Roller vs Traditional Set-up

[Mufazalov]

Aloha, Spearos,
I have question about roller-guns.
Its been on my mind lately: roller vs. traditional?
I have a chance to grab a carbon mono speargun (around 110 cm long, 7mm shaft + 2x16 or 2x17 bands) OR I can assemble a roller myself. Found a very sexy looking carbon barrel(cuttlefish), will put an alemanni roller head(or some other manufacturer, up to 16m single roller band), fit a cressi handle...
I hunt around rocks, mostly deep (>25m) and I really need that few extra range meters.
What would be a better set-up?
What is the equivalent of a 100/105 cm roller with 16mm bands and a 7mm shaft?
I used a 70 cm roller today, homebrewed masterpiece( It took my buddy 30 mins to assemble a head from useless garage stuff) and I am pretty impressed. Double-wrap of line simply disappears...
Any info will be greaaatly appreciated.

 

[foxfish]

Roller guns are effective but very difficult to balance as they are normally muzzle heavy.
You can build one from wood & get a good balance but if you just use a carbon straight round carbon barrel the rollers will make the gun very muzzle heavy!
Try the search button as there is a lot of info on the site.

 

[Mufazalov]

Thanks, foxfish. Yeah, I am aware of roller specs, but didnt find anything specific on the forum. I would really want to know power/accuracy rating between the two setups. And I am not considering wood at the moment. The barrel I was talking about is almost as wide as C4s Graphite thus I dont think it will be very difficult to balance it.

 

[foxfish]

Well there are over 20 pages of roller gun info on the forum DeeperBlue.com Forums - Search Results
most of it I have read over the years & I would have to say they are not the most popular guns!
If you want power, low recoil & a quiet gun then look at a dry barrel airgun if that is not you cup of tea then have a go at building a roller and see how it works out.

 

[spaghetti]

Well in Italy it's roller frenzy going on lately. Every DIY gun builder is making rollers these days, and many companies are making rollers or roller heads: not only small boutique brands like Alemanni, Ermes, Galasub and Seawolf, but also established industries like Seatec and Merou are fully engaged in the roller market.

The roller concept has been fine tuned lately, and the outcome are said to be very good in termes of performance. I myself am thinking to get a roller head for my Seatec Gabbiano 100 Trb. Just biding my time but someday I'll do that (perhaps...).

Not to mention the....http://forums.deeperblue.com/spearo-board/91253-crazy-italian-hoist-spearguns.html !!!!!! :martial

 

[Mufazalov]

Yeah, thats when it gets complicated.
Roller head by Seatec - EU48 ( Planet Sub - seatec kit testata roller )
Merou - EU120 ( Planet Sub - merou testata roller )
Alemanni - EU 78/99/120 (Kit rotelle su boccole o cuscinetti « Alemanni – Arbaleti, rollers e articoli subacquei per la pesca sportiva in oceano o mar mediterraneo)
Seawolf sub - EU85 (Roller Heads)
THey all look different
I don't even know what to look for...

Alemanni and merou do seem a little more legit to me (price bias ) and they also have that "bridge" that may support the roller stem from bending in the long run. Seawolfsub and seatec are more of a simple set-up, no support bridge, fancy looking bearing. No clue, guys. honestly...

 

[foxfish]

All those heads look like they are male connections, is there a female version?

 

[spaghetti]

All those heads look like they are male conectsions, is there a female version?

I don't think so. Female muzzles seem like an extinguished species anywhere in the latest years...

 

[foxfish]

Thats a shame as I much prefer a female conectsion on a wooden gun!

 

[sseal]

Look at this and think about it
[ame="http://vimeo.com/43781137"]test shot at 6 mtrs. with invert roller 110 7,5 mm spear and one 16 bands on Vimeo[/ame]

 

[Mufazalov]

Gun looks sexy. Would love to see some pics of it outside of the water Its what I am after. 100cm carbon roller + 7/7.5mm shaft.

 

[sseal]

Thats my baby:thankyou

 

[foxfish]

Amazing looking gun, how did you build it, how does it work?

 

[sseal]

This is hand made carbon invert-roller with double ball bearing in the muzzle and in the back

 

[-Paddy-]

Sweet
Very good looking gun. Can u show us more pictures, maybe when u builded it?

 

[sseal]

I dont have pictures of the process but its hand work all.I just wanted to proove that roller can be elegant too)))

 

[Scoobaru]

That is one sweet gun. It looks a right pain to load?? And is that dyneema you have used for the super long wishbone or just braided cord??

Sorry for the questions but I'm quite intrigued by this gun

 

[foxfish]

We did have a great thread all about inverted roller guns, its still there but without any pictures!!
http://forums.deeperblue.com/homemade-spearguns/77465-my-new-idea-invert-roller.html

 

[Scoobaru]

Cheers for the link foxfish. Certainly put a smile on my face reading the bitchy "my guns better than your gun" comments and opinions. Looking at other inverted roller guns with pulleys incorporated, would the use of pulleys make loading easier, enabling bigger more powerful bands to be used, whilst loading still remaining easy??? (based upon the principle of pulleys reducing effort etc)

Also I asked on a different thread (spaghetti posted I think) about the risk of injury to the user in the unfortunate event of the dyneema/cord snapping allowing the rubbers to whip towards the users arm or even face, have you any experience/advice about this??

 

[Mufazalov]

@ Scoobaru,
that sounds like ouch