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Which Gun to get? Riffe?

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

Well-Known Member
Apr 15, 2006
10
1
88
I am looking to get into freediving and spearfishng and I am hoping to get some opinions as to what speargun would be appropriate. I am moving to Los Angeles and suspect I will start my spearfishing at places like Malibu, Palos Verdes, and the coves down in Laguna, etc. I have been doing some reseach online and reading threads, etc and I think I am interested in a mid-handle Riffe. I am not sure how big is too big though. In addition to some of the costal hunting that I outlined above, I'd also like to work up to hunting some yellowtail, etc. (off Catalina Island, etc). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Dave
 
Though Riffe made his reputation with fine mid-handles, his new 1,2 and 3 band Euroguns are taking the market by storm. If you're in the LA area, go down to Belmont Shore and stop into the Pacific Sporting Goods SCUBA Center. Talk to the owner, Tom Murray. He carries Riffe goods and is a personal friend of Jay Riffe. He recently purchased a 2-band Euro gun and now rarely uses anything else, even clear out on the white sea bass and yellowtail grounds at Catalina Island. Personally, I went to www.poseidonsub.com and had Steve make a 3/4 mid handle that can be seen here. [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?t=65084"]And now for something slightly different . . .[/ame] Take your time. Try out guns by different makers before you choose. When you get here, shoot me a PM. Maybe we can put a dive together.
 
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Dave,

It also depends on how much diving/spearing experience you have. If you don't have a lot of experience then you might want to get a smaller (90-100cm) railgun for nearshore reef stuff. If you have a few years experience and you want to target WSB and YT, then your decision on a mid-handle is a good one. I am partial to mid-handles so that's why I say it's a good decision.

You might also want to take a look at www.wongspearguns.com. The 55" magnum hybrid is a sweet weapon for the Socal kelp and paddy/bluewater species.
 
I agree with Spinal Tap- that 55" magnum hyrid is ideal for yellowtail and white sea bass. However, I think it would be a bit much as your beginner gun. A smaller Euro type gun might be a better starter weapon.

A nice beginner gun that can still take some yellowtail and white sea bass is the Wong 50" hybrid. A good friend of mine got that as his first gun and its great for calicos and halibut, but he still managed to take yellowtail up to 27 pounds and a white sea bass even thought its not optimal for those fish.

He did end up getting a 60" magnum hybrid later and usually uses that when diving from my boat, but he uses the 50" for beach dives, when the vis is very poor, or when specifically targeting calicos.

The photo below shows that 50" gun with an Omer 50 reel and a yellowtail that he took within his first couple of months of diving. The other photo shows a white sea bass he took with the 60" in his second summer.
 

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Thank you all for your replies. I obviously still have some questions though. I don't have an unlimited budget but I'm not looking to get some cheap gun as I think you get what you pay for and I don't subscribe to playing with crappy equipment when it comes my life and the others around me. With that said, does it make sense to look at a "50" to "55" inch gun and just put two bands on it for some of the smaller inshore stuff and to get started. I can then put the third band on it later for yellowtail, white seabass, etc when I get to that point. I didn't clearly explain that this will be my first forey into real freediving and spearfishing. I surf and have dove in the past (snorkel to about 40ft, scuba, etc) so I'm comfortable in the water but never really go into freediving yet. Again, any feedback is helpful. Thanks.
 
Re: Which Gun to get? Riffe? Wong?

I'm hooked on this website and keep reading all of the old threads which are very helpful to a rookie like me. I would like to pose a questions to Bill McIntyre, Old Sarge, SpinalTap, IyaDiver, or anyone else that has an opinion. I've read great things about the "50" Wong Hybrid. Is it a comperable gun to the Riffe Mid-handle Hawaiian? I will be doing some beach dives in souther california. Starting out for halibut, calico bass, etc. but would like to use it for some yellowtail, WSB, etc when I get the opportunity. Any feedback is helpful.
 
Here are my 2 cents. Most guns are basically the same, there are no technical advances that make the best speargun (if there is one) much better than a good one. They all rely on a piece of metal or wood, trigger mechanism and a set of rubber bands.

