you think a 10lb bass will be a good enough test or should I try for a 15 pounder? .

Dave

I'd shoot the bigger one: the new guitar must play loud!
Just to ease your pain for being stuck on firm land, know that also here in sunny Italy it's not as sunny as it should: after two whole weeks of rain and cold my wetsuit is all dried up. I keep watching "Finding nemo" dvd with my 2 y.o. daughter and restoring the Aquarium. This way it feels almost like being underwater. :head

 

[Fondueset]

I know my little Riffe became incredibly accurate when I put a short shaft on it. The Omer cobra is very accurate and has only a little shaft overhang. I wonder if it has to do with the shaft flexing when more of it is unsupported?

Water temp here is 2-3c with 40-50 kph winds. Last evening I got out just before the thunderstorms hit (I try not to dive during Thunderstorms). Today was sunny - though still windy. I visited with some bass and found a large pike at 15 meters.

Gale force winds can be daunting - though it's allways better than it looks once you get in. Sometimes the big waves can make equalizing a little crazy but the fish really seem to like it. Of course rocky shorelines can be problematic in heavy surf.:duh

 

[mundial]

just to remind you
the circular band that comes with the gun isnt strong
i cut it for good power shot
it works good

enjoy the gun dave give us some pics
guys I hope you will have a good weather ( also for Spago :t )
cheers
Eyal

 

[spaghetti]

just to remind you
the circular band that comes with the gun isnt strong
i cut it for good power shot
it works good
Eyal

What do you mean? Did you make it shorter or just cut off the plastic fitting to make your own dyneema wishbone?

 

[mundial]

i made it real short
my circular band is a 54 cm long!! just the rubber
i put a dyneema on it it is 6 cm long ( the dyneema line out side)
i shorted it on 3 cm on each side