RA Spearguns + PNG

[Dogmatrix]

Hey all, I am currently in the motions of purchasing a RA 1.4M sniper railgun with double rubbers (16mm) and 7.5mm shafts, I am intending to use this for pelagics (Spanish mackeral + Tuna). I live in Townsville Australia but have contacts in Papua new Guinea and will be using the gun there also. I have to ask if anyone else has this type of gun and can tell me any drawbacks, when i went to order one the bloke at the shop laughed and said i would have trouble loading it... I am 1.75 M tall and 70 Kg pretty fit to... do you think this will be an issue? (No i can't afford a Riffe so don't say it:naughty ). The other question is this a reasonable speargun for such use?

happy Hunting

 

[crazyfrenchmen]

Rob Allen is good

Hi,
i just receive my 90 cm Rob Allen and it's a real killer. This gun is a work of art. As for the rubber loading problem, forget about that, if you have the good technique, there's no reason you couldn't load the gun. I think those who have trouble loading the gun have been using girly euro gun for too long! (flame me )

I also got a 1.30 cm barrel, spear, rubber and nozle so i can change from 90 cm to 1.30 cm!

Anyway, if you can't load the gun, don't go hunting big pelagic, they'll eat you!!!:duh

 

[Dogmatrix]

Lol thanks for that crazyfrenchmen I have a slightly smaller wooden spear gun with double rubbers *grins* As for the pelagics... well they are in for a world of hurt Thanks again:t
All comments are very welcome

 

[Dogmatrix]

Sorry in the post before i mentioned to the wooden speargun... that was because I figure if i can load it as soon as i get used to the RA I should be fine with it also... Just the guy at the counter didn't seem suppremely confident... lol

 

[SASpearo]

He he he .....

I got myself a 120cm Railgun last year November ... couldn't shoot it for a week, cause I couldn't load it. I've got a 100cm, 120cm and a 160cm now - can load 'em all without issues (20mm or 16mm rubbers) - although I've got a 'special technique' for the 1.6 .... grin.

Go right ahead, buy one. Just don't sell it if you can't load it. It takes GOOD technique and lots of guts to load one, but it is definitely worth it.

 

[Dogmatrix]

Thanks for the advice SASpearo that was exzctly what i needed to hear , I will certainly give it a burl! worse comes to worse i will attack a boat winch to the end of it and use that to load it :duh lol
jokes :t

 

[SASpearo]

I'll try and post a photo of the 1.6

What I've basically done is attached a length of climber's webbing to the gun ...

I've got a piece of webbing (sling / tube tape) with spaced knots in it, that I attach to the muzzle, and then loop it back to the handle. So this results in a 'stepladder' on the gun .... he he he .... I put my feet in them to load the gun. I've only done this 'cause I'm short (1.72m) - it works out quite qell. The only issue is that you have to take your fins off to load it

 

[Dogmatrix]

*grins* i have got to see a pic of this Send me one if you can
The whole though of seeing someone loading up with their feet is pretty amusing... however i am interested to know how you attach the sling to the barrel!
Most importantly though can you tell me the setups you are using on each of the guns 1.2 and 1.6M... The whole setup.. as in Mono or cord or spectra... float or reel, what mm shaft, also are you using the RA hawain type shafts? I realise that is a fair bit of info but i would really appreciate a kick off with what people are using... last but not least... Can you send me a pic of any fish you havew hit with either speargun... or if not perhaps some coments on limitations of fish you have found with them I appreciate your reply, hope you can find the time to give me a little more knowledge in this area

Cheers

 

[SASpearo]

Retry ....

OK, what I've done is made a length of webbing, with knots in it about 30cm apart. The front end gets tied into the hole for the second rubber (I haven't got the heart to do this twice, so single it is) - the back of the sling gets clipped into the longline clip on the handle. Voila ....

My 100cm gun is pretty stock, 20mm rubbers, 6.5mm spear, 2 wraps of mono, rigged to a breakaway system, I use it mostly for fishing off the kelp beds in the area. I haven't taken very big fish with it, mainly because there aren't many in the kelp around here.