If you can afford a nice speargun, go for it. It will make you a happy camper every time you go out into the ocean with friends that have regular looking guns.

I recently went through the same purchasing dilema you are going now and was recomended to a good speargun builder, who made me a custom made gun with custom wood handle for only a little more than the other spearguns would have cost.

I will try getting some nice photos of the gun this weekend to post them here.

The gun builder is Tom Mitzlaf, www.speargunbuilder.com
 
Hi cadiver!

1 year ago I placed almost the same thread that you're posting now... And I got lots of info from all this great and experienced people... I was thinking about some affordable gear but a few days later I was 1000.00 USD Poorer, but it was an smart buy, take a look because your question is almost the same that I posted: [ame="http://forums.deeperblue.net/showthread.php?t=60766"]Riffe, JBL or sea Hornet???[/ame]

After so much info I had 2 preferences, Riffe hawaian or No-kai. I got the No kai and I'm very very happy with the feeling, power, accuracy and performance of the gun. I can do shallow water hunting in the rocky bottom using a thin shaft and 2 bands and I can shoot big pelagics with a thick shaft and 3 bands. You'll never find the "perfect" multipurpose gun, but I think that this 2 guns are great, you get the best of both worlds, the lovely feeling of the wood (No pun intended :) ), the midhandle tracking capability, and sniper accuracy and reach:martial . With this gun you can get almost any fish.

That's my humble opinion, and please take a look to my old thread, there is so much info, and I couldn't believe at first that so many great members of this forum were going to take that much time, effort and good will to share his knowledge with a newbie:friday . Almost any pro - con of many guns is covered, and lots of technical info too.

Best regards and happy hunting!
 
Re: Which Gun to get? Riffe? Wong?

cadiver said:
I'm hooked on this website and keep reading all of the old threads which are very helpful to a rookie like me. I would like to pose a questions to Bill McIntyre, Old Sarge, SpinalTap, IyaDiver, or anyone else that has an opinion. I've read great things about the "50" Wong Hybrid. Is it a comperable gun to the Riffe Mid-handle Hawaiian? I will be doing some beach dives in souther california. Starting out for halibut, calico bass, etc. but would like to use it for some yellowtail, WSB, etc when I get the opportunity. Any feedback is helpful.

The Wong 50" hybid is a "comparable" gun to the Riffe Hawaiian, but the Wong is warranted for life, and for life of the guy you sell it to.

I had a real experience last week with the warranty. I went out with a guy who had a Wong 55" magnum hybrid. I didn't realize that this was his very first time in the water spearfishing. A huge white sea bass passed him while he was floating on the surface, and he missed it. When he tried to reload, he didn't orient the shaft properly, and tried repeatedly to jam it into the trigger mechanism. The shaft has a larger dimension when turned on its side, and after repeated attempts, he managed to crack the top out of the trigger mechanism and destroy it. I loaned him the extra gun that I hsd brought along for the rest of the day, and then brought his gun home with me and cannabalized a trigger mechanism out of a Wong that I seldom used. He called Daryl, and was told that he should just send the broken mechanism back, and a new one would be on the way. Don't bother to try that with Riffe, and frankly, I don't blame Riffe. After all, he is a mass market gun maker, and too many guys would take advantage of him. His guns are sold through dealers. But since each buyer talks to Daryl, there is more of a personal commitment on each side of the transaction.

Several years ago I left my Wong gun hanging over the side clipped to a line, along with a friend's Riffe Island, when I got under way to pull the anchor. The guns went through the props, tearing my shaft out of the mechanism and destroying the mechanism. My friends gun took some horrible gashes and his Riffe reel was snapped off right below the mounting screws.

I sheepishly ordered a replacement mechanism, and Daryl asked why I needed one. I told him that I had had a senior moment and explained what happened, and he told me that the mechanism was warranted, period, and sent me new one.

I am biased.
 
