Posts by Dan

  • Pneumatic speargun mods

    I did, opened two holes too much so decided to leave it at that. I'm wondering as to the efficacy of that in the first place. Maybe some breaking action on the piston is necessary so it doesn't hit the muzzle with too much force. It is an easy mod to do though if you don't get carried away. In this case it doesn't matter as the muzzle was the only deteriorated part of the gun and I'm probably going to go with a muzzle kit instead of replacing it if I ever go that route.


  • squeal like a PIG !!

    WTG John, you're a lean mean Mediterranean killing machine. Nice shot on that pig. I gotta admit that your stories got me interested in trying it out. I don't relish the thought of the mosquitoes though. You must've been baking in those clothes. Good thing we don't have to worry about that in the water. Any chance of repellent doing the trick? I'll second the pig being good on the BBQ :toast:

  • Pneumatic speargun mods

    Those are some useful vids, thanks. My problem yesterday however was not assembling but disassembling. I'm talking about the Cyrano I found that's been in the water for maybe a year. The muzzle bonded with the inner barrel and I couldn't unscrew it. I forced it and it made the whole back end of the inner barrel turn inside the handle. I don't know the full extent of the damage but the trigger pin was bent and now the inner barrel can spin inside the handle. I had to disassemble the gun starting from the back. Fortunately I was going to remove the pressure reducer block anyways so it didn't matter that it got a little mangled in the process.


    The only way I could unscrew the muzzle was by sticking a metal rod through the trigger slot of the inner barrel and securing it in a vice. Then putting another metal rod through the port holes of the muzzle thus generating enough torque to unscrew it. It was so stuck that the force deformed the trigger slot slightly and I had to reshape it.


    Otherwise removing the block is easy and and so is sealing the hole for the pressure reducing rod/switch. It's a nice simple mod for those who do not plan on shooting the gun into a hole. If there are going to be any leaks as a result of this butchering it will be from the back of the handle or the trigger pin hole, although I straightened the pin and the trigger is moving smoothly. Since I didn't buy the gun I took it as an opportunity to take apart and modify with abandon. I'll see how it turns out.


    At this point I only need to get one new seal/ring. It's the one on the piston that has a flange. A kit from a LDS is $25 but I'd rather not buy it since I only need the one ring. Does anyone know where I can get it?

  • Homemade Pneumatic speargun?

    Simply awesome. Thank you Marco. I'll be coming back to this thread in the future to see these pics again.


    Have you ever used the pneumatics where the air cylinder is behind the handle? How are they compared to the conventional style? Seems to me that it solves the problem of muzzle heaviness. I don't know what the negative aspect of this design is.

  • Ciguatera

    Marco, Cig is a topic many are interested in. Do you and Straight Shaft mind if I split this into its own thread?


    In Bahamas the natives call a schoolmaster "the barber", known to carry cig.


    I agree with everything you said, that's how I do it. I don't argue any more with Cubans telling me about the ants or the cats or whether the fish was fighting hard. It's all BS by me. The only thing I'm not sure about is if cig can be localized in a part of the body of a big fish. This is why I eat a piece from the back and the front of the fish when I have a doubt.

  • Pneumatic speargun mods

    Thanks, I think it shouldn't be a big deal. I just wanted to know what's the best way to seal the holes. Two part epoxy putty should do it. Here are a couple of pics of it from when I took the 700 apart to change the inner barrel that got scratched and was letting out air. I took pics so as not to forget the order in which things go.




    Here's a chart that may be of interest.



    Here's a mod for those guys who really can't get over their wood guns :)


  • where the modern spearfishin is born

    I once started a thread on when was the first modern spearfishing. The first step was to define the difference from before and after because using a spear to throw into the water is very old. I think the line between old and modern can be drawn when the spear became propelled with a force other than the thrust of the arm and was used completely submerged in conjunction with the use of some kind of goggles. Most people had the idea that it started in the US but it was a US forum. It is possible though that some developments took place independently but concurrently in the US and Europe. Jack Prodonovich would talk about the first home made goggles they made. The nice thing is that in those times even though equipment was not so good there was little competition from other spearfishers and more fish.

  • Pneumatic speargun mods

    The blue handle looks nice. The old handle looks identical to the cyrano, it must be a Sporasub something..


    How much was the muzzle? Did you have to wait or did they have it in stock? Were you able to do the port enlargement with the muzzle on the gun?


    I want to remove the high/low switch too. Are the instructions on that website enough for me to do it properly?

  • Take a look of this. Outrageous stuff

    I saw it the first time you posted it just wasn't sure the relevance it had to the discussion. What I find interesting about it is how fast the guy went down. The ref didn't appear to swing very hard. But then a shot on the back of the neck when you're not ready can be devastating. That ref should be banned for life from any martial arts event.

  • Homemade Pneumatic speargun?

    Quote from FREEK

    You'd be surprised to see what can be with whatever you have. I saw a documentary on Cuba, one of the persons they did it on had his auto shop in the back of his house.(Technically it belonged to el commandante:rolleyes1:) The cars were Russian from the 50's, this dude would make his own brake pads:eek:.

    I've seen it there, a professional mechanic in Cuba will have a hole made of cement over which you'd drive the car. One time I saw the ball joints that they invent, unbelievable. I love that kind of ingenuity. It is a product of a place where the time of the individual is worth very little.


    As far as pneumatics; I've always seen them use a premade handle and trigger, usually a very old mares, the rest was home made. The best shafts I believe were made from some kind of car spring. Pantoja knows more about this. The inner and outer barrel are no big deal really, all you need is a lathe. The pipes you can scrounge from another industry.


    My interest in pneumatics is mostly nostalgic. I think band guns are better. The nice thing about pneumatics is that every part is made in large runs so they are cheap to produce and therefore cheap to buy. They will do an adequate job putting fish on the table.

  • Plastic trigger mech

    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.