• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

switched to sling gun and keep missing ever since

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

Andrew the fish

Well-Known Member
Oct 17, 2010
571
165
133
hello folks. Like I said, recently I switched from my pneumatic Cressi SL Star to JBL explorer 20 sling gun and I have trouble hitting the fish. It seems that gun shoot quite a bit higher and not very predictably. Is it normal for sling gun? Do I just have a hard time adjusting to a new gun, or is it a problem with design? This particular gun is a single sling, but I have added another sling because one sling was a bit too weak even for surf perch at 4 feet away. But then, it still not accurate one sling or two slings, all the same. Depressing.

I see some guns have integral rail on the barrel. Will rail improve accuracy? Can I add the rail and who makes them? Or do I have to buy complete different gun with rail? I will probably be buying another gun anyway.
 
Reactions: sitkaspearo
I have three sling guns, a rife standard no. 3 , a biller 48 special and a mako predator pro about 48 inches long, as long as the shafts are straight all three guns are very accurate. Did you purchase the JBL used, was thinking maybe the shaft was a little wonky? As well for the gun not to have enough power to nail a fish at four feet sounds very wrong. Perhaps the band or bands are undersized or too long, also even a almost imperceptible bend in the shaft will make it very inaccurate, good luck.
 
the gun I bought was brand new. I am thinking, perhaps shaft is a bit too soft to handle two slings? The sling I added is a bit long even for the second notch. Original sling is ok, but like I said not enough power, I poked a few fish without penetration.

So, any thoughts on rail vs no rail spear gun? I am currently shopping, any suggestions welcomed.
 
I am a little confused about the difference between traditional guns and rail guns, both my biller and my rife have a recessed groove in which the shaft rests, the mako predator has the same thing but it's made of metal, it's just a raised piece of aluminum with a groove on it to cup the shaft, they call it a rail gun, of the three guns the rife is my favourite. I notice that you live in Canada, have you ever found a dive shop that caters to free divers or spear fishermen? I have had to order most of my gear through shops in the USA, have it shipped to American friends and stop and pick it up on my way to Mexico in the fall. Cheers.
 
Sorry to hear that your recent purchase is not working as well as you would have liked. The rail on top of the barrel is intended to help guide the shaft. you may be able to locate a plastic rail that can be glued onto the barrel.

Our guns have an integrated rail, meaning the rail is extruded as part of the barrel itself. This type of design makes the barrel stronger and stiffer.

I'm not sure I can offer more suggestions for your current gun other than to ensure that the shaft is straight, the flopper is not sticking up or deformed and it sounds like the problem is not over powering, since the same accuracy issues are present for one and two bands.





Since you mentioned that you are in the market for another gun, I hope it is OK (within this section) to suggest that you check out or guns. I won't go into a whole discussion about the features, but all our guns are accurate, powerful and can take a fish at a considerable distance.

http://www.makospearguns.com/Predator-Pro-2nd-Generation-Railgun-p/mpp2gr.htm

Thanks
Dano
 
prospector - no, I don't know of any dive shop around Vancouver area who carries anything for freediving. We are very small fraction of their clientelle, it is not worth the trouble for small businesses. Pretty much all carry some small selection of spearguns and knives, but prices are double of what you would pay online. They only carry spearguns because we are allowed to spearfish with tanks.
 
A single band is often better than adding an additional band, there are dozens if not hundreds of post on this forum where folk complain of lost accuracy after adding an extra band.
Guns that are desired or prepared to handle twin bands are of course quite accurate.
Did you own a dry barrel air gun?
 
Reactions: Mr. X
foxfish said:
Did you own a dry barrel air gun?
Click to expand...

no, all I had so far is Cressi SL Star 55 (great gun BTW), I understand this is flooded barrel design. Is it worth the trouble getting dry barrel pneumatic gun? I am happy with my Cressi, will be using it as soon as replacement shaft arrives. And I am actually machining broken shaft to accept 6mm tips. Buying JBL 20 was an expensive mistake.
 
Actually, now looking at JBL design, I don't understand what were they thinking when they came up with this. Shaft sits above the barrel by about 1/4", supported by front port and trigger latch at the back. When fired, rear support is gone of course, and rubber band brings the tail into contact with barrel, tipping the shaft to point upward. If rubber band slid a little in its seat, it will also pull the shaft to the side whichever side ended up shorter. Basically this gun has no chance to be accurate. I will never buy anything without either track or grove on it.
 
