Rigging my new roller gun - A different approach

[cooper666]

Hi all,

I've just purchased myself a new pathos 1.2m laser roller gun (carbon barrel) and I'm thinking about rigging it a little differently to most roller setups. This gun comes with 2 bands. One 16mm that operates on the roller, the other is a 14 mm "kicker" that does not use the rollers and is set up in the traditional format. The shaft is 7mm.

My plan is to replace the 14 mm kicker with and 18mm band @300% stretch and use this as my main rubber for most diving. I will then replace the 16 mm roller rubber with a 14mm progressive rubber @350-400% stretch and use it only when I'm chasing big things in really clean water.

I'm thinking about this because I'm hoping that it will make the gun a bit more versatile and easier to load for reef work. I can just load the 18mm rubber and I have a conventional 1.2m single rubber gun, which is what I use at the moment. If I want more punch I can also load the 14mm roller rubber and have a seriously nasty piece of kit in my hand.

I think that the gun in its standard format would probably work really well, however for normal reef work the 14mm kicker alone wouldn't be enough and loading the 16mm roller alone would provide plenty of power for reef work but is a PITA to load.

Do you think that my planned setup is viable? Would I overpower the spear? Anything else that needs attention?

Thanks all.

 

[landshark sa]

Disclaimer - I don't own a Pathos roller gun nor have any of my roller guns set up in this way so my comments are purely speculative.

My gut feel tells me that a 7mm shaft should be ok and will not be overpowered by setting up the gun up in this way.

What could be an concern is if you use a more snappy lower stretch (higher modulus rubber) 18mm band combined with a 14mm more progressive (lower modulus rubber) you may find that the 18mm launches the spear so fast and hard that the 14mm just never catches up with the spear and negates the effect of the 14mm.

If you are able to tune the rubber lengths so that they work perfectly in unison, when both are loaded compared to the single 18mm, you may end up with a gun that shoots so differently that it's like shooting another gun. I find it difficult to switch between guns (roller vs conventional) in the same session and it takes me a bit of time to shoot accurately once I've switched.

In saying all of that, I do like the idea of having a multi-purpose gun and being able to uptune and detune the gun on the fly. So most probably the best thing will be to try it out and see how it goes.

If you do, please let us know how it went.

 

[cooper666]

What could be an concern is if you use a more snappy lower stretch (higher modulus rubber) 18mm band combined with a 14mm more progressive (lower modulus rubber) you may find that the 18mm launches the spear so fast and hard that the 14mm just never catches up with the spear and negates the effect of the 14mm.

I actually was planning on using a super twangy RA rubber for the 18mm but I'm re thinking now. Perhaps I'll go for a progressive 18mm rubber instead. I hear the mannysub rubbers fit the bill. I'm planning to set the roller band so that it's at 200% when it hits the muzzle, so should still contain plenty of punch at the end of the barrel.

 

[Lotsofknots]

Any progress report on this one?
Can you heat a 18mm rubber through that hole without modifying it?
Sounds like a great idea

 

[Buttery]

Hey...

It's me... 5 years later...

Ha, has anyone had success with this single band idea? The trend now appears to be 14mm small id bands, but I'm really into the idea of using the kicker as a single band set up.

Just grabbed a well used sniper roller 95 for cheap and I'm looking to experiment with the bands.

I'm pretty green on rigging. Trying to graduate from my first gun (A.B Biller) and see what the rest of the world has to offer.

Cheers!