RIFFE Euro Style Speargun Series "MAG-TRACK"

[spearheads]

What i meant was its OK to wear the weight vest down to 6 meters but once past 6 meters my torso doesn't pull towards the surface so that 2 kg on my back is not needed any more so i dont wear the weight vest, most of my diving is 7 to 10 meters.

When spearfishing under 6 meters i wear 2 kgs on the back ,2kg on the sides, 4kg on the belt also 500 grams on my ankles,

But when deeper 7kg on belt and 500grams on each ankle.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Polystigma]

I have been using my 110cm Riffe Euro for a while now. My opinion on the gun. Is that it is very well balanced and feels great in the water. I have been shooting the gun with the stock shaft and bands. I do a lot of diving around rocky reefs ad kelp. The gun is simply too powerful for this kind of stuff. If I am close to rocks I only load one band. By loading both bands and shooting fish near rocks. I have bent the shaft 3 times so far. The gun is also very accurate. No recoil to speak of and tracks very well.

Only problems I have had with the gun was some minor muzzle delamination. I called Riffe and they replaced the stock no questions asked.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Just out of interest I gathered together half a dozen shafts, different sizes and most importantly different manufacturers and tested them. They are all effected by a magnet. Some stainless isn't (I thought). However all the spears tested would hold in place using a magnet. Maybe all open muzzle guns will be "magnetised" soon.

Dave

 

[foxfish]

I'm sure you could fit one in

What were you thinking for the track? Just wood or fitting an insert? I found this supplier of Derlin in the UK amongst other plastics, maybe of some help.

Well I have ordered a trigger unit & shark fin spear - I have a design in mind for a 1mtr long enclosed track roller gun. Now I need some form of 8mm plastic tube, I cant seem to find any Derlin tube but B&Q have some PVC 8mm tube? My plan would be to bed the tube in a square channel cut in the wood stock using epoxy & graphite powder mix. I could then cut a slot for the spear fin. Any thoughts on using PVC or any idears where I can buy Derlin tube?

 

[Roan]

The biggest disappointment was the "mag track"!! What mag track? There is a small magnet fitted near the muzzle, that's it, no mag track as such just a little magnet! Still a good idea but a little misleading!

Yeah, I was in a shop today checking it out. When I first heard the gun described, I took that to mean a whole mag track (and it sounded like a bad idea). Saw it today and it's just a magnet about the size of a dime at the end to the barrel, but it seemed plenty to just help keep the shaft in place as you're wrapping the shooting line.

A full or nearly full mag track seems like it would put too much drag on the shaft.

Thanks for the report Polystigma, it seems like a nice gun... too bad I already own too many!

 

[smaillaut]

Hi,

I'm the sales manager for Riffe in Europe, and we're looking for distributors, independant reps or shops to sell Riffe gear in England.
So if you are interested feel free to contact me at : smaillaut@groupeh2o.com
FISH FOR THE FUTURE
Selective divers set their sights on only those few prize game fish they will enjoy eating

Enjoy

 

[Pastor]

Out of interest, do you stock the American style shafts with the tabs on them?

 

[Spaniard]

I thought Apnea in Jersey already were the UK reps for Riffe equipment??

 

[smaillaut]

yes we stock the shafts
yes Apnea in Jersey is selling Riffe but they are not exclusive for UK and UK is big !!

 

[Pastor]

That is good to know. I'm OK for now as it's the end of the season but no doubt I'll be needing more next year. Thanks

 

[foxfish]

Apnea only stock the larger diameter shafts.

 

[smaillaut]

We stock 100% of Riffe Gear here n France (Marseille)

 

[tbgsub]

I was ordering an Omer Cobra, but the Riffe Euro was in my local shop staring at me, and the Omer order wouldnt come through for 3 more weeks due to order lmitations (our shop, aquasmith needs large orders before omer will ship [means I couldnt get a special order on a 500.00 US gun if I wanted to within 2-3 weeks! really annoying!!]), so I wasnt going to wait anymore to go fishing, and decided to get the RIFFE.
I am going to ROTA this weekend in the CNMI islands, fishing just off shore at the many drop offs around ROTA, and this gun is the Inbetween Machine that I need.

Fortunately the shootout results from Skindiver magazine placed this gun as being more accurate over the Cobra, although after shooting the cobra and reading their comments, I wonder if their opinions were not a little slanted towards domestic products, as I feel the Cobra was seriously accurate. My Omer Cobra 100mm was used extensively for 1 year and 4 months till I lost it in high current!!!