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Hi Dave,

Since you named me in your post, then I guess I have to respond. :)

I don't know anything about the Riffe guns and I don't know what size the Riffe Hawaiian is, so I can't help you there. I suppose when you say "comparable" you mean in size, correct? So here's what I know about the hybrid, and I'll list the things that I think are missing in the Riffe:

- It has a titanium or Carbon Fiber (CF) section in the foreward part of the gun. That makes it swing laterally with much greater ease. So when you're tracking that speedy school of YT, the hybrid is a dream to use.

- The wooden part of the gun is made by T laminating three pieces of teak for strength and to reduce any warping.

- As Bill's already mentioned, the lifetime warranty. This important in a couple ways. The first is obvious and Bill gave two examples. The second is the higher resale value it commands in the secondary market. You can sell a Wong gun for alot more than some others because it does have that lifetime warranty. But don't hold your breath on getting a used Wong gun. Owners of those guns don't generally sell them. Just ask Bill. He's got 5 of them and he probably hasn't use 2 or 3 in as many years. He shows those things off like they are his trophy wife...uhhh and I look everytime. :head

You need to decide how much halibut and calico hunting you're going to do vs. WSB and YT. If you plan to hunt halibut and calicos most of the time for a while, I would recommend getting a railgun. Depending on the vis. in the area you intend to do most of your diving, I'd get either a 100 or 110cm gun. This is personal preference though as I don't like to use a mid-handle gun for halibut and calicos. I have a 57" Wong Mahi and I use that for WSB and YT. I realized that I was passing on alot of nice calicos because I'm afraid that once I shot a calico, a big ol' WSB would cruise on up to check me out. So I bought an Aimrite railgun to use on Calico and halibut, then when I took it out for those fish, I run into big YT. :head Good thing about that gun is it has the range and punch to take medium sized WSB and YT.

I realize my recommendation is outside the scope of your question because I'm recommending you basically get two guns...eventually. The 100 or 110 can take smaller WSB and YT (~40lbs) easily as can the 50" hybrid. I would be hesitate for a split second to shoot a 60lb WSB with one of those guns though.

Alex and Luis give good advice, but you have to take into account the conditions in which they dive as well as the game they're targeting. Hunting calicos and WSB in the thick kelp forest is different from shooting dorado and other bluewater game under a floatsom.

Nate
 
Spinal Tap's comment that you really need two guns reminds me of another problem with trying to make one weapon do it all, and that is choice of tip.

My trip to Catalina yesterday provides a perfect example. All four of us had guns of 55 to 60 inches, and all of us had expensive slip tips on our shafts in hopes of seeing a big white sea bass. None of us saw any white sea bass, all of us saw huge calicos, but none of us took a shot. The calicos all had rocks behind them, and we just didn't want to pay $70 to $90 in slip tip cost for a fish. One of my buddies described sinking slowly trying to get into position so that he wouldn't shoot into rocks, while the calico slowly backed up and then bolted just as he got into position for a safe shot.

I mention this just to make you aware that in addition to possibly removing a band or two for smaller species, you will have to make a choice of tips. If you want to make one gun do it all, its easy to have a threaded shaft for slip tips and a Hawaiian shaft for calicos and halibut, but then you have to decide which one to use, and you never know what might come by while you think you are out for calicos. Probably the best solution is to just use a Hawaiian shaft almost all the time. Its not ideal for holding white sea bass, but it will work on most of them, and meanwhile you won't worry so much about shooting into rocks.
 
Bill, I agree with you about slip tip prices, they are insane.

What I decided to do was to make my shafts without a thread but with the slip tip back, and then I just purchase the JBL slip tip for $15 and install it on the shaft.

By removing the threads, there are no weak spots on the shaft and I have used these tips for landing anything from Gaftopsail pompanos to groupers to large tuna.

I have shafts in 5/16 for the Omer gun and 3/8 for the Mitzlaf gun.
 
