Please add to plus/minus of pneumatic guns

From my novice understanding, here's what I gather regarding pluses and minuses of pneumatic guns.

Pluses:
Lightweight
Accurate
Good power for the size
Great for short range

Minuses:
Loading tricky on longer guns
Sensitive to dirt/debris
Poor for ranges beyond 12'/15'

Anything else?

Expensive/difficult to maintain, as opposed to swapping out power bands.

PatMyGreen:

Expensive/difficult to maintain, as opposed to swapping out power bands.

Click to expand...

Am I wrong that maintenance is essentially rinsing it off? Also, the Mares Cyrano is $175 - not so bad, but I see your point.

What would you suggest for a first gun along socal shores? Bass, barracuda, halibut, etc. Thanks, Captain!

Basic maintenance is pretty much just getting rid of the salt and keeping UV rays off the rubber and plastic parts. Eventually though pnuematic guns need to replace the seals that allow them to build up pressure. The kits are often very expensive, but I have heard people debate how much more expesive they are compared to changing rubbers on a band gun with regularity.

I would be way out of line if I suggested a gun for waters I haven't hunted. That said, are you mostly scuba shooting or mostly freediving? You are right in the middle of Riffe territory and those are great guns for either, their only downfall is reload time. The best advise I can give you is to find a group of people in your area who will be doing the same type (scuba or freedive) of hunting as you and for the same fish. Find out what they use and why. That should be the basis of your decision.

Any idea why we are all "hot chicks" under our status.... anyone?
edit
-Happy April Fools Day
You can opt out of this by selecting "no" under use themes in the account settings part of your CP.

One last thing, you get what you pay for in my experience with spearguns. It might be better to save up for a higher priced gun than buy one and then need another gun not too far down the road. Basically what I am saying is that the idea of buying a beginner gun with the intent of upgrading down the road is fundamentally flawed given you can make a truly informed decision before you make a purchase.

I was wondering about the hot chick thing myself. Of course, it matches your avatar well.

I scuba dive. Mostly shore stuff in Laguna Beach, CA reefs but sometimes I splurge on a boat. Last Saturday I saw so many divers with guns leaving the beach (over time), I started thinking about trying this. One of my dive club fellows was trying his new gun. Didn't think of asking him about it at the time but it looked like a 40" or so mahogany gun. He bagged a few bass during his dive. Looks like a bunch of fun and I should try and get his contact info, I guess.

Mares Pneumatic Speargun
I have Mares pneumatic spearguns. These are simple guns good for fishing up close and around rocks. They are quick to reload by pushing against a rock, or the palm reloader when over sand. Mine are over 15 years old. As long as the front of the gun is stored downward to keep the o-ring lubricated, I just pump them up about once a year. For halibut in open sandy areas, the gun is just under 4' long with a break-away point and about an 8-10 foot range. The Mares gun I use the most is about 2' long with about a 6 foot range - for ling cod, Cabezon, rock fish - fish near the bottom or around the kelp. Most of my shots are less than 4 feet. I like a spinner rock point tip the best. It is easy to touch up and I have not lost any fish with it. Other than a Cabezon that swam into the rocks and jammed/lost my whole spear. I fish Mendocino, Monterey, to south of Carmel. With my favorite areas being south of Carmel - Big Sur area.

For your area, check out SpearBoard California with your question. They can zero you in a good gun for your area.

Thanks, cmburch. registered on spearboard yesterday and I still don't have a confirmation so I can't post anything!

What do you mean by "the gun is just under 4' long with a break-away point and about an 8-10 foot range."? Thanks.

For your area, I can not recommend a pneumatic. I think many in your area are using wood doubleband guns. Most of my fishing is in and around rocks and in kelp. When I go for halibut in open sandy areas, the entire length of my pneumatic is about 48" long with a slip-tip or break-away point. This is so the spear shaft does not get damaged and there is less chance of the fish getting loose.



Normal shots for me are less than 4'.

I was not clear on range - I meant away from my body - between myself and the fish. The less than 4' is from the tip of the speargun.

I had to e-mail the SpearBoard Admin to get my account activated.

Yes, I just emailed the admin myself.

In the Laguna Beach shore diving spots, from what I've read, seems a 36"-42" inch conventional (wood, slings) would be what I want to start with. LB shore diving consists of reefs & kelp in the <60' range. Some sand and eel grass areas as well.

Maybe a JBL 38 Special or a Biller Mahogany?? What do you think?

Q: Why do some metal guns cost more than the equivalent size in wood?