Why buy less than 48" speargun?

[matjo1]

Seems not many people out there are using anything less than a 48'' speargun. Why do they make them smaller then? I'll be reef hunting, mostly on scuba, on the florida east coast for small to medium fish. 48" is fine right?

 

[CaptAdam]

Out here in Cali,,, alot of are big fish chill under and way back in rocks. Smaller guns can give you better angles and shots when a fish has pinned himself way up in a crack..

 

[Ironhed]

I would have to agree if you are hunting n the east coast of florida you are going to want a 48" gun or larger. I hunt with a 57" gun but am in the market for a 50" which after diving alot last year i feel a 50" hybrid would be my ultimate gun for lineshafting. I plan on getting the wong carbon fiber enclosed track. whatever brand of gun you settle on dont short change yourself by getting shorter than a 48" gun. yes sometimes fish are holed up but I have not ran into any situations where even my 57" gun was not able to kill the fish in. the fish in my avatar was in a hole 1' x 1' and opened up inside to about 20' deep. I shot him in there and dragged him out. there were 2 in there that big side by side.

 

[RICHinNC]

I find a stick of dynomite works just fine.

Seriously....yea....

how big a difference then does it make with the short pneumatic guns I have seen in shops??

 

[Wayward Son]

I hunt with a 48 Biller & want a 52 Commercial SS. But, sometimes the viz is real crap & a 36 would be a far better choice.

Face it, when you can't see far enough to hold the gun out & see the spear tip, the gun is too big to do you much good.

You can kill a decent sized fish with a smaller gun, but you have to get closer to do it.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Seems not many people out there are using anything less than a 48'' speargun. Why do they make them smaller then? I'll be reef hunting, mostly on scuba, on the florida east coast for small to medium fish. 48" is fine right?

Smaller guns will provide more manueverability, which is important in some situations.

Not everyone is going for the really big fish.

Visibility isn't always conducive to shooting a big powerfull gun safely.

 

[PhotoTJ]

In addition to SuPrBuGmAn's reasons, if you are just doing a dive for fun, but want a gun 'just in case', a smaller gun might be the answer. You may stumble across a halibut, or a well hidden lingcod. I have a gun that has an 18" shaft that I took a 35" ling with, on a dive that I wasn't planning on hunting. Tasty!

Just in case!

 

[Chad Carney]

Larger guns can often be used like pool cues when the visibility is less than ideal, allowing your view of the prey before they see the gun.

Safety can often be optimized with any size gun by making sure you shoot at an angle to the bottom, thus back-stopping the spear.

Often polespears offer advantages in low visibility, good maneuverability, quick reloading and more impact than a short gun.

But if you dive mostly in dirty water (and don't want to relocate) I'm sure a small gun would be a good tool also. Look for all the spear length you can get with such a gun.

Chad

 

[Ironhed]

Larger guns can often be used like pool cues when the visibility is less than ideal, allowing your view of the prey before they see the gun.

I have done that many times when we have had bad vis. My long gun has never been an issue. I can say on more than one occasion I am glad to have the longer gun when the vis was almost too good though as the added length allows you to reach out much farther.

 

[Tasarsailor]

With our vis on the oregon coast we need guns short enough so we can at least see the end of the gun. LOL