Thanks again for all that have replied. Bill and Spinaltap, let me explore this warrenty on the Wong guns. Sounds like it's pretty comprehensive. What if I ding up the shaft in some rocks while going after a fish or going through the surf zone, etc? Does it get replace for free (less any shipping costs I assume)? Although I'm sure you have built relationships with him over the years, it sounds like Daryl's an easy guy to work. I also read on another thread, that the plastic trigger housing on the Wong guns is less disirable on how they design the Riffe guns (there seems to be a lot of Riffe vs Wong threads on here). What is the fear... that it can't take as much preasure as a metal housing and could release the spear unexpectedly. Now I'm sure there are lot of people stressing these things with a lot more and stronger bands than I will certainly do anytime soon (maybe ever) but I may be stupid and drop the gun and it could crack and I wouldn't know it so I guess this could be a concern of mine. Sorry to be annoying with all of these questions. Also, I've read some threads about Titanium vs Carbon Fiber. Being someone who will do some beach dives (bump into the sand, rocks, etc) does anyone have an opinion as to which would be better? Thanks again for any help.

Dave
 
The warranty doesn't include bands and shafts. That really would be too good to be true.

You are certainly correct that I have developed a relationship with Daryl over the eight years since I first bought one of his guns, but let me give you another example. I guy here in So Cal found a deal on a 50" used hybrid being sold by someone in Florida, so he bought it after asking me if it was a good deal. Among other things, I told him that while they came with two bands, the muzzle accepted three bands and a friend had found that the gun was still accurate and worked great with a third band.

When the gun arrived, it turned out to have a two hole muzzle- I think it was one of a limited early run of guns, but I forget the details. Anyway, the guy contacted Daryl, who told him to send the gun to him. He installed a three hole muzzle and refinished the gun while he was at it, all for no charge. Well, OK, the guy did have to pay to get the gun to Hawaii, but not to get it back.

This guy had no relationship with Daryl, and in fact had never bought anything from Daryl. I think there is a good chance that he will in the future though. There are those who regard all this good service as some sort of clever sales scheme. If so, it works for me.

On the mechanisms- every one is tested on a hybraulic machine before shipping. I forget how many pounds of force they use, but its far beyond what you will generate with bands. I am told that its designed so that if it fails, it won't release the shaft, while Alexander and Riffe mechanisms will release the shafts. I emphasize the "I'm told" part of that sentence, since I'm not an engineer or even very mechanically competent. I do know that when this friend of mine managed to damage his by repeatedly jamming the shaft into it while turned so that it wouldn't fit, you couldn't get the shaft into it at all, much less have it release prematurely.

I've used the mechanisms for years, and so have some of my friends. I have never heard of one failing other than this recent "failure" caused by someone being rather stupid on his first spearfishing trip with any gun of any kind. I hear rumors, and hear claims like the ones you described, but I think that is largely just the result of partisans for other brands trying to discredit Wong/Aimrite stuff. For instance, members of a certain club in the LA area are alledged to say that "the mechanisms fail, and you will have to replace them with an Alexander." This drives Rick Bettua, Daryl's partner who makes the mechanisms, nuts because he can't imagine why at least one person who experienced a failure would not choose to exercise the warranty rather than just purchase an Alexander, and I agree with him.

I have both carbon fiber and titanium. I do almost no beach diving, but some who do tell me that its virtually impossible to damage the carbon fiber. On the other hand, if it worries you, get titanium. Carbon fiber is stronger and stiffer, but I can't say that I notice any difference in performance when I pull the trigger. If you were getting the new 63" super magnums with a four-band muzzle, the extra stiffness of carbon fiber might be essential- in fact I believe that may be the only way he sells them. But for shorter guns with three bands, titanium works fine for me.
 
Ok... I may not be the smartest light in the forest :confused: but I'm starting to think these Wong guns are something I should take a look at. (hahaha). It seems like a "50" hybrid is a good match for my purposes and given that I'm a rookie, a good all around first gun. I will however admit one of my biggest attractions to the Riffe guns that I've concidered as well as some other guns, is the all teak wood constructions. I guess a lot of it is just asthetics, maybe that's all it is, but I just seem to want to get an all wood gun. With that said, please let me know if you have any opinions on the Wong Middle Ground, or MG as I've seen it called in other threads. I also wonder is a Mahi with scaled down rubber bands could also be a decent option. Any thoughts? Thanks again.
 
