Posts by ddonnell

  • California dragon swim

    Its an old tradition no longer with us. It was called the dragon swim and that thing breathed fire! It used to be made every year and scrapped down after, but eventually just made it good enough to last. It wa made out of chicken wire with foam sprayed on the top. All the guys from the club would go down to 2nd street in Long Beach and drink and eventually tow it around the harbor in part of the Christmas boat parade. There were a few sites I wish I could have back.. Seeing Jay Riffe in a red man thong.. NO THANKS :@


    I've done it twice, but too little to be of much help, so I sat on the float and told one of the guys when to fire off the flames. <img src= " height="23" srcset="https://spearfishing.world/forum/images/smilies/emojione/1f606@2x.png 2x">


    Don should be able to offer a bit more history and pictures..

  • Stringing fish on the float line

    If in Mexico when diving off our boat, I just toss them in unless I'm too far, then its either belt strung or put on the float. In so cal the only way I string my fish is on my waist stringer, although if you forget it (like I have on a few occasions:rolleyes:) I put them into my yak or tuck them up in my suit for time being, for small fish up to 6 lbs.


    I do think this product has its uses, but mainly on the east coast, for those that use floatlines. I couldn't see anybody using that here on the west coast.

  • My Guns, that's all.

    I saw this thread and started to dread pulling all these logs out and I still managed to forget a few..
    I will name them all from top to bottom. Two measurements given. First is tip(not shaft) to mech, second is tip(not shaft) to butt. Guns that are "Donnell" were made by my grandfather, Bob Donnell.







    My Cluster:
    1) Donnell- 57" 66" My future bluewater YT/WSB gun. Just snagged it yesterday8)
    2)Donnell/Donnell- 46" 53" My go to CA gun. Love love love this thing. My grandpa originally made this, but after who knows how many years, it was trashed. So I chopped and reshaped the muzzle.
    3)Donnell- 46" 51" My Mex gun. Rigged with a straight head and float/floatline. Takes down anything I want from groupers to bay bass.
    4)80cm My Nor Cal gun. Stores easily in a paddle board/on a yak when ab diving.




    My Dad's Guns:
    1)Riffe- 44" 50" His Mex gun. Groupers and YT slayer, it does it all.
    2)Donnell- 61" 68" Midhandle. My Dad's Bluewater YT gun.
    3)Donnell- 48" 51" His CA gun. WSB and all around gun.
    4) 100cm My Dad's old comp gun. Quick re-loading and powerful. Now its his Nor Cal gun.




    History:
    1)CO2 gun- 53cm Late 40's early 50's home built. Uses a life raft's tank to fire. No regulator, so we don't know how many shots this single tank was capable of.
    2) Technisub Jaguar Picollo- 65cm Mid-Late 70's (Length is shaft length
    3)In Depth- Viper 60" Weird gun...
    4)Charlie Sturgil- 60" Cannibalized.. :(
    5) Charlie Sturgil- 44" This gun was lost, submerged for a year, found, sold to my Dad, then Dad shot his PB grouper at 123lbs.
    6)Espadon- 65cm My first gun. Didn't even have a 3ft range. I don't think it has any blood on it.


    Not pictured:
    -(5) polespears
    -36" Arbalette
    -120cm gun (exactly the same as the 80cm + 100cm) Given to my sister's (ex)boyfriend, We're still good friends and its in good hands.:)

  • New but Old Gun Build. Hybrid or Euro?

    Quote from Don Paul

    The gun also has a rear safety lever to check the trigger's movement, which unfortunately also blocks relatch when you insert the spear tail in the sear box unless you push it in simultaneously, which means you have to have the grip handle in your hand to reload the gun. Just in case that is not enough the gun also has a side-mounted safety button as well to operate a conventional trigger slide safety.



    Cheers, Don


    Thanks for the info Don:toast::toast:


    Well that explains why so much is missing on the gun. The Donnell's have never been fond of safeties...:S


    Not one of our guns has one. I can't stand guns that do. If I put it on, I always forget to take it off...

  • New but Old Gun Build. Hybrid or Euro?

    Thanks guys!:toast: Yea I hate ruin a vintage gun. I'll see what I can get out of it first before I proceed. I highly doubt I'd ever get a shaft made for this mech, because I can already see it looks to have some parts missing from it. This sure is a neat gun though!

  • New but Old Gun Build. Hybrid or Euro?

    Quote from luxemburg

    leave it as is.
    Dont you think it would be great to go out and shoot some fish with it.
    If you want to make a gun maybe look at buying a handle off a pursuit gun-ss mech and looks comfy.


    I don't have a shaft for it and I couldn't begin to think of where to come up with one without paying an arm and a leg for one...VERY weird mech on this thing. From what I can see the end of the shaft has to be in the shape of a rounded triangle and I don't want to destroy the handle trying to figure out what else there is to it.


    Where are these Pursuit guns? I can't find any on the site..


    I'm leaning towards the hybrid at this point, but I need to find someone willing to help out that has a few tools and knowledge I don't have.

  • New but Old Gun Build. Hybrid or Euro?

    Well with me being a 3rd generation spearfisherman, I get the evil eye from my dad whenever I just 'buy' something new and progressive, because "back in the day" they had to go to extreme lengths to get mediocre gear. Well, I'm tired of hearing it, so its my turn to be the one that makes his own gear. Needless to say after 60+ years of spearfishing in my family, we have some pretty cool yet un-usable gear laying around our shop and I want to turn it into something that can slay some fish.


    Well I have had my eye on this gun for quite some time now, and just got the itch and OK to do something with it. It is a killer gun, but the thing had a one-of type mechanism in it and I HIGHLY doubt that there is anyone pumping these shafts out.


    So now that last sentence brings me to a crossroad. Do I:
    1) find a handle that will fit in this gun and make it a euro style or
    2) screw it and make it a sweet hybrid?
    3) sell it to a gun 'collector' to put towards a new build/trade/etc...


    Here's the facts/history on the gun:
    -Manufactured by: In Depth Inc.
    -Model- Viper 60
    -O.D. - 1 (1/4)"
    -I.D. - 1 (5/32)" to 1 (3/16)" ----(estimated, lost my calipers)
    - Length- 71" butt to muzzle tip (no shaft)
    +53 (1/2)" of aluminum tube with teak rail
    -Dad won it at a National's raffle
    -"Big Jim" Christenson(sp?) had something to do with this
    + (i.e. design, manufactured, rep, etc...)
    -shot one fish (yellowtail)


    http://www.skindivinghistory.c…uns/vintage/In-Depth.html


    Now here's some photos of what I'm working with: