Mares Mirage Speargun - Maintenance & Parts

Hi,
I rarely browse this forum but running out of options...

Back in the early 90s, I purchased a used Mares Mirage at a dive shop in Paris, France. The gun had had a maintenance done and been laying around for years before the shop decided to get rid of it. Needless to say, I bought it for very cheap and never used it since attached to my modified 90cm Beuchat Marlin dating from the 80s (yes, I do like old stuff...!!!)

I now possess this gun and heard that it is a great gizmo that can pack a serious punch... Now living a breathing in New England, I figured it may be a nice gun for low visibility/ rocky bottoms and would like to have it inspected/ maintained by someone familiar with these guns. I would also love to get more litterature about the "Mirage" (manuals, tech specs, etc.) and Mares parts. Finally, the idea of adapting a Mamba kit could be a nice project as well... I guess my questions are (US Centric):
- Where can I get parts for this gun (tips, spear, small reel, pump, cap)?
- Where can I buy a gauge that show the inner chamber pressure and a kit allowing me to refill it with help of a scuba tank (ie. I hear 40 bar is max pressure? Need a gauge then!)
- Who could take is appart and conduct maintenance? (oil/O rings)
- Where could I buy a Mamba kit?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge/ experience. Olivier

Hello, I don't have it handy but I do know of a place that has gauges for checking the inner pressure.. I think the person that sells the mamba also has the gauge. It is rather costly at around $70 u.s if I remember. An easy solution that we use is just to load the gun against a floor scale and read when the shaft clicks in. You can tell if you are losing pressure over time and you can also use the number to always reload the gun to the same pressure after releasing the air for maintenance or modifications. If the gun is similar to a mares sten or cyrano, you can do simple modifications that will increase performance to that of mamba for very little cost. I also see pumps on ebay.com for sale for the sten and cyrano. I wonder if the mirage is same as sten or other mares gun?

o-livier:

Hi,
Back in the early 90s, I purchased a used Mares Mirage at a dive shop in Paris, France.

Click to expand...

I gotta tell you that Zak has been extremely responsive to all the Mares Questions, but I honestly don't think he hit's our hunting section very often.

Maybe you could re-post it in the manufactures section (link below) or a mod could move your question manually.

Best of luck to you, that is an antique gun and probably valuable to some shops that collect vintage equipment.

Link:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/mares-just-add-water/

Thank you both for your posts. From the internet reading I was able to find, the Mirage came in one size only (80cm) and has 4 chambers vs. 3 in the Sten or Cyrano. It is said to have a recommended pressure not exceeding 40 bars while 30 bars in the Sten and Cyrano. Apparently a rather "complex" gun with 3 power settings... Needless to say, I am intrigued and would want to give this gun the life it deserves (under water!). I will continue to explore upon your suggestions. Information on this gun while Googling is very limited and no photos... Thanks again, Olivier

Interesting... I tried to post a link with a photo and was just told that...

"You are only allowed to post URLs after you have made 5 posts or more." I find this rule kindda odd but... rules are meant to be followed!

And so, I have never been a fan of pneumatics as always used good rubber to get the work done! To this day, Mares parts seem rather tough to find on the internet in the US. I may have to buy online in Italy or EU and have that stuff shipped here... Always looking for suggestions??

Photo of the Mares : Mares Mirage on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

holdingmybreath:

An easy solution that we use is just to load the gun against a floor scale and read when the shaft clicks in. You can tell if you are losing pressure over time and you can also use the number to always reload the gun to the same pressure after releasing the air for maintenance or modifications.

Click to expand...

Here i am really amazed with the use of floor scale in a new way. I have impressed with the idea given here but not sure about its success. Sometimes it is very difficult to practice this one.