I shoot blue water guns so, I can't tell you much about the smaller billers.(48" and under) I will tell you the depending on how a gun is set up, you will have the option to either have the line attached to the spear or have the ability to take the line off and "freeshaft". Until you have a little time under your belt shooting, I wouldn't recommend freeshafting on larger fish, say 10lbs and up. If you don't "stone" him,(kill shot) he will swim off with your shaft stuck in him and you will waste you dive time chasing him. Having the line attached is an excellent way to practice you shooting skills and still retrieve your quarry. It would also help to budget how much you want to spend on a gun. Set the budget now, prior to trying the sport. Trust me, if you get out there tomorrow and shoot a couple of fish, as addicting as this sport is, you will be spending the "electric bill" money before you know it. Posting your height, size, strength and also whether you will be freediving or scuba will help on a gun selection. Guns have different aspects like what it is made out of, where the handle is, what type of shafts it takes, how many bands, type of rail systems (what the shaft lays in), etc. Consider a price point you want to be at, and stick to it. You can always graduate down the road. I grew up in Destin, so I have an idea of the type of diving you will be doing. This isn't a hard sport to get into, just hard to get out of.
