MAKO: Titan Elite Speargun: ROLLER and Standard Muzzle

[Johnoly]

i need a rest tab - makes loading a lot easier

You'll be surprised at the easy stretch of loading, don't think you'll need a rest tab.

I sell ALOT of rollers to women or with shoulder pain exactly because of this ease of stretch. The roller bands are typically 3-4 times the length of typical 24” bands. This makes it incredible smooth and 'stretchy' to load. Many USA spearos prefer to hip load and don't chest load. The roller design makes this easier while packing a lot of long range punch in a much shorter & manageable length gun. But remember there is no perfect speargun configuration for ALL dive environments. That's why many spearos have 3-5 different gun setups. You wouldn't use a putter in place of a driver, and ALL gun styles including rollers have advantages and dis-advantages in different environments(ie min viz/hole hunting). Rollers can be very effective.

 

[Akimbo]

I sell ALOT of rollers to women or with shoulder pain exactly because of this ease of stretch.

@MAKO Spearguns
There's something that should be explained and demonstrated on your Website for the roller guns.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

If someone has physical constraints that inhibit strength and/or mobility, there are a few accommodations which can be made. As mentioned already, a loading tab is one solution. It is basically a tab located toward the middle of the gun and allows incremental loading.

It is my impression that for MAKO customers, shafts with loading tabs are not in sufficient demand to justify the considerable expense of having them custom made (in a variety of shaft lengths, diameters and spear tip configurations). There are custom shaft builders who can make anything a person desires, but it would not be cost effective to have an extra tab placed on all our shafts.

Also if you buy a wood gun, you can have a "tab" installed on the side of the gun (rather than on the shaft itself) . This has the advantage of installing the tab once and then using more standard shafts. Shafts are generally considered consumable supplies - particularly when hunting large powerful fish.

A more common, and easily implementable work-around is to select bands which are of a thinner diameter or longer length. Using multiple bands (that are individually easier to load) is a good choice in many situations. Again this is something we can easily accomplish when a gun is ordered because it is zero trouble to custom make bands that are fine tuned to a customer's needs.

I really appreciate the feedback and questions!

As Akimbo correctly points out, some of these issues really deserve to be addressed in more detail. Adding addition material to our library of instructional videos is in the works. We WILL be working on them. I promise.

Thanks
dano

 

[uncfnp]

I inherited an older 32 Special AB Biller when I expressed an interest in spearfishing. But then we started concentrating on lobsters and diving in the Caribbean so never had a chance to actually shoot it. Now that we are able to do more Florida dives I am interested in resuming my spearfishing education.

@MAKO Spearguns and @Johnoly in your very experienced opinions should I just stick with the Biller for now or would one of the Mako guns be a better match for me?

I will be diving Florida waters with the typical viz, seems for us to usually be 50 to 70 feet. I have no interest in big game fish, something just legal sized enough for the dinner plate. I am 5’2” with the standard short arms. Old enough and with enough injuries that my shoulder/upper arm strength isn’t what it was.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Or if you tell me to stick with lobsters

 

[Johnoly]

.. @Johnoly in your very experienced opinions...

My very first gun was a used, scratched, 48" Biller with a double wrap line. 12" mangos and sheep heads are what I targeted because there were hundreds in a single spot and I could stay in one place and take 20-30 shots (missing mostly) on a single dive. I learned how to get closer, hit only head shots not to destroy that tiny filet, and how to reload quickly. I learned what made me mad when I missed shots and then changed my shooting configuration to solve the problem(s). It's no different than photography where you power up/down strobes, adjust angles, add a spotter light, different batteries for faster recycle, All to get a better shot. Spearing is no different. My working reef gun today looks like a swiss army knife and a far cry from my 1st Biller. On commercial trips, I target lobsters, Lionfish, bottom reef fish, & midwater fish >>in that order since that's what pays the most productive money.for the boat expenses.

Shoot the gun you have in your hands now and make careful notes on things that make you mad underwater. Then ask lots of others how they fixed that same problem underwater.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Thanks for the inquiry. Biller has made quality spearguns for a long time. Unless the gun has been subject to many years of use or been terribly neglected and allowed to corrode, then chances are good that the gun is very serviceable – once you add fresh bands etc. However, it is not the right tool for your application.

There is no agreed upon standard for the measurement of spearguns. For example, it is my understanding that a 32 Biller is a little longer than 32 inches from the rear of the butt pad to the front of the muzzle (the shaft will stick out several inches more). Their website indicates that total gun length is 35 inches

The Biller gun has a butt extension which extends rearward of the handle, probably 6 or 8 inches- would be my guess. This means that the band stretch distance (distance from the front of the gun to one of the shaft notches) is significantly less than 32 inches, maybe on the order of 22 inches. These are rough guesses.

So the 32 Biller has a rather small shaft (their website indicates the total shaft length is just 30 inches long) This means that the gun has a limited band stretch and therefore has a limited range. It is best used in limited visibility or for shooting under holes. The Biller gun is too short for 50 to 70 ft visibility. You could definitely use it, but you would be significantly hindered.

MAKO “pipe” guns and most euro guns use a different measuring convention. In general, we use metric (cm) and we ONLY consider the barrel length. So a 90 cm gun has a 90 cm (35.4 inch) barrel, the handle extends rearward and the muzzle extends a few inches or so forward, meaning that the total length of a 90 cm is a good bit longer than 90 cm. For example, the 90 cm has a total length of about 55 inches if we include the typical 11 inches of spear shaft overhang on the front end.

So to make a long story short, a 32 Biller gun is about 35 inches long and shoots a 30 inch shaft while a 90 cm MAKO gun is about 44 inches long and shoots a 130 cm (51-inch) shaft and has a band stretch of almost 90 cm (35 inch). I go through all these details because if you didn’t understand this you might think that Biller 32 (with a length of 35 in) is somewhat comparable in power and range of a 90 cm MAKO gun and they are not.

Most experienced hunters would probably choose a 110 cm (MAKO) gun for that kind of clear water. This is a pretty big gun and is a stretch for a shorter person to load easily. So I think a reasonable compromise for someone like yourself would be a 90 or 100 cm gun. As mentioned we can adjust the band length and size as needed.

In general, I would not recommend a roller muzzle gun for a scuba diver who is just starting to hunt with guns. The simplicity of the standard muzzle gun will be appreciated.

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

@MAKO Spearguns
There's something that should be explained and demonstrated on your Website for the roller guns.

Hey Guys:
We had a few questions from customers about how to load a roller gun, so I made this short video showing the two options.
Hope it is helpful.


I have really enjoyed shooting the roller guns. They are powerful and accurate and recoil is (more or less) eliminated. A fun gun to shoot and I have found the ability to use a somewhat shorter gun - compared to a traditional speargun.

Thanks
Dano