The 120cm gun has got a 7mm spear, also rigged to a breakaway system, but I swap the rubbers between a 20mm and a 16mm, depending on wether I need to reload quick (ie for sharks / lots of fish) or whethere I want to have a bit more kick, ie going for pelagics. I've shot my biggest fish to date with this gun, it was a 37kg Yellowfin Tuna. I've taken quite a bit of fish with this gun.

The 160cm gun has got a 7mm spear as well, 20mm rubbers, some climber's webbing that I tie to my float when I'm done loading, and, yeah, you guessed it, a breakaway system. I've taken some tough fish with this gun, including tuna, cuda, big cob, even tackled some sharks with it. It's the granddaddy of guns - bucks like a mule, and the 2.0m spear is just the ticket for just about any fish ....

The breakaway system is pretty simple, but very effective. It's includes the normal mono chord, as many wraps as you'd like, one end on the spear, the other ending in a loop. This loop should be about 15cm short of the line clip on the handle. I've got a 10cm boingie (bungee) tied into this loop, which I then hook onto the line clip. This keeps tension on the mono, so it doesn't come off the gun. The rest of the system is pretty straight forward as well, I mainly use bungee floatlines, made from latex tubing and mono with either longline clips or swivel clips on the ends. One of these lines would then be clipped to the loop in the mono (the same one as where the boingie is) and the other end clipped to a float. If I'm going deep / shooting big fish, I normally end up with three or more floats connected with bungees or normal floatline.

Finally, yes, I use the RA shafts. BUT I'll be changing that fairly soon. The main reason why I don't like the RA shafts is that the shooting line gets attached to the spear behind the wishbone notch - in other words, if you get a strong 90 degree pull on the line, al snappo .... I haven't broken one of these shafts yet, but I also don't want to lose a good fish because a spear broke ....

Whew. Typeing this stuff the second time was more work than the first time ...

Regards,
Riaan.

 

[Dogmatrix]

Thanks a lot for that Riaan that is very helpful, I have been pondering about the issue of the RA shafts having the line attachment behind the loading tabs and agree it is not the most superb idea! I am pretty sure that the RA is the weapon i am after I am after pelagics so i am going to give 2 16mm bands a go ! Sholuld be sweet!

Do you think it is worthwhile drilling a hole further up the shaft for line attachment? or do you think thats asking for trouble when that fish of a lifetime is on?

 

[SASpearo]

Not asking for trouble at all ....

You can ask RA to put the mono hole in front of the notch, they'd be happy to do it. Otherwise go for another shaft - they're pretty much one size fits all. I think Riffe makes some very good shafts - ask Andrsn or Griff about that - Griff has some hybrid shaft on his gun with the hole in front of the notch, and Andrsn is theresident shaft-master ..... he he he

 

[Griff]

Its the Doubles...

The spear i use is a stock RA shaft. I have two spears, one 6.5 and one 7mm, and they both have two holes, the difference is that they are double notch spears. as far as i can tell, all the double notch spears have a hole drilled in front of the notches. But you have to ask them to put the mono through this hole, otherwise i think its standard to have the mono crimped through the end of the spear.

and if its a fish of a lifetime, id rather risk the notch than my home-made modification. just my 2c.

enjoy it.

mark

ps, riaan , durbs is freezing!

 

[Griff]

something els

here's some encouragement.

dogmatrix, what did you say your setup was....


taken off the spearfishing.co.za website

263.9kg Black Marlin speared by Brad Neilson at Mapelane, Northern Zululand. (Pending World Record)
Equipment used: 1.4m Rob Allen Railgun with double -rubber muzzle. shaft: length 1.9m, 7.5mm diameter.

 

[Griff]

where's the picture?

2nd try

 

[SASpearo]

Lots of big fish get taken by RA guns ...

TW, they predivted SNOW for Jhb and Durbs this weekend .... INSANE !!!!

