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South African Railguns

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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M

maiki

New Member
Aug 9, 2010
7
1
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Hello All, I am new to this site and would like to get some of the members input. I am a big fan of the SA railguns and have a few of the older RA and just recently a couple of Freedivers. All are great guns but I am now interest in the Johri carbon SA railgun in the 120cm range for South Florida. Has anybody had any experience with these guns and if so, could you tell me the pro's and con's. Thanks
 
Hi maiki, welcome. Where did you buy your Freedivers spearguns? I see that you are in Miami. Cheers.
 
There is a USA dealer living in Sunrise Florida. His name is Mike Hickey. I don't have his number in front of me right now but you can get it by going to his website. The Freedivers website in SA has a link to the USA one.
 
website is pretty average and the specifications are doubtful....

not much info.

accurate with 4x 16mm rubbers on a railgun.... i doubt it. not enough mass to supress the recoil!

strange looking handle,nice looking mech though.

i'd get a bit more info before getting to excited. the New RA mechs are impressive and their carbon barrels (new series) are 30% stronger than previous. very nice guns.

DD
 
maiki, I am not sure what specifications is doubtfull on the Johri website or guns as mentioned in the previous post by DivingDane. All I can say is that my Johri gun is the best gun I had for a long time and I have had every SA gun there is. The mach is realy smooth and the gun is very accurate. The barrel is the stiffest I every felt on a speargun. I would recommend you try just one and deside yourself. JOT
 
Thanks for the reply....... I am now using Freedivers and RA guns. I would love to try a Johri but the cost with getting one to the USA (South Florida) puts it out of the market for me. If you know anyone in the future that will be coming over to the South Florida area or the US for that fact, please contact me and I will purchase a 120cm or 130cm from you.

Take Care, Maiki
 
hmmm..I was spearing in Cape Verde in September last year, My mate Bruce bought a Johri with him from SA...need less to say after 4 days of missing everything(including a massive bull mahi 25kg+ at 3 m range) and me shooting everything with my RA 140 carbon without missing. I felt sorry for him and let him use my trusty RA work horse. He hit every fish after that, I used the Johri and could not hit a frigging barge with it, it was rubbish!! Perhaps I was not used to using it, but in the hands of 2 very experienced spearo's it was awful. I think the barrel flexed, it certainly is inferior to the RA carbon railgun and when you examine it you can't help thinking it's a cheap knock off with its glued on rail.....
Perhaps the next generation will be a lot better, but for now
 
Thanks for the information pauldeclercq. I have always used the RA and Freediver spearguns and rarely miss anything that I shoot at. I just thought I would like to try out a carbon gun to see the difference. (if any).

Right now I have a SA friend that is the American distr. for the Freediver brand and use those guns more than the RA. They are also very accurate and with a reel the balance is better for me than the RA. But I do still like the RA guns thou.

Anyway thanks again for the info and if you ever get to the South Florida area (USA) look me up.

Cheers
 
Hi guys, I was going through your ideas.I used an RA 130cm aluminium from a friend and was pretty painfull to load.The handle really hurts.Now i am thinking of buying a new 130cm for me.Can you ever compare a 130cm RA with a 130cm Riffe euro seriese please ?/
 

Hi all,

I am not a very experienced spearo. I have been using RA guns - all aluminium - 90, 110 and 130. They work well for me. So if I can shoot and land almost every fish with them, then more experienced guys should be even better with those. The guns are solid and aim well. Most of my diving is done through shore entries through the sometimes rough Indian Ocean surf of SA...

RA guns have been developed over a long period of time and the technology is constantly tested and improved. I have never used Johri and cannot comment on the brand.

With regards to the difficulty in loading, may I suggest two things:
Go through the video tutorial on the RA website carefully. I used to have the same problem when I got my first gun - a 130 with 20mm rubbers. It was hard, but learning the technique made it easier.
Secondly, why not consider changing from one larger (20mm) rubber (I am assuming this is what you use) to two 16mm? Those are much easier to load.
 
Thanks buddy for your help . I think I go for the RA. Also the riffe is much more expensive here in europe and its not so worth it for me as here we dont have so much big fish.
Regarding the bands, sure I was using a pair of 16mm. With the 20mm i only load the gun 3 times and thats it, no more power in my arms.( I am a small skinny guy :blackeye )

I am not a very experienced spearo. I have been using RA guns - all aluminium - 90, 110 and 130. They work well for me. So if I can shoot and land almost every fish with them, then more experienced guys should be even better with those. The guns are solid and aim well. Most of my diving is done through shore entries through the sometimes rough Indian Ocean surf of SA...

RA guns have been developed over a long period of time and the technology is constantly tested and improved. I have never used Johri and cannot comment on the brand.

With regards to the difficulty in loading, may I suggest two things:
Go through the video tutorial on the RA website carefully. I used to have the same problem when I got my first gun - a 130 with 20mm rubbers. It was hard, but learning the technique made it easier.
Secondly, why not consider changing from one larger (20mm) rubber (I am assuming this is what you use) to two 16mm? Those are much easier to load.[/quote]
 
Speedcraft,
I have checked out of South Africa, at least for a while. I am currently in Budapest, Hungary where spearfishing is not a common theme of conversation if you know what I mean. In fact, I am waiting for my spearguns to arrive from SA any week now and I am worried what customs may think - I to not think they have seen many spear guns here in Hungary.

I don't want to deviate from this topic but I would like to know how spearfishing is in Malta. I would like to explore as many European spots as possible!
 
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