I just recently purchsed a Wong speargun, and I must say, that it is one of the finest pieces of craftsmanship I have ever seen. However, the thing is next to impossible to load in the water. I'm a pretty big strong guy, and it still gives me some trouble. Do I not have the right size bands? I believe I do. I have a 25" and a 26" 9/16 bands on a 55" hybrid. I've tried hip and chest loading. Hip works the best, but it's still pretty damn hard. Any ideas, or techniques??? I have never had trouble loading a speargun before until now.
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Wong hard to load
- Thread starterAndyDic
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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If you have the Daye tab, then it should be easy. I'm 68 and can load 5/8" bands of that length on that length of gun. You have to be doing something wrong.
With the butt on the hip, pull a band to the Daye tab. Then, without turning loose of the band, move the butt to the lower chest and just keep on pulling.
With the butt on the hip, pull a band to the Daye tab. Then, without turning loose of the band, move the butt to the lower chest and just keep on pulling.
I wasn't doing that. I was just keeping it on my hip. I'll try that now. By the way, are 5/8th bands better than 9/16 th bands with a 9/32nd shaft. It seems like it might be a little overkill for the thin shaft. Also, do you recommend black or amber bands?
Aha! We are much weaker with the gun on the hip. I don't think I could cock any of my guns without moving the butt to my chest.
If your gun is an open track model, then 5/8" might be too much and cause the shaft to whip. I've always used 9/16" on my two open track Wongs with 9/32" shafts. I do use 5/8" on a couple of Wongs with 9/32" shafts, but those guns have enclosed tracks.
I don't have any preference between black and amber. I live about three miles from the Riffe plant and used to drop by often. Riffe offered a choice of black or amber, and I asked Jay what the difference was. His reply was that the only difference was color.
Another So Cal gun builder and supplier of shafts, bands, etc. is Masahiro Mori. He and Bill Kitto had produced a complicated chart showing various properties of various bands and put it on Kitto's site. I couldn't understand what most of it meant, so I asked Mori to give me a simple explanation of the difference between his rubber and Riffe's. He replied that his was black and Riffe's was amber, and that Riffe's pulled a couple of pounds more when first cocked, while his pulled a couple of pounds more after being cocked for an hour and bleeding off pull.
The last bands I saw from Daryl were black over amber, and I think they did seem to last a bit longer than other stuff I have used. I have also heard the same about black over amber sold by Florida Freedivers.
If your gun is an open track model, then 5/8" might be too much and cause the shaft to whip. I've always used 9/16" on my two open track Wongs with 9/32" shafts. I do use 5/8" on a couple of Wongs with 9/32" shafts, but those guns have enclosed tracks.
I don't have any preference between black and amber. I live about three miles from the Riffe plant and used to drop by often. Riffe offered a choice of black or amber, and I asked Jay what the difference was. His reply was that the only difference was color.
Another So Cal gun builder and supplier of shafts, bands, etc. is Masahiro Mori. He and Bill Kitto had produced a complicated chart showing various properties of various bands and put it on Kitto's site. I couldn't understand what most of it meant, so I asked Mori to give me a simple explanation of the difference between his rubber and Riffe's. He replied that his was black and Riffe's was amber, and that Riffe's pulled a couple of pounds more when first cocked, while his pulled a couple of pounds more after being cocked for an hour and bleeding off pull.
The last bands I saw from Daryl were black over amber, and I think they did seem to last a bit longer than other stuff I have used. I have also heard the same about black over amber sold by Florida Freedivers.
Bill, you seem like a man that could answer some of my Wong woes as well. I got the 50" hybrid, mid-handle, semi-enclosed track, and while I have the loading down, I can't seem to aim the sucker very well.
I've seen multiple ways of aiming such as (1)shouldering the gun and sighting down the length (not a fan), (2) Extending the gun out with one hand and holding the butt of the gun with the other while sighting down the length, and also (3) extending the gun out and securing the gun by pressing it against your extended arm with the opposite hand for stability, all the while judging your aim with a little triangulation.
Anyway, what is the best method of sighting this thing? Love the gun, but if I can't hit anything with it, I might have to start buying meat at the market... DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN.
Thanks for the help.
-Jeff
I've seen multiple ways of aiming such as (1)shouldering the gun and sighting down the length (not a fan), (2) Extending the gun out with one hand and holding the butt of the gun with the other while sighting down the length, and also (3) extending the gun out and securing the gun by pressing it against your extended arm with the opposite hand for stability, all the while judging your aim with a little triangulation.
Anyway, what is the best method of sighting this thing? Love the gun, but if I can't hit anything with it, I might have to start buying meat at the market... DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN.
Thanks for the help.-Jeff
Jeff,
Aiming is such a personal thing that I hesitate to give any advice. I like to sight down the top of the shaft, and with the other hand backing up the butt if I have time. But Daryl just tells me to point the damn thing at the fish.
I think I have found that the more I think about it, the worse my aim, but that is hardly much to go on. With three different Wong guns, my first shot took a white sea bass, so I must have been doing it right then, but then I've had some bad patches. And then another excuse is that I have some open track Wongs and some enclosed track Wongs, and the sight picture is a bit different, particularly if you are trying to look down the shaft. With the enclosed track guns, the bands are piled up on top a bit more.
I guess all that is one more reason to just point the damn thing rather than looking down the shaft.
I think what would really help would be to get in a pool or even in the ocean in a calm shallow spot and set up some sort of a target. Many people swear by this, and say that you can learn in an hour or so what it would take you years to learn shooting at fish. Unfortunately, I don't practice what they preach as I have no access to a pool, and when I get out to Catalna or Clemente, I'm too short-sighted to take the time for target practice since I want to go find a fish. It has to be a good thing to do though.