I would not use a Mahi for halibut or calicos. I wouldn't use any enclosed track gun for sandy beach entry and exits. The fine grit sand will get in between the shaft and track and jam it.
 
seaman said:
P.S> Thank's to the Wong guns and Daryl himself i have real "Brothers in arms" as Spinal tap and Bill Macyntire. Something about the Wong owners, it's a secular trend maybe

Hey, they are going to start wondering about us.:)

But I have to admit that there is a lot of truth in that for me. Since Daryl has no dealers, and since I have far too many of his guns, he often refers potential customers from the area to me to take a look at my guns, and often to come get help rigging them up after they buy them. As a result, I have a lot of dive buddies that I would have never met were it not for the Wong connection. I'll have to admit that it seems a bit of a stretch to think that nicer guys buy a certain brand of gun, but it sure does seem that way sometimes.

Now that I think about it- last Wednesday and Thursday I took my boat out diving, and both days all three of my dive buddies were guys that I met through the Wong connection. It sure works for me. I don't get financial compensation for playing "dealer" but I'm richly compensated with nice guys to pull my anchor.
 
Hi Cadiver and everyone!:)

I'm going to add a PM that I got from a great guy :friday when I was thinking about Riffe Hawaian/No kai/ Or Wong Hybrid, that helped me a lot to choose my gun and to whom I'm deeply thankfull for all his advice, time and effort spent on an unknown newbie, I got this as a PM because this guy was very discret and didn't want to hurt anybodys feelings, I haven't seen him here since very long ago and I think that many of us miss him (and many of you are going to recognize him from the way he writes and so many clues about his guns and preferences).

And please, I'm just adding my two cents, I've never had a wong gun in my hands and I don't mean any disrespect to him or to the great guys that own his guns:confused: ... Here we Go:

RIFFE is definetly my reccomendation. I noticed wong came up in the forums. There great guns too, but only if you go for th emagnum i think. Here's some pros and cons on the wong\RIFFE
WONG PROS :
A great gun made by a great guy, Daryl wong has great customer service and is a real nice guy.
- Lifetime waranty. Can't beat a lifetime Waranty.
- The Magnum series gun is internally ballasted, meaning that recoil will be drastically reduced without needing to add expensive wing kits, etc.
WONG CONS :
- Wong is in Hawaii and whatever the guns cost... add a heafty shipping charge to get it to you.
- Every gun is made by him. no help, in other words it can take a coupple of months to get a gun to you.
- He started using RIFFE parts, then Jay RIFFE found out and stopped him. He then used Alexander parts and then Steve Alexander stopped him. Daryl wong now uses aimrite parts which are plastic and in my opinion inferrior to RIFFE and Alexander. However, there ttrigger Mechanisms are still great and are rated to 600 pounds.
- Unless you get the magnum series all the guns are not internally ballasted. In other words there normal guns like the RIFFE. However, the RIFFE has a much better trigger mechanism, no plastic and a superrior safty. You can also buy every RIFFE part independently to make repairs on your own.
Wongs can only fire the shaft size that they are made to fire. A RIFFE will fire any shaft on the market. And because the RIFFE's arn't ballasted (like most wongs) you can choose to power down your RIffe if you don't like the recoil. I.E use a thinner shaft and lighter bands, etc. A RIFFE is truly the mr. potatoehead of spearguns, rofl
Wong Hybrds use an allunimum barrell in the front. This gives them the same problem euro barrells have. They fill with water after time and have to be repaired. And although Wong comes with a lifetime warenty, this means you have to send it back to hawaii, wait for a while and then have it sent back. Wood is always stronger and better.... all wood. Wong does make all wood guns, however they cost a lot more.
With that being said, Wongs are great guns! They are made by a great guy who has a great philosophy and loves what he does.
Although the RIFFE does not come with alifetime warenty, i find it hard to believe that RIFFE wouldent repair one of there trigger mechs (there a lot stronger then Wongs i think) if it was broken. There family name is on everything and i doubt they want a spear to hurt someone and have there name on it.
I remember i bought a used RIFFE torpedo float for 50$ and if had a broken part that cost 15$ to fix. I took it into RIFFE to be repaired and they fixed it and said it was only 15$. Then Julie RIFFE gave me a brand spanking new one.. no charge, no 15$ even after i told her i bought the float used, lol!! That's just the kind of people they are.
As for shafts, i would get a threaded shaft and a Hawaiian floper shaft. One 5\16th (threaded) and one 9\32nd (hawaiian flopper) if you can afford it.
Threaded shaft : You can use a "rock tip" which is the doubble barb standard screw on tip, the advantage of this is it's a shorter barb and doesn't require a huge pennitration to toggle. I'd use this for hunting Halibut and anything on the bottom. It's a great tip. The other advantage of this is after smacking it on the bottom for a year or two you can replace the tip without replacing the shaft!

