smaller ra roller gun setup for shore fishing

[sandman77]

tragically I do not live near the sea and in Germany where spearfishing is forbidden.
I spearfish occasionally from shore, mostly in the mediteranean, using a seac sub x fire 85 with a single 17.5 rubber, taking smaller fish and the spearo stuff usually has to fit in the camper with a lot of climbing gear.
I would like a gun with more range, 4-5m, but it should not be longer. This is why I started thinking about single roller guns and pneumatics.
And then I came upon 'unrolling the roller' by Chris Coates and his 90cm setup.
There is one store in Germany that sells Rob Allen stuff but does not have the 14mm rollers, just the 16mm carbon gt roller, so I am thinking about getting that and converting to 14mm and a 6.6mm spear. Or getting a carbon railgun and convert that to a roller.
However, a 90mm might still be more than I need for the type of fishing I do, so I am thinking about going smaller, 70mm or 80mm, but I am concerned about not having enough buoyancy with a smaller barrel.
What is your opinion on that ?
Also, would a shark fin shaft be a good idea to be able to power down such a gun for rock/cave shots ?

 

[rollerGR]

There are several roller-ready guns on the market, MVD ones are value for money but you could probably find more. An alternate solution is to take your existing gun

As for 4-5m range, especially in the Mediterranean, you won't get it with even a 95cm 1x16mm + 6,5 140cm shaft. I've tried this exact setup and it's 3,8-4m at most. Let alone with a 14mm band.

What I have to suggest is a gun in the 80-90 range, that's either a HEPA roller (two bands underneath connecting to one at the top), or an invert polyspast setup with three bands. Don't go heavier than a 6,75 shaft (or an on-tip 7mm one). Buoyancy should be OK in all cases.

Some setups are:
HEPA - 1x16mm + 2x16mm
HEPA - 1x16 + 1x16mm & 1x17,5mm
HEPA - 1x14mm + 1x16mm & 1x17,5mm
(These all entail an inner dyneema in the top bands so they won't overstretch)
Invert - 1x21mm + 2x16mm
Invert - 1x21mm + 2x17,5mm
(20mm instead of 21mm can be used just fine)

Some additional ideas are FkD (Fusion K Demo) with 3 bands, or a heavy Fusion 2 configuration, something like 1x17,5mm + 1x17,5mm & 1x17,5mm (or 16mm). Aagain with a fixed top band length, also known as Fusion K. These should all give you 4-4,5m of range for Mediterranean game.

Simpler one to use and load is probably the invert option. A 3-band FkD would be more powerful and just as easy to use, but more complex to set up.

 

[rollerGR]

Also, would a shark fin shaft be a good idea to be able to power down such a gun for rock/cave shots ?

Yeah shark fins are essential.

 

[Mr. X]

Apnea in Turkey make (or made) several models of roller guns from about 35cm & 45cm and upwards. I have their 95cm Amorok roller-gun*.

* It's like a 90cm speargun but with an extra 5cm from the reverse trigger mech and/or longer muzzle. Consequently I think the spear length is the same as that on my 90s. The spear sticks out less from the roller muzzle.

For GB, if you wanted to use just one speargun, I reckon 80cm (or possibly 70 or 75cm for a roller-gun) would be a good choice .

 

[Mr. X]

Yeah shark fins are essential.

I don't know about essential but currently trendy/desirable and sharkfins were a feature that I looked for on my roller-gun [and the shorter 65cm double-band non-roller speargun from the same company that I bought the same day also had shark fins on the spear . ]

Both new spearguns also had modern reverse trigger mechanisms. But both of these features are more trendy than important - for spearfishing IMHO (but probably more important for marketing and sales ).

 

[rollerGR]

I don't know about essential but currently trendy/desirable and sharkfins were a feature that I looked for on my roller-gun [and the shorter 65cm double-band non-roller speargun from the same company that I bought the same day also had shark fins on the spear . ]

Both new spearguns also had modern reverse trigger mechanisms. But both of these features are more trendy than important - for spearfishing IMHO (but probably more important for marketing and sales ).

Sharkfins are more related to the roller's quirks, which is a slight tail lift as the wishbone climbs on the muzzle arches (stoppers). If it's a non-sharkfin shaft then the lift will be bigger and will affect the shot more. Then there's the cave use for a roller, which needs loading on the resting sharkfin.

I've used both types of shafts and consider notches superior to sharkfins! But sharkfins tend to be the way to go for rollers, and also safer (metal wishbone vs dyneema. Have had sloppy loadings with both, and my hand did NOT like the metal one hitting it haha).

Reverse mech is indeed not a game-changer, but is great for shorter guns, and for longer ones not so much in the shot as much in the maneuverability of the gun (shaft protrudes less).

 

[sandman77]

Thanks for your contributions everyone !
I am still undecided but everything above a simple roller I have to exclude, as it is too complicated for my purposes.
Dyneema whishbone and notched spear is not a problem, all RA guns come like that. To convert a gun with a metal whisbone to dyneema on should file the edges of the notch a little. one advantage of a notched spear / dyneema combination is that you can choke the gun for a shot into rocks / caves if you want.
As for spear lift, there are solutions like a double whisbone with different lengths and / or trimming the muzzle so that the wishbone stops before riding it.

 

[sandman77]

Thanks for your contributions everyone !
I am still undecided but everything above a simple roller I have to exclude, as it is too complicated for my purposes.
Dyneema whishbone and notched spear is not a problem, all RA guns come like that. To convert a gun with a metal whisbone to dyneema on should file the edges of the notch a little. one advantage of a notched spear / dyneema combination is that you can choke the gun for a shot into rocks / caves if you want.
As for spear lift, there are solutions like a double whisbone with different lengths and / or trimming the muzzle so that the wishbone stops before riding it.

wishbone I should say...just saw I spelled it wrong 2 times ;o)