Vintage speargun photos

  • I missed this thread from past, very cool thread.


    You guys seen the Johnson SMG Mark II , Old 1970's gun uses 22 cal Blanks?


    Had a diver request a couple parts for it to be made other day. I'll post pictures when Available, Not seen it before.

  • The SMG spearguns were made by Tapmatic Corporation in the late sixties. They used Ramset .22 type cartridges that were inserted into a plastic sleeve that was sized to fit into the gun's pivoting breech. There were single barrel models, twin barrel models and quad barrel models; however the SMG gun only fires one shaft at a time as you revolve the breech to bring each barrel into line with the gun's firing pin. There was also a "Magnum" version of the twin barrel gun with longer barrels and a buoyancy element fitted between the barrels. Of course none of the guns float. Tapmatic sold the SMG parts and tooling to a New Zealand company once they finished producing them. A few guns have shown up from the New Zealand company over the years, but I don't know how many they made other than just assembling SMG guns from their stock of parts.

  • Any ideas on this?


    CO2 gun. built around a fire extinguisher handle, note the red handle. They were quite powerful bubble blasters used for large cod, grouper and Giant Sea Bass. I'll link to some of mine this weekend.


    Cheers, Don
    Here is a few Co2 guns on another thread.
    http://spearfishing.world/spea…s-legends-collection.html

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

    Edited once, last by Don Paul ().

  • Just to complete the SMG story I discovered that the New Zealand company was R.V. Crockett Ltd. They produced some guns from the parts they purchased from Tapmatic Corporation in the USA. The NZ guns seem to be the MKII MAGNUM versions which can use the later more powerful Grey SUB-AMMO and Brown SUB-AMMO with their stronger breeches and longer barrels.


    You could make up your own SUB-AMMO if you purchased the SMG plastic sleeves and washers to use with .22 Ramset cartridges.


    SUB-AMMO (Instructions)
    SUB-AMMO SLEEVES are for use with .22 wadded blanks, Nos. 3 through 6, of the type used in powder actuated tools (manufactured by Ramset Speed Fasteners Company, Remington Arms, etc.)

    LOAD-YOUR-OWN SUB-AMMO (only)
    The blanks are loaded into the cup of the S.M.G. washer and then into the plastic Sub-Ammo sleeves.
    For a permanent, waterproof seal apply a liberal coating of clear epoxy or plastic adhesive to the cartridge just prior to insertion. This bonds the cartridge to the plastic sleeve and prevents the possibility of leakage under pressure on deep dives.

    SUB-AMMO GREEN for small fish, reef or cave shooting; SUB-AMMO YELLOW for medium fish at moderate range; SUB-AMMO RED for medium fish up to maximum range. Do not use with fibreglass spear. SUB-AMMO PURPLE for large fish at greatest ranges. Do not use with fibreglass spear.
    To protect spear head do not use near rocks.



  • As the SMG MKII has two barrels you can identify a MAGNUM version by its much longer barrels which allows the two highest power Ramset cartridges to be used. More gas pressure can then be exploited to drive the spears using longer barrels and the reinforced section of barrel is also longer.

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