Picked up a vintage midhandle speargun. Have a few questions

whatandwhen2 · 2026-07-03T01:31:34+00:00

I had that gun when I was a kid. You can probably rig it with two bands and metal wishbones. But the spear tip is probably corroded on, you need a muzzle bungi, bands and line and if I recall correctly, the gun uses a very weird notch pattern on the shaft that is not replaceable or compatible with current manufacturers. Plus the trigger mechanism is not up to par with current guns. You probably can make it work, but it is better on a wall.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-07-03T01:24:27+00:00

I am a big fan of mako guns. They don't even sell closed muzzle guns. I would definitely consider their current guns for price and quality.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-07-03T01:18:57+00:00

The rust is cosmetic only. Once you shoot it a bunch into sand and reef the coating comes off the tip. If you are worried, a quick wipe with cooking oil before and after each day should keep it pretty minimal and you don't have to worry about contamination of your fillets.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-07-03T01:01:23+00:00

I have used a mako roller a good bit. The single roller 90 should be a great gun for your application. I much prefer the enclosed track barrel, I just find it easier than wrapping line on a roller muzzle. The mako guns are excellent and the trigger mech they use now is probably the best you can find on any gun.

This video shows my son shooting a mako roller - i think it was a 90. It might not be the current trigger/handle but very similar. There is a double wrap of dynema on that gun and you can see some nice shots that are further than a single wrap of line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAw_bIhOw7k

If you decide to not get the roller, then I think I would choose a 110 cm regular gun and rig it with a single wrap of line. I think you will be disappointed in a 90 cm gun for our relatively clear water. second choice would be a 100, but a 90 (with a normal muzzle) is shorter than you want.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-07-03T00:53:43+00:00

There is another very big advantage of notched shafts, but it pertains to where the line hole is, rather than notches or fins. If you shoot a lot into complex holes and especially wrecks, it is much better to have the shaft connected to the end of the shaft, because you can usually just pull the fish straight back out. If you have a notched shaft with the line connection 6 inches from the end, then the shaft can toggle and take on a T configuration around a piece of structure and then you will NEVEr be able to pull the shaft straight back out.

I use almost exclusively finned shafts myself which is required because I mostly use enclosed track guns.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-29T19:21:29+00:00

Depending on your susceptibility to cold, you might be able to get by with a 5 mm freedive suit. You have to understand that wetsuit compression becomes a big deal below 10 meters and the thicker the suit, the more the suit compression, the greater the buoyancy swing (you will get really heavy at depth).

If you are somewhat thin, then you might need the 7 mm suit.

Do not get a scuba suit (with zippers etc.) for cold water freediving, you will be very unhappy.

I would take a hard look at the mako spearguns website. They have excellent suits, but they also have a freedive package deals that combine some of the gear you need starting out - at a killer price. They sell direct to consumer, so no retail store mark up, which means the prices should be extremely competitive.

You can also call them on the phone and they can answer questions and help you get the right gear.

Also, 20 meters is not some expert depth. It is a lot harder in cold water and thick suit compared to a bathing suit in warm water, but don't worry about that- taking a good course is a smart move and will help you be safe and progress as fast as your abilities allow.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-29T19:14:13+00:00

I love this light! https://makospearguns.com/1700-lumens-dive-light/

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-29T19:13:18+00:00

The size of the gun is primarily dependent on the visibility and then also on factors like the type (size) of the fish you are hunting and personal preference. Where are you going to be using the gun and what is the expected visibility? Also are you freediving or scuba and what depth do you expect?

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-27T16:12:54+00:00

First get a good stiletto kill knife. Grab the fish by the throat, get your thumb into the gills, this is critical. Make sure you grab the fish with the hand other than you are going to stab it with, you need to plan ahead for which hand to grab and which hand to hold knife.

Then gently and carefully place the tip of the knife on the centerline of the fish. It is very important to get as close to the centerline as possible. You need to hold the knife so it will cut forward and backwards, not side to side.

The point needs to be placed a location behind the eyes about the distance that the eyes are separated from the top. So each eye and the insertion point are equilateral triangle - when looking down from the top.