The Other tip you could use with this that i would reccomend would be the slip tip (Ice pick tip by RIFFE). It's a slip tip and works well on bluewater fish and anything with sift flesh (think White Sea bass) I'm not a huge fan of slip tips, but a lot of people love them and swear by them. They just do't work well for what i hunt.
Hawaiian Flopper :
The advantage of this shaft is it's pure simplicity. I'd use this shaft for hunting Reef fish (and some Bluewater) It's so simple that there's less to go wrong. It usually always toggles and is very easy to remove and no resetting is required. If you don't get a slip tip right you can loose a fish. No chance of that happening really on a Hawaiian shaft. I only use hawaiian shafts. I do want to pick up a 5\16th threaded for my hawaiian though for halibut.

In the end, all your choices for guns are great choices. You could not be considering two better guns. I also like the railguns, but as a first gun, you want something that will last. A beautifull wood gun can be an heirloom and you can pass it on. There are 20+ year old RIFFE guns still being use and still working like the day they were made today. Choose whatever looks best to you and whatever suites your pocketbook the best as well =) If you like the feel and look of the wong then go for the wong, if you like the RIFFE, go for the RIFFE. they both have great characteristics.

Sounds like you already caught the bug, lol. you are right though. There is no "best gun" it's whichever guns is best for the conditions and fish you are hunting. I use a 90cm Rabitech Stealth Railgun for dirty water reef hunting and rocks. I use a customized JBL carbine for shooting at fish infront of rocks (although i never take it out) and i have my RIFFE hawaiian as my all round gun for mid-range and mid-good visibility as i know if can take a wide range of fish, i can power it up or down and change shafts to suit the conditions and where i'm hunting. I also take it to new places that i'v never hunted if i don't know what to expect. It's manouverable and it still has tons of punch. I have a 1.2 Rob Allen Railgun for high vis reef that i have rigged with 2X16mm bands and a single wrap of line for reef shots on high vis. ** i rigged my Rabitech with a single 20mm band and aq single wrap of line and my RIFFE with 2 wraps and either 2X 16mm bands or 3X 14mm bands. I use a 9\32nd shaft with a hawaiian flopper. I have a 1.3 Roba Allen i ordered and am giving to my dive partner as well. I'll probly end up getting a BW gun soon. I just don't go BW hunting enough now. I might get a Kitto\kelvstadd or a Merlo or a RIFFE.. not sure.

As long as you don't overpower your RIffe you shouldent need a wing kit. You don't need to overpower it. It has plenty of punch from the start.

In General, for tips, if you go for mainly reef fish, i'd go for a single 932nd hawaiian flopper. If your doing Bluewater, you'll want a thicker shaft. Maybe a 516th or thicker, you should be fine with a 5\16th.
 
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Reactions: Mr. X
I don't want to get into a pissing contest, but there are a few things in your friends PM that are flat wrong in my opinion, so I'll confine my comments to them.

Luis said:
RIFFE is definetly my reccomendation. I noticed wong came up in the forums. There great guns too, but only if you go for th emagnum i think. Here's some pros and cons on the wong\RIFFE

I have a magnum now, but I've owned regular hybrids since 8 years ago, and had great success. The white sea bass in my avatar was taken with a 55" regular hybrid with Aimrite tip, 9/32" shaft, and three 9/16" bands. Its the most accurate gun I've ever used.

