Luis,
It sounds like you received some bad information. Bill pretty much addressed most of the "inaccuracies" of your friend's PM, so I'll just add some other thoughts.
Unless you live close enough to the Riffe factory/headquaters to drive there for warranty issues, then you're going to have to ship your Riffe product back to them. I don't think it was much cheaper to ship a gun from Guadalajara to Dana Point than it is to ship it to Hawaii.
On some of the other points, a little due dilligence on your part could have yielded the truth. Or even just deduction could have yielded the same result. If Daryl was using Riffe trigger mechs and "Jay found out and stopped him..." Why would Jay find out? Wouldn't Daryl have to BUY Riffe trigger mechs from Jay? Daryl used Alexander trigger mechs and I think those two have a good relationship. I know Daryl talked about having dinner with Steve on different occasions.
You should have asked publicly the number of Wong guns with the aimrite triggers have failed. It's a fair question. Kind of silly for Daryl and Rick to offer lifetime warranties on weak plastic triggers, don't you think?
Regarding the Riffe guns as being the Mr. Potatohead of spearguns, here's what I've learned about them:
When you bought your (big) Riffe from the store, did you do at least one of these things to it:
- downsized the bands
- new longer bands
- downsized the shaft
- add wings
- add lead to ballast the gun
If you didn't then you're the first person I know of that shoots with a stock Riffe gun. Even Jay Riffe's son-in-law, who is a big strong young man, put wings on his island. But he says he has them because he likes them...not because the gun needs it. Most people I know with Riffes HAD to do this for the gun to shoot accurately. So the guns that are sold aren't more versatile and scaleable (potatohead). They're just "incomplete". My (retorical) question about the Riffe guns is: "If the guns need wings, additional ballasting, smaller or longer bands...etc, then why don't they come with it? If it doesn't need it, then why does EVERYONE who has one modify it with those aformentioned "fixes"?
Well, so long as you shared your mysterious buddy's Riffe customer service story, I'll add mine.
Bear in mind, I've never bought a speargun from Daryl. I bought a Mahi bluewater speargun fourth hand. Yep, not counting Daryl, there were three previous owners. I emailed Daryl with some questions and he emailed back telling me about the lifetime warranty. He also sent some pieces of of terminal gear I needed to get the gun ready to hunt.
So Daryl Wong has never received a check from me for buying a speargun from him.
Here's my story, and this is the first time I've shared this publicly.
I'm a minimalist ,read frugal,...no, no READ CHEAP ASS. I mainly hunt Southern California and use the Mahi for the big game and use a 110cm Aimrite railgun for smaller stuff. I think I've got every thing covered for where I hunt. I don't make enough trips to warrant another gun. Anyways, I happen to find a 55" Wong hybrid for sale, but it was in Hawaii. I really liked the gun and the price was unbeatable; however, I don't like buying things sight unseen. Daryl is the only person I know on Hawaii, I hesitated for two days before sheepishly asking if he would take a look at the gun for me. He asked me who the seller was and told me that he remembers the guy and the gun. He says that he refinishes the gun every year and it is in better condition than most of his own guns. He thinks it's a killer deal and I should buy it.
Daryl then drives to pick up the gun, makes the adjustments (changed out the muzzle because it came with an extra muzzle), throws in three freshly tied bands for free, then ships it to me.
Let's hear of another gun maker doing the same for anyone who hasn't even bought a gun from him.
Like I told Dave. Get the gun you're comfortable with owning and using. I don't know of an all wood gun that will be effective in hunting halibut and WSB. But who knows, maybe the Mr. Potatohead of spearguns can and I'm really missing out with my Wong Mahi.
Nate
It sounds like you received some bad information. Bill pretty much addressed most of the "inaccuracies" of your friend's PM, so I'll just add some other thoughts.
Unless you live close enough to the Riffe factory/headquaters to drive there for warranty issues, then you're going to have to ship your Riffe product back to them. I don't think it was much cheaper to ship a gun from Guadalajara to Dana Point than it is to ship it to Hawaii.
On some of the other points, a little due dilligence on your part could have yielded the truth. Or even just deduction could have yielded the same result. If Daryl was using Riffe trigger mechs and "Jay found out and stopped him..." Why would Jay find out? Wouldn't Daryl have to BUY Riffe trigger mechs from Jay? Daryl used Alexander trigger mechs and I think those two have a good relationship. I know Daryl talked about having dinner with Steve on different occasions.
You should have asked publicly the number of Wong guns with the aimrite triggers have failed. It's a fair question. Kind of silly for Daryl and Rick to offer lifetime warranties on weak plastic triggers, don't you think?
Regarding the Riffe guns as being the Mr. Potatohead of spearguns, here's what I've learned about them:
When you bought your (big) Riffe from the store, did you do at least one of these things to it:
- downsized the bands
- new longer bands
- downsized the shaft
- add wings
- add lead to ballast the gun
If you didn't then you're the first person I know of that shoots with a stock Riffe gun. Even Jay Riffe's son-in-law, who is a big strong young man, put wings on his island. But he says he has them because he likes them...not because the gun needs it. Most people I know with Riffes HAD to do this for the gun to shoot accurately. So the guns that are sold aren't more versatile and scaleable (potatohead). They're just "incomplete". My (retorical) question about the Riffe guns is: "If the guns need wings, additional ballasting, smaller or longer bands...etc, then why don't they come with it? If it doesn't need it, then why does EVERYONE who has one modify it with those aformentioned "fixes"?
Well, so long as you shared your mysterious buddy's Riffe customer service story, I'll add mine.
Bear in mind, I've never bought a speargun from Daryl. I bought a Mahi bluewater speargun fourth hand. Yep, not counting Daryl, there were three previous owners. I emailed Daryl with some questions and he emailed back telling me about the lifetime warranty. He also sent some pieces of of terminal gear I needed to get the gun ready to hunt.
So Daryl Wong has never received a check from me for buying a speargun from him.
Here's my story, and this is the first time I've shared this publicly.
I'm a minimalist ,read frugal,...no, no READ CHEAP ASS. I mainly hunt Southern California and use the Mahi for the big game and use a 110cm Aimrite railgun for smaller stuff. I think I've got every thing covered for where I hunt. I don't make enough trips to warrant another gun. Anyways, I happen to find a 55" Wong hybrid for sale, but it was in Hawaii. I really liked the gun and the price was unbeatable; however, I don't like buying things sight unseen. Daryl is the only person I know on Hawaii, I hesitated for two days before sheepishly asking if he would take a look at the gun for me. He asked me who the seller was and told me that he remembers the guy and the gun. He says that he refinishes the gun every year and it is in better condition than most of his own guns. He thinks it's a killer deal and I should buy it.
Daryl then drives to pick up the gun, makes the adjustments (changed out the muzzle because it came with an extra muzzle), throws in three freshly tied bands for free, then ships it to me.
Let's hear of another gun maker doing the same for anyone who hasn't even bought a gun from him.
Like I told Dave. Get the gun you're comfortable with owning and using. I don't know of an all wood gun that will be effective in hunting halibut and WSB. But who knows, maybe the Mr. Potatohead of spearguns can and I'm really missing out with my Wong Mahi.
Nate
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