I will only know after shooting the Riffe Euro if the accuracy is similar or even better, but lets say I am skeptical untill proven wrong.

I will update you on my findings.

best regards,

TBG SUB.

P.S. the old omer shaft, and all Omer shafts still work with the New Riffe Euro, so If you are not too jazzed on the Tahitian flopper you can always for Hawaiian, or Vis Versa, which is kind of nice! I am also wondering if the flopper placement affects spear drop significantly enough to change the accuracy ratings in the 1007 skindiver magazine shootout results. might be worth looking into, you know shoot each gun with both flopper setups and see what goes where.

 

[grass]

Just got my Riffe Euro 120. Couple of questions:

1) The gun come with the bands that look too long for this gun. Is there a band sizing chart for it? I use 62cm 16mm bands on my RA 120. The stock bands are 70cm.

2) The gun will load the spear only if the trigger is pressed. Under water its a bit annoying. Is this a faulty trigger or is it a safety feature?

 

[tbgsub]

Interesting, is the safety foreward (open) when you load it? or is it in safety?
I have been loading it both ways and didnt notice the trigger issue you mention.

I used to load in safety religiously, but to save time when by myself I dont bother.
perhaps load spear with safety open (tab foreward), they flip the safety (tab toward the handle) for loading the bands, that is usually how I do it. I also notice that the tab sits in a mid position both up or down while loaded, and you have to pull the trigger to make it open once, then pull the trigger once to fire, not sure why it is like this, as it seems prone to missfire or cause user negligence thinking it is on semi safety when it actually isnt.

you should be able to load it just after firing it.

The bands look longer, but if you measure the length of stretch, it is much longer.
almost every fisherman I know of modifies the bands shorter of every gun they get regardless of brand, however you may have bands getting weaker when pulled over their maximum distance for long periods of time, which is probably why the longer bands, to keep the power the same over a long period of repeated use, which is preferable to constantly changing out high load bands for fresh power form short bands.

best of luck.

 

[grass]

I use my Riffe for some time now and wanted to buy the 7.1 threaded shaft + the wing kit.
The wing kit should compensate for heavier shaft as the gun is not balanced with 7 or 7.5mm shafts. I also have a reel with 50m dynema line which adds weight.


Does anybody use the wing kit already? Any opinions on it?
I'd like to try new Riffe threaded spears, what spear tips will fit on it? I wanted to order the ABBiller speartips but they have 6mm thread, will it fit on the Riffe shafts?

Here are the links to spears and tips:
Riffe Fin Shaft 9/32" w/ Thread Euro, Shafts & Accessories - ScubasWorld
ABBiller Double Barb Rockpoint, Speartips - ScubasWorld

BTW, I found a way to load any shaft into my Riffe, the trigger mech is a bit different from standard Euros, so I just use a disk to shave half a millimeter off from the spear butt. That makes the trigger eat all I give it.

 

[tbgsub]

Wings and Things..

I have a Riffe Euro as well, not the New EuroX which is not really Euro if you consider the longer butt, it is just a mid handle revamped.

but I am thinking about variations on a theme as well, but more to the Euro side of the equation.

I am thinking that the 16mm stock bands dont give me enough power, but rather than bulking up on the gun, or shortening the stock bands (that wouldnt be any fun),
What I want to do with the Riffe 110 Euro is put two 18mm omer bands with SS wishbones, which should make the bolt snap a little faster and penetrate a little farther out. I really like the Safety on the Riffe as opposed to the Euro Safetys, but the Euro style is to break off, or dissassemble the safety and handle the gun cautiously that is why they are particullarly cheap plastic or with removeable buttons. some bluewater guns dont even come with safetys. I only wish the safety lever were a little closer to the handle so the thumb could more easily flip it on and off! As it is now I have to check it before every dive, but that is keeping things ultimately more controlled.

Back to Wings:

Wings make the gun much slower at vertically tracking, If you Aspetto you are likely to miss alot of shots trying to raise to the gun to the fish. If you dive bomb from the top the wings may help you. Shooting at the surface in waves seems to be worsened by wings, I missed a large Wahoo at the surface once because of that, and because I didnt dive a few feet to escape the turbulence trying not to spook the fish. I was using a 60" Andre with 4 bands, a 7mm Shaft and a sliptip that never touched the wahoo that turned away and revealed a profile as large around as my head! it must have been over 20lbs easy.

