Taimen - Russian pneumovacuum speargun

[popgun pete]

Here are some photos of the new replaceable polyurethane bush spear tail. Previously the polyurethane bush was molded over that one-piece tail and there was no easy way to replace it, in fact for this reason I purchased three extra spears with my "Taimen" PVRM600 gun. I had a slight hand in this new design as for some time I had my own thoughts on how to do it. As you can see the rear end of the new tail now screws on in order to trap the polyurethane bush in place and can be tightened up with a thin rod or screwdriver blade passing through a small transverse hole located in the extreme rear. A slight taper on the spear tail prevents any problems with the transverse hole passing through the vacuum cuff. Tension provided by the polyurethane bush being squeezed up prevents the spear tail from unscrewing during use.

 

[popgun pete]

The "Taimen" prices are going up next year by 10%, so if you want to buy one now is the time to do it as by the 27th December (I think, not entirely sure of the date) the old price list ends. In some ways I regret buying the LG-Sub Manilu "Revolution" (yet to arrive) as I was toying with buying a "Taimen" PVM850 or PVM1000.

Here is a short video of a "Taimen" 600 model being unpacked and tested.

 

[popgun pete]

Here is a laser sight installation on a "Taimen" speargun which is very compact and has a grip mounted switch to turn the laser sight on and off.

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More photos of a sectioned "Taimen" showing the inner layout and demonstrating the very compact nature of the gun.

 

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There is now a "Taimen" catalog displaying all the available guns.https://vk.com/doc-152421109_467023838?dl=311af60731becf0af3

 

[popgun pete]

Preventative maintenance: At end of the season and before long term storage with the gun held vertical depress the valve stern and release all air including the oil which is completely pushed out by the rapidly escaping air. Hold the gun above a container to catch the displaced material from the gun’s interior while performing this task. Examine the oil for any contaminants, if no water is present in the oil then this is good, otherwise the gun must be disassembled to investigate causal factor and arrange for a prompt repair.

Actually this gadget could be used on any pneumatic speargun, but the "Taimen" has a plastic valve stem which requires a broader plunger to spread the contact pressure over the end of the stem, whereas for a ball type inlet valve the plunger needs to be narrower so that it will fit through the hole in the inlet valve body, but only for about a centimetre in length as the rest can be thicker to avoid any tendency to bend under loading.

 

[popgun pete]

Taimen side mounted line release is now available as a spare part http://taimen.pro/catalog/zapchasti/item/bokovoj-linesbros

and the matching trigger http://taimen.pro/catalog/zapchasti/item/spuskovoj-kryuchok-dlya-bokovova-linesbrosa

Also complete side line release equipped handle is available with or without thumb support and with or without power regulator entry port in top of handle on left hand side. http://taimen.pro/catalog/zapchasti/item/rukoyatka-s-bokovym-linesbrosom

Taimen catalogue here https://vk.com/doc-152421109_467023838?dl=311af60731becf0af3

 

[popgun pete]

My thoughts on transforming the existing "Taimen" special tool for tightening up the new removable spear tails.

 

[Zahar]

Without a hot washer, polyurethane is shaggy and worn out!

 

[popgun pete]

Original "Taimen" spear has tapered front end polyurethane bush, so the bush only contacts on outer periphery as it enters the hydraulic shock absorber bore machined into the rear of the line slide. I have had no problems, but have three identical shafts to use, thus wear and tear spread out over all three. Fourth shaft has fixed tip and small twin floppers that is not much use to me as one hit on a rock and it is kaput.

After the shot a sharp jerk using the shooting line held parallel to the shaft pulls the slider from the polyurethane bush where it is.slightly stuck. The water of the hydraulic braking action stops the leading edge of the bush hitting the step change in the line slide internal bore diameters.

original spear tail

new two piece tail with separate polyurethane bush

 

[popgun pete]

Modifying the "Taimen" special tool to perform more tasks.

