suprasteve
Registered
Long post so apologies to start with. Between the father, brother, and I we currently have 2 guns:
1. AB Biller 42", two grooves, 5/16 shaft, pigtail-type shock cord
2. Riffe standard series, 55", regular mono chord
Looking to get a good snorkeling-type or smaller fish gun, more in the neighborhood of the Biller in size than the Riffe, maybe phasing out the Biller in 2-man dives if we like whatever setup we decide on. Obviously when we're scuba-ing, the Riffe is the grouper/cobia/anything else of size gun and the Biller is for snapper/hogs or the snorkeling gun. I really like the quality of the Riffe (suprising huh?) but the Biller over the years has had some issues, chiefly having to ram the crap out of the shaft into the trigger mechanism to keep it from slipping out when putting the first band on. And the two groove shaft is IMO not quick enough for those crafty mangos at any distance. So quality is definitely a consideration in our book. I was looking at the shorter midhandle Riffes but the mono shock chord thing, being slow to reload, keeps bringing me back to a closed muzzle type with the pigtail chord (I know lots of people don't like these but remember whatever gun we get, is the short range smaller fish gun, longer powerful shots are for the Riffe). And personally I'm not a freeshafting fan. I like the AB Biller Floridian because of the 3 grooves and smaller diameter shaft, but I'm pretty certain the length of even the shorter one will be too much to handle for quick turns snorkeling, I almost think the 42" is a lot at times but can't bring myself to get any shorter for power/accuracy tradeoffs. So on to the question:
Are there other closed-muzzle, lower 40's" guns (possibly midhandles?), with the capability of three bands, and perhaps 9/32 shafts? I'm still considering cutting off some of the stock from a 48" Floridian or just ordering like a 42" with the smaller diameter shaft and 3 grooves, if available. What else is there out there that I'm overlooking for the situations above? I figure some of you out there have had dozens of guns and can help me out on this one. As far as price range I'd get another Riffe, but less expensive is always welcome as well! Thanks and sorry for the post length...
1. AB Biller 42", two grooves, 5/16 shaft, pigtail-type shock cord
2. Riffe standard series, 55", regular mono chord
Looking to get a good snorkeling-type or smaller fish gun, more in the neighborhood of the Biller in size than the Riffe, maybe phasing out the Biller in 2-man dives if we like whatever setup we decide on. Obviously when we're scuba-ing, the Riffe is the grouper/cobia/anything else of size gun and the Biller is for snapper/hogs or the snorkeling gun. I really like the quality of the Riffe (suprising huh?) but the Biller over the years has had some issues, chiefly having to ram the crap out of the shaft into the trigger mechanism to keep it from slipping out when putting the first band on. And the two groove shaft is IMO not quick enough for those crafty mangos at any distance. So quality is definitely a consideration in our book. I was looking at the shorter midhandle Riffes but the mono shock chord thing, being slow to reload, keeps bringing me back to a closed muzzle type with the pigtail chord (I know lots of people don't like these but remember whatever gun we get, is the short range smaller fish gun, longer powerful shots are for the Riffe). And personally I'm not a freeshafting fan. I like the AB Biller Floridian because of the 3 grooves and smaller diameter shaft, but I'm pretty certain the length of even the shorter one will be too much to handle for quick turns snorkeling, I almost think the 42" is a lot at times but can't bring myself to get any shorter for power/accuracy tradeoffs. So on to the question:
Are there other closed-muzzle, lower 40's" guns (possibly midhandles?), with the capability of three bands, and perhaps 9/32 shafts? I'm still considering cutting off some of the stock from a 48" Floridian or just ordering like a 42" with the smaller diameter shaft and 3 grooves, if available. What else is there out there that I'm overlooking for the situations above? I figure some of you out there have had dozens of guns and can help me out on this one. As far as price range I'd get another Riffe, but less expensive is always welcome as well! Thanks and sorry for the post length...