Laser sights for spearguns

[portinfer]

http://www.oceanoptics.co.uk/laser.htm


Rated to 50m ..... and you can get ones with cross hairs apparently ....

[Almostafish]

Yeah, they used to sell them on ebay for £15. I strapped one to a cressi sl 100... Dont even bother.

[tbgsub]

I recently came across a Scuba Laser pointer (60m depth waterproof) and picked it up thinking it might attract fish, later I came across an aluminum scope gun mount that just happened to match the size of the lazer housing.
well after getting an Omer Cobra, I noticed that the stock screw holes for the Reel mount, just happened to match the rail mount.

twenty minutes of these materials being in the same room, and after reading this post, I approached my gun with curiosity.

(I know most of you will think "How stupid" and it probably is a bad idea because it would encourage hip shots, and careless heads up shots while tracking fish with the dot, and it may well frighten prey, messing up the shot)

But, what if you used it for target practice, on Bottles, with two wraps of line on a breakaway system to determine the drop at distance for getting more accurate with long range shots. Using the light sight may improve perception of the bolt dropping, and of the speed of the bands. does it sound completely ridiculous now?
perrhaps, but I thought someone should try and see if it would work before knocking it.

well I must say that aiming around the room, just got 5 times more fun.
havent taken it in the water, but I can say that it adds to the weight of the gun, and probably makes it negatively bouyant, bad for hunting, but not so bad if practising.

I wont fish with this however, it is not sporting, or even fair to the wildlife we encounter.

[poacher]

Please try it out and give us a report on how it works- try it on fish too I cant see it being unsporting you still have to get your self in rang of the fish - but try it on some targets first if its not point where the spear will hit and you can not compensate it will be a waste of time and may cause you to miss or worse wound and loose fish.
peter

[Skindiver]

At the time that rifle scopes were developed it was considered unsporting to hunt using them. Many non - hunters and some hunters, even today, still feel that animals heve no chance againt a hunter with a rifle scope.
Perhaps this is so. However the same hunter will not stop hunting if his rifle scope is taken away from him.
He will continue hunting with open sights and will resultantly wound and lose many more animals than with the scope.

Scopes and lasers do not kill more animals, but they surely will wound less. This is an ethically better outcome.
Ethics and sportsmanship though seem to be at loggerheads here as i feel at this time, in the current climate, laser pointers would probably be unsporting.

Skin.

[Pastor]

Where exactly would you mount this thing? Drill a hole in the end of a woody? What about on a euro type gun? underneath the muzzle perhaps. All seems a little unpractical to me, especially lashing it underneath the gun, that instantly puts you 2" out

Seriously, has anybody ever actually done this sucessfully? As in actually made the system work and keep working at all ranges. I would be interested to read about it.

[tbgsub]

my gun has a mount with stock screw holes for a reel. just under the gun, infront of the trigger, your left hand can press the button while aiming, but this is a two hand operation even on a reef gun, you may not like this.
most euroguns have either a stock mounting hole option, or an adapter of some sort for a reel.
the standard aluminum scope/flashlight mount fits on the Omer Cobra and screws into the reel mount holes (remove the reel mount first) using the stock screws that come with the gun (no enlarging of stock holes to reuse reel mount), no modifications other than using a small piece of plastic undet the rear mount against the Laser to cause the beam to rise at roughly 12 feet to match the bolt.(Currently used with 1 wrap of line = 12 ft range for now) further away and the spot is above the bolt shot, closer and it is under. this range is easily adjustable by either tightening or loosening the mount bolts in the rear.

no scope or laser works with all ranges at all times, they have to be sighted in to work accurately.
as your range increases (multi bands, and multiple wraps, and the range must be adjusted accordingly)

no lashing, no ducktape, no strings, just a bolt on setup using a gun mount and a scuba laser pointer. it probably adds a little more weight than a reel with 90M of Nylon line, I will send you a pic when I put it on again. it is pretty straightforeward.

I feel that for practice it is not so impractical, but for hunting it makes the gun negatively bouyat more than I care to have.

(however, there is no better practice than hunting frequently, which would negate the need for a laser sight in the first place, unless you are a murky water, or cave specialist)

personally I feel that if you are spending more time on the dot, and less time on the shot, you are wasting your time. hunt wisely.

tbgsub.

[tbgsub]

ok here is the result of a couple hours of foolishness, I did this only for fun, not for serious hunting, as I am sure that this thread, and myself will get static for even doing this to my gun. Having a Laser sight on your Speargun for practice may improve your sense of distance, and your awareness of spear drop, or it may make you dependent on un necessary tech. Keep in mind the fact that this gun is touted as "the most technologically advanced Teak speargun on the market" (2006-7 Omer Catalog) after this mod I think it surely is, and over the top at that.

keep in mind that there were no modifications made to the speargun in question, stock screw holes were used and everything is reversible back to stock condition. I would have never tried this otherwise.

first pic is removal of the stock reel mount.


the next pic is of the Scuba Laser (60M depth advertised) mounted in the scope/flash light mount.

the mount is installed using the stock holes, and the stock screws. A thin piece of rubber is placed beneath the mount to keep it from moving, and scarring the teak.

the addition is not so bulky, as weighty, adding roughly a pound of weight.
the Laser is available from an online distributer named Genaldi you can google scuba laser genaldi and come across his site (no pun intended)
the gun mount was from Ebay, purchased with the intent of mounting a flashlilght, but the laser seemed cooler, a small flashlight might be more practical.


the dot projected in my shower is about 15 ft away = 3 ft too far for my setup, and the dot is noticeably 1.5" above the tip of where the bolt would lie in the groove. it should be easy to notice this at a distance and position for a closer shot, too close and the dot drops out of sight.


a fish eye view. (no the bands are not cocked! I am not crazy!)



an under shot showing the hand positions needed. (two handed shots are not so convenient as a single handed shot and most likely use mor precious oxygen drawing a bead on the laughing slimeys that swim around you)


and a last shot for scale.


well there it is.

