Plastic trigger mech

    Why would anyone use a plastic trigger mech? IMO it's not a matter of if but when a problem will arise. I didn't know that some pipe guns come with this. This particular cartridge is from a Rob Allen. Do you know how much money they're saving on parts cost for each gun using this system? A stainless steel folded housing can't cost more than $20 wholesale. This thing probably costs $5-$10. For an extra $10 profit they're sticking it to you with this POS. If there's one area in speargun manufacturing that I would never compromise it's the trigger mech.


    Scary if it is, I'd say it probably costs them cents to make them. Although I'm sure this has been thoroughly tested and is "Safe". I have never seen a euro mech in person but I'd imagine it works on a different principle than american mechs that allows for the parts to be plastic.


    American mechs work by a sear holding the spear in place by the notch so all of the force is acting on a very small area on the sear. I think a euro mech squeezes the spear between the mech and sear so the force is distributed all over the mating surfaces. This probably reduces the forces by at least 4 or 5 times allowing a weaker material to be used.

    Davie Peguero

    Looks more like a "cutting edge space age polymer" to me . . . :D


    Cost aside, injection molding is a great way to repeatably produce a part to very tight tolerances. Isn't the Aimrite mech made with a plastic housing?


    That being said, I'm with you. Not the right place to save a buck.

    Well Davie, to know that we need to see the internals.


    TM, The Aimrite mech did come with a plastic housing and I believe a little while back they started making one with a SS housing. I believe the trigger mech in the new Venom pipe gun is SS; the housing and the internals. Seems like a nice gun except for the safety but that can be removed.

    If it works well, so what's the problem?


    I have to say that I own both a Rob Allen and an Aimrite (last generation, with shiny SS mechanism) and for me, the RA is better and smoothest.


    I had to return the AR mech to the factory for replacement since it was shooting alone... :crazy:

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    Some people have had problems with them due to degradation of the material as evident by their posts. The latest being Keyskiller on SB which is where I got the pic. Stainless steel mechs are hassle free once properly made. Customer service is not an issue, I don't even want to be bothered thinking about the mech once it's in the gun.

    In my line of work, as I am sure many of yours, we are seeing everything being manufactured in China. I wonder what that would cost to make in China?

    Quote from seahunter49

    Some people have had problems with them due to degradation of the material as evident by their posts. The latest being Keyskiller on SB which is where I got the pic. Stainless steel mechs are hassle free once properly made. Customer service is not an issue, I don't even want to be bothered thinking about the mech once it's in the gun.


    I think it was a deffecctive batch (could happen to anyone).


    Yesterday I used my Aimrite Venom and the more I use it the more I miss my Rob Allen Tuna... :(

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    I think that we generally equate plastic with "cheap", and poorly made, but that is not NECESSARILY true. The B2 Spirit bomber has almost no metal in it, for example. That's obviously an extreme example, and probably just reinforces that plastics or composites of high quality are usually much more expensive than metal components.

    Quote from monster slayer

    How´s that bro??


    Well, the Rob Allen mechanism was faultless, very soft and reliable.


    I traded "pelo a pelo" my 120 Tuna for a 130 Carbon Venom. I loved my Rob Allen and was my "all around" gun, but I thought that if I didn't liked the Aimrite, the reselling value would be 100$ higher than the RA and I could buy a new RA and keep money in my pocket...


    My first experience was that the bands were cut way too long. No problem at all, I shortened about 2" each. They were 9/16" instead of the 5/8" of the RA. No problem, lets give them a chance...


    First day in the water and the gun is really accurate and the power is ok. After two shots... Then it started to misfiring alone! (and my fishing day was over). Wrote to Aimrite, sent the mechanism back to Hawaii and got a new one after a month. Now, I have to check that the shaft is properly inserted any time, because oftenly is not cocked. Additionally, the trigger is harder to pull than the Rob Allen and it takes a while to get used to it. Maybe I end up selling this gun and buying another RA.... :(


    On another hand, speaking about "plastics" in general is like saying "metal"; there are many different plastic polymers with many differen properties, as for metals. In my opinion, a good specified plastic is a best cost effective alternative to a metal.


    About prices, Dan is right; for what it cost, they sell the guns too expensive. But that is in the USA. Prices of gear are 2 x in the USA compared to Europe (and probably South Africa, speaking about Rob Allen).

    Marco Melis

    A bad day fishing is ALWAYS better than a good day at work.

    The good thing about aimrite is that they back up their products, no questions asked. That´s a fact. But if soemthing is prone to fail, you will end up waiting for a month or two until you get the problem fixed. That´s a lot of time in open season, :boring1: besides the stuff ain´t cheap.

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

    Marco, all the problems appear to be with the trigger mech and they are serious ones. Another example of what I said before that a trigger mech is not the place to try and save a couple of $$.


    To really understand what you mean by difficulties inserting and locking the shaft I'd have to try it myself. I have seen this before and it is most annoying. On one occasion I found the problem to be a bent shaft, bent close to the back/notch. What shaft came with your Aimrite, original? On the other hand with my guns I never felt resistance locking the shaft into place nor had misfires and I still check by pulling on the shaft every time I load.


    I have a preference to the square notch tabbed shafts. The insertion of the shooting line into the trigger mech along with the back of the shaft is not logical to me. It requires more space in the housing which in turn can create space for the shaft to skip over the sear. The line can also deteriorate from friction against the housing and be difficult to insert if the tolerance is not perfect or if the diameter of the mono varies past this tolerance. Also you lose some toggle/slip tip type effect when getting a complete pass through on a fish.


    Not saying euro style spears don't work, but it's all about the little things for personal preference. While the euro spear is a solution that works I think that in the quest for the ideal setup the American system comes out ahead.

    Correction, The RA Sear is not plastic...stainless steel but not sure which grade.
    Also, the Euro style trigger mech tends to push the shaft up against the internal roof of the mech casing as opposed to pulling on the sear notch in case of the US mech.
    Ihab

    Quote from Ihab

    Correction, The RA Sear is not plastic...stainless steel but not sure which grade.
    Also, the Euro style trigger mech tends to push the shaft up against the internal roof of the mech casing as opposed to pulling on the sear notch in case of the US mech.
    Ihab


    Hello Ihab, very wellcome!!

    I'm a Speardiver, not a freediver

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