 

[popgun pete]

Oil replacement volume can be determined from the wetted gun internal surface area as was discussed here https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/how-much-extra-oil.101614/. The "Taimen" is a relatively small volume gun for poking through underwater weed thickets and a tangle of sunken branches resulting from submerged fallen trees while taking sniper shots at fish unaware of their impending doom. Too much oil and you reduce the volume to be filled with air pressure and you then push up the gun's compression ratio which you do not want to do. Consequently the "Taimen" only needs about 4 or 5 ml of oil, however longer guns will require more oil and this can be calculated after working out the internal surface area extension in a longer gun. Note that to get rid of the old oil completely the gun after the draining method shown above should be re-pressurized with say twenty pump strokes and then stood on its butt for about an hour and then the exercise repeated to blast the remainder out. Guns with a power regulator must be set to full power as otherwise the oil with not easily get past the throttle opening. You will never totally remove the last of the oil film, but that is the case whatever you do unless you totally dismantle the gun and throw it into a bucket of warm soapy water. If you do this then don't use detergent as it will affect the rubber, a soap solution is all you need to remove the oil coating. Then everything is rinsed in clean water and completely dried before reassembly.

 

[popgun pete]

Here is a comparison of the spear tails showing the original and the later lengthened spear tails when first inserted into the "Taimen" muzzle. Note the polyurethane bush has less of a taper than before, however whether this is a good idea or not remains to be seen. Usually the line slide would be clicked into the muzzle before pushing on the hand loader, here I have shown the line slide yet to be pushed into position.

 

[popgun pete]

I see that a "Taimen 1400" was made to a special order, this gun requiring the stepped ladder loader to charge it! That is a very long pneumatic speargun, which is a big stretch on a gun originally designed for shooting in thickets and reeds. However the long gun was seen laying alongside a pile of big meaty victims, so it was deadly in the right hands.

 

[popgun pete]

A new handle for the "Taimen" has been shown recently here:

The rake angle and shape of the grip handle has been changed with perhaps the most noticeable difference being the flattened angular lower section of the finger guard for the trigger. The side-mounted line release lever is now sprung loaded and the old centreline trigger finger guard mounted line release lever has been eliminated. The previous handles needed the wrist angled forwards to point the gun, now the wrist can be more naturally held,

The reason behind the original steep rake angle was to raise the grip pressure up behind the barrel axis as much as possible for such a light gun, however it made the grip awkward for many divers and was not a natural point and shoot for those who had smaller hands.

 

[popgun pete]

Using the stepped ladder loader is shown here for cocking a very long "Taimen". Note the supplementary horn on the muzzle to hook the loader bar.

VK.com | VK

vk.com

 

[popgun pete]

Apparently the "Taimen" has had a change to the slider interior shape by replacing the rear cylindrical bore that acted as a mini water pump to provide hydraulic damping with a cone shape instead. Now the cone is in the alloy slider bore rather than on the polyurethane bush nose as it was before and my thoughts are this changes the water volume being pumped out in each case. The incompressibility of water and the slight deformation of the polyurethane bush provided a two stage deceleration before consisting of water pumping and then polyurethane bush deformation, but will the new set-up provide the same action? I don’t know the exact details of the new line slide interiors, but here is a sketch indicating what I am talking about. I think damping may be more by the bush and less by the water pumping in the new design, in which case the polyurethane bushes will wear out faster and may jam more often than the earlier version does.

Water volume 1 will be greater than water volume 2 trapped in the slider/line slides when the polyurethane bushes engage the line slides at the end of spear travel. Also the conical nosed bush can penetrate much further into the slider bore thus producing a longer deceleration stroke.

 

[popgun pete]

A titanium model of the "Taimen" has been announced with a full titanium construction as a limited edition. The gun uses the new muzzle with an integrated line slide holder, somewhat like the black plastic nose produced a year or two back, but with a different shape to the front profile. Price of PVM600 d8- 27,550 rubles.

http://taimen.pro/novosti/82-tajmen-titanium-d8

Prototype muzzle in alloy.

Plastic muzzle (now discontinued) prior to drilling of side ports in slots.

 

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Here is a frame taken from the Taimen Company video where you can see the new muzle being created.

 

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The side-mounted line release lever now has a return spring which can be retrofitted to the earlier guns by replacing the components in an exchange program for the guns supplied without it.

And the titanium gun examined here.