Pnumatic or Bands???

[Huw]

Hi everyone i am new to the forums and thought i would give a question a go. Spearfishing has always appealed to me and last summer i thought i would give it a go. I bought a small beuchat bandgun (75cm i think) and managed to shoot 3 decent sized mullet which was very pleasing for a first time. Now that i have more time on my hands i would like to go more regularly and would like to purchase a new gun.
I am very interested in buying the sporasub stealth gun from the us and import it to the uk. But first i would like to know if here are any downsides to a pnumatic. I first found a bandgun hard to load but after watching the technique on a video i realised that loading my single band was easy. How hard is a pnumatic to load???? i have heard about nasty accidents with pnumatics one in particular in which a bloke was shot with his own gun when the spear slipped as he was loading pnumatic gun. Is there a technique to loading one as i really dont know how one would be loaded!!
I would mainly be shooting sea bass and flatfish around cornwall in the UK in about 8meter viz. I do not need a too powerfull gun but would like to have the option to if i needed it.

I guess compared to you guys i am a novice and basically need a hand in choosing my first proper gun!! this is probably such a common question to all of you but really what should i go for - a band gun or pnumatic??

Thanks - any replies will be much apprichated!
Huw

 

[Alison]

Hi Huw
Sorry I dont know anything about Pnumatic guns, I'm a confirmed band gun hunter but I believe pnumatic guns are harder to look after with seals and O rings etc. Have you looked closer to home for guns? Just on your doorstep is our own Dave spearo or there is Apnea in Jersey (free delivery to the UK). Dave has a nice little guide to gun choice on his website as well as other usefull tips.
If I were you, seeing as you've already got a 75cm gun and that you have such good viz (8m wow!!) think about a 90cm gun for that bit of extra range

 

[Huw]

Hi alison thanks very much for your reply. How many guns do you own and at what lengths? Just spoken to dave and i think im going to take your advice in going for a bandgun. What made you make your choice to use these? I think i am going to buy the seatec gabbanio 90cm gun from daves site is this a good choice??

also what makes a band gun so popular - to everyone reading why did you go for bandguns (if you did) and what made you make that decision?
Thanks again
Huw

 

[Alison]

I think the gabbanio is a brilliant choice and if Dave recomended it well you cant go wrong, Dave is a well know british spearo with absoloutley loads of experience, he will see you right, after all he wants you to buy from him again and he wont get that by selling you the wrong gear
I suppose I ended up with band guns because my first gun I pinched from my brother because he didnt use it and after that, well it was just familiar territory I guess, Ive never really considerd a pnumatic. I have five guns at present, my old faithfull 90cm Esclapez concept, a 38" Riffe mid handled teak gun, a 42" homemade teak midhandle, a 90cm teak midhandle and a little 70cm Satinwood midhandled gun; (the last 3 can be seen [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?t=62091"]here[/ame])

 

[Spaniard]

Huw,

Another benefit to band guns is that they float. They are less noisy than pneumatic guns when fired and because of their relative simplicity are less likely to go wrong. However in power to length ratio the pneumatic guns are vastly superior. For UK waters a 75cm and 90 cm band gun will probably see you through most shooting conditions. I have bought from Dave at Spearo and Neil at Apnea and both offer excellent service/product range.

 

[strangelove]

Huw

I started spear fishing with a pneumatic gun; they have a few advantages against the band guns but many disadvantages. A pneumatic gun has more power and is easy and faster to load but it has many problems.
They break often, they require a pump, the strength of the shot vary with depth, they are very loud under water the last one is a show stopper and with the multiple band guns that exist now you can get a band gun that is as powerful as the pneumatic gun.

I've had all my pneumatic guns in the closet now; there is no looking back.
I would definitely go with a band gun more fun less fixing.