Speargun question

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Florabama

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Location
Pensacola
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I'm a Fish!
I'm thinking about changing guns and would appreciate some advice. I started with a 42 Biller which I really loved, but everyone around here raves about the Riffe, so a few years ago after the muzzle on the Biller got worn out, I bought a C2X with three bands. The gun really shoots accurately and quietly compared to the Biller. I've shot some good fish with both guns, but truth be told, my personal best fish -- a 50 lb AJ -- was taken with the Biller, albeit at the cost of a shaft.

The Riffe has given me some more range, but it doesn't seem to have the penetratiing power of the Biller, and with the line system around the shaft, I have trouble reloading it. The Biller was easy to reload and seemed to have more stopping power. The only trouble with it was that the plastic muzzle got wollowed out after time and the steel slide ring would get stuck inside while loading. This would slow the shaft speed considerably until repaired with a new muzzle.

Anyway to make a long story short, I'm thinking of changing back to something with a heavier shaft and more power. I spearfish on scuba in the Florida Panhandle almost exclusively on artifical reefs and wrecks that make free shafting difficult if not impossible.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
I ONLY free shaft on wrecks and reefs down here in the Keys. Alot of us down here have found it to be a much better way. I shoot a Riffe No Ka Oi, 2 bands, 60" 5/16" flopper shafts. I also made my gun a magnetic track.
I haven't had any problem with penetration, distance, accuracy. If anything too powerful to shoot Hogs unless you pin them to the bottom.
 
I use a 80long56 Nemrod Cazador speargun with quiklook and reel,its best i

say,you ppl know the fool when the spear jumps back by a hanging reel?!)

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E.L.7*
 
I ONLY free shaft on wrecks and reefs down here in the Keys. Alot of us down here have found it to be a much better way. I shoot a Riffe No Ka Oi, 2 bands, 60" 5/16" flopper shafts. I also made my gun a magnetic track.
I haven't had any problem with penetration, distance, accuracy. If anything too powerful to shoot Hogs unless you pin them to the bottom.

Thanks Richesb. A magnetic track sounds like a great idea, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough or skilled enough to freeshaft yet, but maybe I should give it a try. The problem up this way is that there's almost never a chance to pin a fish to the bottom here. In our area, there's nothing but flat sand, and there's rarely any fish that are not hanging out just over or directly under the structure. Off the structure by a few yards and there's nothing but sand and no fish since there's no coral or growth for the most part.

For instance, last Saturday, I was spearfishing the newest "bridge rubble" in our area (remains of I-10 Bridge after Ivan). It is huge and loaded with fish, but it's nearly impossible to shoot down on without hitting concrete. Usually, you're shooting fish that are already under structure and if you don't get a kill shot, they run deeper into the rubble. It's often very difficult to get them out even with a line.

I shot a nice black snapper and an AJ, but while putting the AJ on the stringer, a nice grouper in the 25 lb range swam over to investigate, but was hanging out under a concrete slab which was laying about three feet off the bottom. The grouper was about ten feet away. I had to drop down on my belly to shoot under the slab and when I did, he started to swim off. I had a good shot at his head and hit him somewhere close to his head, but my Riffe didn't completely penetrate and he pulled off. In fact, that incident is what made me think I might want to change guns.

I could be off base, but I'm thinking a heavier shaft would have done a better job on him.
 
You can buy heavier shafts for the Riffe.
 
You can buy heavier shafts for the Riffe.

I didn't know that. Mine has a 5/16" shaft. Will the breech take a 3/8's?
 
FB,

If you have a Rife C2X it shows as coming with a 9/32" x 50" shaft with a HI flopper. If it's a C2XS it's a 5/16" x 48" with a threaded style head and a 3rd band.

Either of these should have had more penetration than your Biller 42" because it's only 5/16" x 42" threaded head style shaft.

For where you are and what you want to shoot, you might follow what most of the divers I've been around on rigs etc, are shooting... a gun with a 5/16" x 60" to 72" shaft.

For scuba on rigs I'm using a 57" Wong MGS rear handle plus, 3 strong bands, and a 65" x 5/16" treaded slip tip. Most of the Hell Divers I dive with up there are shooting big Wongs, Riffes or JBLs, about 54" to 60".

Biller guns are very popular in FL when used with 1 or 2 bands, but stronger mechanisms are usually better for big line gun shooting.

Bigger gun usual = bigger fish! (Unless visibilty is lousy.)

Chad
 
FB,

If you have a Rife C2X it shows as coming with a 9/32" x 50" shaft with a HI flopper. If it's a C2XS it's a 5/16" x 48" with a threaded style head and a 3rd band.

Either of these should have had more penetration than your Biller 42" because it's only 5/16" x 42" threaded head style shaft.

For where you are and what you want to shoot, you might follow what most of the divers I've been around on rigs etc, are shooting... a gun with a 5/16" x 60" to 72" shaft.

For scuba on rigs I'm using a 57" Wong MGS rear handle plus, 3 strong bands, and a 65" x 5/16" treaded slip tip. Most of the Hell Divers I dive with up there are shooting big Wongs, Riffes or JBLs, about 54" to 60".

Biller guns are very popular in FL when used with 1 or 2 bands, but stronger mechanisms are usually better for big line gun shooting.

Bigger gun usual = bigger fish! (Unless visibilty is lousy.)

Chad


Thanks Chad. I'm pretty sure it's a C2X. The serial number says C2X -- wouldn't the serial # have C2XS in it if that were what it was? It does have a 5/16 threaded shaft. Not sure what happened but maybe the LDS put a different shaft on it or it just came with the wrong one. Do you think the 9/32th, 50 inch flopper would be a better choice for shooting around rubble and wrecks?
 
Freeshafting is the way to go if the vis will allow. It does have obvious drawbacks if you are hunting big structure where they could dissapear with your shaft. Shot placement is the key though. Usually if you put one in the sweet spot, even if it isn't a stone shot, you can grab him or put a second shaft in before he gets away. I think a line is dangerous, especially on big fish.

I use a 54" Spearfishing Specialties with the commercial muzzle. It's kind of an expensive upgrade for just a piece of plastic which make is a "commercial", but that muzzle definitely won't wear out on you and I seem to shoot a little better with it. This gun adapts well to carrying an extra shaft for free shafting, and you can switch between freeshaft and lineshaft quickly. you can also get shafts for biller type guns much cheaper than a Riffe or Wong.

Good luck!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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