The DeeperBlue.net Gun Building Extravaganza - Gun Options 2 - Length and Bands

[Stephan Whelan]

The next phase of our Gun Building Extravaganza is taking shape with a poll choosing the Gun length and Bands.

Get voting on this poll.

Poll will close on 13th April 2008.

[podge]

I’ve gone for the 90 with a single band with no other motive than a purely selfish one of, that’s the gun I’d like to win/use.

[scottwilson]

I stick with my first choice of a 90

2 bands cause it looks badass
and my name engraved down the side with a plate to notch off the amount of bass its going to help me catch

[Mongrel454]

Im gonna go with 110 and twin and the waters my way are by the sounds of it alot more clearer than most of the pple i see posting.
Also my Cressi SL100 is good for reefs and slightly larger species.

Jamie

[Marwan]

guys bear in mind that if you choose the double band option, it can still be used as a single band...

[foxfish]

So far this poll looks a lot closer than the last one & of course Mawan is right you can choose a twin band gun & only fit one band.
However if you are sure you only want one band then that will give the builder a little more scope to to thin down the muzzle & maybe keep the whole gun a little lighter.
Please feel free to make any comments about the shape of the gun you would like to see - IE elliptical barrel (cuttlefish bone shape) high mass at the rear or very thin muzzle etc.
We would like to laminate the wood fairly soon so some idea of the overall shape would be a big help at this stage

[Lockedin]

90cm twin band seems to be about the most versatile, IMHO. But the elliptical / squid shapes on a longer single band might be interesting! Did we settle on a material?

[foxfish]

Yes Rick, the gun will be built using "teak & purple heart" We cant give any more details about number of laminates or their placement etc until we have more idea on the desired shape.
On that note we would like to assure you that - laminating different woods of a similar nature will not jeopardise the integrity of the stock but in fact make the gun very stable.
Many top gun builder choose this method & it is well tried & tested. What is more to the point is the gun will look superb & individual.

[podge]

Where’s Spaggie?
I would have thought he would have some input on the overall style and shape of this master piece after all the Italians are known for there flair with design.

[sanso]

Well, I decided to get into this as well.

I don't know much about spearing, but I have long ago decided to give it a try. And I want the gun, so I might as well put in my two cents worth in the decision what it should look like.
I'm going for a double band 100 as that seems to be pretty versatile.

[Pastor]

So for those who are wanting a twin band gun are you thinking high mass barrels/bodies? Wide thin or more of a round shape?

[KWM]

Single band at 100cm. keep the profile as fine as possible

Kev

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by Pastor

So for those who are wanting a twin band gun are you thinking high mass barrels/bodies? Wide thin or more of a round shape?

I voted 90cm -- good size usable in most locations inc. murky old Britain & the sunny med. (For the UK alone, 80 or 75 -- but they are not options).

I would normally use a single 16mm rubber, so that would be fine, but I like'd the option of using larger rubbers (18/20mm) or a second rubber. So a mech capable of holding that force, a double notched spear & accomodation for a second rubber would be good -- but I would only fit one rubber to start with (a single 16cm Dessault/Rob Allen or 18mm Omer bulk rubber).

A low profile muzzle tip to aid lateral movement would be desirable (although with a 90 not sure how much difference that will make). The C4 shapes have always struck me as highly optimized. Low mass. Failing that low turning moment (e.g. mid-handle/slim tip/...).

There is a picture of a very slim light 100 or 110cm gun posted on Portinfer's gun making thread. Something like that but a little stronger would be excellent. There is also a muzzle on another thread which uses a sort of muzzle wishbone on each rubber to allow it to handle three rubbers while still using a very slim muzzle (if that were an issue).

Originally Posted by foxfish

So far this poll looks a lot closer than the last one & of course Mawan is right you can choose a twin band gun & only fit one band.
However if you are sure you only want one band then that will give the builder a little more scope to to thin down the muzzle & maybe keep the whole gun a little lighter.
Please feel free to make any comments about the shape of the gun you would like to see - IE elliptical barrel (cuttlefish bone shape) high mass at the rear or very thin muzzle etc.
We would like to laminate the wood fairly soon so some idea of the overall shape would be a big help at this stage

Having re-read Foxfish's post above: a single band gun would be fine (despite my vote for double - change it if you can), I think a simpler, lower profile design will be more elegant and more effective for this sort of project. (The wood choice sounds great).

[Oak]

Well,

The choice actually depends on what type of fishing you are after, really, or even what type of waters you are fishing...

My personal options are based on the following:

A good all rounder for european waters (Atlantic) is the 90 cm, eurostyle, single band musket (I voted for that). It has sufficient length to be precise in shooting long-distance (think bass here), and not really very cumbersome to move around. Under very low vis, I switch to a 75.

I never use double bands. that is because it has been shown that although they tend to lend some power to the initial thrust, one looses in med- to long distance accuracy and the distance fetched by every shot is not really improved. Another downside is that it increases resistance to lateral moves, as when you are trying to follow trrough a fish going by at a perpendicular to you - lots of resistance added and a freaky vibration that scares the crap out of decent bass. There is another more dangerous aspect - with two wires stuck on top of eatch other at the spear notches when you are loading, bad things are more likely to happen - read serious injury to your fingers when one of them gets loose. Plus, looking badass out of the water is OK (I guess) but the fish will not appreciate that a lot, and I tend to favor the stealth approach. For more distance power, I switch bands from 16 mm to 20mm diameter. For more nervous impact power, i tend to get rapid, nervous slings - the red ones, but that is not very often the case. For more impact power (read > 10 Kg conguer eels or other similar fighters), I tend to switch to a second 90 cm, with 20 mm bands and a thicker, heavier spearshaft (7.5 mm diameter instead of 5.5).

For clear waters, I use a 110 cm euro style with soft single rubbers, the latex variety. Shots are fluid, and there is enough momentum to carry the spearshaft far with accuracy. On my old neck of the woods, however, bass seemed to already know the safe distance according to length of speargun, sadly and you had to be clever

When coming out of the water, badass spirit is always shown by handling a really big fork and digging in with gusto large bottles of ice cold beer and a way with the grill also seem to help....

[foxfish]

Interesting that the 90 with twin band & the 100 with single band are running neck to neck at the moment.
keep the ideas comming especially what type of shape you would like to see?