Dummies guide to Spearfishing - Part II
Posted By Ismail Sonday on 15 April 2006
Probably the most debated item amongst spearo’s is the guns that they use. Many divers will swear by one brand whilst other will swear AT that same brand!! What must be remembered though is that ultimately it’s not the gun, but the skill of the diver that makes him successful. So let us enter the minefield of spearguns!!
Spearguns can be classified into two distinct types, namely Pneumatic (air) guns and band guns. Each type has its own advantages and dis-advantages.
Starting off with Pneumatic (Air) guns. They’re unfortunately perceived by most spearo’s as not being a good weapon. The most often touted theories are that they are high maintenance and lose power the deeper you go. The advantage of a pneumatic gun is that it has immense power for its size. Since the Mamba kit came onto the market, it has revolutionized the pneumatic speargun market. This kit basically seals off the barrel, stopping water from entering the barrel. The piston therefore pushes out ONLY the spear and not spear and water as before. This makes the gun very powerful. Quite a few divers are now starting to use pneumatic guns and it seems like their popularity will increase.
Band guns can be further sub-divided into a myriad of categories. Let’s start off with the categories of euro guns, multiple band wooden guns and hybrids.
Euro guns were designed for the euro spearo’s who mostly hunted smaller fish. They needed a gun that is fast and very accurate. Most euro guns are fitted with a 6-6.5mm spear and a single 16mm, 18mm or 20mm band. Popular brands are Omer, Picasso, Cressi, etc A mutation of the euro guns is the South African railgun. South African divers needed a gun with more power and thicker spears for the larger fish they hunted. So 7-8mm spears were used and 2x16mm bands were used to propel the spear. To counter-act spear whip and spear wobble, a rail was added to the gun. This not only strengthens the barrel, but also makes the gun very accurate. Popular brands are Rabitech and Rob Allen spearguns.
Most euro/South African railguns are measured by barrel length and not the total length of the gun and is expressed in centimeters.
The most popular set-ups are:
- 16mm band with a 6.3-6.6mm spear for fish under 7 kg’s (15lb’s)
- 20mm band with 7mm spear for all-round use
- Twin 16mm bands with 7-8mm spear for large fish
The advantage 16mm bands have over the 20mm is that it’s simply easier to load. That’s why many spearo’s use 2x16mm bands on their longer guns, as not only does it facilitate easy loading, but also give a little bit more power than a single 20mm band. That said, a single 16mm will generally be more accurate than twin 16mm bands, albeit less powerful.
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