Aiming is such a personal thing that I hesitate to give any advice. I like to sight down the top of the shaft, and with the other hand backing up the butt if I have time. But Daryl just tells me to point the damn thing at the fish.
I think I have found that the more I think about it, the worse my aim, but that is hardly much to go on. With three different Wong guns, my first shot took a white sea bass, so I must have been doing it right then, but then I've had some bad patches. And then another excuse is that I have some open track Wongs and some enclosed track Wongs, and the sight picture is a bit different, particularly if you are trying to look down the shaft. With the enclosed track guns, the bands are piled up on top a bit more.
I guess all that is one more reason to just point the damn thing rather than looking down the shaft.
I think what would really help would be to get in a pool or even in the ocean in a calm shallow spot and set up some sort of a target. Many people swear by this, and say that you can learn in an hour or so what it would take you years to learn shooting at fish. Unfortunately, I don't practice what they preach as I have no access to a pool, and when I get out to Catalna or Clemente, I'm too short-sighted to take the time for target practice since I want to go find a fish. It has to be a good thing to do though.
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Bill,
Much appreciated. And I agree on the "just point the damn thing" mentallity. My only nice shot with this thing was a point and shoot that ended in a gilshot on a nice sized Calico. All other fish have been victims of being winged by careful aiming. Go figure. I'll stick with it, come feast or famine
...and Gaia, I don't get it...
-Jeff
Much appreciated. And I agree on the "just point the damn thing" mentallity. My only nice shot with this thing was a point and shoot that ended in a gilshot on a nice sized Calico. All other fish have been victims of being winged by careful aiming. Go figure. I'll stick with it, come feast or famine
...and Gaia, I don't get it...
-Jeff
Bill,
Much appreciated. And I agree on the "just point the damn thing" mentallity. My only nice shot with this thing was a point and shoot that ended in a gilshot on a nice sized Calico. All other fish have been victims of being winged by careful aiming. Go figure. I'll stick with it, come feast or famine
-Jeff
That reminds me of another point. I never shoot calicos, sheephead, etc. because I just know that if I do, I'll either scare all the white sea bass out of the kelp bed or will be attacked by a school of them while my gun is unloaded. Also, I'm always using an expensive slip tip, and calicos so often pose in front of rocks. I can get by with that attitude since I've been diving since the mid 1950s, so I'm not quite as anxious to shoot a fish as I might have been a few decades ago.
But the down side of that is that I can go for quite a while with no target practice. If you are trying to figure out how to aim a gun, its probably best to shoot at everything including blue perch and blacksmiths.
Hey Bill - That's a nice WSB you have on the DW website. Maybe one day you'll find me up there, huh? (One can only hope)
But yeah, I use a slip-tip on a small 36 gun I use when the vis isn't playing nice. But as for the Wong, I'm probably going to keep the same 5/16 shaft with nothing but the flopper - so when I do murder rocks, I don't have to go to shore and switch out the stick.
And as for your last piece of advice - watch out Mr. Sargo >
But yeah, I use a slip-tip on a small 36 gun I use when the vis isn't playing nice. But as for the Wong, I'm probably going to keep the same 5/16 shaft with nothing but the flopper - so when I do murder rocks, I don't have to go to shore and switch out the stick.
And as for your last piece of advice - watch out Mr. Sargo >
What is DW? I'm sure it should be obvious to me, but I'm drawing a blank.
Anyway, having been out of the water for four months after surgery on both shoulders, I'll take any opportunity to relive past glory, so here is a white sea bass taken with a Wong 55" regular hybrid with open track, 9/32" shaft, three 9/16" bands, and a slip tip. This was my first Wong gun purchased about 8 or 9 years ago and I have some larger ones now, but sometimes I think I should have just stopped with the first one.
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Haha, no problem, DW = Daryl Wong.
But yeah, those are some awesome fish... You'll have to show me where them whoppers lay sometime. I can only take so much sheephead and calico Trade you a nicely aged bottle of Philadelphia Whiskey for some spots?? :friday
But yeah, those are some awesome fish... You'll have to show me where them whoppers lay sometime. I can only take so much sheephead and calico
Trade you a nicely aged bottle of Philadelphia Whiskey for some spots?? :friday
Haha, no problem, DW = Daryl Wong.
But yeah, those are some awesome fish... You'll have to show me where them whoppers lay sometime. I can only take so much sheephead and calico
Duh! Sorry, but maybe I had one too many Steinlagers when I couldn't connect DW=Daryl Wong.
I'm afraid Philadelphia Whiskey doesn't do it for me. I'm a health food nut- just beer and wine.
Duh! Sorry, but maybe I had one too many Steinlagers when I couldn't connect DW=Daryl Wong.
I'm afraid Philadelphia Whiskey doesn't do it for me. I'm a health food nut- just beer and wine.
Well Dang it, how about a case of Fat Tire Ale?? Anything you want, Bill. Just for 1 spot!!
HEY FOXFISH! How are you doing, my friend?? It's been a long time, no doubt. How are things there in the Channel Islands?
i do not belive that there is a problem of that .there is a lot of noise about names of the existing spearguns i look, i design ,i build , i test my very own spearguns and i have no problem to load them and my kitchen has always fish <not from the store> and i dont spend thousand of <$> for merlo or wong guns.it is not rocket tecnology neither ebay funny price event.. the flee market are on the weakends only,,,,,,