Which Speargun should i get?

[Akimbo]

Nice Mako Akimbo, appears to have the Shark fin shaft. How do you like it.

These are the Mini shark fin tabs, which are fine on a short barrel without the Fully Enclosed Track. The sharkfin tabs are easier to hook and unhook than the pin tabs on my Rob Allen 700. There is a bottom rail (left of photo) — the enclosed track doesn’t do much on such a short shaft.

Sidebar: The advantage of pins and tabs is notches weaken the shaft about 50% making it easier to bend. The reason that Dyneema cord wishbones are used is because metal wishbones can cause nasty injuries when they fail. Notches also tend to damage the Dyneema wishbones. One might think that band(s) pulling from the top tangent of the shaft instead of the center (notch) would make it less accurate, but that has not proven to be true.

There is a third tab closest to the muzzle I hook the second band on for close shots inside holes where two bands would be too much thrust. I also got a blue and black band… OK I admit occasionally grabbing the right side of one band and the left side of the other. I haven’t done that with this gun (yet). :blush:

The people at Mako will try to accommodate even the most unusual requests. I am hard pressed to think of another company in this industry with such excellent and friendly customer service.

 

[CrazyKozak]

Sorry bout all the questions, but mainly would like to know which type of band single 20mm, twin 16mm, or thriple 14mm, would be stronger/farther. Someone please answer, though i am going to call mako tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Hank49]

I've never really tested it. But I've been told by a reputable gun maker that three 9/16 bands is a bit more powerful than two 5/8 bands.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Thats what my longer gun came with hank, so I would say, and have 2 5/8's on my shorter balco gun in that style of gun.

 

[CrazyKozak]

Oh, and does 17.75 ft range a good distance for a speargun? Perferably meaning small to med fish, up to 40 aprox. pounds.

 

[Hank49]

If you're thinking of making 18-20 foot shots on 40 lb fish, you should get a bigger gun.
I'm not familiar with all brands but in a Riffe, you should consider a 55-60 inch gun (C3 or $. Or Standard 3-4)
I hunt in clear water here and use primarily a Wong GR 55 hybrid. It has more band stretch though than the 54 inch Riffe C3X. It stretches like a Riffe Standard 4.

And if you're thinking of shooting even 15-20 lb fish at depths greater than 20 feet, you should consider a reel or use a breakaway and float system. A 20 lb grouper or snapper that is wounded can be really hard to pull to the surface. And if he holes up on you, you may have to let go of your gun. You may lose your gun.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Hank I'm pretty sure the lad is on scuba in his parts of the world he will be spearing, and I think off a boat, may be some shore somewhere, Yet I usaully see them out on wrecks spearing in new jersey area.

 

[CrazyKozak]

Yeah, i've called mako up and they gave me all the info and said i should go with the cheapest gun at 165$....glad about that and they answered all my questions.

But also by what i mean with my last question i wrote, i meant if 17.5 ft. is a good range to hunt fish 40 lbs. and less. Cuz i don't know how close do fish usually get to you, don't really pay much attention of that. Thanks.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Yeah, i've called mako up and they gave me all the info and said i should go with the cheapest gun at 165$....glad about that and they answered all my questions.

But also by what i mean with my last question i wrote, i meant if 17.5 ft. is a good range to hunt fish 40 lbs. and less. Cuz i don't know how close do fish usually get to you, don't really pay much attention of that. Thanks.

It is more of how close can you get to a fish. It depends on a lot, but you want to be as close as possible to a fish, so you get a good shot and hit it hard. Longer guns have more range and power but are harder to swing and handle. The gun you want for west coast florida is going to be bigger than a gun for NJ, because the visibility is better. clear water= long gun. Dirty water = short gun.

There is no one gun best for all conditions.

Also, you need to shoot 40 5-lb fish before you try to shoot a 40 lb fish. A big fish can make life very exciting.. Good luck with the new gun!

 

[CrazyKozak]

Thanks, and 1 more question to end it, should i get a 70cm ( 13.5ft range ), 80cm ( 16ft range ), 90 cm (17.75ft range, or a 100cm ( 19.25ft range )
Mainly for use in the western side of florida.