 

[Iyadiver]

RA Triggers

SA Spearo / Riaan,

I notice that u are among the many ( i counted at least 3 so far ) who mentioned that the RA with 2 x 20mm rubber or 1 x 20mm + 1 x 16mm will self-fire. Why ? If RA is rated blue water they should technically over built the trigger. I really am saving for 2 of RA soon but trigger self-firing is totally off limits to me. I know that they only recently ( how long ago ????? ) introduced the double rubber muzzle. Even the meanest 20mm should not exceed 150 pounds of pressure each, so 2 of them is only 300.

Advice me bro. Since u r an RA fanatic and such statement comes from you on the RA trigger, I find it very credible.

I think RA must strenghten the trigger, after all it is a HOT gun. A safe figure for me is at least 600 pounds rated trigger. If a trigger failed only from 300 pounds of pressure, if you load it up to 220 pounds, I think after 500 shots down the line the sear contact point will weaken/worned. Friction material get worn out after use not that it gets better. Buying a sear is cheap but shooting ur own buddy by accident is not something anyone wants to do.

I still want an RA. I must own an RA. I don't care. U & others talk so much good thing about it, I can't bear it.


Thanks,
IYA

 

[Dogmatrix]

Oh god... I feel physicaly ill... I just spent 45 minutes typing someting.. and then when i went to post it it tol me i wasn't logged in...

 

[Dogmatrix]

Alright i will see if i can get this close enough to what i originally wrote.. Griff the setup i am planning on is as follows :

Ra sniper railgun 1.4 M double 16mm rubbers. This will have a breakaway rig with 260 kg spectra probly... this will be on a breakaway rig connected to 2 body boards via bungy sweet idea hey! That way i can put a hession sack on the first for my fish and a 2nd spear gun on the second.... as well as a flag!

Unfortunately i will not be buying/able to use this for another month yet... I am still waiting on the dodgy store guy to ring me back.. I am taking my buissiness elsewhere if he doesn't kick into overdrive very soon.. just finished having a chat with a direct importer over here... What i was telling you about in the post that didn't post was the reason i have not been in action the last few weeks...

A while ago now some mates came up to visit me... spot of fishing was the order of the day so we decided to go out the very next day... Up at three and over to the boat... the boat is a 18.5 foot fibreglass that weighs in around 1.8 ton we had a 130 hourse johnson on it that had done about 50 hours work... We hadn't had a lot of time to plan this trip and there was that feeling in the pit of my stomach that all was not well... we dragged the boat out and had a look at it.. one of the trailor brakes was a bit sticky so we gave it a tap then lubbed up the cables... all was good... I was driving a mates from the country's toyota land cruiser trayback as we figured it would be better for towing the boat then the hilux and it was his prized posession with a set of tires worth around a thousand bucks for 4 on it and he wanted to let me see how good his one and only pride and joy was... So with that I drove us the hour or so to the boat ramp and we put in.. to cut a long story short the rain had sent the fish of the bite... and there arn't many people I know who would jump into a creek estimated to have the highest population of crocs in north QLD with a speargun... specialy when you cand see the bottom when your in .5 of a meter depth... lol.. so we headed home and put the boat back on at the ramps... no worries we were a little annoyed by the lack of fish but with a bit of music and having a good yahn it wasn't long till we were almost to a mates where we keep the boat.... in fact we were about a Km up the highway from the turn off and doing about 90Kph when the back end of the car started sliding out like we had a badly blown tire... clayton (my mate) started swearing and the shaking got worse till we were being thrown all over the road as we tryed to slow down without hitting the brakes (hitting brakes = deadly) the back wheels were being lifted off the ground and the back end of the car was swirving left and right... another mate following in his jag tells me there was smoke coming of the tires as they were dragged back and forth across the road... by this time i realised this was no blown tire and susped with great horror that the axle on the boat must have snapped... at this point my mate who i have seen play with angry bulls was white as a sheet and swearing like you wouldn't believe... and to my surprise i found so was I!!! Then suddenly everything was fine again and i got the car going streight... we started to slow down and i saw all the cars ahead of us on the highway pulling off the road... it was then that the worst of it hit... the back end of the car was literaly jacknifed across the road from one side to another with the back wheels being being lifted on and off the road.. there was a storm gutter on one side and cars still getting off the highway on the other... I was holding onto the steering wheel for grim death and my mate was holding onto the dash handle trying to stay in control.... At this point i had little to no control over the car... I have been in a serious accident in a car before and this was still out of my league... I flashed a look in the rearview mirror and saw the bow of the boat up in the air as it rolled down the rollers onto the highway we were doing about 60kph (38Mile/hour) by now and i could here the grinding even as i slowed down and even over the top of the language which some people claim is french that was being extruded from my mouth and that of my mate... Lucky for us the boat landed in a turning lane so traffic along the highway could still pass... around 14 or so cars pulled up and with 15 or so blokes we put the boat back on the trailor and limped to the boats home (at a mates).

