What are you opinions on Pneumatic guns?

[ROCK BOTTOM]

Not to bunch up anyone's panties, but I know only two divers who use pneumatics and they are both women. In the environment that I dive, we prefer overpowered band guns with 3/8" shafts and cable for shooting line. We dive the industrial environment of the oil rigs and generally don't start hunting until 150 fsw.

And as far as the JBL 38 Special not having ample power, go to www.helldivers.org and check out the Alligator gar that we are shooting with them. A buddy got a 70# fish Sunday morning and another buddy killed one over 89# last year. If you are bouncing shafts off of a 5# bass then you have a major problem with your gear or your hunting technique or both. My wife killed a 44# Amberjack two weekends ago with a 44" Sawed Off Magnum. When was the last time you sharpened your point? What size bands are you using? What trigger mechanism is on your gun? What kind/how much shooting line do you use?

Again, and it is PROBABLY obvious, I do not use pneumatics and have very limited interaction with people who do.

Zz

 

[arkansasrednek spearo]

Not to bunch up anyone's panties, but I know only two divers who use pneumatics and they are both women. In the environment that I dive, we prefer overpowered band guns with 3/8" shafts and cable for shooting line. We dive the industrial environment of the oil rigs and generally don't start hunting until 150 fsw.

And as far as the JBL 38 Special not having ample power, go to www.helldivers.org and check out the Alligator gar that we are shooting with them. A buddy got a 70# fish Sunday morning and another buddy killed one over 89# last year. If you are bouncing shafts off of a 5# bass then you have a major problem with your gear or your hunting technique or both. My wife killed a 44# Amberjack two weekends ago with a 44" Sawed Off Magnum. When was the last time you sharpened your point? What size bands are you using? What trigger mechanism is on your gun? What kind/how much shooting line do you use?

Again, and it is PROBABLY obvious, I do not use pneumatics and have very limited interaction with people who do.

Zz

im shooting a jbl explorer 20 all stock except for the two barb rock tip and the I put two shorter bands on it. And I get the tip needle sharp before each trip.

 

[ifukuda]

The Explorer 20 is too short of a gun to really be effective at anything other than shooting small fish from point blank range. Based on the specs, I'm figuring that the effective range on this gun is around 4~5ft.

Adding shorter and thicker bands to a gun that's so short would probabaly only give you marginal improvements in performance (I wouldn't even bother). Just use the gun for what it was designed to do.

 

[arkansasrednek spearo]

The Explorer 20 is too short of a gun to really be effective at anything other than shooting small fish from point blank range. Based on the specs, I'm figuring that the effective range on this gun is around 4~5ft.

Adding shorter and thicker bands to a gun that's so short would probabaly only give you marginal improvements in performance (I wouldn't even bother). Just use the gun for what it was designed to do.

Jbls website has 12ft as max distance listed. I dive freshwater which most times vis is less than 12ft. I have shot plenty of fish with this gun that pull off. I shot a redhorse from 3ft tip sharp and scales went every where and it swam off. If it cant get that its pretty sad. I also plugged a bass well over 10lbs from about 6ft and it didnt stick in it either. My carbine aint that great either. We sometimes have 20ft or more vis and its awesome. But mostly its 10 or less so A good strong bandgun to shoot fish as large as i shoot (that pull off) would have to be long right? So therefore my gun would be to big for my conditions. Whereas the sporasub stealth 70 is short and has max power. So it works for me though it prolly wouldnt do well in blue water. I just dont think you do a pneumatic justice by saying they dont have power.

 

[Wayward Son]

JBL "max distance" specs are more than optomistic, to put it mildly. At least on the lower end guns. They include the length of the gun, cord & I think your arm. I have 2 of them, and they are not accurate past the first shaft length from the muzzle. That is their true effective range. I've missed what should have been ridiulously easy shots with them.

Your model may do better than that. The higher end JBL's are much better guns than the cheaper models. I'm not sure exactly where yours falls in the scale.

I now have a 48 Biller & don't have the problem any more.

 

[ifukuda]

I've seen those specs too (I've owned JBL guns in the past too). Complete BS. A stock JBL gun won't come close to the. I've found that the effective range of a stock gun is less than half of what they claim.

I think we've gone too far off the thread's main topic (pnuematic guns). Sorry Florabama.

If you'd like, I would be more than happy to discuss gun and bands on another thread. I'm no expert, but I've been spearfishing for a few years. I'd be more than happy to share what I have learned so far.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

It is entirely correct that most pneumatics have much more power than really lightweight, small and under powered band guns liek the JBL Carbines and Explorers, but don't make the mistake of assigning those attributes to all band guns, particuarly high end guns like those made by Riffe.

