GOLD Plated JBL Spear Gun-- HELP !

[Akimbo]

Title, number of responses, and (sometimes) author are what attracts me to a post. @Sam Miller III and @drbill are some of the few authors that I read because of the author.

Same with me, but we qualify as frequent posters. We are the minority in the grand scheme.

 

[undrwater]

I like the history.

Sam, does yours look like @Popgun Pete 's?

 

[Sam Miller III]

@Popgun Pete

Appreciate you posting your presentation "JBL Sawed off magnum." I was not aware that the JBL Golden Gun had migrated to Australia, When was it presented to you as an acknowledgement of your involvement in the noble sport of spearfishing ?

At this late date we are attempting to determine how many remain, who owns the gun and especially the serial number. Would you please post the serial number ? and PM your name and address ?)

The anodized JBL was produced several years later after Joe had retired to Nevada and his son Larry had assumed control of the company. It was produced in several JBL models and was available to the general public to purchase. It was never a popular model, few were sold therefore could possibly be considered a collectable JBL Spear gun.

A short time later the JBL company was sold to Guy Skinner who moved the company from Orange California to Northern San Diego county. Just recently the JBL tube gun's antiquated molds were showing age and the line was discontinued - The end of an era of a gun that was a began with Voit to Mares to Joe La Monica to Larry La Monica to Guy Skinner ...and now no more.

1964- 2013= 55 Years ago- Seems like yesterday !
4G44 Sawed of Magnum $31.50
A lasting tribute to great gun and a dear friend
~~~ Joseph Benjamin La Monica ~~~

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@homerdoc
Thank you for the complement and confidence in @Akimbo and our "historical" posts"
It is nothing but longevity and a hazy memory of good times of the past
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@undrwater
Yes the gun owned by @Popgun Pete is identical to the JBL Golden guns I own

I was honored with two JBL Golden guns.

Number 008- the first one presented out side of the company
At the time it was a very huge honor ! It is mint and has been stored in its original presentation box ad seldom handled or displayed - it is absolutely factory new pristine condition

Number 024 was a return customer merchandise (RCM) from a dive operation that at one time was huge and now is no more. It was given to me, I can only assume because of my interest and the article I published "The man with the golden gun" in my dedicated column "The way is was" in the now defunct national dive magazine Discover Diving .

Number 24 is a little worse for wear than Pete's and needs attention to the gold plating, which was the original intent of this thread
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@abnfrog
Thank you so much for your advice - your experience and knowledge is absolutely invaluable as a guide for restoration and has been shared

Sam Miller, 111

 

[Popgun Pete]

The gun was sold on eBay and I don't have it. Over the years the golden JBL guns have been sold on a number of times by relatives, some have had bubbling in the gold plating that has developed over the years and that affects the value. They can be stripped and replated, but it is a lot of work to buff the remnant plating off to start again. Few have their backing boards on which they were hung for display. Many were acquired by dealers when they placed an order for so many JBL spearguns, it was basically a distribution incentive to get more guns into the marketplace and was written up as such in a Skin Diver article when they first came out. I remember reading about it at the time and the issue is somewhere in my stacks of spearfishing magazines, it is near the rear of the magazine and is a small column entry with a black and white photo of a gun on its display board.

 

[Popgun Pete]

A guide to the age is the first of these tube guns have the Voit Swimaster name on the sear box hump, plus the guns use straight slotted screws which much later are replaced with Phillips head screws. The alloy muzzles are a subject of a patent by David Senne shown below. The biggest improvement was when the gun received the true glide plastic track as then you could press the shaft against the track which would guide the shaft tail into the sear box mouth during reloading.

 

[Popgun Pete]

Never found a patent for the handle which has an ingenious design to prevent the safety being applied when the gun is not cocked. That is why the sear lever rotates downwards after the shot as it creates a second lock which the safety lever cannot budge if you try to apply it. The safety lever only works when the gun is properly latched for the shot.

 

[Popgun Pete]

This photo shows the line of descent from the Prodanovich gun via the Swimaster Spearfisherman "Magnum".

 

[Popgun Pete]

The safety lever on the left hand side of the handle swings down behind the trigger, but only if the trigger is forwards and not held slightly rearwards by the second component lock. The mechanism has little gearing/leverage in the sear lever because the pivot pins are set too close together. On the other hand that close pin spacing enables the safety lock-out described previously, unfortunately you cannot have both it and good leverage reduction with this layout.

The forward arm that controls the line release is a carry-over from the arm that operated the twin rabbit's ears line releases on the Prodanovich gun. One line was connected to the spear, the other line to a detachable powerhead, hence the two line releases.

Trigger Mechanism Design Rules - Spearboard.com - The World's Largest Spearfishing Diving Boating Social Media Forum

 

[abnfrog]

your welcome sam any time , but you are the golden resource here

 

[Popgun Pete]

If acid or other chemicals are used to remove the gold plating then they will attack the polished alloy surface. A time consuming job is to buff it off with a wheel using an abrasive bar like Tripoli which you apply to the mop type wheel first. There are various grades of abrasives which can be applied, from memory the white is the finest grade and red is a bit coarser. This stuff was no doubt used to buff the cast alloy handles, muzzles, etc. in the first place. Another approach is fine bead or particulate blasting, but that will produce a satin finish, after which the parts will need fine polishing on the wheel. You need to hang on tight as it is all too easy for the wheel to rip the parts out of your hand and send them flying across the workshop, especially with small cast alloy parts like those on a speargun.

Another problem is buffing can remove fine detail such as the "fire" and "safe" lettering on the left hand side grip, although they may be already gone in any case with the original polishing of the parts.