Question to roller gun users and other smart people

    I'm wanting to convert my railgun to a roller, but I'm not clear in my mind how it will all work. For simple numbers sake, let's say the barrel is 40" long. Leaving space enough for a reel, I figure the longest band stretch I could get is 40" on top, plus 30" beneath, equals 70" total. Dividing 70" by 3.5 (max stretch factor) yields 20" bands (right and left.)


    To load the gun, my guess is that I start with the bottom portion of the bands slack against the muzzle -- then load from the top of the gun as if it were a "normal" railgun -- then turn the gun upside down and somehow grab the cord between the right and left bands (that is now stretched tight against the muzzle) and pull it back to the fully loaded position. Does that sound about right?


    Will I need to wrap the shooting line any special way? BTW my gun (Aimrite) has a side release for the shooting line - and remember I use a reel, if that matters.


    Oh, and is it okay to continue to use notched spearshafts, or will I need to get fin tabbed shafts? With a notched shaft, I'm wondering whether when the gun is fired and the wishbone stops tight against the muzzle guard (or whatever it's called) will that tweak the travel of the spear shaft slightly as the wishbone slides out from the spear notch? I think that would not be a concern with a tabbed shaft. Am I overthinking this?


    Thanks in advance for your insights and taking time to explain to me.

    I suppose my goal is to improve accuracy without sacrificing range, and maybe get away with a slightly shorter gun. The few vids that I've seen of roller pipe guns being fired show the guns hardly flinch at all when the trigger is pulled - no kick - and they're spot-on accurate.

    If you're not accurate with the Aimrite, it's either user error or overpowered gun, bent shaft/flopper, too heavy a shaft, or some other configuration detail. Converting it to a roller won't achieve anything but making it a PITA to use.

    While I respect Dan's opinion, at the same time I recognize that some people DO like roller guns. I'm curious to try them myself and see whether I like them or not. If any of you have insights/answers to my questions, please share.
    Thanks!

    if done just right ,rollers are very ez to use and very powerful . problem is most are not done right and are a pita to use and dont realize the potential of the design.


    without other major modifications to a railgun just slapping a roller muzzle on your gun isnt going to make it far better gun,than it is now , it will just make it a little different than it is now


    phil

    Quote from parker

    While I respect Dan's opinion, at the same time I recognize that some people DO like roller guns. I'm curious to try them myself and see whether I like them or not. If any of you have insights/answers to my questions, please share.
    Thanks!



    The RG's depned on the design, a good one will be a bless and a bad one the opposite:D:D:D


    After seeing and using some designs, recommend:


    The head of the gun needs to have a piece of some kind that prevent the cord of the sling to touch/hit the spear at the end of the sling route. progressively preferable :cool2::cool2::cool2:


    Several anchor points to vary the power (3), This gives the versatility of having the same power of its measure as well as larger spearguns.


    Desirable to be enclosed track.


    :toast::toast:

    Sadot Hernàndez.

    Quote from phil herranen

    if done just right ,rollers are very ez to use and very powerful . problem is most are not done right and are a pita to use and dont realize the potential of the design.


    without other major modifications to a railgun just slapping a roller muzzle on your gun isnt going to make it far better gun,than it is now , it will just make it a little different than it is now


    phil


    What mods would you recommend to convert a 100cm Aimrite aluminum? My Merou roller muzzle will probably arrive next week. I'm curious to see how well it lines up with the barrel rail, and to see how much heavier the muzzle with feel underwater. The gun is already negative without a shaft. BTW, the shaft is 7.5mm X 140cm.


    Continued thanks for your time with this.

    If the track lines up, your biggest challenge will be making anchoring points for the bands on the bottom of the gun. The ideal number is 3, but you can get away with 2 depending on where you position them. The problem with the anchoring points is that they're weight bearing and as such should be screwed into something solid, your pipe is hollow. So not only is there the thin pipe wall which is not enough to support the screws, you'll also compromise the water tightness of the tube.


    One way to get around all this to just get a feel for what a roller speargun is like, is to tie the bands to the trigger guard as a substitute for the forward most anchoring point, and to hook the bands over the reel base/mount as your maximum power anchoring point. You'll get a good enough idea of what it's like to load and shoot the roller gun. With well made anchoring points the loading process will be a little smoother, but the gun will shoot the same.


    Again, with a pipe gun a big waste of time. With a wood gun less so.

    As the gun is already negative without the shaft (your comment, post #10) you can do what some old-timers did and stuff a long wooden dowel down into the barrel tube. This was done with lever-loaded rollergun conversions of standard "Arbalete" spearguns to brace the barrel tube from being bent at the pivot support location during the application of the lever. Water may get in by wicking along any small gap between the timber and the tube, but the timber gives you something to screw into. Not something that appeals to me, but evidently it worked until the timber deteriorated and the tubing corroded from the inside.

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