Posts by parker

  • Questions about piecing together a 120cm railgun...

    The gun without reel or shaft weighs 3.0 lbs according to my scale. The barrel alone (with handle and muzzle removed) weights 1.3 lbs. However, those weights include a little bit of water that I can hear inside the barrel. I've only had it in the ocean for one outing - and that was only in 52 fsw. I suppose the stiffening ridges on the inside wall of the barrel interfere with the plugs making a good seal.

  • 3 atm float

    My limited experience with Riffe 2ATM floats . . . I bought one a couple of years ago, but used it for the first time just this past week. (I do reef diving most every week. But, it's been a while since I went bluewater.) I had inflated it by mouth way back when, but could only get it to ambient. :rolleyes1: So, I tried topping it off at a gas station a couple weeks ago in preparation. The float I have has a similar inflation valve to the Speardiver Zodiac float, based on its description. The fill adapter that came with my 2ATM float is a "bend-to-blow" nozzle similar to this one... Amazon.com: Aqua Air Blow Gun (AA02): Sports & Outdoors
    ... but instead of a quick-connect for a BCD inflator hose, it has the same threaded-end attachment as a car tire. Trying to hold all those pieces together by myself was quite cumbersome, and I could only manage to get it inflated to about 20 psi. I let it sit at my house then checked a few days later. The pressure had dropped to about 10 psi. Before returning to the gas station to top it off again, I cut the stem off from a bike tire tube and smoothed the edges so that it fits into the fill valve of the 2ATM float. That cut the bend-to-blow nozzle out of the equation and made it much simpler to hold together. I inflated it to about 23 psi and listened closely for leaks. Sure enough, there was a very slight hiss from the valve. It stopped by fiddling/twisting the stem, but would start again when touched. I topped it off again before getting on the boat and hoped for the best. Another guy on the trip had a 2ATM float too, but had only inflated it by mouth.:crazy: Needless to say, it was only to ambient. But with my bike tire tube stem, a hand pump, and four hands we got it to about 15 psi.


    As I said, my float is a couple years old. They might have bettered it by now. I don't know what style fill valve the other brand pressured floats use. I think I'd prefer it be same style as a car tire. Or maybe there's a good reason that's not used.


    BTW, the BW trip was a bust for me. I didn't get anything except sea sick :(

  • Speardiver composite speargun reel

    I set my reel to very light drag, practically free spool. And I use a hair bungie tied through the trigger guard and looped around the reel's line guide. That keeps enough pressure on the spooled line to avoid bird nests. After the fish is shot, I cup the reel in my hand as Red Tide described to control drag.

  • Questions about piecing together a 120cm railgun...

    Quote from sdeisen

    That should float fine. and if the notches are cutting easily you should consider taking some of that abrasive string to them to smooth them out.


    My 140 carbon Aimrite floats with a Paxman reel, and my 100 aluminum Aimrite does not float with a RA composite reel. Both are spooled with Zing-it spectra. So, please clarify. Do you think a 120 aluminum SHOULD float with a Spearmaster reel, or do you know it WILL float? Just wanting to be sure if I can. Thanks for the help!

  • Questions about piecing together a 120cm railgun...

    Quote from Rusty

    With twin 16's and a 120 barrel I wouldn't worry about going carbon over aluminum either. It's when you start getting into the longer barrels and or heavier loads that quality CF comes into play. As 1shot says, guns upto 1.4 and 1.5 aluminum is pretty alright, as long as they aren't loaded right up.


    What's the I.D and O.D of your proposed CF barrel?


    I would have used a Speardiver CF barrel, but decided to hold off getting that for now. Instead, I got one of those $99 Pelaj Spekter guns on clearance sale and used it for the first time just yesterday. It produce fish, but I'm definitely gonna change out the handle (as I expected I would.) The angle of the Pelaj handle doesn't bother me as much as its shape and the position of its trigger and trigger guard. My hands are big enough to palm a basketball. So, the Pelaj trigger is less than mid-length of my index finger. And I tried to hold the handle as high on the grip as possible, but that put the trigger guard in the way of my middle finger. It was an odd and uncomfortable grip for me, but as I said, it yielded fish.


    Anyway, I plan to mate a Pathos 2 handle to that barrel whenever the left-handed model becomes available. Until then, I'll use an extra Aimrite Venom handle that I have. I'll need to cut grooves in the barrel inserts of each of those to match the stiffening ridges inside the Pelaj barrel. I guess I'll have to finally break down and buy a Dremel to do that. Or do you guys have other suggestion?


    I put an Aussie Paxman reel with Zing-it line on the gun. It floated at the start of the day after firing the spear, but eventually sank as the reel line became saturated. I prefer the gun to float after shooting. So, I guess my choices are to either get a less heavy reel, or replace the line with polypro. Do you guys know whether 120cm ali guns will float with a Speardiver Composite reel with Spectra line?


    I might change the muzzle too. With the Pelaj muzzle, the loaded bands stand off from the barrel for most of the length of the gun and chatter a lot when carrying through the water. I think I prefer the bands to lay flat along the barrel (as on my AImrite.) So, maybe I'll fit an Aimrite muzzle on. What muzzles do you guys like for rail guns?


    Oh yeah, weenie me had a tough time loading the 20mm band what came stock on the Pelaj. While practice loading/unloading, the wishbone snapped because I let it rub against the spear notch. So, I replace it with twin 16mm's.

  • 3 atm float

    Dude george, what's the inflated dimensions of that float? It appears quite large and I'd think it problematic on a breezy day.


    I notice the float pictured on initial post of this thread is 60L. The only size I see on Neptonics website at this moment is 15L (39 lbs) $155.


    Florida Freedivers has very similar (judging by photo only) 15L float for $89. SpearMaster 15 Liter Inflatable Float
    You could daisy chain three of those together and have more lift for less cost than current price of a Riffe 2ATM.

  • Questions about piecing together a 120cm railgun...

    Will Aimrite Venom and/or Pathos D'Angelo 2 handles fit a Rob Allen aluminum barrel?
    Same question for an Aimrite Venom muzzle.
    Does the barrel rail height match close enough?
    If so, is a $140 carbon speargun barrel really better than a $50 aluminum barrel for a 120cm gun? (Assume using twin 16mm small ID bands, or do you recommend other?)


    Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.

  • Question to roller gun users and other smart people

    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.

  • Question to roller gun users and other smart people

    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.

  • 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.