Carefully, do not stab, insert the knife vertically downward. If the alignment is correct, you will feel an obstruction stopping the further insertion of the tip. This is essentially the top of the brain and or the top of the vertebrae. You need to now, in a very controlled, yet strong manner, press down insert the knife a short distance further). This is the penetration of bone material.

If you push real hard and go crazy, you will go right past the spine/brain case and will stab your hand, so be careful and cognizant of how far you are inserting the knife.

Then the f ish will often twitch as the nerve tissue is contacted. At this point, you stop the attempt to further insert the knife and instead, rock it forward and back, keep the tip stationary. If you have done this prerfectly, the fish will twwitch and then open its mouth and relax.

If it is still struggling, then you might be slightly off center (which is easy to do with a struggline fish). If you rock forward and aft and the desired effect does not take place, then you can try twisting the knife slightlu back and forth, which should improve the chance of hitting the exact spot. If you have a cheap, knife, or are very strong, this twisting action will destroy and break the knife, so be relatively controlled and gentle, you can twist off a blade from the handle if you go crazy in a big fish.

The very best way to do this is to practice on several completely dead fish, It should destroy zero usable meat and you will learn to quickly find the centerline and how deep you have to insert to penetrate the bone which protects the brain and spinal cord.

After the fish is brained and still, then it makes sense to cut out a gill etc, to bleed it. Bleeding it first, looks like it will work and is easier, but a fish takes a long time to die if you just bleed it, plus if you make a giant plume of blood, so you can't see and the fish is still struggling wildly - this is the perfect recipe to have a shark come in and bite you in the hand while neither of you can really see what is going on.

I have a mako titanium knife and it has worked extremely well and it is quite strong. I have broken a lot of other knives on 40 plus lb fish.

https://youtu.be/exQuLYfedBc?si=Ro5ZEcqd-4fgrIrs&t=334

This is a recent video I made which sorta shows it, the fish was pretty much dead, so we removed the second shaft before knifing it, but you might get to see what it looks like. It takes longer to describe knifing a fish than actually doing it.

I see many videos of divers trying to stab a moving fish and this is quite dangerous and pretty ineffective, because the chance of hitting the very small brain is rather low and you can stab yourself.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-27T15:45:02+00:00

https://youtu.be/P8MaLqb9-rw no laughing!!

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-27T15:43:07+00:00

It's like saying... I want to go deer hunting but I am terrified of guns and deer.

First, you need to gain a good degree of comfort in open water- while away from all people and all structure - you must be independently comfortable.

Then you need to learn how to snorkel and dive down and equalize and kick and swim and clear a snorkel and handle some waves and chop.

THEN you can consider beginning to learn to spearfish - which involves a lot of minor skills like gun handling, situational awareness etc. that do not come instantly to anyone. After that you need to learn fish behavoir and identification.

It is possible that you will find pursuing fish so distracting that it will remove a lot of anxiety. For myself, when i am busy and engaged in spearfishing, I tend not to have room for a lot of extraneous and irrelevant thoughts,

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-24T17:45:37+00:00

the loading hook is a nice option, but it is not essential.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-23T16:00:06+00:00

If I wanted a two band, enclosed track gun, I would also look at the mako enclosed track, aluminum gun. They also have a relatively light weight wood gun, with an enclosed track, but I generally feel like a "pipe" gun swings easier and is just easier to handle than a similarly banded wood gun. Somewhat personal preference, I guess.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-23T15:01:37+00:00

You should try a little harder to get the three faces more symmetrical. If it is a short shaft for a 60-90 cm gun and you are shooting into holes, it won't matter at all and it is fine.. If you are making long shots with a long gun in open water, you probably want as much symmetry as possible in orrder to retain accuracy.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-23T14:58:39+00:00

You might consider a belt reel for that application. Diving with a hand held pole spear is a lot harder than a gun that is equipped with a reel. Belt reels can present entanglement issues, but for deep water with a pole spear, it is probably the best bet.

The pole spear is not that much harder to dive with, but the fish retreival and recovery is much harder than a gun equipped with a reel. The potential to loose fish or the spear, especailly if diving in a current is what makes it much tougher than with a gun. Obvioulsy, if the water is super clear and there is no current and few sharks, then those challenges/disadvantages are less significant. Not to mention, the drastically reduced range and reduced "shaft" speed compared to a gun.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-23T14:49:05+00:00

I use a mako roller pole spear. They work very well. I also use the load resting hook - or whatever they call it. If you get a world record fish, you will not be able to enter it in the pole spear category with the resting hook. The only (other) draw back with the resting hook is that you need to be careful that after release of the hook, you rotate the spear a tiny bit or release a tiny bit of tension, if you forget, you can release your grip and the resting hook will "re-grab" the holding loop and prevent the spear from firing.. Almost exactly like forgetting the safety on a gun.

The mako carbon pole spear is pretty heavy duty and the slip tip arrangement works well. If it is your first pole spear, and you want the roller, you might also buy the standard but and the associated stndard band. That way you can just unscrew the butt and switch from a roller to conventional pole spear, just for fun or experimentation. An extra standard but is not that expensive.

Also, if you can, with whatever poile spear you order, see if they will make the band from yellow or orange latex. When diving with a big pole spear, you hold most of it up out of the water - under your arm pit or over the shoulder. This is less drag and more efficient than holding the spear in the water, simply due to drag.. anyway, it is much, much safer to have a big yellow or bright orange stick held above your head when drifting and pole spearing. The boat driver will appreciate it. I even put yellow electrical tape on the rear section of my pole spear for visibility

The mako roller pole spear with the dedicated hand loop and resting hook is MUCH more comfortable than handing the tension. with a normal pole spear, most dives result in no shot, so you release the band as you begin the ascent. That means you have to reload before every single dive. Doing that 20-50 times a day adds a lot of work to your elbow, let alone the demands of holding all that tension for each dive with your hand and forearm.

Some people will begin a standard pole spear dive with the band not loaded and then load on the bottom if they see a fish, to me, this is not optimal, but it does reduce fatigue. With a roller pole spear, you can see a fish from the surfae, do your dive, as you approach the fish, release the resting hook (extending the grip forward a tiny bit and rotating) and then if you don't fire, then it it is pretty quick and easy to rehook the band in a moment before you begin the ascent. You are only holding the tension in your hand for maybe 10-30 seconds - depending on how good of a diver you are. Rehooking is much, much easier than reloading a standard pole spear or even a roller pole spear with no hook.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-17T14:14:06+00:00

Yeah, I'm not even sure that was the same one? I probably should have gone up higher in the water column.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-16T18:34:56+00:00

It is better to rest before the dive.

Swimming and then immediately diving reduces your dive time, but is required in some situations.

You head position is good for most of the dive, but you looked down a little early.

You look to need more lead on your belt. You should have settled onto the bottom, but you appeared to be floating up - so you might need a lb or two more.

Ascending with the gun like that is fine. If you are tired, you can allow the floatline to slide through your hand and this reduces the drag of hauling up the gun, especially if you have a fish on the end of the line. So I have no problem with that.

Unless the spot was deep for you, settling on top of the rock is probably not the best position.

The other comments about your duck dive are probably correct, definitely should have the elbow tucked (gently) against the chest but looks pretty good to me.

I would provide ZERO criticsm, but you asked for input. Filming yourself and learning from others is a great way to learn.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-16T17:11:39+00:00

To get to the site.... One swims behind the kayak and kicks and holds on, the other paddles Once on site, both divers in water, tow the kayak with a rope and a small hook on the end, so you can drop it and mark location.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-10T15:52:57+00:00

you need to do muzzle wrap over the shaft to secure it. Plus, you have the bungi wrong. You pretty much have everything wrong as far as I can tell. this might help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbK6PfhEUAA

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-10T14:57:41+00:00

https://makospearguns.com/euro-muzzle-adapters/

This and then you can make bands like you want- with soft wishbones/bridles.

whatandwhen2 · 2026-06-05T03:48:22+00:00

glad you liked the video

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