I have only mounted this on twice now, and somehow I feel like I am sinning.
I only hope that Marco Bardi, and Mark Labocetta can forgive me for this Frankenstine like treatment of their crown jewel gun. This became a monster of an idea, that can be argued both ways; unethical, and ethical.
when it comes to weapons, and tools, they are only as good and appropriate as those who apply them. at some point even recreation has to have its sensibilities. I feel that used as a training tool, this can improve accuracy, however not more than by simply fishing more. Used as a fishing device a laser sight is not just grossly indiscrete, but overkill in an obscene fashion.


Using this sight to fish, as far as I feel is cheating in a huge way, however the idea would be to nail that questionably big fish exactly in the brain. it might be falsely relied on to risk shots that would otherwise not be taken for fear of losing a good tool. with that concern in mind, I must add that nothing makes up for appropriate equipment when it comes to large game, use a breakaway setup, a long bungie, and a good float, then try to play with accuracy on the big ones from a distance if that is what you are into.

for now I am having fun aiming at apples and oranges with the thought that I am a little closer to william tell accuracy, but other than that, this is just a foolish novelty that should be taken with a spoon full of salt, and a dirty martini in hand. Cheers!

thanks for looking at what might be considered the most useless of accessories in Spearfishing.

tbgsub.

[sickbugs]

your worried about the ethics of it?? cmon... you should know exactly where your spear goes when you shoot your gun, and anyways, i havnt seen any positive posts on any forums from people who actually hunt with a lazer pointer, everyone complains of distortion from water particles underwater, and also of having a hard time seeing the dot. a lazer pointer shouldnt have any real effect on your hunting, and probably will be more of a nuisance anyways, i cant think of the ammount of fish i have to "lead" with the spear because they are moving, in these situations, which are the most difficult shots imo, i find myself shooting @ open water, inches in front of the fish, to get a head or upper body shot.

underwater, even with a slightly negative gun, you wont need 2 hands for shooting anyways, my gun (purpleheart barreled beuchat mundial) is slightly neg with the reel on it, yet lines up on fish easily, and shoots like a dream.

[tbgsub]

fair enough I will take some underwater shots.
and report back. I agree with most of your post, it will most likely be a nuisance. this is a 5MW red laser, although they do make green 5MW lasers that show up better. Like I mentioned earlier, this is a novelty, not something serious.

thanks.

[Oldsarge]

I hunt fairly regularly with both scope and iron sights. Within about 150 yards, I notice no difference in speed of kill. Beyond that I insist on a scope to ensure a humane kill. I don't think that "sport" or "ethics" has much to do with the concept of a lazer sight because, as previously stated, you still have to get within the range of the gun. So . . . I am following these latest developments with interest but for now it looks like there is a fair amount of adjustment and creative fiddling needed before it becomes really practical. After all, I'm the one who was wondering about mounting a flashlight on a gun for cave hunting . . .

[foxfish]

Well good luck, if you want see a red dot under water you will need it!
Try the green model & you might get somewhere.

[tbgsub]

I see the direction the responses are taking, and I must assure you all, that this is not intended by me for actually hunting. I prefer to use one hand to shoot, I also lead the target for a better shot. My stock 100 circolare Cobra uses 7 bouyancy compensators to render the gun slightly neg with the bolt in, and is surprisingly positive after the bolt has been expelled. I have no problems with the way that this tool performs right out of the box. I catch just fine without a scope, and will continue to do so.

as for old sarges comment about "a fair ammount of fiddling and adjustment needed before anything can be practical" I offer a name and projects of past fiddling; Jack Prodonovich, his tuna gun, his first underwater camera, and the first rubbber face masks. his life was dedicated to endless fiddling and adjustment, perhaps with as much ridicule, and I am in no way thinking that I am even close to what he acomplished. In fact I have mentioned repeatedly that this mod is mostly an un necessary endeavor. WHY?

because I fully understand that light in the 650 nm spectrum is absorbed in the first 10-15 ft of water. I photograph underwater when not hunting and I know that this pointer, originally intended to help my autofocus underwater, even at 5mw shows up poorly during daylight, even at 9 ft. it is because of this that I did it only as a novelty meant for entertainment, or possibly as a training aid, but that it is a poor substitution for simply fishing frequently without a scope.

I dont fish with a scope; it isnt necessary to get accurate and purposeful results, and will most likely be an extra nuisance creating drag, much like a reel. I feel that either you set up a reef gun, or you set up break away, anything else usually causes a great deal of drag, seriously affecting bottom time.

I hope this clarifies my position on tinkering with technology and its often inherent impracticality.

thanks.

[foxfish]

Scopes on gun have been tryed.

[spaghetti]

I agree with Oldsarge on the ethics thing. Until you have one single shot in a breathold it's a loyal duel with the fish, no matter how sofisticated the gun is. (Is a good speargun less ethic than a crap speargun? No).
The technical issue will be probably the aiming line. Tbgsub made a very fine job on his Cobra, but the lazer source is mounted under the barrel, so its projection is not on the same axis of the spear. This way I think the lazer dot does not tell you exactly where to aim...