The Damage... Well that new engine... yeah it was the first thing to hit the tarmac... The fin on it was worn down to the gear box which had a hole made in it though no vitals were ruined incide... The underside of the boat (that was one damn tough boat!) had less damage then could be expected... had a bit of fiberglass worn off it.. ok a fair bit... but most of the force was exerted on one stabiliser that was ground smooth... the rest was pretty good really... just needs a patch up!

So what happened i hear you say... well here it is...
1. The locking leaver on the winch ben and allowd the cog to turn and the boat to slip back... this was when the fist swirving happened...
2. The safety chain caught the boat and steadied it... hence the sudden ability to control the car and streighten her up whilst slowing down yet more...
3. the caribina that was as ancient as the boat was forced open and the boat resumed its backward travel... the boat is heavy and with the leaverage of the trailer was able to throw the car from one side of the road to the other...
4. We lived because the boat came all the way off and snapped the cable off the winch... otherwise we would have ended up in that table drain besides the road!

I think a number of things saved us that day...
1. Luck
2. That cruiser had a lot more weight then my hilux duelcab which would have left us dead in the table drain...
3. Damn... those tires must have been good
4. I think the allmighty heard the language we were both utilising and decided we needed more time to sort our selves out down here!


I think the moral of this story is you should always check out your gear... and if even the slightest doubt... change that little piece of equipment that costs a lot more then it is worth... cause it could be your life you are buying... And the other thing would be to use quality equipment... the boat is part owned between us and a friend... the friend is in his 50's and had a bad accident a few years back that leaft him slightly weak in one leg and one arm (motorbike) he my dad and i had talked about parts that needed changing a while back... i had suggested a whole new winch using a different mechanism.. whilst they had both put serious thought into this in the end it was decided that the old one was robust enough and would do... as for the caribina i don't think any of us ever paid it much attention :naughty, the lucky thing is I was driving a fairly heavy vechile... if brian had been driving his car i think it would not have been so lucky.

anyhow thats what part of my holidays is now donated to fixing!

Final words:
USE GOOD GEAR... IF IT ISN'T YOUR LIFE YOUR PAYING FOR IT COULD BE YOUR BEST MATES!!!

 

[Dogmatrix]

IYA I actualy saw a post from rob allen himself somewhere and he was replying to someone who had the trigger mechanism fail on them... don't quote me but i believe the guy was using a 20 mm and a 16mm band.. both of which were shorter then the suggested length... Rob mentioned that the triggers were not desighned to take more then the suggested power of bands... However i do agree... RA has made a weapon that is in a current gray area... he has a euro type weapon that is being used for blue water applications... i do believe in the future he may see the advantage of overpowering his trigger mechanims!

 

[SASpearo]

RA Triggers

I have it from the guy working in his shop (Dive Factory) that a 16mm and a 20mm band is too much. I've mailed him and will post his reply as soon as I get it.

Personally, I've found that 2x16mm is plenty strong, and even a straight 20mm is good enough for most applications. But let Rob sort this out once and for all - he'll tell it like it is.

Ciao,
Riaan