Riffe Wing Kit: I have looked at it in passing; As long as you can remove the wings later in the event you dont like em, it could only be a nice experiment. Why not?

Ultimately a Tool is only as good as its acceptance and practical use by the owner.

if you have the now old Riffe Euro wihtout the long butt, remember that any wings will make your wrist work harder tracking fish. I have thought about adding Surfboard Skegs, they are lighter, more hydrodynamic and have more surface area to prevent barrel lift with high power bands. If you epoxy in a surf insert you can add and remove them when you need them. your gun may look wierder but it just may function in the water better than wood wings. you could also make your own wood wings, as there are several unfinished kits available for much less.

If you have the NEW and not-so Euro styled Mid handled Riffe EuroX then wings wont be such an issue while using your second hand to guide the barrel through the water on the long stock butt.

good luck with the MOD.

 

[grass]

Thanx for the info. I have Euro 120 and got the answer from the seller that the wing kit is not intended for the Euro series, however it can be mounted.
I want the kit to make the gun neutrally buoyant and increase the overall mass to compensate the recoil.
Using the RA spears with the gun results in inaccurate shots (the spear goes up on shots longer than 4m). The original Riffe 6.75 spear is too weak to withstand double bands and direct riff hits. I bent it on my first dive.
I will now order couple of 7.1 threaded Riffe spears and add the spear tips to them in hope that it will survive.

I think I can handle the wing kit as I don't really move the gun a lot in the water. I dive deep and stay there, when I see the fish I usually track horizontally or turn the gun 90 degrees to track it vertically.

 

[tbgsub]

OMER sells a stick on weight kit that might help you.
check out the link:
PLOMOS OMER PARA FUILES

this should work on any gun.
after using the weights that came with the Cobra I used to have I am a firm believer in weighting the tip of the barrel for neutral Bouyancy, it greatly improves accuracy in the Long distance shots.

maby try weights first then wings if you dont get the accuracy you want.

good luck.

TBGSUB.

P.S. sounds like you plugged the reef really close, I have seen almost all normal 6mm and 7mm floppers bend at the brad when fired at close range into rocks and reef either straight on or glancing. (friends, not me) They just werent made for rock hunting.

Threaded tips may strip the threads depending on how close you shoot the rocks, and if you ever use a slip tip, you will either discover how expensive they can be to replace, or you will naturally try really hard not to shoot into coral and rocks.

sometimes the choice not to shoot is the best option, if we shoot into reef at a fish, in the shallows we usually use only one band, and let the other flop loose, it doesnt affect the shot much at all, and may make the fish curious about the floating band. try the one band option close to reef and I bet you wont bend stock shafts much at all!!

good luck.

 

[tbgsub]

Shot goes UP??
usually you want wings and weights when the shot goes down, because the gun comes up and taps the end of the shaft as it exits the muzzle. This is caused by a high power gun that doesnt have the neutral bouyancy to remain still at the trigger release.

your gun may actually be sinking down and away from the shaft at fire, causing the bands to push the rear of the shaft down, causing the shot to rise. My guess would be bands that are either too strong, or short for the shaft. did you shorten your stock bands? overpowered bands can make the shot go either way, up or down depending on the bouyancy of the stock. now that I am thinking of it, experiment with a small foam piece taped or zip tied to your muzzle, or get slightly longer bands, say one inch longer, or 1/2 inch longer, you will have less power but the shot will be accurate, which really matters most.

most spearo's are obsessed with power, when an accurate gun gets more fish.

on the other hand I think what may be affecting the shot is that magnet! I think they are removeable, try a day without the magnet, I have heard much speculation as to the effect of the magnet on the shot with different sizes of guns. I even wonder if storing the shaft in the track causes the shaft itself to become magnetized over time. this might cause magnetic repulsion/or attraction as the magnetized shaft moves at great speed past the muzzle magnet driving the shot up or down, the magnet is a great gimmic for freeshafting, and easy loading, but I dont think It is either necessary or cruitial for the gun to fire accurately. My 110 Omer Cobra didnt have a magnet and (properly weighted) it fired every bit as accurate as the Riffe Euro 110, I cant see why the 120 should be much different.

good luck.