Brijamelsh,
Riffe has done an excellent job making the MT corrosive resistance. I live in one of the worst places for saltwater corrosion in the U.S. and I have friends with MT that are 7 years old and they are still going strong. I’m the Comptroller for a metal inspection company and Riffe does it right. The aluminum is anodized and all stainless is isolated from the aluminum to prevent galvanic corrosion.
Yes it is possible to use the enclosed track while line shafting. All my MT’s are setup this way. Only problem I ever had was once a crimp on the line where it attaches to the shaft starting gouging into the plastic top outside of the enclosed track, which made it shoot inaccurate. I solved it by putting a plastic heat shrink tube over the crimp. With the enclosed track you don’t have to make the line go over the “Front Line Plate Guide” on the muzzle anymore, so you can take it off if you want. This takes the sharpest kink out of the line.
Strangelove, the Teak Mid Handle, handle is a little further away from the butt, which means it’s a little bit more of a mid-handle, but the MT is still a true mid-handle with the shear located behind the handle so you get more shaft travel and band stretch distance than a rear handle gun or a gun with a loading extension like JBL. I would say that the teak gun feels a little better, but not much better than a MT with plastic muzzle.
The aluminum muzzle makes a MT front heavy and feels out of balance to me. I hate big front wings that the aluminum muzzle needs for buoyancy to make the gun balanced in the water. The front wings will make the gun shoot nice, but I can’t live with the loss in swinging ability. Might be okay for a scuba diver, but I would rather get my power from a longer gun that moves through the water easy than a short one with many bands and wings.
The negative buoyancy/positive buoyancy thing of the smaller MT with shaft in or shaft out is a concern if you are free shafting or if your using a float line and a breakaway setup. I like to attach my float line directly to the gun so I can leave the gun and swim freely back to the surface if needed (such as in shooting a large fish or one at depth). The closest I have ever come to saving someone yet, was last year when my partner speared a cobia at 80 feet down and his breakaway hung up. It took him about 30 seconds and a lot of moving to get it free. He was on the edge of consciousness when he finally made it to the surface.
The only positive I can see to using a breakaway is that if you have a shark problem you at least still have the gun to push the shark off with, but the chance of this being an issue is small because a shark should be a lot more interested in the fish you speared than you anyway. Being able to separate yourself from the fish is the important thing.
I have a MT 1, 2, & 4. The 1 & 2 are only used by the wife and kids or when my 4 breaks. I liked the 1 & 2 in the first few years of freediving, but once my skill picked up I found I could do almost anything with my 4 that I could do with the 1 & 2, plus a whole lot more.
A friend and a good place to buy Riffe’s is Matt at
http://www.spearfishinggear.com/ . If you’re looking for the best prices on the internet, be sure to check what is included with the gun. A member of our club recently purchased from another place, but later found out that Matt’s price included some items he had to purchase separate so Matt’s price was better. Matt is also very good at helping you setup your gun for your conditions. I recommend calling him on the phone when ordering so you can get his free knowledge.
don
Fish are startled by movement or sounds. Stretch three bands and let them go as well as hurl a 3/8” or 5/16” piece of metal at 60 mph through the water and the fish are going to be startled!
