Which gun for my needs??

[teamdiesel]

Hi everyone, I am located on a small island in the Caribbean called Antigua. We have alot of reefs with crystal clear water, so I do alot of reef fishing. I currently have a Beuchat Marlin Competition 115cm with two 5/8 bands with a Tahitian style spear. My problem is that this gun is just too slow and not as powerful as I thought. I would miss shots as close as seven to eight feet because there is no power or speed in the shots. I need a lightning quick gun that can be used around the reefs and is deadly accurate. What do you guys recommend? Type and size.

 

[azapa]

I have speared in Guadaloupe FWI, and pole speared in the bahamas, so I guess I know your waters a tiny bit. you are lucky to be allowed to use spearguns where you live.

The gun you mention is very good, has an integral rail (I think?) and should completly rock! Are you rigging it right? Is the spear too heavy? are the bands too much?

If you spear with others compare notes with them, if you only spear alone you may have some simple rigging problem that is causing the inaccuracy.

You should be able to hit a small fish at 4m with that gun.

 

[teamdiesel]

I will post picks of the rigging when I get home so you can help me out. I had a feeling that that could be part of the issue.

 

[jtkwest]

is it a 7mm spear? that is a good size for the reef. very fast. maybe your spear is bent. have you checked that? also the mono should be either 200# or 300#- not 400# that is too fat. spray some silicone on the track before you hunt - and in the trigger mech. try taking your spear, and polishing it with220grit sand paper then with a rag- to get the oxidation off= it adds cosiderable friction. then spray that with a little silicone. then make the bands ,(new band material- maybe your bands sat in the store on the shelf for a year before you got them- and are no good) make them as tight as you can pull back, and your gun will be fast as hell! probably it is the spear being too fat that is causing your problem.it may be an 8mm spear- it needs to be either 7mm or if you can find one- a7.5mm spear is ideal size! that is the best size for reef in my opinion. 7mm is faster but they bend on fat groupers. daryl wong makes 7.5mm, but not for euro guns.i think the south africans make them for euro mechs though. rob allen or rabitec- i think RA has em'

 

[azapa]

most beuchats are pure euro, I am pretty sure that gun would come with a 6.5mm spear (maybe even less)

 

[teamdiesel]

what type of silicone are you refering too?

 

[blaiz]

a spray silicone lubricant. Comes in an aerosol can. It also helps extend the life of your bands if you spray a little on them after each dive.

 

[Coral Sniper]

A 115 is a good size and would probably work well. Like the others have said try some new rubbers, or if your rubbers look good still, try shortening them a inch each or so and test that out.

For clean water on the reef, the ultimate setup for me is my 130 Rob-Allen 7mm shaft single short 19mm rubber with reel. VERY accurate Very fast, plenty good for most fish.

Again your gun will work, but the extra 15cm on a 130 can make the difference on a flighty reef fish.
Just my thoughts

 

[teamdiesel]

I have speared in Guadaloupe FWI, and pole speared in the bahamas, so I guess I know your waters a tiny bit. you are lucky to be allowed to use spearguns where you live.

The gun you mention is very good, has an integral rail (I think?) and should completly rock! Are you rigging it right? Is the spear too heavy? are the bands too much?

If you spear with others compare notes with them, if you only spear alone you may have some simple rigging problem that is causing the inaccuracy.

You should be able to hit a small fish at 4m with that gun.

Here are the pics of how the gun is setup to hunt and how the wishbone is eating at the rail after only 5 uses.

 

[azapa]

1. the line must go over the spear and hold it in place in the guide at the muzzle.

See the images bellow, different gun, but you will get the idea.

In your case (i see the line release is on the left?) You want to have your line go UNDER the right side forward facing prong, turn straight up and go over the spear, then down under the left side prong and back to the line release.

2. the line from the spear, should be a 1.5 to 1.8mm monofilamente, (fishing line) with the correct sized crimps. The line is usually about about 2x the spear length, then ties onto the gun via a bungee.

This is a very long thread but try to read through:

http://forums.deeperblue.com/beginner-hunting/64504-dummies-guide-rigging-speargun.html

3. You can smooth out the wishbone location grooves in your spear and try dyneema wishbones to stop that hacking up, but a little bit of sanding on the present metal wishbone would probably help too.

4. Try just one band. How thick is the spear? I have never seen double bands on a spear with the wishbone grooves (as opposed to shark fins) but thats probably just me. If the spear is less than 7mm those double bands will make it wobble on firing.

5. Assuming the gun has a "U" guide along its length, that the spear sits in, when the gun is loaded (in water only!) does the spear sit flat in the U all the way along? Can you press it down? It there is a gap the spear could be bent. You can also hold the tip against something hard and rotate it, looking down the spear. You will see it wobble if bent.

Why not take the gun to a local spearo or dive shop, most spearos love to help others.

 

[teamdiesel]

1. the line must go over the spear and hold it in place in the guide at the muzzle.

See the images bellow, different gun, but you will get the idea.

In your case (i see the line release is on the left?) You want to have your line go UNDER the right side forward facing prong, turn straight up and go over the spear, then down under the left side prong and back to the line release.

2. the line from the spear, should be a 1.5 to 1.8mm monofilamente, (fishing line) with the correct sized crimps. The line is usually about about 2x the spear length, then ties onto the gun via a bungee.

This is a very long thread but try to read through:

http://forums.deeperblue.com/beginner-hunting/64504-dummies-guide-rigging-speargun.html

3. You can smooth out the wishbone location grooves in your spear and try dyneema wishbones to stop that hacking up, but a little bit of sanding on the present metal wishbone would probably help too.

