riffe euro 117cm

[FreeRestriction]

i just bought my first speargun... is it just me or is it hard as hell to load these things?... im a pretty big guy 6'1 215lbs... and it seems like its almost too difficult to load as if, if i did load it that somthing would break... it has 2 thick black bands.. i cant find the actual thickness of them... im sure im just over worrying so laugh and say its fine already lol

kenny

 

[foxfish]

Well a 120cm gun is a big gun! did you buy it new or has the gun been fitted with after market bands?
In England we use many 90cm guns & even they can be tough to load - that is until you develop the technique!

 

[MCerieiro]

Hi guys!

kenny don't worry about it, you will load the gun with no problems, especially if you are a big guy you just need some pratice.

Make sure you load the bands in the correct form...i.e. make sure that the second rubber is positioned bellow the first one, thand load the first rubber to the second notch and then the second rubber is load bellow the one already loaded (was this clear?)

If you find it too hard, you can make a "gun load helper"...see the attached drawing.

Hope it helps

Cheers,
Marco

 

[FreeRestriction]

Hi guys!

kenny don't worry about it, you will load the gun with no problems, especially if you are a big guy you just need some pratice.

Make sure you load the bands in the correct form...i.e. make sure that the second rubber is positioned bellow the first one, thand load the first rubber to the second notch and then the second rubber is load bellow the one already loaded (was this clear?)

If you find it too hard, you can make a "gun load helper"...see the attached drawing.

Hope it helps

Cheers,
Marco

the gun is brand new. and i was reading the little book that came with it. the spear has 2 "shark fins" or spots for bands to attach... they say one is a helper. im assuming this means both bands attach to the further fin when the guns loaded right. is that correct or do you put one band on each notch?

also im kinda confused on how to run the shoot line. i figured it out with the bands not in the way but my problem is the shoot line has to either go ontop of or below the bands. if below then it dosent run in the line tab right and if on the top i cant load the gun without putting strain on the line.

do i leave the shoot line loose, then load the gun, then run the shoot line over it?

and finally is it ok to practice shooting the gun in open water. or is it bad and will it eventually break the shock line or somthing.

thanks for the help guys.

 

[MCerieiro]

Hiya,

Well you have lots of questions, and some of them are hard to answer, i believe the best advice any of us can give you, is...try to go to a Riffe dealer and they will for sure help you...well any spearfishing store will give you a help and believe me in 5 minutes all your questions will be answered.

As for practice shooting the gun in open water there is no problem with that

Cheers,
Marco

 

[FreeRestriction]

alrighty thanks for the replies. im going fishing tomorrow. well see how it goes.

 

[blaiz]

the gun is brand new. and i was reading the little book that came with it. the spear has 2 "shark fins" or spots for bands to attach... they say one is a helper. im assuming this means both bands attach to the further fin when the guns loaded right. is that correct or do you put one band on each notch?

also im kinda confused on how to run the shoot line. i figured it out with the bands not in the way but my problem is the shoot line has to either go ontop of or below the bands. if below then it dosent run in the line tab right and if on the top i cant load the gun without putting strain on the line.

do i leave the shoot line loose, then load the gun, then run the shoot line over it?

and finally is it ok to practice shooting the gun in open water. or is it bad and will it eventually break the shock line or somthing.

thanks for the help guys.

The shooting line should always feed from the back of your shaft and through (underneath) the bands inline with the shaft. The line then goes underneath the metal tab at the muzzle around the shaft and down the groove at the end of the muzzle. From there it raps back around the release tab and back up to the anchor under the muzzle (2x if yo have a double wrap which Im sure a riffe 12O has).

Keep in mind that the shooting line should be pretty tight as it is what holds the shaft down to the muzzle. ALWAYS feed the shooting line through the bands or your gun will foul when shot.

As far as loading both bands on the rear tab you are able to do this as long as the tabs are big enough to hold both wishbones. If not they one might snap back at you when your not expecting it... it can be rather painful. If you load one on each tab be sure to load the back tab (closest to you) LAST.

Hope this helps... good hunting!

 

[FreeRestriction]

The shooting line should always feed from the back of your shaft and through (underneath) the bands inline with the shaft. The line then goes underneath the metal tab at the muzzle around the shaft and down the groove at the end of the muzzle. From there it raps back around the release tab and back up to the anchor under the muzzle (2x if yo have a double wrap which Im sure a riffe 12O has).

Keep in mind that the shooting line should be pretty tight as it is what holds the shaft down to the muzzle. ALWAYS feed the shooting line through the bands or your gun will foul when shot.

As far as loading both bands on the rear tab you are able to do this as long as the tabs are big enough to hold both wishbones. If not they one might snap back at you when your not expecting it... it can be rather painful. If you load one on each tab be sure to load the back tab (closest to you) LAST.

