Two questions: wishbone and toothy plastic in front of a trigger

[100ka]

Hi people.
Last year I've bought my first speargun while on vacation in Greece. It's Xdive pro Alfa 90cm. I was spearfish today for an hour and missed a few nice salema's (Sarpa salpa), a mullet and a few other fish. Some misses were probably due to a blunt tip of a spear because I hit som e rock with my spear. And some were because i have used that toothy plastic in front of a trigger to clip spears line because I don't have enough line to make two full wraps around side trigger leverage.
This problem occured even when I was pulling wishbone on a second barb on the spear.
Is this part even intended to be used for clipping the line?

Second question is regarding the wishbone. Should this ends look like this or should I squeeze them with pliers to a loop shape like on the small spare wishbone?

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[marco15499]

Your gun probably doesn't need two loops. I'll take one off. That part is indeed intended to clip the line.

Regarding the wishbones, if you squeeze them with a plier, they will probably break. They look cheap poor quality. I'll change them immediately and buy some better ones.

 

[100ka]

Thanks I'll buy new wishbone after my vacation because I'm in some village in Greece [emoji13]

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[Mr. X]

Consider replacing the wire in the wishbone with 1.9mm Dyneema wishbone cord.

To make this work with the screw-in caps shown you will likely need to add a small washer to stop your stopper-knots from pulling through the hole in the caps (that's what Picasso do).

You'd also need to smooth out the wishone notches in your spear(s), especially the edges. Rob Allen spear notches are a good example of what you are aiming for. Cheap diamond coated files worked best for me; Dremel-type tools could help but I found the hand files worked better for me. I finished off by flossing the grooves with Autosol (metal polish) coated string.

 

[Andrew the fish]

I have Xdive Pro gun, 70 cm, not 90 like yours. Also bought in Greece, on Crete actually, in Chania for like 70 euro. I knew it was cheap, but I only needed it for those 10 days while I am on vacation. There are few issues with this gun. First, the spear is not stainless neither it is coated with anything, it will quickly corrode. Spear is also not hardened and will be bent and straightened over the knee right in the water many times. Spear tip is as soft as play dough. I do not recommend buying any component for this gun whatsoever but retire the whole unit, save the money to buy something decent.

On the other note, are you sure you were missing your shots? With single rubber (which you probably have) the gun is under powered. And combined with blunt-nose tip, which you also must have had within first 15 minutes of fishing, spear will be glancing off of the fish. Mine xdive pro, cheap as weak as it is, the most accurate gun I owned. I was shooting fish from the hip cowboy stile, hitting fast moving smaller mullets or other most hopeless shots sure misses were actually a solid hits. Which also makes me think. Are you sure your sight alignment is correct? This is a closed muzzle gun, you cannot use the shaft for your sight picture, pretty much have to align rear notch with front pin, like pistol. Also, again, carry a small file with you to keep the spear tip sharp. Soft metal is easy to sharpen, you can completely re-shape the tip in a minute.

 

[Andrew the fish]

forgot to mention: the actual reason I do not recommend any upgrades to your Xdive Pro Alfa, is because the trigger mechanism cannot handle two rubbers. It has been advised to me here on this forum as a possibility, and sure enough this turned out to be true. At first it was kind of holding, but then it started firing on its own once in a while. This is dangerous. Since I am fishing alone, I was taking the risk and kept trying with two rubbers until it stopped holding at all. Must have bent something in inside the trigger mechanism. With this gun there is nothing to keep. Trigger cannot be upgraded, pistol grip is glued together, you will have to replace the whole thing, but then, what is left untouched is the aluminium tube.

 

[100ka]

@Mr. X
Thanks for the tips!
I'm planning to do that immediately after I return home because as I mentioned im in a village (Vrachos beach) somewhere on Ionnian coast between Preveza and Parga in Greece. And there isn't anything here except the sea and a sandy beach

@Andrew the fish
Thanks for your extensive reply!
I think you are absolutely right today I was probably hitting fish but not piercing it.
I bought this gun last year while on vacation in Greece as my first speargun ever. Thought it's ok for begginer because of railing on top that gives accuracy. Problem that I had last year was chest pain from pulling the rubber (now I'm using a folded cloth under the tail of the speargun because I'm diving without a suit), so I used it only twice for all vacation. But on the first attempt I hit one 30-40cm long mullet without too much aiming, the bustard fell off from spear while I was pulling it towards me :'(
I have sharpened the tip really quickly with a file today after I came back to our room. I also have three pointed prongs that I have never used so I'll try them tommorow.
Because rubber in this gun is 18-19mm, if I put 2x16mm rubbers would it make a bit stronger but not too strong to screw up a trigger mechanism?
I'm spearfishing for one or two weeks each summer so for now I'm going to use this gun until I outgrow it.

How was fishing around Crete? Recently I saw a video of a guy on YouTube spearfishing some lionfish around Crete. I didn't know they are present in Mediterranean sea.

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[marco15499]

You have outgrown that speargun the moment you left the store. Go get a used one. You'll find very good deals for less than 100 Euros.

 

[100ka]

Thanks! :-D
Any suggestions what to search for?

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[marco15499]

Where do you live? Search on-line used selling sites or your country forums.

 

[100ka]

I live in Serbia, we don't have sea. So the spearfishing isn't the most popular sport. Probably only option for me is ebay.

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[Selenium]

I live in Serbia, we don't have sea. So the spearfishing isn't the most popular sport. Probably only option for me is ebay.

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try facebook, there are some groups that sell stuff .. and it might be worth it to buy new so you dont pay postage but ebay seems to be your best bet

 

[100ka]

Thanks for the tip.
I'm considering to make a wooden speargun by myself

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