RIFFE Euro Style Speargun Series "MAG-TRACK"

[grass]

I use my Riffe for some time now and wanted to buy the 7.1 threaded shaft + the wing kit.
The wing kit should compensate for heavier shaft as the gun is not balanced with 7 or 7.5mm shafts. I also have a reel with 50m dynema line which adds weight.


Does anybody use the wing kit already? Any opinions on it?
I'd like to try new Riffe threaded spears, what spear tips will fit on it? I wanted to order the ABBiller speartips but they have 6mm thread, will it fit on the Riffe shafts?

Here are the links to spears and tips:
Riffe Fin Shaft 9/32" w/ Thread Euro, Shafts & Accessories - ScubasWorld
ABBiller Double Barb Rockpoint, Speartips - ScubasWorld

BTW, I found a way to load any shaft into my Riffe, the trigger mech is a bit different from standard Euros, so I just use a disk to shave half a millimeter off from the spear butt. That makes the trigger eat all I give it.

[tbgsub]

Wings and Things..

I have a Riffe Euro as well, not the New EuroX which is not really Euro if you consider the longer butt, it is just a mid handle revamped.

but I am thinking about variations on a theme as well, but more to the Euro side of the equation.

I am thinking that the 16mm stock bands dont give me enough power, but rather than bulking up on the gun, or shortening the stock bands (that wouldnt be any fun),
What I want to do with the Riffe 110 Euro is put two 18mm omer bands with SS wishbones, which should make the bolt snap a little faster and penetrate a little farther out. I really like the Safety on the Riffe as opposed to the Euro Safetys, but the Euro style is to break off, or dissassemble the safety and handle the gun cautiously that is why they are particullarly cheap plastic or with removeable buttons. some bluewater guns dont even come with safetys. I only wish the safety lever were a little closer to the handle so the thumb could more easily flip it on and off! As it is now I have to check it before every dive, but that is keeping things ultimately more controlled.

Back to Wings:

Wings make the gun much slower at vertically tracking, If you Aspetto you are likely to miss alot of shots trying to raise to the gun to the fish. If you dive bomb from the top the wings may help you. Shooting at the surface in waves seems to be worsened by wings, I missed a large Wahoo at the surface once because of that, and because I didnt dive a few feet to escape the turbulence trying not to spook the fish. I was using a 60" Andre with 4 bands, a 7mm Shaft and a sliptip that never touched the wahoo that turned away and revealed a profile as large around as my head! it must have been over 20lbs easy.

Riffe Wing Kit: I have looked at it in passing; As long as you can remove the wings later in the event you dont like em, it could only be a nice experiment. Why not?

Ultimately a Tool is only as good as its acceptance and practical use by the owner.

if you have the now old Riffe Euro wihtout the long butt, remember that any wings will make your wrist work harder tracking fish. I have thought about adding Surfboard Skegs, they are lighter, more hydrodynamic and have more surface area to prevent barrel lift with high power bands. If you epoxy in a surf insert you can add and remove them when you need them. your gun may look wierder but it just may function in the water better than wood wings. you could also make your own wood wings, as there are several unfinished kits available for much less.

If you have the NEW and not-so Euro styled Mid handled Riffe EuroX then wings wont be such an issue while using your second hand to guide the barrel through the water on the long stock butt.

good luck with the MOD.

[grass]

Thanx for the info. I have Euro 120 and got the answer from the seller that the wing kit is not intended for the Euro series, however it can be mounted.
I want the kit to make the gun neutrally buoyant and increase the overall mass to compensate the recoil.
Using the RA spears with the gun results in inaccurate shots (the spear goes up on shots longer than 4m). The original Riffe 6.75 spear is too weak to withstand double bands and direct riff hits. I bent it on my first dive.
I will now order couple of 7.1 threaded Riffe spears and add the spear tips to them in hope that it will survive.

I think I can handle the wing kit as I don't really move the gun a lot in the water. I dive deep and stay there, when I see the fish I usually track horizontally or turn the gun 90 degrees to track it vertically.

[tbgsub]

OMER sells a stick on weight kit that might help you.
check out the link:
PLOMOS OMER PARA FUILES

this should work on any gun.
after using the weights that came with the Cobra I used to have I am a firm believer in weighting the tip of the barrel for neutral Bouyancy, it greatly improves accuracy in the Long distance shots.

maby try weights first then wings if you dont get the accuracy you want.

good luck.

TBGSUB.

P.S. sounds like you plugged the reef really close, I have seen almost all normal 6mm and 7mm floppers bend at the brad when fired at close range into rocks and reef either straight on or glancing. (friends, not me) They just werent made for rock hunting.

