bluewater euro

in this thread i'll outline the process i use to make a bluewater euro gun that shoots a 5/16'' shaft from and enclosed track with 3 16mm or 4 15mm bands.

i own bluetec 125cm carbon gun and i always admired its shape, it shoots a 8mm shaft with 3 16mm bands very well. i also like the shape of the omer cayman, specifically how it's wide in the middle and tapers at the ends. the gun i'm making is a combination of both and it's 150cm long. i wanted it to have good lateral movement so it's wide and thin as well as good horizontal movement and i think the taper in the front helps there. proper balanced is very important in a rear handle gun of this size and it needs to have reasonable recoil so it has to have some mass.

i'm not going to cover the lamination process because it's been done before, sufice it to say that the stock is made up of 6 pieces of honduran mahogany. the dimensions in the rough were 2''x3''72'' and was brought down to 1.625''x2.75''x72'' using the same process i outlined in the thread on the hybrid i posted a few months back. the reason i used mahogany instead of teak is the later material is getting really expensive and it's hard to find pieces with good grain characteristics. i also like the depth of the mahogany grain, when finished it has a really nice, almost translucent look to it compared to the flat, dull look of teak. be prepared, mahogany it much drier than teak and makes a mess with really fine dust that covers the whole shop.

the first step after i center the router table (i use a smaller bit to take a light cut and measure to make sure, see photo) is to install the track. i use an epoxy tube from here http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=144&PHPSESSID=20101007090155597293837 for several reasons. it's super tough, bonds well to wood and it's small diameter allows me to make the gun thinner as opposed to a uhmw track or a poured epoxy version and best of all it's priced right. the .337" id is perfect for a 5/16'' shaft and the .414'' od allows me to cut the channel to embed it into the stock with a 7/16'' bull nose cutter.

as always, the fence of the router table is set and not moved till all the center cuts are completed. with the 7/16'' bull nose bit i cut the length of the track into the trigger mech pocket till i reach the proper depth that will allow the top of the tube to sit flush with the top of the stock which of course is .414''. the next step is to make the strip that covers the top of the tube (most likely this is something that should have done ahead so the router table fence is not moved unless you are confident you could reset it). the width of the strip is again 7/16'' and i use the same bull nose cutter to put a contour on so it will cover the tube flush. if everything fits right it's time to glue. note that the tube comes in 54'' lengths, simply cut another piece and glue them together.

see pics and let me know if you any questions. next is sanding the top flush and cutting the top of the tube to open the track.

a few more pics.

don paul- are you kidding? she's so tired of the noise, dusts and "man crap" she's threatening to boot me out of the house, the only problem is, so far she's just threatening :-(.

lunker- yah, that was the original design with three bands 5/8'' but this one is going to have 4 so i'm thinking it may need to be a little different.

john-i prefer a mid handle for longer guns but i think many people that hunt in clear water are proving longer guns work. this one is going to florida to hunt wahoo and was ordered after i sent a similar gun there.

dan- you're welcome, i'll do a few more soon not to promote myself as i'm no longer making guns for the general public but to share whatever i learned along the way.

ok here's more.

the top of the filler is cut off on the table saw and the gun is put through my drum sander to expose the tube and smooth the top of the stock. a .25'' bit is used on the router to cut the tube open.

the rest of the center cuts are taken at this point like the trigger mech pocket, the trigger relief slot, the handle pocket, the line anchor pocket and three slots are cut to locate lead which will be plugged and sanded smooth later. i'm not spending a lot of time on this because it's the same as the hybrid and you can get all the info you need from that thread. now, the fence can be moved to cut the band slot, i pretty much center it between the bottom of the track and the bottom of the stock and use a .50'' router bit.

once the trigger mech is pinned in place and the line release is installed (again see the hybrid thread for more info) the shaping can begin , for that i initially cut all four corners using a 45 degree bit. once satisfied with the general shape i scribe what other cut i need to make to complete the shaping.

more later.

more pics.

more.

i was finally able to wrap this gun up. it took over 16oz's of lead and it weighs about 10# without the shaft, it's ballance to sink slowly and level and it should be relatively neutral in about 10 to 15 feet. the lenght is 69'' from butt to muzzle, it has 150cm of band pull and as i said before is shoots a 5/16'' shaft with 4 bands. i think the gun will shoot better with 4 tight 15mm (cut to 350%) but mori is out of that rubber so i'm forced to use 4 5/16'' cut to 300%. even though i don't like specifying range because i feel it depends on the size of the fish, this gun should be able to take a 50# wahoo at over 20 feet. the last thing to do will be to put on several coats of "bristol finish" and it will be on the way to florida, hopefully the guy waiting for it will give us a full test report.

thanks for the kind words guys and i'll ask the owner to tell us how it shoots when he gets a chance.

the mid vs rear handle is an ongoing discussion so i'll just add my 2 cents. for me both guns have merits and both belong in our gun bag, which one one you chose depends on the conditions, terrain, game and so on.

in clear water especially when using the ambush technic on a reef i like euros from 80 to 130cm because of the aim issue and the fact that the fish will most likely come (but not always) from the direction i'm aiming. here the fish tend to be smaller (but not always) so accuracy is very important and i hope i wont have to track fish coming from a weird angle.

in dirty water i use midhandles for several of reasons; first, they generally have more band pull because the trigger mech is all the way in the rear of the barrel so they are more powerful than a comparably size euro. second, they are easier to turn when a fish appears out of the gloom at the last second. third, because you have both hands on the gun there is less of a chance that it will kick you in the face (but not always, i think a good handle here helps;)) when you're shooting a multi band cannon. here the fish tend to be bigger and the shots closer so aim is not as important, what is important is the ability to take a shot fast and that the gun has the power to penetrate the fish. i also like a light mid handle (hybrid) for mid size palagics like wahoo, dorado, ect.. in bluewater for the same reasons and also because i have a hard time turning anything bigger than a 130 especially in current.

in summery, you can shoot any fish with any gun. i know people that have taken a bft with a euro and a calico with a tuna gun but just because you can doesn't mean you should. much like golf you don't use one club to shot a round, you learn to use the club that's right for the shot. a few well chosen guns will serve you well but the problem is things change and whats important to you today may not be in the future so you need to thin out and update your arsenal once in a while to suit your needs.