4. Try just one band. How thick is the spear? I have never seen double bands on a spear with the wishbone grooves (as opposed to shark fins) but thats probably just me. If the spear is less than 7mm those double bands will make it wobble on firing.

5. Assuming the gun has a "U" guide along its length, that the spear sits in, when the gun is loaded (in water only!) does the spear sit flat in the U all the way along? Can you press it down? It there is a gap the spear could be bent. You can also hold the tip against something hard and rotate it, looking down the spear. You will see it wobble if bent.

Why not take the gun to a local spearo or dive shop, most spearos love to help others.

Thank you for your response sir. The gun uses 2 18.5mm bands, but I usually only use one. Won't the crimp on the spear end pull on the line when fired, if it is looped over the spear tip like that? The spear is a 6.5mm Rockwell shaft with a single flopper. The gun came with a 1.8mm mono line, but the spear got snagged between some rocks a few weeks ago, and the line burst when I was trying to get it out.

 

[blaiz]

If ran correctly the crimp will not interfere or snag on the line. A crimp like that might give you problems down the road though. And I would suggest switching that line back to mono or some type of specra/dyneema. The stuff you are using frays and cuts pretty easily, I could see the crimp area being a real problem for you as far as a weak point.

The gun you are using should be great. I have heard that the "clip in" style muzzle does slow the shaft down a bit, maybe use the two bands or switch to 1 20mm band?

A lot of times "off the shelf" guns need a bit of customizing before they suite your personal needs.

 

[James T]

Maybe I am wrong but apart from what has already been written I don't understand why your wishbone metal is taking chunks out of your rail - that looks to me to be completely wrong and would slow the ejection of the spear down considerably - the only friction should be between the spear and the integral rail it sits in (and even that should be tiny when in the water.) Your wishbones should not be rubbing along the rail like that - your pics made it look like they were grinding along as part of the ejection?

James

 

[Coral Sniper]

Thats true James, it clearly has some resistance when it shaves some of your rail off. You could try a normal articulated wishbone, it probably wont dig as much as this one and just screws on?

 

[James T]

You are using the Tahitian wishbone which comes as standard with the basic Marlin guns - I was just wondering whether the competition version uses a different version, e.g. like the articulated wishbone. Whatever it shouldn't rub along the rail like that it may be a rigging thing - bit hard to tell from the pics.

However.... personally I don't use metal wishbones its pretty straightforward and nice to use dyneema ones - there are a few threads around on tying your own wishbones. Won't hurt when they snap either.

 

[azapa]

Is the guide made of plastic? I have a H Dessault with plastic guide and the articulated wishbone does chew it up slowly at the end of its travel (muzzle end).

With a 6.5mm spear two 18.5mm rubbers are overkill and will reduce accuracy. A 90Cm Omer comes with a 6.5MM spear and single 18mm band, a total laser!

 

[AlanMc]

teamdiesel, is this the same diesel from A.Streets?

That gun should be fairly accurate to 8' without any issues, might be a good idea to place a target in the water before you go to dive again just to see the distance you are getting and which direction the spear is going.

I had a Marlin carbon which i sold but that gun was accurate between 8 - 10'. I have ordered a new Marlin which comes with 1 16mm and am awaiting delivery so when that comes i will let you know how it shoots.

 

[Marwan]

If I may chime in, I have quite a ew guns and have come to the conclusion that unless the mass of the gun is on the heavy side (e.g. wood) dont use more than 1 band..I dont have beuchat but I do have quite an arsenal of coparable guns (Cressi, Omer, Seatec, C4, etc...). I fins that for Euros a single 18mm band with a 6.75mm spear is the maximum you can use and still maintain the guns accuracy..You need to consider the fish you're after..I would expect that Antigua to have similar game like the red sea (Coral environment)..so you will likely need 2 guns for maximum effectiveness..The one you have should be oustanding for over 80% of the time, when you are going for coral trout, sweetlips, grouper, emperor snapper etc....with a single 18mm band and 6.75 spear, you get speed and accuracy...and results! the next gun would be something bigger for the "blue" species beyond the reef's edge for the spanish macks and occasional species,,,this would be your wooden heavy gun with 3 or more bands and an 8mm spear..Another piece of advice...I would watch that Tahiti wishbone for signs of wear, if it breaks on you its not a cool event
happy hunting...
hey its great to be back here guys...

 

[teamdiesel]

teamdiesel, is this the same diesel from A.Streets?

That gun should be fairly accurate to 8' without any issues, might be a good idea to place a target in the water before you go to dive again just to see the distance you are getting and which direction the spear is going.

I had a Marlin carbon which i sold but that gun was accurate between 8 - 10'. I have ordered a new Marlin which comes with 1 16mm and am awaiting delivery so when that comes i will let you know how it shoots.

Yes this is the same person. The shaft is a 6.5mm shaft and I mainly use one band as using both bands make the gun more inaccurate. I went diving on Sunday with three guys who were using 90cm and 75cm guns with some realllly short 16mm single bands, and they were getting much better range than me. I mean, these guys were shooting fish as far as 10 feet away with deadly accuracy, while using what appears to be 6mm or thinner Buechat shaft. All this while my spear was shooting about 6 feets and dropping like a rock on a 10 feet shockline . Do I need to get a shorter band and a thinner shaft or what? It burns me that I have a bigger gun with thicker bands, and I have NO range or power.

 

[teamdiesel]

Is the guide made of plastic? I have a H Dessault with plastic guide and the articulated wishbone does chew it up slowly at the end of its travel (muzzle end).

With a 6.5mm spear two 18.5mm rubbers are overkill and will reduce accuracy. A 90Cm Omer comes with a 6.5MM spear and single 18mm band, a total laser!

Yeah the guide is made of some form of plastic. Where in the U.S online can I purchase a shorter Dyneema type band?