Threaded tips may strip the threads depending on how close you shoot the rocks, and if you ever use a slip tip, you will either discover how expensive they can be to replace, or you will naturally try really hard not to shoot into coral and rocks.

sometimes the choice not to shoot is the best option, if we shoot into reef at a fish, in the shallows we usually use only one band, and let the other flop loose, it doesnt affect the shot much at all, and may make the fish curious about the floating band. try the one band option close to reef and I bet you wont bend stock shafts much at all!!

good luck.

[tbgsub]

Shot goes UP??
usually you want wings and weights when the shot goes down, because the gun comes up and taps the end of the shaft as it exits the muzzle. This is caused by a high power gun that doesnt have the neutral bouyancy to remain still at the trigger release.

your gun may actually be sinking down and away from the shaft at fire, causing the bands to push the rear of the shaft down, causing the shot to rise. My guess would be bands that are either too strong, or short for the shaft. did you shorten your stock bands? overpowered bands can make the shot go either way, up or down depending on the bouyancy of the stock. now that I am thinking of it, experiment with a small foam piece taped or zip tied to your muzzle, or get slightly longer bands, say one inch longer, or 1/2 inch longer, you will have less power but the shot will be accurate, which really matters most.

most spearo's are obsessed with power, when an accurate gun gets more fish.

on the other hand I think what may be affecting the shot is that magnet! I think they are removeable, try a day without the magnet, I have heard much speculation as to the effect of the magnet on the shot with different sizes of guns. I even wonder if storing the shaft in the track causes the shaft itself to become magnetized over time. this might cause magnetic repulsion/or attraction as the magnetized shaft moves at great speed past the muzzle magnet driving the shot up or down, the magnet is a great gimmic for freeshafting, and easy loading, but I dont think It is either necessary or cruitial for the gun to fire accurately. My 110 Omer Cobra didnt have a magnet and (properly weighted) it fired every bit as accurate as the Riffe Euro 110, I cant see why the 120 should be much different.

good luck.

[grass]

The gun is a moderate sinker with the stock shaft but when tried with RA 7.5mm shaft its really heavy in the hand. However it floats after the shot.
I tried it with 2x18mm bands and short RA shaft 150. The shot goes up. I attribute it to the overpowering and the bad RA flopper.
I'll stick to 2x16 bands from now on. The original shaft with 2x16 shoots straight.

As I added the reel the gun is not balanced, the muzzle is lighter than its middle section. So I guess I'd use a strip of wood under the barrel to add the buoyancy and increase the overall mass to fight the recoil.

[tbgsub]

it sounds like your headed in the right direction!!
good luck!!
I had wondered what adding a reel would do to the allready nicely shooting Euro.
I think I will stick to a floatline+Bouy+reef setup gun. I use three wraps of Mono so the range is quite nice. how Does the reel affect the range?
I still wish I had my Omer Cobra, I just liked the way it shot, lightening fast and accurate.

best of luck, and dive safe,

TBGSUB

[grass]

Originally Posted by tbgsub

I had wondered what adding a reel would do to the allready nicely shooting Euro.
TBGSUB

Well you still can wrap couple of mono loops around. I think I have enough range with one loop (about 6m). 120gun + 160spear + 130*2line + 50hand.


It needs a good shaft and then you will hit the bull's eye every time. With the stock 6.75 shaft I think the best option is a single 20mm Riffe band.
Can't really use the 7.5mm without modifying it (too heavy).

[blaiz]

Originally Posted by grass

Well you still can wrap couple of mono loops around. I think I have enough range with one loop (about 6m). 120gun + 160spear + 130*2line + 50hand.


It needs a good shaft and then you will hit the bull's eye every time. With the stock 6.75 shaft I think the best option is a single 20mm Riffe band.
Can't really use the 7.5mm without modifying it (too heavy).

Did you have to modify the track to accept the thicker shaft? I have a 110 riffe euro with the stock shaft and it seems to fit pretty tight as it is.

[grass]

No, just had to shave a millimeter from the RA 7.5 spear butt to get the trigger accept it.

[tbgsub]

Well you still can wrap couple of mono loops around. I think I have enough range with one loop (about 6m)

hey thats exactly what I did! only I added 300lb mono just in case.

what I am realizing now is if anything is going to fail with a flopper, it is the flopper will rip out or break before anything else does, so the shot better be good on a big fish, or he gets everything.

[grass]

In case of RA spears you can build a house on their flopper. The problem with this flopper is it affects the trajectory of the shot.
Riffe uses light floppers but they are still sturdy enough to withstand a 50kg monster. The spear itself will be bent for sure.

[tbgsub]

we alot of bent shafts out here. thats why we aim for just behind the eye at the top of the gill plate, otherwise its a lost shot, but if its GT (giant travally) shoot straight into the head if possible.