I am looking at almost the same gun, but will use mine for scuba only and will not be dedicated spearfishing. Sometimes I go for bugs or scallops, or photos, so for me, the 44" metal tech is good. I assume yours is the wood model. The metal tech (according to Riffe himself) is ideal for scuba in So Cal waters along reefs/rocks. I think the gun will last a lot longer than a year for you. The mid handle has the ability to swing in on things, but for free diving, it may be a bit different of a challenge for you.
Congrats on looking here for info/insight. I see the first post was all about wrong choice, but I think this gun will give you some good experience and just add to your overall arsenal. You may add a bigger gun, but I have several friends that still use their 36-48" range of guns if they are doing some rocky area/ lower viz areas.
Since I will almost always be scuba diving with my gun, my needs are different than yours. The reel seems more for pulling in the catch when freediving and you need to surface. Free-shafting would probably be inadvisable for you since as noted above, you will easily lose that shaft. Yes, you get better accuracy without a line, but it will not be the main reason you miss a fish as a beginner. If you can tweak your skills WITH a line, you will nail them dead to rights if you migrate away after some experience.
The reel is probably not too relevant for what you will hit with the 44", but you could always add it after some experience or if you find you are hitting larger fish that pull away a lot.
Hope that helps.