- Every gun is made by him. no help, in other words it can take a coupple of months to get a gun to you.

Or it can take a week if he happens to be caught up on orders after 45 days of rain, as he is now. In any case, for a gun that should last you the rest of your life, it shouldn't be a big deal.

- He started using RIFFE parts, then Jay RIFFE found out and stopped him. He then used Alexander parts and then Steve Alexander stopped him. Daryl wong now uses aimrite parts which are plastic and in my opinion inferrior to RIFFE and Alexander. However, there ttrigger Mechanisms are still great and are rated to 600 pounds.

I don't know about the Riffe parts since he was using Alexander by the time I bought my first guns, but in any case it wasn't a big secret. Alexander was glad to sell him the parts, and didn't stop him from using them. He and his partner just finally started making their own and didn't need Alexander any more. Alexander still sells them the aluminum muzzles for the Mahi and Ono guns.

And to show how it goes full circle, a bunch of guys on Spearboard who were making guns for sale are now howling because they can't get the Aimrite mechanism any more. It was their mechanism of choice.


- Unless you get the magnum series all the guns are not internally ballasted. In other words there normal guns like the RIFFE. However, the RIFFE has a much better trigger mechanism, no plastic and a superrior safty. You can also buy every RIFFE part independently to make repairs on your own.
Wongs can only fire the shaft size that they are made to fire. A RIFFE will fire any shaft on the market. And because the RIFFE's arn't ballasted (like most wongs) you can choose to power down your RIffe if you don't like the recoil. I.E use a thinner shaft and lighter bands, etc. A RIFFE is truly the mr. potatoehead of spearguns, rofl

You don't have to buy every Aimrite/Wong part indpendently to make repairs. He will send it to you at no charge.

I used Riffe shafts in Wong guns for years, and still have Riffe shafts in some of my Wong guns. They, along with Alexander shafts, are interchangeable.

I can't really see what he is gettng at about no ballast allowing you to power down, but you can power down any gun. Its powering up that can cause a problem is the gun doesn't have enough mass.

Wong Hybrds use an allunimum barrell in the front. This gives them the same problem euro barrells have. They fill with water after time and have to be repaired.

No, they use either titanium or carbon fiber barrels in the front, and I consider that a great advantage for aiming and handling. I have an all wood Mahi and a Magnum hybrid that is the same length, and uses the same shaft and bands, and i never use the Mahi any more because I prefer the hybrid design. Wood is not always better, at least for me. And tuna hunters are even getting him to make 63 inch supermagnums as an alternative to the all wood Ono gun, so all wood is not always better for them either.

None of my barrels have ever filled with water.

The Other tip you could use with this that i would reccomend would be the slip tip (Ice pick tip by RIFFE). It's a slip tip and works well on bluewater fish and anything with sift flesh (think White Sea bass) I'm not a huge fan of slip tips, but a lot of people love them and swear by them.

I'm a big fan of slip tips, but definitely don't recommend a Riffe Ice Pick. If you are shooting big tuna, use an Alexander. For yellowtail, white sea bass, etc, use an Aimrite if you like cable, or use a Kitto, Plamen Kolev or Mori is you like Spectra as I do.

As long as you don't overpower your RIffe you shouldent need a wing kit. You don't need to overpower it. It has plenty of punch from the start.

That is the worst of his many false or misleading statements. The larger Riffe guns are notorious for being overpowered with the original bands and shafts. I had a Riffe Island and it had a horrible recoil problem and shot very low. The muzzle wing kit fixed it (for an extra $110) but it also made it very hard to handle. I know some very good white sea bass hunters who use the island, but all of them have added some sort of home made side stocks with lead to increase mass and control recoil.

Wong guns can be used with the shaft and bands that come with them.

Sorry if all this seems devisive, and I don't want to start a fight, but I just couldn't let all that misinformation stand without a challenge.
 
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