Well a few years ago Tyragon (or something like that name) produced a very high tech design band gun that only had a ring at the muzzle and no track of any description along the barrel. Forum member Magpie owned one and said is was vert accurate!
Re the dry barrel, yes indeed it is worth fitting! A dry barrel conversion will transform a standard gun into a much more efficient weapon...
 

Hey Fox,
If it is Trygons, you are thinking of, I think their claim to fame was a CNC milled enclosed track, water ballast and monoqoque shell of carbon fiber.
C4 on the other hand, while still all CF and supposedly very well balanced often (always?) seem to come without a rail and they do sometimes come with some funky stainless steel fittings at the nose (though I cant recall a ring-type).

Obviously, being a Dark Side Disciple myself, I agree with your take on the dry barrel!

@Andrew the fish, if you are interested, we are very alive over on the pneumatic section. It wouldn't take any of us long to tell you what options you'd have. But beware. You might stop looking at bandguns again.

I am of the firm belief that in the pound-for-pound game (or rather, cm for cm) you won't find anything more powerful and efficient than a vacuum-muzzled pneumatic. But then again, I have not shot that many bandguns.
Rollers, while they are more efficient than traditional bandguns, also have pretty substantial recoil, are sometimes nose heavy (more so if the roller muzzle is an aftermarket add-on) and a tad more bulky than a regular bandgun.

Only real competitor would be a demultiplied/compound rubber gun. No recoil and increasing force being put into the spear (as opposed to all in the beginning and nothing at the end) which means they supposedly have greater precision and range.
Check out Roisub guns and parts. Youtube it, there are some pretty impressive target shooting.

That said, pure power-effficency is def not the be-all and end-all and prolly most biggish fish in the past 5-10 years have been taken on railguns with 1-2 rubbers .
 
Last edited:
Reactions: MozSpearer
IMO, if you are a freediver, take that JBL and huck it as far as you can into the sea. Get ANY euro-style gun, rail or not and make your hunting fun and rewarding.
JBL are ok for scuba guys on big fish. Even then I'd pass. I know guys use them; I have too in the past. But they are too heavy for a freediver. A good euro gun you can hold with one hand all day without getting tired. Plus when you shoot, the gun becomes buoyant as the shaft is out. Makes killing your fish easier, on the way up or at the surface. Plus reloading is easier due to the neutral buoyancy.
I've never owned a Mako but they're well spoken of.
And yeah, Canadian shops are little to no help re: spearfishing.
 
Reactions: prospector, foxfish and Mr. X
mako1 said:
... The rail on top of the barrel is intended to help guide the shaft. you may be able to locate a plastic rail that can be glued onto the barrel.
...


...
Click to expand...
Omersub sell just such a stick-on rail if you feel the need for one, they also have (/had) a good youtube video showing you how to fit it tidily - worth watching.

My 2 cents worth:

General opinion seems to be rail doesn't make any difference for short barrel lengths but, perhaps, offers increasing benefit, as barrel lengths increase. I started with a Rob Allen 90cm aluminium-barreled railgun (similar to the Makos but from South Africa), it was good but clearly built for bigger fish than we usually encounter in the UK - robust, very strong & well built but also large/bulky & heavy.

I then bought an Omer XXV - not the railed Gold version normally sold here but the cheaper rail-less one sold in Italy - I love it & I don't miss the rail at all, in fact I figure it makes this slim, super-light carbon-barreled wonder even slimmer, lighter & with less drag than if it had a rail i.e. there can also be advantages to not having a rail. Being significantly smaller & lighter, it's easier to carry, transport & swim with - and it makes the fish look bigger

I then bought the same Omer XXV again but with a 90cm barrel - again no rail (it was an available option). I use it if the 75cm XXV feels a bit short for the shots I'm taking (e.g. like in Cornwall, Summer 2014). Longer barrels seem more accurate at distance to me but they can be unwieldy in poor visibility, strong current & for closer shots, which I often encounter.

So I think the above means that, deep down, I don't believe you need a rail - and there can be benefits to not having one [see above]. However, if I were to visit somewhere with bigger game/pelagic fish, I would happily pick up a longer Mako/Rob Allen/Beuchat/Omersub railgun - maybe 110-140cm barrel lengths. Although I wouldn't be worried about not having a rail up to 110/115cm, the big European companies have made great spearguns like that for decades.
 
Reactions: MozSpearer and foxfish
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…