I will also agree that, unlike blue water hunting, you do not need a huge gun for freshwater spearing where the viz and range tend to be short. My usual gun for short range freshwater hunting is a Scubapro Panther (still available Bandito in 35" and 45" models as the Prowler and Stalker). I use three 9/16 bands and find it to be entirely effective out to about 10 ft. They are durable, silent, have a decent trigger pull, an open muzzle for fast loading and the guns float without the shaft, so they stay up out of the way when putting the fish on the stringer. The composite stock is non corrosive and maintence on the gun as a whole is zero other than changing bands every few years.

The Panther/Prowler/Stalker guns are in the about the same class as the three 9/16" band JBL 38 Special Northwest and 38 Special XHD and they are very good guns for use at relatively short range with good penetration. The third band, use of 9/16" rather than 1/2" bands, and heavier shafts makes a fairly significant difference over the more run of the mill two 1/2" band 38 Special which I would regard as the absolute minimum for a band gun at anything other than point blank range.

The plain jane two 1/2" band JBL 38 Special is also comparable to all but the largest pneumatics in terms of range and power so anything bigger or with more power is a step up.

For longer range fresh water shooting in relatively good visibility, I have a vintage three 9/16" band Nemrod Gaucho that is similar to a 3 band Sawed-off Magnum and is comparable in terms of range and power. It is effective out to about 14-15 ft. The 3 band JBL Sawed Off Magnum XHD or Sawed Off Woody Magnums would be, in my opinion good choices for a fresh water band gun for use in fresh water with good visibility, but are too long for use in low viz.

In terms of JBL guns, I prefer the wood stocks on the Woody Magnums and they, along with the Magnum XHD models seem to be much better built than the lighter duty Magnums. JBL guns seem to be available amost everywhere and are affordable, so they are a fairly comon first gun. As indicated above, the Explorer and Carbine models are, in my opinion, not well suited to anything other than near point blank shooting where the bands can practically push the shaft through the fish.

 

[arkansasrednek spearo]

It is entirely correct that most pneumatics have much more power than really lightweight, small and under powered band guns liek the JBL Carbines and Explorers, but don't make the mistake of assigning those attributes to all band guns, particuarly high end guns like those made by Riffe.

I will also agree that, unlike blue water hunting, you do not need a huge gun for freshwater spearing where the viz and range tend to be short. My usual gun for short range freshwater hunting is a Scubapro Panther (still available Bandito in 35" and 45" models as the Prowler and Stalker). I use three 9/16 bands and find it to be entirely effective out to about 10 ft. They are durable, silent, have a decent trigger pull, an open muzzle for fast loading and the guns float without the shaft, so they stay up out of the way when putting the fish on the stringer. The composite stock is non corrosive and maintence on the gun as a whole is zero other than changing bands every few years.

The Panther/Prowler/Stalker guns are in the about the same class as the three 9/16" band JBL 38 Special Northwest and 38 Special XHD and they are very good guns for use at relatively short range with good penetration. The third band, use of 9/16" rather than 1/2" bands, and heavier shafts makes a fairly significant difference over the more run of the mill two 1/2" band 38 Special which I would regard as the absolute minimum for a band gun at anything other than point blank range.

The plain jane two 1/2" band JBL 38 Special is also comparable to all but the largest pneumatics in terms of range and power so anything bigger or with more power is a step up.

For longer range fresh water shooting in relatively good visibility, I have a vintage three 9/16" band Nemrod Gaucho that is similar to a 3 band Sawed-off Magnum and is comparable in terms of range and power. It is effective out to about 14-15 ft. The 3 band JBL Sawed Off Magnum XHD or Sawed Off Woody Magnums would be, in my opinion good choices for a fresh water band gun for use in fresh water with good visibility, but are too long for use in low viz.

In terms of JBL guns, I prefer the wood stocks on the Woody Magnums and they, along with the Magnum XHD models seem to be much better built than the lighter duty Magnums. JBL guns seem to be available amost everywhere and are affordable, so they are a fairly comon first gun. As indicated above, the Explorer and Carbine models are, in my opinion, not well suited to anything other than near point blank shooting where the bands can practically push the shaft through the fish.

Well Im be out this thursday till tuesday diving and spearing lake ouachita. Heard the walleye shotins been good. Hope to get some good whisker fish to! Wont get to use my pneumatic till Friday. Last time the jbls will be used prolly. Well good luck and happy huntin will im gone folks!

 

[inletsurf]

They suck for the type of spearfishing I do.

If you want to be a saltwater spearfisherman, get a band gun.

 

[mudhole]

I've used pneumatic spearguns since the 60's in freshwater competition. Some models have plenty of power and reload faster than band guns. I have 4 dead clippers (hardening of the piston seals). In the last 10 years I've tried band guns from scubapro, JBL and now use a riffe metaltech #1. The riffe is the first band gun with enough power for big carp and flathead catfish. The two or three band riffe is extremely slow to reload, compared to pneumatics, but is much easier to maintain. I don't shoot in competiton anymore. So shooting 20 or 30 carp in 4 hours isn't even appealing anymore. A good pneumatic has power and speed of reload over a good band gun. A band gun is slower reloading, easier to keep running.