I believe that was how they were were originally designed. Disposable air cartridges, just go to your friendly SMG dealer, Tarpoon Skin Diving Center and purchase another box of preloaded cartridges and toss your old ones. they were made of polyethylene and could not handle repetitive blasts….but they did …and many SMG fishers reloaded their own until they finally broke and leaked water into the air chamber. Now the cartridges used or pre-loaded are impossible to find since they haven’t produced SMGs since the ?? ‘90s ??
Since the ‘blanks’ for the air cartridges are a .22 cal.Ramset construction cartridge and the breach and chamber are immersed in water the blowback is minimal. Or so it was designed. The firing pin and mechanism on these guns are pretty substantial. Mine is, but keeping the cartridge assembly dry in my old one has been a challenge. That is why I seek out reusable metallic air cartridges. I can use marine sealants that will break only when gun is fired and reload the cartridges myself as the original Tapmatic cartridges for the SMG are no longer produced…to my knowledge.
Now if you have a lathe that is capable of producing such a reusable cartridge, You may want to contact MarkF1969, a new Scubaboard member. You can DM him. He showed me what he has. He has some re-loaded and original air cartridges for his SMGs and like myself looking for metallic ones. He does have working metallic ones he made in his dad’s dental lab a long time ago but is trying to find someone who can make a few. I am trying to do the same thing. Please DM me if this is a possibility. If you are able I would like to get maybe 5 as they would be reloadable and reusable. ’James79’ may be able to 3D print, but again, plastic and how many repeated shots would one be able to handle.
Thanks for following up on this thread. I do have a couple of other interested folks. SMGs are ‘ugly as a duckling’ but the most absolutely cool speargun to collect if they work.
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Scott G. Bonser
