Wong GR and Magnum Hybrids

[niyomo]

Anyone out there able to help with a comparison of these two guns by Dr. Wong? His specs show both taking 5/16 shaft, both semi-enclosed, the magnum a more substantial gun with additional ballast to limit recoil. I'm struggling to understand the benefit of one over the other. I've read just dozens and dozens of threads here, great info, you guys are the bomb. But I have not been able to answser my own query as yet. Any help? Mahalo!:head

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I just answered this question in a private email, but just in case anyone else will benefit, I might as well put my reply here too.

I don't blame you for being confused about the difference between the G.R. guy and the Magnum. They both have the enclosed track on the butt, cut for a 5/16" shaft, but the difference is in the ballast. The Magnums have lead added to the butt, and then an extra strip of wood added to the lower surface of the butt in order to balance the lead and keep the buoyancy of the gun proper.

I had never seen the G.R. gun until a month ago when a friend got one, and frankly I had always had doubts that it would be heavy enough to handle that 5/16" shaft and 5/8" bands without having problems with recoil and accuracy. I got into a three-way email conversation with my friend and Daryl on this subject, and my impression is that Daryl agrees with me. He advised my friend to order the G.R. with a 9/32" shaft.

You may be concerned that the track is too big for 9/32", but it really is OK. It still captures the shaft, and in fact I have a 9/32" shaft in my magnum right now and it works fine. And the enclosed track will let you power it with three 5/8" bands and still prevent shaft whip. My oldest Wong is a 55" regular hybrid with 9/32" shaft and an open track, but I use three 9/16" bands on it because I'm afraid the shaft would noodle if I used more power.

Some people seem to be concerned that thin shafts won't penetrate big fish, but I've had good luck with them.

Here is a fish that I took last Tuesday with that regular hybrid, and it toggled the slip tip on the far side of the gill cover. Of course the Magnum would have done it at a longer range.

So I guess the bottom line is that if you want to use a 5/16" shaft and have the most stable gun, get the magnum. But if the extra cost is a factor, get the G. R. and use a 9/32" shaft.

I hope Daryl will correct me if I've given bum scoop.

 

[feign]

Beautiful fish and sweet shot Bill. Way to preserve that flesh.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Beautiful fish and sweet shot Bill. Way to preserve that flesh.

Thanks.

Since that was my first trip for 6 months due to surgery on both shoulders, I'm absolutely shameless about taking every opportunity to post photos.

 

[Seacidal]

Bill,
That is indeed a beautiful fish, and a beautiful shot.
I'm curious as to how long of a shot that was, as I'm trying to get an idea of the power of the 9/32" vs. 5/16" shafts and the 9/16" vs. 5/8" bands. I'm not even going to think about the band length, etc. that come into play. I'd like to stick with the simple things first.
I can't tell where the shot entered the fish, but with the gill plate and bones in the head, I'd be surprised if more than half of the shaft went through. I know it can be difficult to get the shaft and tip out of a head shot at times, but on the plus side, they won't tear out!
Thanks,
Chip

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Chip,

The vis was pretty poor, so even though the head was already going out of sight and I was just aiming where it should be, I'd guess the range was about 12 feet.

The photo is misleading as to how much bone the tip had to penetrate. The fish was above me and angling away, and the shot entered right above the base of the pectoral fin on the other side and angled up and forward through the gill cover. Of course you can see the pectoral fin on this side in the photo for reference. So the shaft really only pierced a bit of meat, then passed through a void before it hit the gill plate.

The bands were made to a 3.5 to 1 stretch ratio.