Hope this helps... good hunting!

yep good tips thank you. i finally figured out how to run the shoot line yesterday and as i suspected loading the gun was much easier in the water. the manual says you can load 2 bands on each tab on the spear meaning 4 total but it came with two so they say one one each tab the first on the first and the second on the furthest back tab, like you said.

as far as kills i got zero. i took a shot at a 3ft leopard shark that was barely in my visiblity and i beleive it went to low. or maybe i didnt track right and it landed behind im not sure. im having trouble even seeing where the spear shoots compared to where im aiming. mainly because it shoots so fast i dont even see the spear until its stopped and descending. either way it will all come with practice and im going again tomorrow so well see how it goes.

on a funny side note i saw alot of kelp bass but they magically knew i didnt want to destroy my spear and would litterly swim at my spear tip in shallow water where rocks were the background.

 

[Pinoy Sniper]

FreeRestriction,

As some of our friends here mentioned, when you become more familiar with your speargun, the easier it gets...the new bands are quite tough to pull, as it needs some breaking-in period, as also the muscles that work to load the speargun. As for aiming, I find that the saying in shotgunning helps a lot - "shoot where the target is going, not where its been." The "lead" aspect may not be as critical in spearfishing as in shotgunning as some fish are not moving as fast as moving targets/birds, but I have discovered that a little lead has improved the amount of fish on my stringer.

I remember the first time I tried to load my new Riffe. My legs went up and my ass went down! I landed on my back on the sand and I had not even got the first band to the first notch. My buddy nearly drowned laughing when he saw me. For the first few dives with it, I went around with just one band on the first notch. Like you, I did not get many fish. The first one I speared was probably laughing too hard on seeing my loading technique and did not notice that I was near enough for a shot!

But like in any sport, one improves and you will...and will have even more fun.

Dive safe and good hunting.

Pinoy Sniper

 

[FreeRestriction]

ya i took alot of wild shots so i learned how to load it pretty quickly. i can run the shoot line and load it in about a minute. as for aiming, to be continued..

 

[FreeRestriction]

well i went out again today and shot at a few fish. now im questioning the power of my gun/bands..

i dove down to about 40-50 ft. and as the bottom appeared in the merky water so did a leopard shark... it passed under me and as i neared the bottom it was about 5-8ft away from me swimming away.. i took my time, turned the safety off, tracked and fired... i HIT it!! i could feel the tug of it on my line as i swam to the surface and could tell i was bringing him up with me... then... the line went limp about half way to the surface...

was it a bad shot?... is there a wrong way to hit the fish that the spear wont penetrate thru the fish? i was well within range of the gun. i was aiming for the mass of the body(wrong thing to do) i know that now... and im pretty sure it landed somewhere at the base of the tail. would hitting that spot on the shark cause it to not penetrate?

and another fish i hit maybe three feet off my tip and it was for sure dead center on the fish and agian i felt the fish pulling on the line then it got off aswell....

are my bands no good?... i noticed after the first time i loaded it the bands got white streaks on them that run the whole length of the band. the bands are black so i noticed right away..

 

[Pinoy Sniper]

FreeRestriction,

The on-line Riffe Catalogue states that the Euro 117cm gun (E-90?) has two 5/8" (16mm) x 21.5" (55cm) bands as a power source for a 17/64" (6.75mm) x 51" (130cm) Hawaiian-type shaft and has a 18.5' (5.5m) effective range. So I think the bands are okay for the gun, if indeed the bands above were the ones used and it has no defects.

For myself, I find the going-away shot a tricky one. I usually wait for the fish to turn sideways either to the left or right, which would present a killing shot. I think the shaft tore away from the tail, which is a bad place to put a spear through...I don't shoot sharks here, so I have no experience spearing them. But from all the data that is around, I know that a shark has a pretty tough skin. As your target was swimming away from you, maybe when the spear hit, it was already further away, further lessening the chances of the spear penetrating right through the fish.

Usually, I try to get to the fish at the end of the spear and kill it as soon as possible, as its struggles could loosen the spear off it. I lost a big jack that way. It had gotten through a tangle of old fishlines and large coconut tree trunks that had accumulated from recent storms and I had to untangle my line from all that junk. Meanwhile, the fish was struggling and loosening the spearhead from it. I actually saw the spearhead slip away from the fish...

Pinoy Sniper

 

[FreeRestriction]

yep those are the bands on my gun. the shark was courtered away from me. like you say the only thing i can think of is that i hit it near the edge of the tail so it ripped thru it. but what was funny was its a 3ft shark and it didnt really have much pull on the line(while it was on) so either it was thrashing alot and not pulling and got off or the spear never penetraded thru to pass the latch barb.
i was so sure i was going to come up and tell my dive buddy proudly that i have a leopard shark on the end of my gun. oh well. ill try again soon.

 

[Lachlan133]

If you manage to hit the fish it usually has enough power to go in all the way